Washington – It was a chilly, drizzly day in the middle of the week, but tea party activists still turned out a couple of hundred supporters Thursday at a rally near the Capitol.
They came from around the country to send a message to Congress: Cut spending – a lot. “Keep your promise: $100 billion,” read one protester’s sign, referring to a 2010 Republican campaign pledge to reduce government spending by $100 billion.
Inside the Capitol, negotiations continued toward a budget deal that, thus far, looked to be coming in well below that figure. If agreement cannot be reached by April 8, the government will shut down.
IN PICTURES: Tea parties
Speaker after speaker depicted the Democrats – especially Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – as the bad guys. But there were also shots across the bow of the House Republican leadership, which appears more interested in compromising than in risking blame for a
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