Politics

Wasserman Schultz on debate: GOP candidates ‘worship at the altar with the Tea Party’

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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Appearing on CNN with host Anderson Cooper minutes after Monday’s Republican primary debate, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the candidates were appeasing tea partiers.

“Anyone watching the debate tonight, Anderson, watched the Republican candidates, as expected, worship at the altar with the Tea Party,” Wasserman Schultz said. “As a Floridian, I know my constituents were looking for them to talk about what they would do to create jobs, what they would do to get the economy turned around, how would they help the middle class, how would they help small business owners. None of that.”

She said the Republican candidates want to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, what she calls “Wall Street reform,” and give Wall Street control over Social Security.

“[What we saw tonight was] just more of the same doubling down on proposals like repealing Wall Street Reform and then, for good measure, saying ‘let’s invest Social Security, privatize it and put it in the stock market,’” Wasserman Schultz said. “[They want to] give those same Wall Street folks the money that is supposed to be the safety net for retirees and let them gamble it away in the stock market.”

When Cooper asked Wasserman Schultz if she thinks repealing the president’s health care reforms would create jobs, she didn’t directly answer yes or no.

DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse, however, confirmed for The Daily Caller after the interview that Wasserman Schultz does not believe repealing the health care overhaul would create jobs. (RELATED: Rivals knock Perry over HPV vaccine order during debate)

“Oh, really, well, I find that interesting,” Wasserman Schultz told Cooper, side-stepping his question. “What repealing health care reform would do, especially to seniors in Florida, is it would eliminate the closure of the donut hole. It would cost seniors about $3,000 in additional prescription drug costs, it would get rid of the wellness visit that is now free, it would get rid of preventive screenings that don’t have copays.”

“So, the list goes on, people with preexisting conditions like I have [would be] twisting in the wind because insurance companies could drop us or deny us coverage again,” Wasserman Schultz added. “The Republicans demonstrated tonight just how out of touch they are.”

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