Steve Eggleston
HotAir.com
11/18/2011
FreedomWorks had planned on unveiling its Tea Party Debt Commission recommendations at 2 pm in the Russell Senate Office Building, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) sponsoring the event and several other Congressmen slated to attend. Instead, after prior approval, and with essentially no notice given, the Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), blocked access to the hearing room.
They were forced to move the event to the Hillsdale College Kirby Center, where a livestream of the event was being hosted as I wrote this shortly after 3 pm Eastern. Quoting from the linked FreedomWorks press release:
“The Senate hasn’t been able to pass a budget resolution three years running. They have been unable to do their job, and now the Rules Committee is trying to prevent the American people from doing it for them,” said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks
“The Senate has refused to let the American people know what the highly secretive budget ‘Super Committee’ is doing behind closed doors,” Kibbe added. “We’ve come to Washington with the real solutions developed by the American people, and the Rules Committee won’t let their voices be heard in an open forum. It’s outrageous. They’re kicking us out of our own building because they’re afraid we are going to do something crazy like balance the budget.”
The Tea Party Commission’s budget aims to balance the budget within 4 years and cap spending at 17.5% GDP by cutting several cabinet agencies, eliminating ObamaCare, mildly reforming both Medicare and Social Security, and cutting subsidies to farmers and students. Indeed, one could almost call it the anti-Occupier budget.
As Michelle Malkin said,“What are Dirty Harry and his Democratic henchmen so afraid of? Simple: Concrete solutions to kick-the-can-down-the-road fecklessness.”
Related: Senate Rules Committee Staff Shut Down Scheduled Meeting of Liberty Proponents
Also, Who’s afraid of a Tea Party panel?, Part II: What the Fishwrap of Record didn’t tell you
…Here’s the video again of Armstrong and Sen. Lee (with captions):
…Funny thing is, members of Congress have been able to convene politicized “hearings” in government buildings for years. On the House side, Democrat Rep. John Conyers’ “basement hearings” on everything from impeachment to illegal immigration are legend. On the Senate side, such non-official, non-hearing “hearings” are plentiful…
…There’s more from Ben Howe at RedState…Was the Tea Party Kicked Out of the Capitol By Former Bennett Staffers Mad at Mike Lee?
Takeaway:
Man, isn’t it amazing how the world just works to Senator Schumer’s benefit, even when he has no idea it’s going on?
So the only logical conclusions you can come to is that a) The staffers are lying or b) Chuck Schumer is lying.
My gut tells me the answer is c) all of the above.
