The Hill News

A leading Senate liberal waged an act of protest against President Obama's tax-cut proposal on the Senate floor Friday morning.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) â€" a self-described democratic socialist â€" railed against the plan in a lengthy floor speech that he said "you [can] call ... a filibuster."

"You can call what i am doing today whatever you want, you it [sic] call it a filibuster, you can call it a very long speech ... ," read a message posted on Sanders's Twitter account after he'd taken to the rostrum at around 10:20 a.m.

Most congressional Democrats have loudly protested against the tax-cut deal Obama struck with Republicans, which includes a two-year extension of all the expiring Bush tax cuts in exchange for a 13-month renewal of unemployment benefits.

Sanders has said he will do "whatever it takes" to block the deal, "including a filibuster." His speech on Friday covered a variety of topics, including a detailed case for more infrastructure investment, corporate tax rates and the federal budget deficit.

The tax-cut proposal is not up for a vote on Friday, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he intends to bring it to the floor on Monday.