The Debt Showdown Continues In Washington
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- The last-minute wheeling and dealing on Capitol Hill has thousands of Marylanders worried.
Adam May has more reaction.
The deal is far from a done deal. Members of both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans say they don't like it.
The debt debate in Washington is outrageous to many Marylanders.
"I want them to think about the people's business, which is to make the country work, not to deal with specific individual and possibly extremist agendas," said one taxpayer.
"I would like to see them quit bickering and do what is best for the country, not what's best for the individual politicians," said another.
Leaders of both political parties trying to shore up a deal to end the crisis are running into skepticism.
Tea Party Republican Andy Harris says he plans to vote against the deal.
"It doesn't provide the permanent solution, which is a balanced budget amendment," Harris said.
Congressman Elijah Cummings, also undecided, was flooded with negative emails.
"'Dear Congressman Cummings, I see absolutely nothing in the proposal, the debt ceiling increase package, for the Democrats. Where is the revenue increase? It's a total capitulation for the Tea Party fanatics,'" Cummings read.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin says the Tea Party is to blame.
It is "the Tea Party that brought our nation to the brink of a crisis, and quite frankly I think they need to understand how to compromise," Sen. Cardin said. "The agreement represents concessions by both Democrats and Republicans."
Harris disagrees.
"American people don't want compromise," he said. "They want solutions."
But many voters are as divided as Congress.
What if Congress votes another deal down and goes back to the drawing table?
"I think they need to redo it," said one voter. "I don't think we're going to actually default on anything. We have plenty of money coming in."
"I think they are putting the money in the wrong places," said another voter. "They're trying to give their money to the top, hoping it will trickle to the bottom. That's not the way it works."
What's going to happen in the House of Representatives is anyone's guess.
Congressman Cummings says he is concerned about how these trillions of dollars in budget cuts will impact working families and also affect Maryland's workforce. More than 10 percent of Maryland workers work for the federal government.
