Menendez's sharp remark was one of many made by Sen. Dems during a press conference Friday. Menendez compares GOP, terrorists

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) on Friday compared the tax-cut fight with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists, while Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri suggested Americans might need to “take up pitchforks" if Congress renews tax breaks for the wealthy.

“Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate results?” Menendez said, when asked whether he and other Democrats would compromise with Republicans. “It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists.”


The comment was one of several sharp remarks made by Senate Democrats during a news conference Friday ahead of two key test votes Saturday on tax cuts.

A Menendez aide said the senator was talking about the Republicans' negotiating strategy and was not comparing Republicans to terrorists.

"This shouldn’t be taken out of context from the full question and answer," Menendez spokesman Afshin Mohamadi wrote in an e-mail. "The critical point for middle-class Americans remains that Republicans have chosen to jeopardize tax cuts for every middle class family in order to guarantee an average tax cut of $104,000 for each millionaire."

McCaskill called the Republican rhetoric of reducing the deficit “a joke,” given that they favor extending the tax cuts for upper-income Americans.

“I’m trying to figure out how anyone can keep a straight face and say they are for deficit reduction when they insist on a permanent tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, completely unpaid for,” McCaskill said. “If they think it is OK to raise taxes for the embattled middle class because they are going to pout if we don’t give more money to millionaires, it really is time for the people of America to take up pitchforks.”

She said the Republican Party isn’t looking after the interests of the tea party activists who proved so important to the midterm election victories.

“All those people out there in the tea party who are angry about the economics of Washington, they really need to look at this, pull back the curtain and realize that you’ve got a Republican Party that is not worried about people in the tea party,” she said. “They’re worried about people who can’t decide which home to go to over the Christmas holidays.

“They’re not worried about the people packing those town halls,” she added. “Those folks are the middle class.”