The Senate, Task Two!

[JackLuis]

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE F*CKING SENATE!​

BuzzFeed has an excellent piece this week, written by the co-founders of Run For Something, on what to do if your favorite candidate does not win the nomination, especially if you hate the person who ends up with it. (There is nobody left in the race that is worse than Donald Trump. Fuck you, there just isn't. And no, Tulsi does not count, but even she is probably marginally better than Trump.) This may be even more pertinent now that Elizabeth Warren has officially dropped out of the race, for some Wonkette folks. The short answer in the BuzzFeed piece is VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO — because to be clear, if we may shamelessly steal verbiage from one of our Facebook friends, not voting for the Democratic nominee is a racist and sexist act against the people who have been most hurt by the Trump presidency — but it's also a good primer on getting involved in down-ballot races.

To remind everyone of the math: The current Senate is 53-47, controlled by Mitch McConnell and the GOP. If Trump were to steal re-election, we'd need four seats in the Senate to take the majority. If Trump loses, as he by all indicators should, we need three, with Vice President Stacey Abrams (or whoever) breaking the tie. Just to be safe, we should be aiming for more than all that, partially because it's just smart, and partially because we need to be prepared for Alabama Senator Doug Jones to lose, because come on, it is Alabama, and they didn't pick the accused kid-toucher in their primary on Super Tuesday. We need to be involved in all these Senate races, helping however we can.

On that note, there is hopeful news in the world of #PollPorn, and we will tell you it, are you ready? According to Public Policy Polling, the Democrat is ahead by at least four points in four of the most watched Senate races:

Sara Gideon is up 47-43 against fucking Susan Collins in Maine.

Badass-tronaut Mark Kelly is up 47-42 against fucking Martha McSally in Arizona.

Cal Cunningham is up 46-41 against fucking Thom Tillis in North Carolina.

John Hickenlooper is up OH DAMN 51-38 against fucking Cory Gardner in Colorado.

Sending Mitch back to the bluegrass, preferable UNDER it, should be our next task!

 

[KeithD]

Well, yes. Control of the House and Senate are just as important in this next election as control (or lack of control, in the current case) of the White House. That's why, with Sanders, we need to hear more from him about the critical House and Senate races and less about how pure he's going to stand outside the Democratic Party. He did make some sounds of supporting the down ballots in his interview with Rachel Maddow a couple of nights ago. Need to hear more of that from him and less "who cares about anyone but Bernie?" from his supporters.

 

[Veroe]

I wish I lived in Kentucky so I could vote against Mitch.

Unfortunately most of the democrats running against him seem as bad as Allison Lunderman-grimes last time they tried to beat McConnell and failed miserably, Amy McGrath especially.

God damn it. We could beat him if the party leadership could pick someone who knew their ass from their elbow.

 

[KeithD]

I wish I lived in Kentucky so I could vote against Mitch.

Unfortunately most of the democrats running against him seem as bad as Allison Lunderman-grimes last time they tried to beat McConnell and failed miserably, Amy McGrath especially.

God damn it. We could beat him if the party leadership could pick someone who knew their ass from their elbow.

I had a vision the other day of Californians flooding out into the redneck states for long enough to establish residency and vote. That would be their way of getting to a one person/one vote system.

(I was born a Californian but now am helping Virginia go and stay blue.)

 

[Veroe]

I had a vision the other day of Californians flooding out into the redneck states for long enough to establish residency and vote. That would be their way of getting to a one person/one vote system.

(I was born a Californian but now am helping Virginia go and stay blue.)

As a democratic voter in one of those redneck states, I'm well used to how it works. Most of the Democrats I have to vote for are like Mike Donnelly or Claire McCaskill. (Diet Republican) They may win once, but then during their reelection campaign republicans here surge against them and they wind up sitting at a table for CNN telling people how to win in the red states now instead of continuing to represent voters like me in Congress.

Just once I want a democrat that excites me to represent me rather than feeling duty bound to vote for another Diet Republican loser.

 

[YDB95]

God damn it. We could beat him if the party leadership could pick someone who knew their ass from their elbow.

Hate to say it, but I'm not convinced. Gov. Bevin was just as big of a jackass as Trump and we barely beat him with a more than competent opponent. Kentucky is the very epitome of Trump's base: angry, racist, clinging to their guns and their weird brand of Christianity, etc. But I'd settle for having McConnell still in the Senate but no longer in charge of it. That'd have to be awfully frustrating.

 

[Veroe]

Hate to say it, but I'm not convinced. Gov. Bevin was just as big of a jackass as Trump and we barely beat him with a more than competent opponent. Kentucky is the very epitome of Trump's base: angry, racist, clinging to their guns and their weird brand of Christianity, etc. But I'd settle for having McConnell still in the Senate but no longer in charge of it. That'd have to be awfully frustrating.

But even if Mitch isn't the majority leader in the Senate, he's still too smart and clever and Pelosi and Schumer are just sooo dumb in comparison to him at this game. I watched him for eight years politic circles around them. Even out of power but still in leadership of the Republicans he'd still be too effective at getting in the way or obstructing whatever the democrats will do and I don't have any Faith in Democratic leadership's ability to out maneuver him. If we're going to accomplish anything Mitch McConnell has to be out of the picture, irrelevant even.

 

[Ziggins]

For over 30 years, both parties screwed middle America, flyover country, the Rust Belt, etc. Trump is ending the R half of that screwing. That's what gets a tremendous majority win for him and his party, and what gets more Dem asses kicked out of office.

 

[YDB95]

But even if Mitch isn't the majority leader in the Senate, he's still too smart and clever and Pelosi and Schumer are just sooo dumb in comparison to him at this game. I watched him for eight years politic circles around them. Even out of power but still in leadership of the Republicans he'd still be too effective at getting in the way or obstructing whatever the democrats will do and I don't have any Faith in Democratic leadership's ability to out maneuver him. If we're going to accomplish anything Mitch McConnell has to be out of the picture, irrelevant even.

I don't see that changing even if he's out of the Senate. The Republicans don't care a bit about decorum or about making the government work - in fact, for the most part, they DON'T want the government to work. McConnell is a symptom of that, not the cause.

For over 30 years, both parties screwed middle America, flyover country, the Rust Belt, etc. Trump is ending the R half of that screwing. That's what gets a tremendous majority win for him and his party, and what gets more Dem asses kicked out of office.

Is he really "ending the R half of that screwing," though? Or is he just making it OK to be openly bigoted again? I don't see how anything he's done has helped the little guy beyond appealing to his prejudices.

 

[Ziggins]

Is he really "ending the R half of that screwing," though? Or is he just making it OK to be openly bigoted again? I don't see how anything he's done has helped the little guy beyond appealing to his prejudices.

Trade, immigration, and rollback of reckless warmongering, which is a big deal to soldiers and families of soldiers who enlisted because they couldn't get better jobs due to NAFTA, illegal immigration, etc. Other litsters may have other issues that are more relevant to them.

And yes, there is plenty of prejudice on all sides, especially economic, educational, geographic, and partisan prejudice. People who are officially Not Racist don't like to admit their prejudice.

 

[YDB95]

rollback of reckless warmongering,

You're kidding, right? We all know which party is prone to playing Rambo with other people's kids.

And what has Trump done to combat unemployment? Given the 1% yet another tax windfall that they have simply kept for themselves as usual, that's what. It hasn't helped the working class at all.

 

[Ziggins]

You're kidding, right? We all know which party is prone to playing Rambo with other people's kids.

No, I'm really not. Kennedy and Johnson were Democrats when they napalmed and Agent Oranged Vietnam. Obama, Clinton, and Kerry were Democrats when they attacked weddings, funerals, and hospitals and left a trail of wrecked nations and new enemies from Ukraine to Libya.

 

[Tigersman]

No, I'm really not. Kennedy and Johnson were Democrats when they napalmed and Agent Oranged Vietnam. Obama, Clinton, and Kerry were Democrats when they attacked weddings, funerals, and hospitals and left a trail of wrecked nations and new enemies from Ukraine to Libya.

Kennedy only sent military advisers to Vietnam. It was Johnson who sent in regular troops to Vietnam and Nixon who kept them their until the American public opinion caused him to get out of Vietnam. Bush got us into Iraq. Libya had long been a sore spot not only with the US but with our Allies as they were a training and breeding ground for terrorist.

 

[JackLuis]

Latest Dem shake-up is ‘Mitch McConnell’s worst nightmare’: CNN conservative

Appearing on CNN with host Jim Sciutto and Democratic strategist Paul Begala, conservative commentator A.B. Stoddard said the shake-up in the Democratic Party primaries that has seen former Vice President Joe Biden surging past Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) just made the Republican Party’s attempt to hold onto their Senate majority in the 2020 election exceedingly difficult.

“Steve Bullock would not have gotten in if Sanders was going to be the nominee which we thought on Saturday morning,” Stoddard explained. “This is Mitch McConnell’s worst nightmare.”

“Donald Trump may not appreciate the threat to the Senate Republican majority, but [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell certainly does. [Sen.] Thom Tillis in North Carolina, he’s not only below his Democratic rival, it is now officially a tossup race. [Sen.] Martha McSally in Arizona, below her Democratic rival. They’re going to have to spend tons of money on John Cornyn in Texas and [Iowa Senator] Joni Ernst.”

Well it seems Joe has done well!

 

[Veroe]

I'll be cautiously hopeful we can win the senate, but I've learned to never underestimate the democrats' capability of pulling demoralizing defeat out from the jaws of certain victory. Especially with someone as weak and vulnerable as Joe Biden being their standard bearer.

 

[JackLuis]

Schumer rips McConnell as ‘remarkably irresponsible’ for sending Senate home without passing Coronavirus Response Act

The federal government was not expected to pass emergency legislation to respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on Friday — despite Democrats and Republicans agreeing on a bill.

“Today, we will pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act after reaching an agreement with the Administration,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Friday evening. “This legislation builds on the action that House Democrats took last week to put #FamiliesFirst with our strong, bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency funding package.”

“I fully support H.R. 6201: Families First CoronaVirus Response Act, which will be voted on in the House this evening,” President Donald Trump tweeted, publicly giving permission for Republicans to back the legislation.

However the Party of NOPE! went home for the weekend.

There was just one problem, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had sent the Senate home for the weekend.

 

[JackLuis]

George Conway blames Trump’s GOP enablers for leaving ‘unfit’ president in office to botch pandemic response

In a tweet late Thursday, conservative attorney George Conway listed the name of every Republican in the Senate who voted to acquit Donald Trump during his impeachment trial and said they should be made to pay now that the country is in the throes of a pandemic that the administration has bungled since day one.

As Conway, husband of senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway wrote: ” .@realDonaldTrump actually can’t help that he’s intellectually, psychologically, and morally unfit for any public office. But there are 52 people who could’ve done something about it 5 weeks ago. No one should forget their responsibility, not this fall, in 2022 and 2024—or ever.”

R= reject on your ballot!

 

[KeithD]

George Conway blames Trump’s GOP enablers for leaving ‘unfit’ president in office to botch pandemic response



R= reject on your ballot!

SIX weeks ago was the Chinese wakeup call that it was time for the United States to prepare--a week before the Republicans in Congress thought that Trump's leadership for such a thing was just hunky-dory.

 

[JackLuis]

Chef José Andrés blasts Republican John Cornyn as a ‘disgrace to the great state of Texas’ over coronavirus

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) spent his Saturday afternoon minimizing the threat of coronavirus. The conservative lawmaker posted a picture of a bottle of Corona beer, poured into a small glass, complete with a lime.

“Be smart; don’t panic,” Cornyn urged. “We will get through this.”

Humanitarian and chef José Andrés blasted Cornyn’s message.
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“Senator John Cornyn you are disgrace to the great state of Texas….people are dying, people are scare, they don’t need bad jokes, but smart policy, an empathy, and reassuring them that they will be tested, that wil not be evicted from their homes,” he posted on Twitter.

He could have said, "In Trump We Trust!" and it would have been fine.

 

[JackLuis]

Senate To Take Up House Coronavirus Bill ... Sometime

After a long weekend at home, the Senate is coming back to work Monday and will get around to passing the House’s coronavirus relief package … sometime this week, probably. The House plan includes free coronavirus testing, paid sick leave for workers at companies with fewer than 500 workers (a huge hole, with 80% of workers at large companies), and stronger unemployment insurance. The House will issue a “technical correction” on Monday after its bill was put together quickly for passage early Saturday.

As for the Senate, Republicans are in no particular hurry, as that long weekend clearly showed, and are ready to pick some fights to further weaken what the bill does for workers. When you read that Sen. Ron Johnson is very concerned that giving people paid sick leave in a pandemic would be a bad idea because it might hurt businesses—even though the House bill includes a tax credit for the businesses to cover the sick leave—remember that just one senator can hold up a bill.

Party of NOPE! is nopping out of the fight.

Are you going to reelect them...NOPE!

 

[jaF0]

Graham, don't forget to dunk the Graham Cracker.

 

[jaF0]

That'd be kind of a cool anti-campaign ad. People dunking Graham Crackers in milk, some white, some chocolate with a caption ' Dunk Graham!'

 

[KeithD]

Oh, did Moscow Mitch allow the Senate to reconvene? What did he let them do today?

 

[JackLuis]

Louie Gohmert single-handedly holds up House coronavirus bill before it can be sent to Senate

Well the Senate is going to have to wait. Louie is frothing!

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Monday reportedly blocked “technical corrections” to a House coronavirus relief bill that was scheduled to be sent to the Senate.

Gohmert told Bloomberg’s Laura Litvan that he didn’t know if his concerns could be resolved in time to vote on the technical corrections on Monday.

I guess he want to make sure the Dem's arn't adding a clause that makes it mandatory that the Senate sacrifice it's Majority Leader in a volcano to appease Chrom!

 

[KeithD]

There's a U.S. Senate? So, what's it doing? Who again controls what it does? What party? What guy?