VIDEOS: Downgrade blame game continues
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) called for Geithner’s immediate dismissal or resignation. “He should never have been confirmed in the first place,” said Gingrey.
He blamed Geithner for leading a failed economic policy in the Obama administration that ended in the S&P downgrade of US debt.
Gingrey also slammed the Obama administration’s efforts to discredit Standard and Poor’s decision, saying they were “trying to kill the messenger.”
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) blamed Democrats for the S&P downgrade. He said, “They have to look at themselves and they have to understand they are the ones that are totally to blame.”
“What you continue to see from the left, is looking for someone to blame,” said West.
He defended the Tea Party’s role in debt-ceiling negotiations and criticized regulations for harming the economy.
West told Fox News that Congress should return to Washington and find more ways to cut spending.
Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney blasted President Obama in New Hampshire for failing to grow the economy.
He accused Obama of ignoring the country’s balance sheet and said S&P had called attention to the nation’s fiscal problems.
“During the last 2 and half years this president is primarily responsible for the failure of this economy to reignite… Standard and Poor’s did not surprise anybody with this downgrade,” said Romney.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Ill.), Congressional Black Caucus chairman, said he fears an unwillingness of Republicans to compromise on taxes will force an additional downgrade by another ratings agency.
“It’s not us, we compromise,” said Cleaver.
He said ideology is preventing bipartisan agreement on spending cuts and tax reform.
Cleaver spoke to MSNBC from the launch of the Congressional Black Caucus tour in Cleveland.
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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Republicans and specifically the Tea Party are “undermining the economy, rather than helping.”
She told MSNBC the Tea Party movement is exacerbating the nation’s debt problem.
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President Obama said the S&P downgrade was because of the inability of Congress to reach a deal, rather than the ability of the U.S to pay its debts.
He blamed gridlock in Washington for fueling the S&P decision.
“We knew from the outset that a prolonged debate over the debt-ceiling, a debate where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip could do enormous damage to our economy and the world’s,” said Obama.
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Watch Obama’s full speech here.
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