[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 30, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1945-S1946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, as the country watches, we continue to 
work toward a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to keep the country 
running. Let me update the Senate on where we stand.
  I want everyone to know how things looked from the beginning, but 
also let's talk about how they look right now from the negotiating 
table. Much of the criticism in this process has come from people who 
are not even sitting at the negotiating table. I am, and so is Speaker 
Boehner. I am glad he has returned to the conversation. It is obvious 
he has a difficult situation on his hands, and I do not envy him in 
that regard. He is getting a lot of pressure from the tea party folks 
to dig in his heels even if it hurts and destroys the recovery we have 
going now.
  What is worse, the country does not care much about the tea party. 
There is a new CNN poll out today that says this very directly. Let's 
put it this way: The people who care about the tea party are a very 
small number--who care about them positively. Those who think about 
them negatively is very high, more than 50 percent. And that does not 
mean 50 percent favor the tea party. It does not. Fifty percent of the 
American people do not want anything to do with the tea party. Only a 
small percentage identify with the tea party. The interesting thing and 
I think the important thing to the country is that the tea party's 
unpopularity continues to grow because the American people see how 
unreasonable they are.
  Let me reiterate my hope that the Republican leadership recognizes 
they cannot continue to be pulled to the

[[Page S1946]]

right by the radical, unrealistic, unreasonable--I repeat, radical--and 
unpopular faction, the tea party. I have always said that once the 
economy gets better, they are going to fade out fairly quickly. It is 
getting better, and they are fading out. If people want to move the 
country forward, they cannot let the tea party call the shots.
  Our proposal still stands. It is a number the Republicans were for 
before they were against it. We got that number by relying on reality, 
not ideology. I repeat, we know the answer lies in the middle. Neither 
party can pass a budget without the other party. We have already proven 
that. Neither Chamber can send it to the President without the other 
Chamber.
  I look forward to getting this done so we can avoid the many terrible 
consequences that come with a shutdown. We do not want that to happen, 
and if it is up to us on this side of the aisle, it will not happen.

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