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Biden & House Dems Find Spine To Call Tea Party Republicans "Terrorists"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 1, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 1, 2011
Modified Aug 1, 2011
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Showing a fire that they completely lacked during the actual negotiations for a debt-ceiling deal, Vice President Joe Biden and House Democrats called tea party Republicans "terrorists" in a closed-door meeting today to rally support for the debt-ceiling compromise. According to Politico, Congressman Mike Doyle said, "We have negotiated with terrorists," referring to the fact that Democrats foolishly accepted a deal that included zero tax increases on the wealthy to make the deadline before default. Biden agreed: "They have acted like terrorists." This has been said before, but we guess the GOP was right: Democrats do negotiate with terrorists, and it's not such a good thing.
One rep called the deal a "Satan sandwich," and another said, "While I do not love this compromise, my vote is a hose to stop the burning. The arsonists must be stopped." Biden, however, really dug the War On Terror angle, saying that the deal would remove the tea party's "weapon of mass destruction," which is the threat of the country defaulting on it's financial obligations. Lets take your metaphor a bit further, Joe: there were no weapons of mass destruction.
If anything, Democrats should blame themselves or their president. A majority of Americans supported tax increases and the closure of tax loopholes for private equity firms and hedge funds. Instead, we had President Obama himself—not Boehner or the GOP—voluntarily taking a knife to Social Security and genuflecting to corporate America. To see the entirety of the "compromise," take a look at this depressing chart.
If both houses approve the bill, the country may have avoided default, but at a serious cost to the working class. Not that liberals or the base really care. Meanwhile, at GOP headquarters:
Tagged
2012
debt-ceiling compromise
debt-ceiling crisis
Democrats
gop
joe biden
president obama
republicans
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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