Senate Democrats’ frustration with media begins to show in FAA fight with House

After an acrimonious, months-long debate over raising the national debt limit, a battle many Democrats think the Republicans won, Senate Democratic leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated over how the media reports on the bold tactics of Tea Party Republicans. This frustration boiled over during a press conference on the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration and what Democrats call the GOP’s extortionist tactics.

The FAA had to temporarily lay off 4,000 workers because Senate Democrats and Republicans cannot agree to a reauthorization of the agency. Democrats are angry that members of the media appear to be accepting the GOP argument that Democrats are to blame for the temporary shutdown. Democratic senators believe reporters are failing to call out Republicans for using extreme legislative tactics, such as pushing debt-limit negotiations to the brink of a national default and threatening a government shutdown in April.

When Jonathan Karl, a correspondent for ABC News, asked why Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) had blocked a short-term FAA extension offered by Republicans on the Senate floor, Democrats lost their patience. “There’s a certain naivety that comes with your question,” said Sen Barbara Boxer. “The story here today is the fact that our leader is reaching out to [House Speaker John] Boehner [R-Ohio] to say, ‘If we want to resolve a particular issue, whatever it might be, let’s talk about it,' but not have one side say, ‘Take it or leave it or people will be out of work.' And the essence of your question doesn't understand that.” House Republicans have offered Senate Democrats a short-term extension of the FAA authorization that would close several small rural airports in the home states of Democratic senators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen Rockefeller. Chairman Rockefeller objected to the House GOP’s bill on the Senate floor and proposed instead a clean short-term extension of the reauthorization that would not have closed small airports, which Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) blocked.