Chump Schumer Is On The Case
That’s not good news.
Chuck Schumer is the Senate Democratic Leader because that’s just how seriously the party takes Donald Trump as an ongoing and escalating threat. Schumer is consistently terrible at messaging and strategy, but I hear he has a tremendous singing voice.
Back in March, Schumer surrendered to Trump on a democracy-shredding funding bill. He insisted this was all part of a master plan to stand back while Trump kicked us in the teeth until his approval rating dropped low enough that Democrats could act without mussing their hair.
Schumer revealed this bold scheme in a March interview with The New York Times: “The last time [Trump] was president, which is the closest experience we have with him — and admittedly, the world has changed some, particularly on the media side, how it works — we kept pushing and pushing and pushing and chipping away. And when he went below 40 percent in the polls, the Republican legislators started working with us. He was at 51. He’s now at 48. We’re gonna keep at it until he goes below 40.”
I had at least 32 issues with the “getting kicked in the teeth” plan, but a few months have passed and Trump’s approval has reached historic lows. He’s now at 57 percent overall disapproval. Even 53 percent of men disapprove of the job he’s doing. He’s underwater on every major issue, including the economy and immigration. Trump’s numbers on inflation are similar to Joe Biden’s once he’d reached the torches and pitchforks phase of his presidency.
This is not the result of any effective “pushing and chipping away” from Democrats. They’ve just counted our teeth as they fall to the ground. However, maybe now, the time is finally ripe for Democrats to strike. Or not.
In the Semafor article, “Democrats try to defuse shutdown bomb,” Burgess Everett writes, “Senate Democrats are making a calculated gamble that cutting bipartisan spending deals this summer could save them from another politically painful shutdown fight this fall.”
Everett explains that although Democrats can still filibuster any GOP funding bill if they really tried, they are skittish over the consequences. You see, “shutdown fights aren’t exactly in their DNA,” but shutdown fights aren’t in anyone’s DNA as that’s not how the science works. Anyway, Democrats seemingly believe that rolling over for Republicans on some bipartisan spending deals “will inoculate them from September hardball and avoid the kind of take-it-or-leave-it jam they experienced in March.”
Presumably, Democrats believe making deals now will help them in the future when negotiating with some of the least honest people on Earth.
Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told Semafor, “My orientation now is to pass as many bipartisan bills as we can, so we don’t have to face an all-or-nothing bill in September.” King is the same living brain donor who voted for one of Trump’s horrible nominees upon the sage counsel of Josh Hawley, a noted insurrectionist and overall dirtbag.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said, “We are going to think about ways in which we can rebuild trust after rescissions” — but with whom? Working with Republicans like a chump isn’t restoring my trust. She told Semafor, “And you know, from my perspective, I’d like to make a bipartisan appropriations process work again.”
Baldwin adorably suggested that writing “bills that both parties can stand behind would make it actually harder for a partisan CR to be jammed through.” She has served in the Senate since 2013, so I assume she’d met Republicans.
“You can’t say you want a bipartisan process, which [Majority Leader John Thune] said yesterday, and at the same time, put rescissions on the floor, which is the antithesis of bipartisanship,” Schumer said, while Thune probably rolled around and laughed.
Schumer and other Senate Democrats should really stop using the word “rescission” and instead clearly state that Republicans are gutting funding for all sorts of critical programs, including foreign aid, education, and health care.
Obviously, Thune can say anything he wants, especially if Democrats remain this gullible. Back in the distant past of 2021, when Democrats were in the early days of their trifecta, Republicans were deliberately obstinate so that Democrats would have to pass party-line votes on almost everything. Then Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell held a press conference in June where he proclaimed “the era of bipartisanship is over” — clearly mocking President Biden’s attempts at unity.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal lamented that Republicans have “shown no respect for the norms or rules. It’s just partisan hardball and acting as Trump’s puppet.” He went on, “If Trump boasts about doing partisan, one-sided triumphs — as disastrous as they are for the country — there’s little room for bipartisan compromise. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try if it’s in the best interest of the country.”
No, this definitely means you should stop with the “bipartisan compromises,” which is never in the best interest of the country. Republicans are evil but they actually have enough conviction to advance their agenda without asking permission from Democrats. We need an opposition party that is focused on blocking MAGA, not making nice along the margins.
“Democrats want a bipartisan deal. We’re working together to get one. But the bottom line is, Republicans are making it much harder,” Schumer said.
This makes absolutely no sense. There is no reasonable deal you could make with these goons. You’ll only end up with egg on your face and blood on your hands. It’s far better to simply refuse to help Republicans break the country. That’s easier to sell to the public than explaining why you voted for a bill that you might’ve made slightly less terrible.
Schumer and like-minded Democrats talk about Republicans as if they’re slowly realizing who their actual enemies are only before forgetting again, like they’re under a magic spell. It’s tiresome to watch at this point. They need to get off the chump train, but I fear they’ll just huddle in the quiet car and wonder why a growing majority of voters think they’re useless.
I would love to hear a Democrat in the Senate say "this is some BULLSHIT. These people are lying and think you're stupid..." etc etc etc
Talk to people the way we talk to each other about this mess. My 82 year old mom says "fuck Trump" all the time, and she's a good Mexican Catholic lady. We are DONE.
The Senate needs some Crockett and AOC to juice them up. Good grief, what a bunch of wienies.
Yes, to all of it. Again. I don't expect any of our experienced elected Democrats to change. Still see fundraising emails sent out with Carville's name. I've been unsubscribing from these, something I rarely do. Democrats are trash (and still many levels above Republicans).