Unruly Scene on House Floor: Steny Hoyer Booed, Eric Cantor Interrupted by Chants

More government shut down drama--and mudslinging!

The New York Times:

Passions were running high in the House on Thursday morning as a federal government shutdown loomed and members of Congress began to get queasy about the prospect of being blamed for the ensuing disruptions.

As Republican and Democratic leaders traded barbs, lawmakers loudly jeered and cheered their respective leaders, giving the House a little of the atmosphere of the British Parliament.

Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, drew loud hoots when he implied that House Republicans were Tea Party lackeys. He also noted that Democrats, when they controlled the House, negotiated with President George W. Bush rather than close the government when they disagreed over the war in Iraq.

“We never shut down the government when we were in the majority and President Bush had power,” Mr. Hoyer said. “There is a rational way for us to proceed, and very frankly when we were in your shoes we did so when we couldn’t reach agreement with President Bush.”

Read the rest here.