Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, says the movement and congressional Republicans are just reflecting the will of the American people when calling for larger budget cuts than President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate are willing to make.
Meckler also said Thursday on MSNBC the majority of Americans would rather see a government shutdown than watch the GOP give in — and even Republicans are calling for slashing less than the people want.
“You know, we’re not in Congress, so it’s not our job to make the deal,” Meckler said. “Our job is to reflect the American people — 57 percent of the American people say they’re looking for bigger cuts or shut the government down, and we’re reflecting that. It’s up to the folks in Congress to step up to the table and actually get a deal done.”
“Hardball” host Chris Matthews asked Meckler whether the tea party movement still wanted the cuts the Republicans proposed in the House bill, “$100 billion currently pro-rated to $61 billion. You want that or nothing, right?”
“That’s what we`re looking for — that’s correct, Chris,” Meckler replied. “Absolutely — $100 billion is minimal . . . we made our opening bid a long time ago, and it was much higher. The American people spoke loud and clear in November — they wanted serious stuff done — a hundred billion wasn’t enough.
“We want to see them pass a balanced budget amendment immediately,” he said.
Matthews asked if House Speaker John Boehner agreed to a cut of $43 billion, or $44 billion, would that satisfy tea party loyalists.
“What our people would say is that’s not good enough,” Meckler said. “They should push for $100 billion.”
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