The White House, meanwhile, has accused Republicans of holding the budget hostage, demanding ransoms and threatening to burn down the house unless they get what they want. Former Vice President Al Gore accused Republicans Friday of "political terrorism." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California has called her GOP colleagues "legislative arsonists" in a fundraising email and TV interviews. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., likened them to "anarchists" and "fanatics." When a gunman in Tucson unloaded on Arizonans in 2011, killing six and critically wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, lawmakers from both parties called for a reset in confrontational...