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Senate Democrats Threaten Paying for Trump’s Wall May Force Government Shut Down

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Defunding Planned Parenthood Also a ‘Poison Pill’

Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate are telling Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he and other GOP leaders need to avoid demanding funding for President Trump’s border wall or any type of “poison pill” rider on the budget bill as conditions for funding the U.S. government. 

A letter sent Monday, according to the AP, by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and fellow Democratic Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), warned, “We believe it would be inappropriate to insist on the inclusion of (wall) funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed for the Republican majority in control of the Congress to avert a government shutdown so early in President Trump’s administration.” 

The letter goes on to raise the point that the president had made a campaign promise to build the wall but without delivering a satisfactory means by which to pay for it other than his claims that Mexico would pay for it. The President “has not detailed where he thinks the wall should be built, how his plan will be constructive and how Mexico will pay for it despite his insistence that Mexico will fund the border wall.” The government of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto had responded to Trump’s claims with Peña-Nieto delivering a fiery address at the end of January, in which he said his country will never pay for the wall on its northern border, and added that “Mexico offers and demands respect.”

Schumer, and his fellow Democrats, implicitly also threaten a filibuster showdown in the letter which would result in a potential government shutdown if the GOP attempt to attach the wall or other controversial Trump agenda items to the must-do legislation. The Democrats drew a line at such items as defunding Planned Parenthood or anything in the omnibus government spending bill that would “roll back protections for our veterans, environment, consumers, and workers and prohibit funds for critical healthcare services for women through Planned Parenthood.”

“We believe it would be inappropriate to insist on the inclusion of such funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed for the Republican majority in control of the Congress to avert a government shutdown so early in President Trump’s Administration,” wrote Schumer.

According to a White House source, cuts to the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, and TSA budgets are needed as sources for funding the president’s wall.

A Congressional source told NCRM that the battle-lines being drawn over the Republican budget process also mirrors Democrats frustrations with the GOP over the Affordable Care Act repeal and replace efforts coupled with concerns over the draft proposals on the budget being considered by the administration. 

The White House FY2018 budget request proposal for example, dramatically increases spending for the Defense Department to around $54 million, however, it rolls back spending for the EPA, the Transportation Safety Administration, and a $1.3 billion cut to the US Coast Guard, which would negatively impact the Coast Guard’s missions which include border security. 

A Coast Guard official told NCRM Monday that the service’s 2016 seizures [at sea] of 201 metric tons of cocaine and 52,613 pounds of marijuana, amounted to more than three times the quantity of cocaine seized by the U.S. Border & Customs Protection agents last year. The official also indicated that Coast Guard units detained 6,346 undocumented migrants.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Image by Senate Democrats via Flickr and a CC license 

 

 

 

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Trump Appeared Unaware His Budget Bill Cuts $1T From Medicaid: Report

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President Donald Trump reportedly appeared to be unaware that the Republican budget legislation, formerly his “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” cuts approximately $1 trillion from Medicaid. In a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Trump told moderate Republicans not to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security.

“Trump still doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp about what his signature legislative achievement does,” NOTUS reports. “According to three sources with direct knowledge of the comments, the president told Republicans at this meeting that there are three things Congress shouldn’t touch if they want to win elections: Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”

The legislation not only cuts $1 trillion from Medicaid, it effectively forces cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare, and takes a large chunk—also possibly hundreds of billions—out of SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The President has repeatedly vowed he will not touch Medicaid.

And as recently as Tuesday, Trump wrote: “Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Benefits are not being cut, but are being STRENGTHENED and PROTECTED from the Radical and Destructive Democrats by eliminating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse from those Programs.”

READ MORE: ‘Every Reason to Be Scared’: Strategist Worried Trump Could Try to Rig or Cancel Midterms

“As the President has said numerous times, there will be no cuts to Medicaid,” a June 29 White House memo claimed. “The One Big Beautiful Bill protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it—pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families—while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.”

That memo also claimed, “Medicare has not been touched in this bill— absolutely nothing in the bill reduces spending on Medicare benefits.”

At least 17 million people will lose health care coverage due to the bill’s cuts, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

READ MORE: ‘Special Place in Hell’: Top Dem Slams ‘Cult’ of ‘People Who Take Food Away’ From Kids

Critics blasted the President.

“No matter how far into physical or mental decline he was, there was never a single moment in Biden’s presidency that he appeared to be as checked out about what his administration was doing as Trump appears to be about this bill,” wrote Yahoo Finance reporter Jordan Weissmann.

“Imagine for a moment if Joe Biden did not know at a basic level of generality what the signature piece of legislation he was attempting to pass contained. The media outrage would be measured on the Richter scale but oddly, Trump is not held to this standard,” added another social media user.

And Bloomberg columnist Matthew Yglesias made this request: “Can a reporter ask Trump to explain what Medicaid is? Does he know?”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Block NYC Democratic Mayoral Nominee He Calls a ‘Communist Lunatic’

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Every Reason to Be Scared’: Strategist Worried Trump Could Try to Rig or Cancel Midterms

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In a stark warning, a top, veteran Democratic strategist says he believes President Donald Trump could try to rig or cancel the 2026 midterm elections, to retain control of Congress.

“I don’t put anything past him, nothing,” James Carville told former CNN reporter Jim Acosta, as The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday. “To try to call the election off, to do anything he can. He can think of things like that that we can’t because we’re not accustomed to thinking like that.”

The Beast noted that “Carville is so convinced that Trump will rig the midterm elections that he’s already started sounding the alarm.”

“You know people come up to me all the time and say, ‘James. I’m really scared,’” Carville told Acosta on “The Jim Acosta Show” (video below).

READ MORE: ‘Special Place in Hell’: Top Dem Slams ‘Cult’ of ‘People Who Take Food Away’ From Kids

“I said, ‘you should be, you have every reason to be scared. Don’t kid yourself,’” Carville added.

“This is scary s—!” Acosta replied.

“Yeah, it’s really scary,” responded Carville. “Really scary.”

The conversation was sparked by a viewer’s question.

“They want to know,” Acosta said, “Do you worry about vote tampering in the midterms?”

“Do you worry,” the host continued, “about Donald Trump and Stephen Miller and some of these types monkeying around with the midterms and the way we do elections in this country?”

READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Block NYC Democratic Mayoral Nominee He Calls a ‘Communist Lunatic’

“In the short word, yes, in the longer word, very,” Carville said.

He went on to suggest that Democrats will do well in the governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey, which will be held this November.

“I think what may happen is he’ll see the writing on the wall in Virginia,” Carville continued. “This is what I think is gonna happen. In New Jersey, also. He’s going to see retirements and people are going to start coming in and saying, ‘you know we’re getting ready to lose. I got to change, and I got to get some distance,’ and he’s going to see all that coming and I don’t put anything past him.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘This Is Fascism’: Trump Sparks Fury After Calling to Deport U.S. Citizens

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‘Special Place in Hell’: Top Dem Slams ‘Cult’ of ‘People Who Take Food Away’ From Kids

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U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the Ranking Member of the powerful House Rules Committee, blasted his Republican colleagues for their support of President Donald Trump’s budget bill that will cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, hundreds of billions from Medicare, and greatly reduce the food program known as SNAP—also by hundreds of billions—while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

As the House began voting on the legislation on Wednesday, giving members just one hour for debate in a rush to meet the President’s July 4 deadline, Rep. McGovern took to the floor.

The Massachusetts Democrat denounced Republicans’ “attack” on SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “You can live without a lot of things, but you can’t live without food,” he reminded his GOP colleagues.

Speaking to “those Republicans who think that it’s okay to give [billionaire] Jeff Bezos a tax cut, and at the same time, cut food benefits for struggling families,” McGovern declared, “we don’t share the same values.”

READ MORE: Trump Threatens to Block NYC Democratic Mayoral Nominee He Calls a ‘Communist Lunatic’

“Unloading billions of dollars in new costs on states, money they do not have, will force them to cut benefits and throw needy people off of SNAP. It is a rotten thing to do,” he added.

“And I believe there’s a special place in hell for people who take food away from veterans, from seniors, from children, from foster youth, and from hungry families. This is sick. This is disgusting.”

He called the rushed floor vote “legislative malpractice.”

READ MORE: ‘This Is Fascism’: Trump Sparks Fury After Calling to Deport U.S. Citizens

“We are not on a deadline,” he reminded House members. “No looming crisis.”

“We’re here because Donald Trump wants a Fourth of July party to celebrate this garbage bill. He wants fireworks and flags and cameras, not for this country, but for himself. So he says, ‘Close your ears, close your eyes, and vote for this bill.’ Honestly, sounds more like a cult than a Congress to me.”

After listening to a Republican—who was standing next to a big poster of President Donald Trump and fireworks—call for members to support the bill, McGovern declared, “Cult much?”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Surrounded by Sharks’: After Touring ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Trump Vows to Renovate Original

 

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