On the recordMay 10, 2012
I thank the ranking member. Mr. Speaker, two of the most prominent independent scholars on Congress, Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein, recently completed a detailed research initiative. They've never been shy in criticizing either side of the aisle. But their latest research concluded that the Republican Party has become ``ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science.'' And they said: When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the Nation's challenges. The Republican budget is a perfect example of that. The Republican budget shields special interests from participating in deficit reduction, and instead says, We want to end Medicare as we know it. We target children and our older neighbors and middle class families for the overwhelming burden of deficit reduction. If a political party wanted to undermine the health and economic security of millions of American families, well, then, this is the way to do it. And it's too bad, because I believe Democrats and Republicans agree on the need for deficit reduction, but we have starkly different visions on how to get there. Others have called this Republican budget extreme, reverse Robin Hood, destructive, and a threat to middle class security. And here's an example. In the Budget Committee, I offered an amendment to say, It's time.…
