Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio says the Obama administration tries to make it as "painful as they can" every time a fiscal crisis emerges, such as barricading World War II veterans from visiting the war memorial in Washington this week.
"This is an example of what this administration continues to do every time we come up against one of these fiscal issues," Johnson, a Republican, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
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"They try to make it as painful as they can on the most vulnerable of our Americans, our seniors, our veterans, those that are dependent upon the federal government for the services or for the benefits that they've earned, and it was despicable what they did.
"In '95 when the federal government shut down, [President] Bill Clinton did not go out and shut down the memorials."
Johnson called on President Barack Obama to begin to show "real" leadership.
"And leadership is not about sitting in the White House, it’s not about holding an office or wearing a title. It's about producing results and influencing the outcome," he said.
"That's what leaders do and you don't get to take your ball and go home when things don't go your way. You have to stay in the game, you have to gut it out. That's the American way. We're problem solvers and that's what we need to be doing in this case."
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