Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:37 pm
Harry Reid called out the tea party members of Congress for their anarchic destruction of the legislative branch, and echoed Bernie Sanders’ call for the eviction of the far right from the House.
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While talking about the bipartisan work that has been done in the Senate on energy efficiency legislation, Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered a little straight talk about how tea partiers are destroying Congress.
Sen. Reid said:
I am aware that a number of Senators wish to offer amendments to make this bipartisan bill even stronger. I look forward to work with them, with Senators Shaheen and Portman and with the bill managers to help American businesses and consumers play an active role in reducing our nation’s energy consumption. Because, while some of the answers to America’s energy dilemmas will come from inventors and researchers, others must begin in the places we live and work.
Now, Mr. President, a lot of happy talk about what a great piece of legislation this is, and it is, but even though I’ve worked with Sen. Portman and Sen. Shaheen on amendments. We’ve got all bipartisan amendments. Of course, we’re diverted totally from what this bill is about. Why? Why Mr. President? Because the anarchists have taken over. They’ve taken over the House and now they’ve taken over the Senate. The Speaker couldn’t pass a simple CR today. Why? When asked at at as press event, as reported on the news today, he was asked, what’s next? He said, “If you’ve got a couple of ideas, give them to me. They’ll be shot down also. We’re in a position here where people who don’t believe in government — and that’s what the Tea Party is all about — are winning, and that’s a shame.
It took Harry Reid less than a minute to sum up the problem with Congress. The problem isn’t that our legislative branch of government doesn’t want to pass legislation. It is that they can’t pass things because of tea party members of Congress in the House and Senate. The issue goes way beyond traditional policy differences that can defeat legislation. As Reid pointed out, this congress has been prohibited from carrying out their basic constitutional duties, like paying the nation’s debts.
Nothing major gets done in this Congress, outside of pointless votes to repeal Obamacare, unless Nancy Pelosi delivers the bulk of the votes from the Democratic side of aisle. The Senate has managed to function fairly remarkably compared to the total paralysis in the House. Sen. Reid’s points echoed what Sen. Bernie Sanders said yesterday. This country will not move forward on anything until the right wing extremists are voted out of the House.
Replacing these tea party extremists entirely with Democrats isn’t realistic. Even moderate Republicans who were willing to carry out their basic duties as elected members of Congress would be a massive improvement over what the country has now. The extremists are winning because they are destroying government from within.
Their actions are more than a tragedy. They are a violation of their sworn oath of office, and it is time for the American people and their elected leaders to come together and rescue their government from the clutches of this tyrannical minority.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
