DNC chairwoman blames Tea Party ‘tyrants’ for US credit-rating downgrade

The head of the Democratic National Committee joined Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Monday in casting blame for the U.S. credit downgrade on the Tea Party movement.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) quoted Kerry’s comments made Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and noted, “Truer words never spoken.”

{mosads}Kerry, commenting Sunday on Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the national credit rating from AAA to AA+ on Friday, cast the downgrade as a reflection of the influence of the Tea Party movement on the deficit negotiations.

“This is the Tea Party downgrade because a minority of people in the House of Representatives countered even the will of many Republicans in the United States Senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal,” Kerry said.

Wasserman Schultz noted in a tweet Monday that she agreed with Kerry, calling the Tea Party “tyrants” who blocked a more comprehensive bargain on the debt ceiling.

The White House also indicated on Saturday that Standard & Poor’s downgrade could have been avoided if congressional leaders had reached the “grand bargain” promoted by President Obama.

“The president repeatedly called for substantial deficit reduction through both long-term entitlement changes and revenues through tax reform, with additional measures to spark jobs and strengthen our recovery,” press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.

The credit rating agency announced that its decision was based both on last week’s debt-limit deal, which it said “falls short” of expectations, as well as doubts as to whether Congress and the White House can reach a broader deficit solution “anytime soon.”

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