Schumer: GOP risks ‘fiscal Armageddon’

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that Republicans would rather "tank the economy" than end a single tax break.

"In the home stretch of negotiations Republicans seem willing to tank the economy rather than eliminate a single tax subsidy," Schumer said. 

"You can't just say my way or the highway," he added referring to a hard line many in the GOP have drawn against raising taxes. "It will lead to a fiscal Armageddon."

Schumer was on the floor to oppose Republicans’ call for a balanced-budget amendment, which would alter the Constitution to ensure that the federal budget is balanced each year. 

Schumer called the Republican plan "some ephemeral balanced budget amendment that is not balanced" and also took issue with the approach GOP leadership has taken in negotiating with the White House. 

Republicans are "'playing political games like inviting the president to the Capitol when they know he can't to deliver a message he has already heard," he said.

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