Reid rips tea party on the Senate floor: 'Anarchists have taken over' Congress

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Thursday said that efforts by tea party-backed Republicans in the Senate to use an energy efficiency bill to defund Obamacare was evidence that "anarchist have taken over" Congress.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Reid said that some senators had attempted to derail the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act with unrelated amendments.

"The anarchist have taken have taken over," the Nevada Democrat observed, throwing up his hands. "They've taken over the House, now they're here in the Senate."

"We're in a position here where people who don’t believe in government — and that’s what the tea party is all about — are winning, and that’s a shame."

Reid pointed out that Republicans had not allowed a single amendment to be offered that had anything to do with energy. In fact, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) had vowed to block every amendment until his measure to exempt lawmakers from the health care reform law came up for a vote.

"As the fiscal year comes to an end, I guess that's what it's all about," Reid noted. "You do what we want, get rid of Obamacare or we're not going to fund the government."

"Where are we? Where we have been this whole year. And what have we accomplished? Not much."

Watch the video below from C-SPAN, broadcast Sept. 12, 2013.

(h/t: The Hill)