While speaking to the media today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid coined a new term for the GOP. Sen. Reid called them the banana Republicans.
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Majority Leader Reid said, “I’ve heard the idea of a short term extension floated. Let me be very, very clear.The Senate’s bill is a short term extension. That’s what it is. It’s a six week funding bill. That’s all it is, six weeks. If we can’t pass this, we are in a truly banana Republican mindset. This is what we look at other countries doing. The United States funding the government for a week or ten days at a time? Not so good.”
Reid also urged Boehner to let the full House vote on the Senate passed clean CR, He also told the Speaker of the House to stop trying to force a government shutdown. Democrats know that the House is fractured, so the message coming from the Senate Dems is that Boehner needs to bring their bill to the House floor and let it be voted on.
Rep. Boehner knows that the Senate bill would pass, and that is exactly why he won’t allow a vote on it.
It might have been a slip of the tongue on the part of Sen. Reid, but the name banana Republicans fits. (Reid also got a bit verbally twisted up calling the CR a PR, but he caught himself and corrected that one, which makes me think the use of banana Republicans might have been an unintentional intentional mistake.)
What’s clear is that after putting up with dysfunctional House games for the last few years, Democrats have had it. The frustration of 2011 and 2012 has been replaced by anger and resolve. Democratic leaders are echoing the words of the party’s rank and file. President Obama spoke about Republicans trying to refight the 2012 election today. Harry Reid has repeatedly called the Republican tactics extortion.
Democrats understand that the faction of the Republican Party that is behaving this way is terrorizing us all. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and non-political Americans are all being victimized by their actions. The problem is that Speaker Boehner lacks the courage to stand up to the extremists.
Whether Harry Reid meant it or not, the term banana Republicans perfectly fits.
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
