House Republican leaders are acting like one-time LA Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, “kicking dirt at the umpire” to distract the nation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday morning.  

The Nevada Democrat torched GOP leaders for pursuing “stunts” such as a
lawsuit against President Barack Obama and for spending $3.3 million on the select Benghazi committee.  

Reid, who also accused House Republicans of blocking a deal to fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, recalled Lasorda’s legendary fights with umpires, which he said were often stunts intended to distract from other problems on his team.  

And he said GOP leaders are doing the same thing.  

“They’re searching desperately for something, anything, to keep the radicals within their own caucus over there, keep them happy,” Reid said. “That’s hard to do, as we’ve seen. And they want to do this to divert the American people’s attention … from their very own inaction.  

“You don’t have to take my word for it. No one has to. Because conservative pundits are falling over themselves to consider this ploy. Even last night Sarah Palin — what did Sarah Palin say? She said, ‘Don’t bring a lawsuit to a gunfight. There’s no room for lawyers on the front lines.’ That’s Sarah Palin.”  

Reid added, “the tea party House is content to put on a show, to kick a little dirt, a big expensive show.”  

On Benghazi, he said the House is going to spend $3.3 million “to try once again to turn a real tragedy into some kind of conspiracy.”  

He said that’s more than is spent on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee — and then knocked the House on the VA scandal.  

“We’re still waiting for the House to come together with us to do something about the veterans emergency we have,” he said. “They have forgotten about what’s going on around the country. We need thousands of new personnel. … The House refuses to complete the conference with [Senate Veterans’ Affairs] Chairman [Bernard] Sanders.”  

He also dinged House on not being able to say what it will specifically sue the president over .  

“You know your case is in trouble when you can’t specify the reason you’re filing the lawsuit,” he said.  

“Leadership in the House of Representatives should put aside this ill-fated venture and leave the chest-bumping and dirt-kicking charade to the baseball managers,” Reid concluded.  

In an email, Michael Steel, a spokesman for Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, accused Democrats of “theatrics.”  

“While gridlocked Senate Democrats throw temper tantrums, the House is acting on the American peoples priorities: passing one bipartisan jobs bill after another. When will Washington Democrats drop the silly theatrics and work with us to help the private sector create more jobs?” Steel said.  

   

Related:

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Memo to Members on Obama Lawsuit (Complete Text)


White House: Boehner Lawsuit Uses Taxpayer Money Against Obama for ‘Doing His Job’