Schumer to Republicans: Avoid Shutdown, Ditch Tea Party

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer D-NY urged House Republicans on Tuesday to abandon Tea Party demands for higher budget cuts and strike a compromise with Democrats that will prevent a federal government shutdown on April 8.

It is time for House Republican leaders to rip the band-aid off. Mr. Speaker, it's time to forget the Tea Party and take the deal, Schumer said on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

House Speaker John Boehner R-OH, said on Tuesday that Democrats in the Senate had failed to pass any budget cutting plan of their own in the 38 days since the House passed H.R. 1, which seeks $61 billion in cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year, until September 30.

In the meantime, lawmakers have passed a total of $10 billion in cuts in a pair of stopgap budget deals. The latest three week extension was meant to give lawmakers time to negotiate

Schumer said Republicans and Democrats negotiating on that long-term deal had made progress, which quickly ended at the end of last week.

We were right on the verge of a breakthrough, and they suddenly moved the goalposts, he said. We felt a little bit like we were left at the altar.

He cited a story in the National Journal which said Republican leaders were concerned late last week about a revolt by Tea Party members in their party, pulling back from a tentative deal to cut about $30 billion in cuts from current spending levels.

Top Republicans warned Boehner that the deal would trigger a revolt from tea-party members, according to the report.

Sen. Schumer is not part of the CR negotiations, and he is making up fairy tales trying to derail serious discussions on funding the government and cutting spending, because he believes his party would benefit from a government shutdown, Said Michael Steel a spokesman for Boehner.

Yesterday, Reid said Republicans have to resolve their own deep disagreements before we can find middle ground between the two parties.