As a congressional stalemate showed no sign of abating on day two of the government shutdown, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said his party should stand firm until the government is reopened and the debt ceiling, estimated to hit its limit on October 17, is raised.
"Every parent knows that if you give into a spoiled child today, it's going to be worse tomorrow," Durbin said on Wednesday's The Daily Rundown. "If we reach some sort of temporary accord with Tea Party Republicans and Speaker Boehner, two weeks from now we're in the soup again with the debt ceiling."
Durbin said putting the economy at risk was "reckless and irresponsible" by Republicans, and placed blame squarely on the Tea Party wing of the GOP in the House.
"Why don't the Tea Party Republicans open their eyes and see that they are inflicting on this country a pain that is totally unnecessary?" Durbin said. "Don't take out these political temper tantrums on the economy and the workers of America.