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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Washington (CNSNews.com) - At his weekly pen-and-pad session on Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) expressed harsh criticism for Republicans in the House of Representatives.
“Unfortunately, we are not yet having an adult moment,” Hoyer said.
“Unfortunately, we continue to hold hostage the credit of the United States and the economy of the United States and, indeed, the global markets," he said.
Hoyer characterized the current budget battle between Republicans and Democrats as a “sorry, irresponsible spectacle.”
He then likened Republican leaders to baseball great Barry Bonds, saying that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the rest of the Republican leadership had done nothing but “walk” on the debt issue.
“We’ve seen the Republicans walk more than Barry Bonds,” he said.
According to Hoyer, Boehner has walked out of negotiations twice. Hoyer, however, did not mention the fact that President Obama walked out of a debt meeting on July 13.
Hoyer also said that Boehner’s proposal of spending cuts in exchange for a rise in the debt ceiling “is not a good one.”
Hoyer said it was hypocritical that Boehner released his current plan at around 11:30 pm on Monday night, especially after Republicans had criticized Democrats for ramming through the stimulus bill and the Obamacare health care bill at the last minute.
The House last week passed the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Plan,” but it was rejected by the Democrat-led Senate prior to Boehner introducing his new plan.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio waits to speak during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2011, as the budget talks continued. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Hoyer said he did not think Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) plan went far enough, stressing that he wanted to see $4 trillion in spending cuts.
When asked by a reporter what the way out of the debt mess is, he responded: “The Reid plan is the way out.”
Reid’s plan claims to cut the deficit by $2.7 trillion while Boehner’s plan claims to cut the deficit by $3 trillion.
Despite projections that President Obama is incurring a record amount of national debt, Hoyer blamed the bloated federal government on President Bush who, according to Hoyer, added $5 trillion dollars to the national debt.
Hoyer said: “They [Republicans] incurred this debt. We participated in that. People were advantaged by things we bought with the money. We stabilized the economy. According to the Republicans, we are defending freedom, and I believe that, abroad, saving us from terrorism. Investing in our kid’s education, making sure the American dream is still alive. But too many people are taking a walk at a time of great crisis and challenge. Summer soldiers and sunshine patriots. That may sound corny, but this is a time of such crisis. This is when summer soldiers and sunshine patriots take a walk on their country. Not on Obama. Not on Democrats in Congress. They take a walk on their country and its people.”