Connect with us

Mitch McConnell’s War On America’s Future

Published

on

The Senate GOP leader, Mitch McConnell, is doing everything he can to damage America’s security, both military and economic. McConnell has made his personal agenda clear: “Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term.”

As they say, “all’s fair in love and war,” and Senator McConnell has declared war on those who practice both.

Mitch McConnell and his Senate Republicans collectively signed a letter stating “tax and spending cuts must take priority over anything on the Democrats’ wish list, including allowing gays to serve in the military, ratifying a nuclear treaty, and extending jobless benefits.” They stated they would not allow any legislation to pass until the Bush tax cuts are extended for all Americans.

And now that it appears McConnell has succeeded in bankrupting our nation’s economic future by winning his tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires war, did we at least win even the promise of an up-or-down vote on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the DREAM Act, or even the START treaty?

Not even close!

We need to tell Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell: No “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” vote, no Senate Christmas recess! Sign the petition!

Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly writes that the GOP’s “unified front raised significant questions about the opportunity to pass other lame-duck priorities for Democrats, including the New START treaty, the National Defense Authorization Act that includes DADT repeal language and the DREAM Act.”

“Senior administration officials discussed the tax-cut framework with reporters this evening. Asked by Metro Weekly whether these other lame-duck legislative proposals possibly being considered were raised in the course of the negotiations on the tax-cut measure, a senior administration official said, “This was a deal simply to resolve the tax issue.”

“As such, it remains unclear whether Democrats will be able to get the necessary support from Republicans to proceed to debate the NDAA in the lame-duck session.”

Great. Especially when stopping the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is more important for McConnell than funding the United States military or giving our members of the armed forces (a measly) 1.4% pay raise. Tax cuts for 2% of the American people are more important than tax cuts for 98% of the American people. Borrowing $700 billion to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires is more important than funding the military’s $725 billion budget. And allowing Russia to continue its nuclear program without verification (Didn’t the GOP’s god-on-earth, Ronald Reagan, say, “Trust but verify?”) is more important than allowing President Obama to appear in control of foreign policy.

Despite his over-usage of his favorite phrase, “The American people want,” Mitch McConnell has no interest in doing what the American people want.

We know that 78% of the American people want “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repealed. That also includes, the majority of Democrats, the majority of conservatives, the majority of Independents, and even the majority of weekly church-going Christians.

We know that 53% of the American people want the Bush tax cuts to expire for households above $250,000.

We know that 73% of the American people want the Senate to ratify the START treaty with Russia.

We also know that the majority of our men and women in the armed forces have said loud and clear they couldn’t care less if they served with an openly-gay service member.

When Mitch McConnell says, as he did over the weekend, “It’s pretty clear taxes are not going up on anyone in the middle of this recession,” we should also remind the GOP leader that we are no longer in a recession, nor have we been since June, 2009.

Now McConnell says, “I don’t see how we can possibly finish the defense authorization bill, a two-week bill, wholly aside from these controversial items that are in it … before the end of the year.” In other words, strip the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal bill from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and we’ll see if we will pass it.

McConnell, it seems, doesn’t know how long it takes to debate the NDAA. In September, McConnell said, “The Defense authorization bill requires 4 or 5 weeks to debate.” Then, on Sunday he claimed it took two weeks.

Brian Beutler at TPM writes, “a senior Democratic aide went back 20 years and found that spending two weeks on the defense authorization bill is a rarity.”

“Since 1990, the Senate has never spent anywhere close to four or five weeks debating that bill. Four times it’s taken longer than seven days – thus approaching or exceeding the two week threshold.

“The Senate has spent five days (or fewer) debating the defense authorization bill nine times. And, once, back in the friendly days when Bill Clinton presided over majorities in the House and Senate, it took one day.”

Mitch McConnell has proven he will say anything to get what he wants, and what he wants is not what “The American people” want, but what Mitch McConnell wants.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Lied Through His Teeth’: Senator Warns RFK Jr. Undermining Vaccine Will ‘Kill’ Kids

Published

1 day ago

on

May 16, 2025

By

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is accusing Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying during his Senate testimony this week, and warning that the HHS chief’s efforts to destroy faith in the measles vaccine will lead to children dying.

“It’s not a small thing that Trump’s Cabinet thinks Congress and the American people are so dumb that they can tell brazen lies over and over. We can’t normalize this,” Senator Murphy urged.

“The way in which Trump and Trump’s cabinet lie through their teeth, unapologetically and brazenly, to Congress and the American people, is outrageous,” Murphy said in video (below) he posted online Friday. “And I really worry that we risk normalizing it by not calling it out when it happens.”

He called the exchange he had with RFK Jr. “maddening” and “heartbreaking,” and said the HHS Secretary “essentially says that he’s no longer recommending that families get the measles vaccine. That’s going to kill hundreds, if not thousands of kids in this country.”

Murphy then played a clip from Kennedy’s testimony (which NCRM covered earlier this week), and, he said, caught Kennedy in a lie.

RELATED: ‘None of That Is True’: RFK Jr. Fact-Checked Repeatedly in Heated Senate Hearing

“By the way,” Kennedy told Murphy, “I said at the [House] hearing this morning that I was recommending the measles vaccine,” and told him to “look at the transcript.”

“So guess what I did?” Murphy says. “I went and checked the House transcript. It’s hours of testimony. I and my staff watched all of it, and guess what? Nowhere, nowhere in that transcript does he say he recommends the measles vaccine.”

“He lied through his teeth, and he did it because all of these MAGA sycophants have gotten used to lying. Donald Trump does it all the time, so they think they can do it as well. But we can’t normalize this because you can’t run a country if your leaders are lying to you every single day,” the Connecticut Democrat warned.

“RFK Jr. doesn’t support the measles vaccine, and he shouldn’t pretend that he does. He undermines the vaccine on a daily basis and whether we like his conspiracy theory positions or not, he should just be honest with the American people. They should all be honest with the American people, and none of us should normalize or get used to this amount of lying.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’

Continue Reading

News

‘It Meant Assassination’: Trump Blasts ‘Dirty Cop’ Comey for ‘8647’

Published

1 day ago

on

May 16, 2025

By

President Donald Trump is attacking the FBI Director he fired, Jim Comey, who is reportedly under investigation  over a photo of sea shells formed into the numbers 8647. Top Trump law enforcement and intelligence officials claim it is a call for the assassination of the 47th President, although “86” is generally understood to mean “reject” or “eject,” and, since the 1930s, in restaurant parlance, has meant a menu item is unavailable.

“He knew exactly what that meant,” President Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview that will air Friday evening. “A child knows what that meant.”

“If you’re the FBI Director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination.’ And it says it loud and clear,” Trump alleged.

READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples

“Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant, and he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard because people like me, and they like what’s happening with our country. Our country’s become respected again,” the President claimed. “And he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”

Baier interjected, saying: “Obviously, he apologized and said he —”

“Well, he apologized because he was hit,” Trump also claimed. “Look, he’s a very bad —”

When asked what he wants to see happen to the former Director of the FBI, Trump said he did not want to weigh in, and would let his Attorney General handle it.

“I don’t want to take a position on it because that’s gonna be up to Pam [Bondi] and all of the great people, but I will say this. I think it’s a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that, if he had a clean history, he doesn’t.”

“He’s a dirty cop. He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I’m going to let them make that decision.”

READ MORE: ‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas

Trump Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Fox News on Thursday night she thinks Comey should go to prison for posting the “8647” photo.

Asked, “Do you believe Comey should be in jail?” Gabbard replied, “I do.”

“Any other person with the position of influence that he has,” she added, “people who take very seriously what what a guy of his stature, his experience, and what the propaganda media has built him up to be?”

“I’m very concerned for the president’s life. We’ve already seen assassination attempts,” she continued. “I’m very concerned for his life, and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.”

But others commenting via social media were quick to point to a number of “86” posts apparently made by right wing influencers and even a former member of Congress, as well as T-shirts for sale during the Biden years.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

 

Image via Reuters

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Mad King’: Trump Teases ‘Fourth’ Term to U.S. Troops Overseas

Published

2 days ago

on

May 15, 2025

By

During a rally-style appearance before uniformed U.S. troops in Qatar on Thursday, President Donald Trump—serving as their Commander-in-Chief—floated the idea of a “fourth” term and falsely claimed victory in the 2020 election he lost. The appearance drew swift criticism for blurring the line between military service and political theater.

“As you know, we won three elections, okay?” Trump told the largely silent troops (video below). “And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know—I’ll have to think about that.”

“You saw the new, the new hat. The hottest hat is, it says, ‘Trump 2028: We’re driving the left crazy.'”

“When you see that. We didn’t need that hat, but, uh, it was it’s been an amazing period of time,” he concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Significant Damage’: Walmart’s ‘Magnitude’ Warning to Consumers Spurs Trump Tariff Critics

Noting that Trump was speaking “at the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East,” CNN reported that the President “thanked the U.S. troops for political support.”

“There’s – nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us, nobody,” Trump said. “So, I just want to thank you all very much. Great honor. Thank you very much.”

CBS News national security coordinating producer Jim LaPorta, who has reported extensively on the military, wrote: “If this was a rally, the president’s remarks would be fine. But in front of service members who are expected to be apolitical, many Defense Department officials would find these remarks inappropriate.”

READ MORE: ‘Deeply Fascist’: Massive Banner of Trump on Government Building Sparks ‘North Korea’ Vibes

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein observed: “Treating the troops like they’re at a campaign rally and sowing doubt about the past and future of American elections — all in one soundbite.”

Democratic pollster and strategist Luke Martin called it “especially jarring to see Trump flirting with blowing a hole in the Constitution in front of an entire crowd of people who literally swore an oath to protect it with their life.”

Independent journalist Mike Rothschild noted: “Making a statement like this in front of active duty troops would have generated months of scandal, hearings, and resignations in years gone by. Now it’s just another Thursday with the Mad King.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: GOP Plan Redefines Dependent Child as ‘Under 7’—But Adds Loophole for Married Couples

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.