DNC Chair’s Statement on the CNN/Tea Party Debate in Tampa

By DNC Press

Following the CNN/Tea Party Republican presidential debate tonight, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement:

"At a time when we need our country to come together to find real solutions that will create jobs and put our economy back on track, what we saw tonight was a GOP field once again pledging allegiance to the Tea Party and the extreme policies of Congressional Republicans. We didn't hear the Republican candidates propose a single idea to help middle-class families or give them economic security tonight - just more support for the extreme Tea Party economic philosophy.

“With Rick Perry and Mitt Romney at the head of the pack, all of the Republican candidates continue to demonstrate their loyalty to the Tea Party’s extreme ideology—one that advocates tax cuts for corporations, special interests and our nation’s wealthiest individuals while asking America’s struggling middle class to pick up the tab. The Republican candidates reiterated they would repeal protections put in place to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis—and they would allow Wall Street to write its own rules again.

“We saw tonight a Republican field from Rick Perry and Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain who would devastate Social Security through privatization or don't believe the program should exist in the first place.

“At the end of the day, all of the Republican candidates who participated in tonight’s debate support policies that would dismantle Social Security, end Medicare as we know it, and do it all on the backs of everyday Americans who need these programs to make ends meet. Rather than slashing benefits that millions of Americans earned through their own hard work, we need to come together as a country to create more jobs and strengthen our economy. We can start by passing the American Jobs Act, which incorporates sound policies supported by both Democrats and Republicans and makes targeted investments in our nation’s infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting our economic recovery. I invite my friends on both sides of the aisle to work with our President on achieving this goal and moving our country forward.”