Posted on 09/23/2013 5:41:08 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
On Friday's PoliticsNation, MSNBC host Al Sharpton complained that the "Tea Party-fueled madness" of the GOP threatening to shut down the government would "take away health care from millions of people."
He went on to charge that Speaker John Boehner possesses "genuine political cowardice" because he is allowing the Tea Party to "run this country into the ground."
Sharpton began the show:
Tonight's lead, Republicans leap into the abyss. And they're trying to take the country down with them. Americans have had enough. And so has the President. Today President Obama ripped House Republicans for their reckless vote to shut down the government. If the health care law isn't defunded, they're (INAUDIBLE) to shut it down.
After a few clips of President Obama which ended with him asserting that an unidentified Republican Senator had called shutting down the government "the dumbest idea I've ever heard," the MSNBC host continued:
Yes. It's a dumb idea and a sick one. More Tea Party-fueled madness that would take away health care from millions of people. So congratulations, House Republicans. You just voted to take away coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
Sharpton mocked Speaker Boehner as he concluded: "And a special shout out to you, Speaker Boehner. It takes genuine political cowardice to let the Tea Party run this country into the ground."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, September 20, PoliticsNation on MSNBC:
AL SHARPTON: Tonight's lead, Republicans leap into the abyss. And they're trying to take the country down with them. Americans have had enough. And so has the President. Today President Obama ripped House Republicans for their reckless vote to shut down the government. If the health care law isn't defunded, they're (INAUDIBLE) to shut it down.PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA CLIP #1: They're not focused on you. They're focused on politics. They're focused on trying to mess with me. They're not focused on you. They're not focused on you.
OBAMA CLIP #2: I mean, I don't mind them disagreeing with me. They don't like the Affordable Care Act, they'd rather have people not have health insurance, you know. I'm happy to have that debate with them. But you don't have to threaten to blow the whole thing up just because you don't get your way.
OBAMA CLIP #3: One Republican Senator called shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act, the dumbest idea I've ever heard. I agree with him.
SHARPTON: Yes. It's a dumb idea and a sick one. More Tea Party-fueled madness that would take away health care from millions of people. So congratulations, House Republicans. You just voted to take away coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
(CLIP OF SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER WALKING TO A PODIUM)
SHARPTON: Congratulations. You just voted to make seniors pay millions more for prescription drugs.
(CLIP OF BOEHNER STANDING BEHIND A PODIUM)
SHARPTON: And a special shout out to you, Speaker Boehner. It takes genuine political cowardice to let the Tea Party run this country into the ground.
JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: Thank you.
SHARPTON: Republicans are playing a dangerous, demented game threatening to shut down the government and maybe even send the nation into default in the name of killing health care law that will save lives. The bill that Republicans passed today has no chance of passing the Senate. None. Zero. But time is running out. The government shuts down in ten days. This isn't a game. It's people's lives.
Two words for the racist pig, TAWANA BRAWLEY!
Hey Al!!
Obama has already run America into the ground!!!
We’re just trying to revive this once great Constitutional Republic.
Race-hustler sharpton is a good example of genetic mutation gone bad.
Race-hustler sharpton is a good example of genetic mutation gone bad.
Wow If only the Tea Party were running things
Yeah, well maybe they ought to just have a bunch of hammer and sickle flags printed up, and we will stick with our stars and stripes, they can choose uniforms, and we will get to it. I’m pretty tired of it too.
Hey cracka (shouldn’t a “cracka” be someone who consumes crack, after all, and not a synonym for redneck?), you leftards all worship majority rules, right?
And it takes a hell of a grassroots groundswell to put anything remotely resembling a spine into a congressional Republican, right?
So if the TEA Party has sufficient numbers to bring about this unlikely event, then you’re a hypocrite to stand in its way! (Remember, you guys are always holding R’s up to judgment against the standards you believe they hold, right?)
Hey Sharpton, go to Chicago, that’s Obama’s America right there..sit there for a while, breathe in the Chicago air, oh and dont forget the bulletproof vest
Suck it all in, al, you POS. Don't TEA taste sweet! mwuhahahaha
Wait... They all said that the TEA PARTY was dead!
Well, Not-so-Sharpton would know something about madness.
smells like panic..
Tea Party means evil scum that should be ignored. Anything not communist is evil.
Pray America is Waking Up
‘The government shuts down in ten days. This isn’t a game. It’s people’s lives.’
Illinois state government is largely bereft of Tea Party members, so how would Sharpton explain the madness that has run Illinois into the ground?
Hmmm- is the tea party making more progress than I had imagined? We are running their agenda into the ground?
What awesome news!!!
I thought no one was paying attention to the tea party.
YES it does. Who’s he gonna rally to defeat TEA? ‘His people’ in an off-year? Hahahahahah they already got their Zerophones, al.
I thought the Tea party was dead...huh.
Actually Al, that's obamacare taking away coverage. Lots of people having their coverage yanked and told to go to the exchanges if/when they're ever set up and if/when they're ever functional. Oh, and lots more people just being cut to the new part-time hours and told they're on their own for health care, period.
...he is allowing the Tea Party to "run this country into the ground."...
Actually Al, wrong again. The phrase "running into the ground" is usually associated with bankrupting a company. Lets see, your cohort in crime there obama has pushed policies that have led to trillion dollar (plus) deficits every year. Record setting debt, more debt than all other Presidents combined. A higher and longer sustained unemployment rate that can only be fudged to make look simply bad (the real numbers would look horrific). So when you think "running into the ground" that's obama.
Sharpton began the show:
Well, we agree on something. Al's all show, no facts.
...If the health care law isn't defunded, they're (INAUDIBLE) to shut it down...
Best two ideas I've heard all year, maybe longer. Together? Just outstanding. Let's do it!
...which ended with him asserting that an unidentified Republican Senator had called shutting down the government "the dumbest idea I've ever heard,"...
Right. Hey, I can assert that I saw Elvis and bigfoot playing cards last weekend too.
...threatening to shut down the government and maybe even send the nation into default in the name of killing health care law that will save lives...
Two words Al: death panels.
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