What happened to the “new civility” thing?

(ABC News)– As Congress prepares to make deep spending cuts, an army of lobbyists is gearing up to fight back.

In an e-mail obtained by ABC News, a top staffer for the key Senate Appropriations subcommittee called for a meeting of lobbyists and interest groups that would be affected by expected cuts to the Labor and Heath and Human Services budget. The Jan. 24 meeting was attended by approximately 400 people, sources told ABC, and served as a “call to arms” for those determined to fight Republican budget cuts.

“One thing everyone should be able to agree on now is that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that a higher [Labor, Health & Human Services] allocation improves the chances for every stakeholder group to receive more funding,” the committee staffer for Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wrote in an e-mail inviting people to the meeting.

…Another source familiar with the meeting said Democrats used the meeting as “an attack on House Republicans.”

“They said these evil House Republicans are here and they’re going to kill all these programs that support little kids, senior citizens, and health care,” the source said. “They’re trying to instill the fear of God that Republicans are basically going to blow up all these programs, kill these programs, defund them.”