Wish list

Pelosi calls GOP budget plan 'tea party wish list'

Democrats are countering with their own proposal.

By Lauren French

House Democrats have officially sent Republicans a counteroffer to a government spending bill that Congress must pass before Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged Thursday that the first Republican funding proposal offered by GOP leaders earlier this week was a "tea party wish list" that starkly departs from what members of the negotiating team — led by leaders on the House and Senate appropriations committees — agreed on.

"What they sent and what we received is a complete negating of what happened here," Pelosi said. "We all know that we have to compromise. Let’s talk."

This is the typical political back-and-forth both parties engage in on contentious funding measures as both sides need to keep their flanks in line while attempting to squeeze as much from the negotiations as possible. The counteroffer was expected. Aides said earlier this week Democrats would issue the counteroffer.

Democrats repeatedly have said they won't accept any "poison pill" riders on the government spending bill, but Republican leaders need the policy riders to attract the support of GOP lawmakers who object to the spending levels included in the bill.