ABOVE: Watch the chair of the Tea Party Express and CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent discuss the U.S. government shutdown in back-to-back interviews.
On Day 6 of the U.S. government shutdown, the procession of blame continues—President Barack Obama blames the Republicans, and many Republicans blame the Tea Party.
The Tea Party? They blame the Obama and the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying the shutdown is a political victory for Democrats.
U.S. Sen. Cruz says he didn’t want the government to shutdown
“We have compromised,” Amy Kremer, chair of the Tea Party Express, said in an interview on The West Block with Tom Clark. “But what we really want is to have a discussion about Obamacare and why it’s bad for America.”
Many Republicans in the House of Representatives are also demanding curbs to Obama’s signature health care law as a condition of reopening the government, a demand the president calls absurd.
U.S. Treasury Secretary on Debt Limit
The demands and rhetoric of Tea Party, the fringe group of Republicans advocating a reduction in government spending and taxes, could leave the Republican Party in bad shape, some observers say.
Though their numbers are relatively slim, their influence is so strong the Republican leadership gave way to the couple of dozen Tea Partiers in Congress and shut down the U.S. government.
Boehner on shutdown: We took a stand
“It’s damaging to the Republican Party,” John Harwood, CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent and columnist for the New York Times, told host Tom Clark.
“Remember, the Republic Party walked into this confrontation with lower public esteem than Democrats hold. They’re viewed as less reasonable, less willing to reach out and work with the other party … That is a critical vulnerability for the Republican Party.”
Boehner: We will not pass a clean Debt Limit Increase
– With files from the Associated Press
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