The Republican National Committee on Wednesday unveiled a new web ad accusing Democratic leaders of failing to “admit” the nation has a spending “problem.”
The video features clips of lawmakers including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Sens. Tom Harkin (Iowa) and Mary Landrieu (La.) arguing against further spending cuts.
“It is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem,” says Pelosi in one clip from an interview last month.
“The first step to fixing a problem is to admit you have one,” concludes the ad.
“Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Democrats simply do not believe that we have a spending problem," said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement. ““Every day families across this country are forced to watch their spending and live within their means. There’s no reason that shouldn’t be the case in Washington.
“House Republicans are proposing commonsense solutions that would reduce spending and work to restore our nation’s economy. Instead of admitting we have a problem, Obama and the Democrats would rather find more tax increases and continue to spend more money we do not have,” he added.
The new web video comes after lawmakers and the White House failed to reach a deal on a replacement bill for the $85 billion in across-the-board sequester cuts which took effect on Friday.
Democrats had pushed for a bill which offset the sequester with both targeted spending cuts and new tax revenues, in part from shuttering tax loopholes and higher rates on the wealthy.
But Republicans said they had addressed new revenues in January’s fiscal-cliff deal and said that attention should now shift to cutting spending.
President Obama has sought to blame Republicans for the cuts, charging that they were more interested in protecting tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations than preventing cuts he said would harm the public.
Lawmakers are moving on to their next budget fight, with Republicans unveiling a spending bill to keep government funded through the end of September. The new bill keeps the sequester cuts in place, while seeking to soften the blow for the Defense department.
Senate Democrats on Sunday suggested that they would accept the spending level in the House continuing resolution bill, lowering the chances of a government shutdown.
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