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Democrats Slam GOP for "Pledge to America," Small Biz Bill Vote

Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, during an enrollment ceremony with small business owners and advocates to sign the Small Business Jobs Act and send it to President Obama for his signature into law. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

This may shock some readers, but Democrats don't like the Republicans' "Pledge to America."

House Democrats held a press conference this afternoon at the Democratic National Committee to savage the GOP's plan, which was unveiledat a hardware store this morning in Sterling, Virginia.

"The pledge to America unveiled by House Republicans today could only be described as more of the same failed ideas that they've been pushing for years," Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.) said.

Wasserman-Schultz and numerous Democratic campaign operatives jumped on Minority Leader John Boehner for telling reporters this morning that the GOP was "not going to be any different than what we've been." For some context, Boehner's remark was in response to a question from CBS News about how they would legislate on social issues, but Democrats want to make it sound like they'd go right back to the Bush years economically.

"Their plan would take us back to the Bush years, to a stagnant economy, to spiraling deficits and to giveaways to oil companies, the health insurance industry and Wall Street," Wasserman-Schultz said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly put out a memo to reporters today pointing out that Republican leaders claim to be pro-small business, and met with a group of them this morning, but that they almost unanimously voted against the small business lending bill on the House Floor today.

"Their hypocrisy is breathtaking," Daly said.

Republicans, meanwhile, say that they opposed that bill because it creates a $30 billion lending fund for community banks in an effort to boost lending. They say it's just another bailout and labeled the measure "TARP 2."

It's been a particularly partisan two years since President Obama's election, but the two events today truly brought the accusations of which party is trying to ruin the country the most into high gear, with the midterm elections just 40 days away.

Pledge to America: Are Social Conservatives Losing Their Voice in the GOP?
GOP Says "Pledge to America" Should be Enacted Now
"Pledge to America" Gets Mixed Reviews from Conservatives
"Pledge to America": The New Republican Agenda
"Pledge to America" Unveiled by Republicans (Full Text)
CBSNews.com Special Report: Campaign 2010


Jill Jackson is a CBS News senior political producer. You can read more of her posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow her on Twitter.
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