Schumer likens conservatives to a flea

By Josiah Ryan - 04/08/11 03:39 PM ET

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) compared House conservatives to a flea Friday as rhetoric in the spending fight intensified.

Schumer, who has been criticizing Republicans all day, said in a floor speech Friday that conservatives were the flea controlling the dog, which he said in this case is a federal government that could shut down at midnight.

“What we have here is a flea, wagging a tail, wagging a dog,” said Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

“The flea are the minority of House Republicans who are hard right, the tail is the House Republican caucus, and the dog is the government,” Schumer explained. “That flea is influencing what the dog does ... and it is sad.”

Schumer for more than a week has been arguing that Tea Party conservatives will be to blame if there is a shutdown.

“When either party goes to the extreme they don’t do the right thing,” said Schumer. “My experience is they lose politically, but much more importantly they do what is wrong for the country substantively."

If a deal to fund the government is not struck before midnight today, the government will shut down.