Rep. Maxine Waters says "Tea Party can go straight to hell"

UPDATED 9:16 a.m. ET

Rep. Maxine Water

/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Rep. Maxine Waters, the liberal lawmaker from southern California, continued to press for Democrats and President Obama to adopt a more combative style with Republicans ahead of next year's elections.

"This is a tough game. You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned -- the Tea Party can go straight to hell," Waters told an Inglewood, California audience at a "Kitchen Table Summit" Saturday night, according to Los Angeles television station KABC.

Waters made waves last week when she openly criticized Mr. Obama's style and called on him to get tough with Republicans in order to help disadvantaged Americans, including African Americans.

"The president is going to have to fight and he is going to have to fight hard," she said at a job fair in Atlanta on Thursday.

Waters said there was a growing sense of unhappiness among African Americans with the the first black president.

"The Congressional Black Caucus loves the president, too," she went on to say. "We're supportive of the president, but we're getting tired. We're getting tired. And so, what we want to do is, we want to give the president every opportunity to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on. We want to give him every opportunity, but our people are hurting. The unemployment is unconscionable. We don't know what the strategy is. We don't know why on this trip that he's in the United States now, he's not in any black community. We don't know that."

She said liberals lost the recent fight over cutting government spending that Republicans tied to the deadline for the U.S. to raise the nation's legal borrowing limit.

"We were basically held up in raising the debt ceiling, until they got all of those budget cuts they demanded," Waters said in Atlanta. "We didn't raise any revenue and they didn't close any tax loopholes. I believe the Democratic Party and the president of the United States should not have backed down. We should have made them walk the plank."

"I'm not afraid of anybody," Waters said Saturday.

[Bojax39]

Rep. Maxine Waters says "Tea Party can go straight to hell"

May not be room, what with needing to elbow a way through all the self-entitled Congressional Black Caucus members clogging the brimstone hallways and all......

[kca124]

This lady is an embarrasment to our country. She needs to seriously think avout retiring.

[noloyalisti]

The Republicons, the borrow and spend Republicons are really to blame for all you complaints. They are the ones who tried to kill the government that has the best health care plans going for example. By privatizing and deregulating industry, rampant greed, speculation and corruption has taken over. What do you expect to happen to people in a system of chaos like ours? It is to the benefit of big business to dumb down the people and they could not care less if that bothers or impacts you.

[Missouri123]

If you think Obama care is the best medical care we can have ,you are NUTS! How can we afford to put 40 million people on Obama care? Where will the money come from? These 40 million don't want to pay for their care they want someone else to pay. Will I for one will NOT pay one red cent from them.

[nomorelibs]

Big surprise, another tax and spend liberal. Nothing new here. this shows how ignorant and ideological liberals are. Blaming the Tea Party for the problems of this country. Not once will you here a democrat, or Republican for that matter, address the real problem. While their are rich people taking advantage of the system, most people are descent, law abiding citizens. It's the poor, lazy, ignorant and dishonest that are bringing this country down. The bottom half pay absolutely nothing, yet continue to take more and more. We have so many ridiculous entitlements in this country that are bleeding us dry. The responsible, hard working people of this country are being taken advantage of by the rich, as well as the poor. Yet we have people trying to raise taxes to promote more gov't programs for more and more lazy, ignorant, pathetic people. We always hear about the poor father trying to raise a family of 4 on $20,000, and only getting a few hundred dollars a month for food stamps, free lunch, etc... Here's an idea, don't have a family of 4 on that pay scale. Just like most others, I started out making min wage and worked my way up. We only have 1 child, because that is what we are comfortable with on our pay. I don't expect others to pay for me and my family. Nobody else should either. Smart decisions and hard work will pay off for the majority of people. Let's help the helpless, not the clueless and lazy.

[noloyalisti]

As long as the wealthy also pay taxes like me and you then we can use that money to help all Americans. What the government used to be good for until the moochers like Ronald Reagan came along was to try to educate people to make good decisions. In the long run that is what is going to work ( unlike the failed Republican policies of starving the government, getting rid of public education, etc.) The Republicants also want to stop helping the helpless as we can see.

[commenter777]

The definition of "capitalism" in the US now includes that it is legal for the
corporate ultra rich to steal from the rest of the world. 2010 Oscar winning
documentary "Inside job" shows how this happens. There is a huge, ever-growing
group of people in the United States that no longer give a dam what happens to
this criminal cesspool called the United States. That group is called the "ex
middle-class". Do the ultra rich that committed the fraud and other crimes shown
in the documentary "Inside Job" not understand that? I will be laughing at the
corporate ultra rich every time I read the headlines over the coming years as
this criminal cesspool of a country uses a form a capitalism where fraud, etc
is ingrained in the system turns into a 4th world country. I am not ultra rich
so I don't own any US politicians or I'd try to get something done about it
myself. I can't believe that people are going to let the corporate ultra rich
banking establishment get away with what is shown in the 2010 Oscar winning
best documentary "Inside Job". If they get away with that I cannot wait to
laugh at the coming hard times for the United States of America and I was born
and raised here but I do not believe in a form of capitalism where fraud, and
other crimes are not prosecuted because the perpetrators have too much money
and influence, of course.

The ultra-rich and the ultra-poor are the only ones that get welfare. The middle-class
get no welfare. We call the welfare for the rich "bush tax cuts", "tax loopholes",
"fraudulent mortgage loans", etc. We call welfare for the poor "food stamps",
"welfare checks", etc. A duck is a duck no matter what you call it. Welfare needs
to stop for the ultra-rich and the ultra-poor. The middle-class needs to vote Democratic
from now on. Please study up on what is going on because only if the middle-class
bands together is this country going to survive.

[nclaw441]

Since when is NOT taking someone's money for taxes considering "stealing" from the middle class? I am not wealthy, but those who are earned it. Letting them keep more of what they legally earned is not stealing from others.

[lovebuggle]

I think it's strange that constructive comments are disappearing off this comment section. Who is taking the sane and more truthful comments off and leaving the divisive or bland comments on? Ah ha! Just another example of media duping the people. Keep Americans dumb and divided. That's been the strategy for many years in this country. Keep 'em clawing each others' eyes out while the rich corporations and banks pick their pockets!

[DRJ1943]

Who can take anything serious from this flamboyant egotistical woman in a sparkling red cowboy hat.

[jgg000101]

waters funnels taxpayer funds to her husband's bank and attacks the very people who want government accountability.
Actions speak louder than words. How are those ethics violation hearings going for waters and rangel?

[badddd1]

This sounds like a hate speach.Sounds like she trying to divide the united states.

[badddd1]

Sounds like she's mad that's funny.Long live the tea party. The party goes on play ball.

[noloyalisti]

The Tea Bag Party is not a real party, they are representatives of a few billionaires that are united against the American people. Since our fake elections have been corrupted by big corporate money from these billionaires, wouldn't it make sense to unite against them?

This is not left vs right since there are no real elections in America. This is top vs bottom, the top 2% against The Other 98%. Let's get after it!

[lovebuggle]

THANK YOU for pointing out how the very rich are controlling this country! Tell it like it is! Too bad more Americans can't see what is going on. We could actually have a functioning country again if Americans would stop bickering over the very small issues of life. Wake up dodo birds or you and your kind will become extinct.

[lovebuggle]

THANK YOU for pointing out how the very rich are controlling this country! Tell it like it is! Too bad more Americans can't see what is going on. We could actually have a functioning country again if Americans would stop bickering over the very small issues of life. Wake up dodo birds or you and your kind will become extinct.