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msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
Tea Party activists gather in the shadow of the Capitol to urge budget cuts.
From msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
As budget negotiations continued inside the halls of Congress Thursday, a gathering of Tea Party activists huddled at a cold outdoor rally on Capitol Hill to send a message to the deal-makers inside:
They're ready to pick a fight.
A few hundred people -- far fewer than the massive rallies seen before last year's midterm elections -- who braved the dreary weather urged lawmakers to push deep cuts to the federal budget even if it results in a temporary shuttering of the government, chanting "Cut it or shut it!" and punctuating cheers with calls to "shut it down!"
"If Harry Reid wants a fight, let's give it to him!" said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), one of a parade of conservative lawmakers who made remarks at the event sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots.
Many of the rally's speakers were careful to note that Democrats are "rooting" for a shutdown and that GOP budget-cutters hope to avoid a funding lapse that would turn off the government's lights.
Democratic leaders "want to turn you into their scapegoats and blame the Tea Party for shutting the government down," said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).
Rep. Allen West (R-FL) declared, "We are not here to talk about shutting the government down... But if you want to talk about shutting down the government, go over there and talk to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!"
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) told reporters after his brief remarks to the crowd that a federal closure is undesirable but would not be catastrophic.
"No Republican wants to shut the government down. I don't think anybody here really wants a shutdown," DeMint said, "but we shouldn't be so afraid of a shutdown that we can't make the right decisions right now." He added, "We can't be cowed by this threat."
The preemptive finger-pointing over a potential shutdown likely stems from the scars of the budget fights of the mid-1990s, when the public soured on GOP leaders in the wake of a series of federal closings.
A full federal closure "is not going to be very popular with the American people," warned Clinton-adviser-turned-conservative-commentator Dick Morris, who instead suggested a "targeted shutdown" of agencies -- like the EPA and the National Labor Relations Board -- that are loathed by Tea Party activists.
"We don't have to close down the government. We're going to close down the parts of the government we can't stand!" Morris said.
That sentiment was met with cheers -- as well as a smattering of shouts to "shut it down!"
*** UPDATE *** Here's a dispatch from NBC's Catherine Chomiak:
As the continuing resolution currently funding the government inches closer to its expiration date of April 8, Tea Party activists rallied today for a budget battle. Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) fired up the crowd on a dreary day in Washington, D.C., with calls for a fight and threats of a government shutdown.
Congressman Pence, citing the current deficit, debt, and “defiant liberal majority in the Senate” said the time was right “to pick a fight."
“The debt stops here,” he said. “If liberals in the Senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, I say, 'Shut it down.'”
Representative and potential Republican presidential candidate Bachmann hit Democrats saying they are hoping for a government shut down. “That’s their plan," Bachmann said. "They want to shut the government down, and they want to turn you into their scapegoat and say, 'It’s the Tea Party’s fault for shutting the government down.'"
Paul urged the Tea Party members to keep up their political involvement. “The fight is just beginning,” he vowed. “Keep their feet to the fire, call them, email them, let them know that you are prepared for America to move forward, but only by balancing the budget and making government smaller.”
In addition to a fight on the budget, King showed support for his fellow House Republican saying, “We need to fight on Mike Pence’s proposal on unfunding (sic) Planned Parenthood… And we need to fight on cutting off the funding that implements Obamacare.”
Bachmann also got loud cheers from the crowd when she proposed sending “a change of address form to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.”
This is something Bachmann has said before and will probably be said again, as she continues to consider a 2012 presidential bid.
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The flea party and the republicans still live by their 70s mantra tell them what you want them to believe their dumb enough to beleive it
????
That didn't come out right did it?
I keep reading the comments here on MSNBC regarding the current state of affairs with the national budget. I think there is a consensus that the 2 wars we are involved in have contributed mightily to the debt. There is mixed feelings about the Bush tax cuts. I do like mine, but I see a problem with the way major corporations earning 10 million or more in profit yearly are taxed. For instance, Exxon pumped more than 4 billion gallons of fuel in Pennsylvannia last year and paid less than 10 million in taxes, (FYI that equates to less than 0.014% tax rate, where Joe Citizen pays 7%) GE paid absolutely nothing in federal taxes last year. The Tea Party is mad about government spending, I agree, there's a lot of waste in government, I see it in procurement procedures all the time, but the real problem is that the corporations benefitting the most from their business activities in the United States pay next to nothing for the national good. What we really need is a flat tax on all corporations earning more than 10 million a year of 15 to 20%, that was the way it was before Ronald Reagan and "trickle down" took effect and the deficit sky rocketed. The Tea Partiers calling for government spending cuts without increasing government revenues are just a bunch of no nothing Nancies.
If the tea party is so po'd about the direction our country is headed let them leave. They deserve what they get when they get there.
Wonder what the TPers that are on Social Security and/or Medicare are gonna do when those checks stop rolling in? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...
The teabaggers say they want a fight - I say let's fight. Heck - I'd be okay with all out civil war if need be. I once took an oath to defend this country from all enemies - both foreign AND domestic. The teabaggers are domestic terrorists in my opinion - Hell bent on destroying America because of their racist hate and because they are simply too stupid to know that if the government shuts down - it hurts not only America - but Americans - i.e., THEM.
Let's fight these traitors everywhere we can. The last time the righties tried this they got their hat handed to em. Since they are perpetually stupid - I guess we'll have to teach them the same lesson again. I'm contacting all my Deomcratic representatives and urging them to stand up to the haters on the right. Let's fight.
Good idea you old windbag........you are mentally ill and need a good beating.....I'll bet you are either on the public dole or are living off the taxpayers money you leech!
What a bunch of old, greedy thugs that want to hold on to their life style and then want to take food from others? The tea party has taken control of the republican party or should I say the republican party has let them. In reality they represent about 30% of their party and only 20% of Americans. Why are any of us listening to them. They are racist, retired, well off and ignorant Americans. Proof is the poll that shows the average American voter doesn't know squat about the budget so the average American would actually be willing to vote for these creeps and their agenda. Two steps backwards!
These people cost so much trouble, but they think that they are heroes, what a bunch of self promoted "saviors".
Yeah shut it down; and then replace it with a government that represents the PEOPLE not the CORPORATIONS that are killing AMERICA!
The TEA Party should also be shut down, and thrown out of the country they have betrayed for their MASTERS, the CORPORATIONS!!
Wheres the Beef!
A 22.5% cut for congress Accross the Board !
Duffy From Wisconsin! When Trashing Teachers While Gouging Thier Benefits !
He was on News Begging like a Little Rich Biaaatch ! Only Making $174 K
Say's Let's Join Hands together and I'll Take a pay Decrease ABSOLUTELY ! Verbatim ! Duffy ! Tea- BEGGER !
Old Gop Tactic! - Tea-baggers- In Your Face GREEDY! My Way or We FEAR & SMEAR Everybody in our WAY !
Exagerated Rich for$174K !
90% of the usa would LOVE to Make $174 K ! I Would!
The Republicans Want the 90% to Live on Minimum Wage or Less !
Go ahead, shut it down.
I dare ya.
I triple-dog dare ya.
It worked out so well for you the last time you did it. Let's see if it will work so well again, shall we?
This is a little game we like to call "chicken". Do ya feel lucky punk? Well, do ya? (Dirty Harry)
Yeah gullyjuice, you go girl...uh boy...it's hard to tell from your blog moniker.
Yeah, shut it down baby. No more social security, no more medicare, no more welfare, no more military, no more highways, no more education, no more government oversight or regulation of any kind. No more taxes, no more government. It's all just a great big waste! No more NASA, no more libraries, zoos, or museums.
That's the real america the founding fathers had in mind! We didn't have any of those things in 1776! and not a one of them are mentioned in the bible. SHUT IT DOWN. We're a Christian Nation with our Constitution based on the Old Testament. None of that stuff in the Old Testament. Shut it down.
Shut it down baby! Shut it down.
Obama/Biden 2012 Restoring sanity to our government
A handul of senior citizens in control of making decisions for the American people, how ironic. I've noticed that the crowd seems to be reduced from the last rally. I think that most are beginning to see what the Tea Party really stands for which is not in the best interest of the American people, but the Tea people.
Can't wait until 2012. Michelle Bachman and Rand Paul on the ticket. Bet the Dems are licking their lips at that thought. Whle the GOP demands cuts, Americans ask "why are hedge fund managers and bank CEOs making a fortune, why are COngressmen taking every other week off and why is Newt Gingrich a paragon of virtue"
Bachman and Paul want to run and they don't even know how government works or any sense of history or economics. OMG someone tell them they are dumb a's in the class of Palin. OMG
As far as Gullyman's comments about quoting Michael Savage, GET A LIFE! Anybody that quotes Michael Savage probably thinks that the motor city mad man is anti gun.
ooooo...300 hundred people....what a support system you got going there...Union protesters are thugs? They looked pretty peaceful to me... 80,000 vs 300.... 300 people is a beer party where I come from...
I'm afraid the tp has pissed off the wrong group...You have picked a fight that will not only allow the dems back into power in the congress, but also Obama another 4 years..
Not to mention that the republicans are finally waking up and trying to distance themselves from these kkk/nazi members..
Anyone who thinks the tp cares one oita about them is delusion. They care about one thing...Getting the black guy out of the whitehouse.
Watch how fast they want to govt to START back up after they don't get their tax refunds.
PROV 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
PROV 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Good question! Is it just me, or is the media consistently providing coverage for these crazies while the rest of the country burns? Interesting...
Cable news isn't about real political news or discourse. It's theater of the absurd. Best to just laugh and not take it seriously.
If you don't run this country the way we want you to - then we'll shut it down... Way to go TP - Stand up to those dictators the Democrats, that want to run the country the way they want to... Ooopppps... Never mind...
The GOP and Tea Party are taking our country back to the dark ages. They don't know realilty when it is fed to them on a silver spoon.
In Reality........the Tea Party is trying to convince us the cuts they want are huge in our budget but they account for fractions of a percent. ex. Foreign Aid is .6% of budget. They will make women and children starve for their stupidity. Stop that insane party asap. They have been fed a poison by D. Koch, industry, and mentally ill right wing extremists.
Greetings,
I have been reading these post and I am reading that poeple are sayin there is no video of the tea party saying shut down the govt. Here is the video.
A Democracy only works with compromise and the Tea Party and GOP wants a dictatorship and they will not get it because the extremists will be voted out bigtime next election. They will reap what they sow. They are sicko right wing extremists just like Bin Laden.
Shutting down the government is irresponsibility. But then the Tea Party has never claimed to be responsible. It is about self-interest.
Maybe that's why their approval rating has dropped more then 10 percent since January. In January they had a 41 percent approval rating, and now it's down to about 30. I just hope that in the next election that American people remember that the Supreme court has ruled that truth in advertising does not apply to political ads.
The Tea Party puppets of industry are being paid off by anarchists who run twelve organizations to take down government because they want deregulation of everything making all of us slaves in a third world America. They are posers and Anti-American radicals like Bin Laden.
You don't have to be a member of the Tea Party to realize that several hundred billion dollars needs to be cut from a 3.5 TRILLION dollar buget.
If you actually believe the American people want the central government to spend that kind of money, you're in need of a brain transplant.
Triple your STATE budgets.... but don't give the central government that capability.
Why isn't the Tea Party taking on Wall Street or deregulation or the oil industry and spill, nuclear energy, climate change, you know, real stuff not a fraction of a percent spent to feed children or support PP to help with birth control. These people are scary!!!!
Scary to me is a group of people that think they can decide to spend 3.5 TRILLION of our money in one year.