Joe Lieberman in a file photo.
Moments after joining 36 fellow Senators to announce the new bipartisan “super committee” that will look for spending cuts, entitlement reform and tax reform, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) took to Twitter, comparing the group’s intentions to those who led Democratic revolutions in Arab nations this spring.
“Maybe we 36 began a Washington Spring today,” Lieberman tweeted Thursday afternoon.
Lieberman was referencing the so-called “Arab Spring,” a wave of revolutions and demonstrations that sparked across the Middle East last December.
Lieberman’s tweet drew criticism from bloggers at Gawker, who said they didn’t think the Arab Spring revolutions were sparked by oligarchs:
“But maybe Joe Lieberman thinks he’s found the newest model for 21st-century revolution here! So which senator will be the first to self-immolate on the steps of the Capitol, or take a bullet from riot police? They’d better draw straws or something to figure that out, and soon, because most will want to fly home tonight for their weekly long weekend.”
Lieberman, the senior senator from Connecticut who will be retiring when his term ends in 2012, said the committee will look to help the country escape from its economic issues.
“To put America into the fiscal hole we’re in took a lot of irresponsible behavior by both parties,” Lieberman tweeted. “And it will take a lot of responsible behavior by both parties to get us out of debt.”
The super commitee of 18 Republicans and 17 Democrats will aim to reduce the country’s debt by $1.2 trillion over the next decade, according to the Associated Press.