Republicans Are Damaged by Their Own Cruelty
1 hour ago
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
The Snapshot
Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Chuck Schumer needs to step down from party leadership, we need to be pointing out how Chump and his administration can be held accountable, we need to be pointing out how the Supreme Court cannot rewrite the Constitution -- the supreme of the land and a document that makes clear a president can be punished for breaking the law -- and John Roberts can be impeached for violating the Constitution, all that and much more.
I don't know where to start so let's start with Lawrence O'Donnell.
I don't know why Lawrence said what he said but he's wrong. Anyone can be wrong. I'm wrong all the time. But what bothered me was how he tried to use history as a club. But he treated history like a buffet where he grabbed some of this and some of that but ignored the bulk of it.
Guess what, I don't want to hear how hare life is from Chuck Schumer. He's had a pretty good life. And he's been well paid. What he's facing now, we're told by Lawrence, isn't like what LBJ faced or what so and so faced or . . .
When LBJ was Senator Majority Leader, he faced many new problems. The way Chuck does now. Stop pretending otherwise. This nonsense of, "It was easier for LBJ"? No it wasn't. Yes, I'm sure it bcomes progressively worse for each person in the position but none of them had it easy.
And don't give me the hearding cats nonsense -- we've heard forever and a day.
How about some real history? In 2017, Schumer became the Democratic Party leader of the Senate. In 2017. And he's been that -- whether as Majority Leader or Minority Leader -- ever since.
That's 8 years. Lawrence, you know history, you know that's not normal.
It wasn't normal for LBJ to do it either. LBJ did it for 8 years. It's time to phase Schumer out. Since LBJ's been out of the Senate, we've seen some struggle through ten years. They weren't ten glorious years. Leadership needs to rotated. Schumer has reached his sell-by date.
Lawrence wants to offer the Estein vote in the House as a good thing. I noted that in yesterday morning's snapshot.
We also need to grasp that there's a positive to this sell out.
That's not an excuse for it. This was a betrayal, absolutely.
But stream the video below.
I believe it's 48 days. That's how long ago Adelita Grijalva was elected to the US Congress. And Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to seat her still.
The cave means the House will have to go into session. That means Johnson has to swear Adelita Grijalva in. Which means she becomes the needed signature on the petition to force a floor vote in the House on releasing the Epstein files.
That's not why the betrayers sold us out over the weekend. Don't let them after-the-fact try to pretend that it is. But if one good thing comes of their betrayal, it will be that.
There was talk that Johnson was going to wait until the first week of December to bring the House back in session to protect Chump from the Epstein scandal. December 2nd, the 7th district in Tennessee holds a special election to fill a Congressional seat. The GOP thinks Matt Van Epps is going to beat Democrat Aftyn Behn. If that happens, Epps would cancel out Grijalva's signature.
I'm not trying to sell anyone on the betrayal being a good thing. But I am trying to point out one bright -- and unintended by the betrayers -- spot in this.
We need hope in these dark times. And I was happy to point out something hopeful. But I wasn't going to lie and pretend that's why Senate Dems betrayed us. Lawrence, via his presentation last night, appears to link the two as though they were a planned if-then action. They weren't.
Lawrence then wanted to insult every other Democrat in the Senate. When you claim no one else is qualified, no one can replace Schumer, that's what you're doing.
Senators Patty Murray, Ron Wyden, Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, Tammy Baldwin, Jack Reed, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Duckworth, Ruben Gallego . . . I'm sorry, I'm seeing 25 US senators who could easily slide into the position of Senate Majority Leader and do the job.
Schumer's had 8 years. And he started this year with people calling for him to be put out of that post. He knew that. He cancelled a book tour -- that's part of the deal, grasp that, a publishing house puts out your book because you've agreed to promote it -- because he was being called out by members of the Democratic Party.
He knew how they felt and he led the cave and don't give me that he didn't. He led it and he allowed it and it was what he wanted.
Voters want him gone and tht needs to happen. The party just stabbed us in the back. We need to see some accountability for that in order to restore any trust in party leadership.
He's had eight years, time to go. Step down. Let someone ele bring in some new ideas and try to offer better leadership.
What leadership has he offered?
He enjoys the title Democratic Party Leader of the Senate. He enjoys it as a yearbook credit. But he doesn't want to work for it or works as it. So step aside and let someone else step forward.
I disagree 100% with Lawrence on this and that doesn't make me happy. But we did put his video at the top and you can hear what he says.
For years, Donald Chump
palled around with sex traffickers and pedophiles Jeffrey Epstein and
Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein's dead now but that doesn't mean Chump can't
play footsie with Maxwell
Maxwell was
convicted in New York federal court in 2021 on five counts related to
sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Erin Mansfield (USA TODAY) notes, "Maxwell
was convicted in New York federal court in 2021 on five counts related
to sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison." But in July,
she ended up being transferred to Camp "Fed." Beatrice Peterson (ABC NEWS) observes, "The transfer followed Maxwell's two-day meeting in July with Blanche in Tallahassee, where her attorney said the two discussed 'about 100 names' associated with Epstein." Her story has only gotten more outrageous.
Documents
provided by a whistleblower show Ghislaine Maxwell has asked President
Trump to commute her sentence as prison employees suggest she has
received “concierge-style treatment” at a new facility where she is
being given custom meals and access to staff facilities.
The
request, revealed to House Judiciary Committee Democrats, comes after
Maxwell was transferred to a lower-security prison after she sat for two
days of questions with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche amid
increasing scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with the deceased sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The
documents also show Maxwell has received unusual perks within the
prison system since she was transferred out of a maximum-security
facility in Tallahassee, Fla., with one Bureau of Prisons employee
complaining they were “sick of having to be Maxwell’s b–ch.”
Among
the documents is an Oct. 5 email appearing to be from Maxwell to one of
her attorneys noting she is organizing a “commutation application.”
If
she's applying for her sentence to be commuted, someone in the
administration (Todd Blanche) has most likely indicated to her that this
was a possibility to pursue.
MAGA
you told the world Chump protected women -- in the face of all the
evidence to the contrary -- and you insisted he would release the
Epstein files and that he would provide justice for the victims of
sexual slavery, assault, et al. He lied to you. How's that feel?
Annie Grayer (CNN) reports US House Rep Jamie Raskin is demanding answers:
According
to information Raskin says was provided to him by a whistleblower,
Maxwell’s meals have been customized and delivered to her, and the
warden has awarded her special privileges – including arranging guests
to visit with computers, a security risk not typically allowed – and is
sending documents and emails on Maxwell’s behalf. For other inmates,
mail can take weeks to arrive or is often lost, Raskin said in the
letter, which was reviewed by CNN.
The
whistleblower also said Maxwell was given a service dog in training to
play with even though inmates and staff are not typically allowed to pet
service dogs in training, and she has been escorted to the prison
exercise area after hours by prison guards, according to the letter.
The
whistleblower told Democrats that one of the top officials at the
prison has complained that he is “sick of having to be Maxwell’s b*tch.”
The
white glove treatment being extended to convicted sex trafficker
Ghislaine Maxwell at a minimum security prison in Texas should prompt an
investigation into the facility’s warden, suggested MSNBC’s Ken
Dilanian on Monday morning.
Reacting to an NBC
report and a letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) that revealed that the
former associate of both pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump is
being given privileges that sound more like an extended resort stay and
less like criminal detention, the justice and intelligence correspondent
admitted he had never seen anything like it.
And let's jump to this section:
“This
letter says that she is being waited on hand and foot in the minimum
security prison camp where she is right now in Bryan, Texas,” Dilanian
began.“And let's remember she was moved to this prison camp after she
sat down for a bizarre and unusual interview with the Deputy Attorney
General, Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's former defense lawyer, where he
debriefed her about the Epstein case, even though he had no background
in that case.”
There
are rules and regulations. That they are being violated for her means
the order came down from on high. Chump has no respect for the law.
Few crooks do. Maxwell is a pedophile and a sex trafficker and she's
"being waited on hand and foot"? Makes you wonder exactly what she's
covering up for Donald to get these perks. US House Rep Jamie Raskin, in fact, asks
that question: “What information is Ms. Maxwell agreeing to suppress
in order to receive such outlandishly favorable treatment as a federal
prisoner and convicted sex offender?”
Jamie Raskin spoke with Lawrence last night. That segment has not been posted to YOUTUBE. He also spoke to MS NOW's THE WEEKEND yesterday and we'll note that.
The
long-awaited release of the Epstein files appears to be one step
closer, after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced on Monday that
Adelita Grijalva, the Representative-elect from Arizona, will be sworn
into office before the upcoming vote on legislation to reopen the
government.
Punchbowl News’
Jake Sherman was first to report Johnson’s announcement, and suggested
that the House could reconvene on Wednesday.
Grijalva’s
swearing in is expected to secure the 218th signature on a discharge
petition to release the long-awaited files. Johnson has been accused of
keeping the House in recess and not swearing her in to delay the release
of the files.
Grijalva was elected nearly
seven weeks ago. Last week on Tuesday, observing the six-week mark, she
accused Speaker Johnson of “obstruction.”
Chump may very well pardon Mawell.
That would be an abuse of power. I think you can make that argument regarding many of his pardons that he's already made. But the optic with Ghislaine Maxwell? Especially poor. And he can be punished for it.
The ludicrous claim that presidents can break laws? The Crooked Supreme Court didn't know what they're doing. Pardoning a convicted sex trafficker with no remorse? Letting her out into the public? That's a crime. And what the Supreme Court's forgotten is that they're not the final judge and jury of the president. John Roberts would love to be so he could continue to break the law on behalf of Chump.
But the Supreme Court can't impeach and they can't vote for removal from office.
Chump pardons Maxwell or commutes her sentence?
That's a high crime and misdemeanor. Maxwell's a pedophile. The rate of recidivism for child molesters if off the charts. So releasing her puts the public in jeopardy. It also is corruption. And all it takes is for enough members of the House to agree with that and to impeach him. Then the Senate can remove him from office.
Provided we have control of the Senate. I don't see that happening with Schumer as minority leader of the Senate.
The American people need to feel listened to and they need to feel represented.
Schumer has failed at that repeatedly this year.
And, by the way, when a group of attorneys want to challenge the Supreme Court's illegal verdict saying Chump can commit any action in his official duties and it's not a crime? All they need to do is point to the Constitution and point out that high crimes and misdemeanors are noted in that document, our supreme law of the land. That right there refutes their verdict. The Constitution itself acknowledges that the President of the United States can be charged with and punished for crimes.
D-d-d-did the Justices not grasp that?
Well that's grounds for impeachment of John Roberts. If he doesn't understand that the Constitution is a higher authority than he is, then he doesn't understand his job and isn't fit for it.
If he does understand that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, that means he willfully disregarded it and he can be impeached for that as well.
People need to be put on notice of what can happen. And the American people need to know that as well because these bleak times right now will end at some point. And those breaking the law right now can be punished regardless of what John Roberts and the five other crooks on the Surpeme Court say.
Chump's war on immigrants is addressed by Ava and myself in "Media: Un-American?" which went up at THIRD last night.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Murray on voting NO on legislation that doesn’t address premium hikes: “I believe we do need to address health care costs before we move forward. There is simply no time left to kick the can down the road when it comes to saving the ACA tax credits… No one should doubt for a single second who is to blame for skyrocketing health care costs: Republicans and Republicans alone.”
Senator Murray has been sounding the alarm on the looming health care cost cliff and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to extend the ACA tax credits for YEARS—FULL TIMELINE HERE
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor about President Trump and Republicans’ refusal to prevent Americans’ health care costs from spiking and about the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) and three-bill appropriations package that was released on Sunday and is expected to be voted on by the full Senate shortly.
Because of Republicans’ refusal to extend the ACA tax credits, 22 million Americans—including over 216,000 in Washington state—are seeing their health care costs for next year skyrocket. Premiums are more than doubling on average for people who buy health coverage on the exchange marketplaces (Washington Healthplanfinder in Washington state), and these higher costs will push 4.8 million people off their health insurance coverage over the next decade. A Washington-state specific fact sheet on the ACA enhanced premium tax credits is HERE.
A timeline detailing how Senator Murray has been fighting for years to extend the ACA tax credits, and calling on Republicans to come to the table and negotiate, is HERE.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below and HERE:
“Mr. President, like so many people in this country, I am outraged by the fact Republicans have refused to lift a finger to save so many families from the skyrocketing health care premiums all year long.
“And I voted no on last night’s vote because I believe we do need to address health care costs before we move forward. There is simply no time left to kick the can down the road when it comes to saving the ACA tax credits.
“We are already ten days into enrollment. Yet we have Republicans saying, ‘why should we stop premiums from skyrocketing when we never really wanted to lower premiums in the first place?’
“We have Republicans talking about going back to the good ole days of high-risk pools, which meant that people with cancer couldn’t get health insurance.
“We have Speaker Johnson bragging that Republicans strengthened health care by making the biggest cut to Medicaid in history! That’s like saying you strengthened a ship—by throwing the passengers overboard!
“And when Democrats offered a clean one-year extension of the tax credits—which is truly the most straightforward and common-sense thing we can do for people facing gigantic premium hikes this year—Republicans said ‘never, ever, ever, ever.’ They called it ‘political terrorism.’
“And to really put a fine point on it—they fired up the old bad ideas machine to try and find a new way to repeal the ACA.
“Republicans have gone from saying nothing about health care costs all year long, to saying ‘later, later, later,’ even after we are over a week into open enrollment and wasting every bit of time we had for real negotiations. Then—incredibly—Republicans started saying: ‘let’s scrap the Affordable Care Act altogether, let’s end protections for pre-existing conditions.’
“By refusing to work with Democrats on a solution before open enrollment started, Republicans have already pushed millions of Americans off the health care cliff.
“The only question was—and is—could we throw them a rope back up? Could Congress get something done and stem some of the bleeding Republicans have already caused?
“Yes! By passing a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits. But right away, Republicans said they wouldn’t even consider it.
“I believe that we should keep pressing on that fight, as time is of the essence and the clock has nearly run out.
“The reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference on the health care premiums. And I don’t believe there is some magical date set in stone, but Mr. President, that’s coming up pretty fast. It’s pretty much now or never—and Republicans are essentially saying ‘never’ to stopping the worst of the MAGA health care hike.
“Now here’s the important thing: This fight is far from over—because I, and many of us, have no intention of letting Republicans off the hook. No one should doubt for a single second who is to blame for skyrocketing health care costs: Republicans and Republicans alone.
“When families across America are paying the price that they will see for Republican inaction every month, I’ll make sure every single one of them remembers: the same Republicans who did everything in their power to make tax breaks for billionaires permanent, refused to even negotiate one year of health care tax credits for our working families, at a tiny fraction of the cost.
“Unfortunately, here we are, and it seems clear Republicans are feeling no urgency to act on health care before it’s too late—even a quick, simple extension to help families.
“But Mr. President, I want to be clear. While I cannot vote for this overall deal today, not when we still need to address health care, I do absolutely support the appropriations bills and CR that we will move forward—which do take meaningful steps to reject drastic cuts and extreme policies pushed by both Trump and House Republicans and make sure that Congress—not Trump—is in charge of federal spending.
“It is important that Democrats were at the table on the CR and our first three funding bills, and used our spot at that table to fight for hardworking families in America.
“The difference is clear in the sharp contrast between the bills we released yesterday, and the bills written by the House Republicans and the budget put forward by President Trump.
“In our bills, Democrats were able to secure real wins for folks back home, and fight off [painful], senseless cuts, and extreme policy.
“On the CR, we made sure to protect federal workers, both by ensuring that they receive backpay they are owed—something that has been debated extensively—and by reversing the punitive RIFs done by this administration… and blocking them from doing more this year.
“In the Agriculture appropriations bill, while Trump and House Republicans fought to make steep cuts to WIC that would have seriously cut benefits for millions of women and kids, we successfully fought together to keep WIC fully funded.
“This bill ensures that seven million moms and babies will get the full nutrition benefits they rely on.
“We also sustained key investments in our rural communities. Because we rejected a Trump funding takeover, we protected housing support in rural communities, and vital agriculture research happening across the country, including in my home state of Washington at WSU.
“We stopped Trump from blowing a truly massive hole in FDA’s budget—which would have slowed drug approvals, and seriously endangered our food supply.
“None of this is inconsequential—all of this matters.
And I want to thank Chair Hoeven and Ranking Member Shaheen for all of their good work on that vital bill for our communities.
In the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs bill we were able to secure funding to ensure that we are taking care of our veterans and our servicemembers.
“And ensure that this administration keep its promises to our veterans by ensuring staffing of critical services such as the crisis hotline centers. I want to thank Chair Boozman and Ranking Member Ossoff for all their good work on this critical bill for our veterans and servicemembers.
“And lastly, on the Legislative Branch bill, while it is smallest bill, it covers the important needs of this institution. From protecting GAO, and CBO, the Architect of the Capitol, our Capitol police and other agencies that actually make this place work.
“To make sure our offices have what they need to take care of our constituents and keep our campus safe. We should all appreciate the hard work that went into completing that bill. And I want to thank Chair Mullin and Ranking Member Heinrich for all their work on that important bill and the critical matters within it to every senator in this chamber.
“Now, obviously those are not the bills I would’ve written on my own. I have concerns we were not able to address in these bills, and Republicans were not open to some of them.
“But I still want to do more, Mr. President, when it comes to delivering critical investments for our communities in our country. And I will—as always—keep pushing my colleagues every day.
“But we did secure real wins for folks back home when Democrats and Republicans were able to sit down at the table together on funding. And they are immeasurably better than Trump and Vought holding the pen—which is what the slush fund CR that we have been operating on this year has allowed.
“I am proud of what we have been able to negotiate to protect key programs families and communities rely on, and protect our authority as lawmakers who are here to be a voice for our constituents.
“I want to emphasize that I really appreciate the work of my counterpart, the senior Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, who has done incredible work on all these bills. I want to thank our subcommittee chairs and ranking members, and all of our staff who worked hard to put these bills together.
“And I want to make clear I deeply appreciate the partnership of my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee who’ve all worked in good faith during these very difficult times and these very difficult negotiations.
“No matter what, these bills need to get done—and our staff put in late nights, and our Chairs and Ranking Members held countless conversations to compromise and work towards solutions.
“I hope to continue building on that progress, and showing what it does look like when we come together and put families before politics.
“I look forward to getting our next minibus up on the floor to move multiple needs bills along that we have marked up in the Committee and get those to conference. And I hope we can be on that package as soon as possible.
“And I look forward to the Senator from Maine and working to get those final bills completed so they too can be conferenced with the House as soon as possible. And I want to thank all of our Committee members and our staffs for their incredible work on these critical bills. We have a lot of work ahead and I know we can get there.
“Passing full-year funding bills ensure[s] that Congress—not Trump or Russ Vought—decides how taxpayer dollars are spent. We should not turn the keys over to Trump and his cabinet secretaries, allowing them to make unilateral cuts and to shift funding around how they please.
“Every day, they prove in some new way how critical it is that Congress assert its authority, and rein in their chaos—and I will continue working to do that on the Appropriations Committee.
“But I will, Mr. President, need to continue fighting to stop the MAGA health care hike for as long as there is still time left on this clock to fix this.
“The reality is, there is a point where it will be too late to make a meaningful difference.
“But until we reach that point of no return—we do have to fight tooth and nail to force Republicans to actually work with us on that issue.
“And because, in this package, Republicans have [refused] to address the health care crisis families are facing right now—a crisis that gets worse, and harder to fix every single day—I will be voting no.
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The following sites updated:
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Our Fat Coward Donald Chump7 hours ago
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Weekend Box Office7 hours ago
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Media: Un-American?7 hours ago
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Chuck betrays us and 'dummymandering'7 hours ago
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Chump's makeup, Ken Burns' distortions7 hours ago
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Let's all be happy when Chump rages7 hours ago
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Monday, November 10, 2025
The Snapshot
Monday, November 10, 2025. Chuck Schumer leads a betrayal that demonstrates he is not fit to be the party's leader in the Senate, what the betrayal means for the party and the voters, the one possible bright spot of the betrayal, Chump's insanity's on full display as he continues attempting to con the American people, and much more.
It is time for Senator Chuck Schumer to step aside as the Democratic Party's leader in the US Senate. He needs to do so immediately.
Why?
Senate Dems have caved on healthcare. Yesterday, Catie Edmondson and Michael Gold (NEW YORK TIMES) report:
The Senate on Sunday night took the first step toward ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history, after a group of Democrats broke their party’s blockade and voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government.
The 60-to-40 vote paved the way for the spending agreement to begin making its way through Congress, where it would still need to be debated and passed by the Senate, win approval in the House and be signed by President Trump to bring the shutdown to a close.
Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted to advance the measure, which would fund most federal agencies through January. That indicated there were enough votes to end weeks of gridlock that has shuttered the government for 40 days, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed, millions of Americans at risk of losing food assistance and millions more facing air travel disruptions.
But the deal prompted a quick and fierce backlash among Democrats, many of whom were livid that their colleagues had backed down from the party’s central demand in the shutdown fight: the extension of health insurance subsidies that are slated to expire at the end of the year, sending premiums soaring for millions of Americans.
It should prompt a huge backlash. Saturday, at THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, Robert Kuttner explained what was going on:
Most commentators, including me, concluded that the Tuesday election victory saved Democrats from capitulating to Republican demands to pass a simple continuing resolution to reopen the government, in exchange for vague assurances of a vote on Affordable Care Act subsidies that amount to nothing. But my reporting finds that at the Thursday meeting of the Senate Democratic caucus, two days after the election, Democrats very nearly capitulated once again.
Here’s what occurred. It has been widely assumed that the group of eight mostly centrist Senate Democrats, who have been looking to broker a hollow deal on Republican terms, were freelancing. In fact, they were acting with the express approval of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and were reporting to him daily.
At Thursday’s meeting, they told their caucus colleagues that they now had ten votes to reopen the government in exchange for no real Republican concessions. At that, much of the rest of the caucus went ballistic, and some of the supposed ten said that, in fact, they were not willing to vote for any such deal.
The leaders of the proposed Democratic cave-in, Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, both of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, then backed down. Only after that did Schumer go public with his proposal to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of the ACA subsidies, along with a bipartisan commission to figure out a long-term solution.
Chuck is not a leader and needs to give up his title. Emine Yücel (TPM) notes:
After 40 days of the government shutdown, a small — but large enough — group of Democrats has caved. For more than a month, the party incessantly demanded Republicans get on board with its effort to protect expiring Obamacare subsidies, preventing significant premium hikes for millions of Americans. But on Sunday, several Senate Democrats broke ranks with their caucus, setting in motion an end to the shutdown without a promise of extending said tax credits.
Sens. Angus King (I-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) voted in favor of the continuing resolution (CR) following the bipartisan deal.
[. . .]
The House Democratic leader almost immediately expressed his frustration with the deal after it became public, saying he will not be supporting the bill the Senate is expected to pass in the coming days.
“House Democrats have consistently maintained that bipartisan legislation that funds the government must also decisively address the Republican health care crisis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a Sunday statement. “It now appears that Senate Republicans will send the House of Representatives a spending bill that fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits … We will fight the GOP bill in the House of Representatives.”
What a list of losers. John Fetterman who was Bernie's man and the dream of Justice "Democrats" (Socialists too scared to cop to it). Then there's corporatist Jeanne Shaheen. I will never forget being at the DNC 2008 convention and people in the party structure laughing at Amy Goodman who sat down with Shaheen and promoted her as this great leftist. She was nothing of the sort and party big whigs laughed at Amy Goodman and her stupidity. Laugh or cry? Senator Dick Durbin will be remembered for one thing only during his overly long time in the US Senate. Crying.
That's all he ever did: Cry like baby.
What a bunch of losers one and all.
And the biggest loser? Chuck Schumer.
I haven't trashed Chuck or even called him out much over the years. That's in part because Senator Harry Reid refused, following the 2006 mid-terms, to rally the Senate to end the Iraq War. Because Reid was a man, the leftians of the internet back then protected him. I was at the conference/mass interview, Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House, provided to THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. And I covered it here. We delivered both house of Congress to the Democratic Party. So why was the Iraq War continuing? Nancy explained she did her part. The House lined up to end it. She suggested that the reporters assembled ask then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid why he didn't do the same in the Senate? Harry Reid was trash and mixed up with the mob. That goes back to the days when there were hearings on Frank Sinatra. Harry repeatedly popped up in all of that. He was corrupt as hell and he destroyed the Democratic Party's efforts to end the Iraq War.
So after Harry thankfully stepped down (a little after that incident with the hustler that left Harry injured), anything would have been an improvement. And I honestly beliee that Chuck accomplished a number of things as Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader.
But this has not been a good year fr him and we can't afford him.
From the March 18th snapshot:
Another disappointment is the Senate Minority Leader and that call is probably one that those of us who are Democrats can all agree on. Last week, Robert Kuttner (TAP) explained:
For three days, Senate Democrats privately debated whether to support a House-passed continuing resolution (CR) keeping the government funded through September 30, or to block it with a filibuster, thus letting the government temporarily shut down.
At midweek, it looked as if Chuck Schumer had devised a deft plan: Propose an alternative resolution to keep the government open for 30 days and send that back to the Republican House. That way, if the House did not go along, the shutdown would be on the Republicans.
On Wednesday, Schumer emerged from two days of meetings to declare that the caucus was unified against the Republican six-month resolution and supporting the 30-day plan instead.
But it turned out that he was simply floating the idea to keep Senate progressives happy. He was confident that the more centrist Democrats would reject the idea and vote cloture to end a filibuster and send the six-month continuing resolution to President Trump. In a more sinister maneuver, he would allow Republicans to end debate on their CR in exchange for a vote on the 30-day resolution—a vote that would fail, leaving Republicans able to pass their bill by majority vote.
[/ / /]
Marin Scotten (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:
Democrats are turning on Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi is leading the charge.
Schumer announced Thursday he would vote to pass Trump’s disastrous budget bill to avert a government shutdown, flipping on his own party just 24 hours after he signaled he would vote against the bill. Pelosi issued a statement the next day urging Senate Democrats not to follow his lead.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk offered the Congress a false choice between a government shutdown or a blank check that makes a devastating assault on the well-being of working families across American,” Pelosi said in a statement.
“Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable,” Pelosi continued, referencing Schumer’s betrayal. “I salute Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his courageous rejection of this false choice, and I am proud of my colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their overwhelming vote against this bill.”
The GOP bill would gut funding for health care, increase military spending, and fund mass deportation. It narrowly passed the Republican-led House, with just one Democrat voting to pass. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would give Trump and Elon Musk a “carte blanche” to gut federal services. Pelosi disagreed.
There is no excuse for caving. Not in these times. Every day, Democrats get up and fight for this country -- that's every day actions by everyday Democrats. And they need to see their officials doing the same damn thing.
Prior to her uncommitted nonsense, I liked Rashida Tlaib and I defended her here and we reposted anything her office sent. I don't care for her now, you don't stab a party in the back. She is responsible for Donald Chump getting back in the White House.
And THE DAILY SHOW made fun of her recently.
It didn't go up here. Would have loved for it to but it didn't.
They made fun of her and others for using the auction paddles during Chump's speech.
I was not a fan of the auction paddles. But that 'joke' or 'commentary' didn't go up here because it was a few Democrats trying to do something. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't.
But they tried it and I will applaud them for that -- even Rashida.
Americans need evidence that there's a point, a reason, to keep fighting.
I can sit outside all day by the pool. Someone else can lose themselves in books or watching television or just tuning out. If we're on our own, if our officials aren't going to do a damn thing, that's probably what we should do for our own sanity.
And the minute we do that right now, the republic has ended.
So we don't need Democratic officials selling us out or doing nothing.
Try something and make a mistake? Fine. We all learn that didn't work and then try something else.
But if you're actually trying something, I'm not going to throw eggs and rotten fruit at you.
Chuck did nothing, he tried nothing. He just collapsed and he does need to go.
[. . .]
But Chuck Schumer isn't just any elected official. He is a US senator. In terms of prestige, that's only below the president -- and, in the past, a Supreme Court justice.
And he's not just any senator, he's the Minority Leader.
He is the face of Democratic leadership and he failed and he demoralized.
This is not a minor issue. You inspire the troops, not enrage them.
Chuck has not spent the last months rallying Democrats across the country. That's what you've done, that's what I've done. Chuck hasn't done it.
In fact, he hasn't done s**t.
But you worked your butt off as did I. And last week, on Tuesday, we saw our work pay off.
Those huge victories.
All Chuck Schumer has done is betray the party and feed anger towards the party.
If you were part of the effort to turn out the vote, you know how hard it was. You met the voters who said that the Democrats weren't doing anything and they weren't going to do anything.
Schumer's cave over the weekend means it's going to be that much harder to turn out voters in 2026.
He should have built on the energy from Tuesday, tht's what a leader does. Instead, his actions tell us that Tuesday didn't matter to him -- those victories don't mean anything to him.
He's lost the ability to lead, if he ever had it. He needs to step down. His betrayal hurts the party.
He's also become a lousy communicator. During the shutdown, where was he? He couldn't even manage to issue press releases (plural) on the shutdown. He didn't even try to shape the message. One press release on the longest shutdown ever?
That's all he offered.
And he failed here as well because if he was going to cave, he needed to be out front explaining to the party why that was, explaining to the voters, why that was.
He doesn't feel he owes us loyalty or even an explanation. He's the perfect mate for Donald Chump, but he's the worst leader our party could have right now. He needs to be eased out of leadership immediately. They can go with someone older or younger or the same age, but he needs to leave. The party needs to make sure that happens because only his departure at this point will give any hope to voters going into the 20026 election.
What is the point of a voter fighting and giving everything they have to give when the response is Chuck Schumer sells them out?
The betrayal has taken place and it's not going to be walked back. So there need to be consequences.
We also need to grasp that there's a positive to this sell out.
That's not an excuse for it. This was a betrayal, absolutely.
But stream the video below.
I believe it's 48 days. That's how long ago Adelita Grijalva was elected to the US Congress. And Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson refuses to seat her still.
The cave means the House will have to go into session. That means Johnson has to swear Adelita Grijalva in. Which means she becomes the needed signature on the petition to force a floor vote in the House on releasing the Epstein files.
That's not why the betrayers sold us out over the weekend. Don't let them after-the-fact try to pretend that it is. But if one good thing comes of their betrayal, it will be that.
There was talk that Johnson was going to wait until the first week of December to bring the House back in session to protect Chump from the Epstein scandal. December 2nd, the 7th district in Tennessee holds a special election to fill a Congressional seat. The GOP thinks Matt Van Epps is going to beat Democrat Aftyn Behn. If that happens, Epps would cancel out Grijalva's signature.
I'm not trying to sell anyone on the betrayal being a good thing. But I am trying to point out one bright -- and unintended by the betrayers -- spot in this.
Fat and crazy Donald Chump's had another embarrassing moment. Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) notes:
President Donald Trump, 79, enthusiastically shared a screenshot on Sunday from a website that has clearly labeled its content as complete and utter fiction. “WOW!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accompanied by a screenshot of a post that read: “DOGE halts yearly payment of $2.5 million to Barack Obama for “royalties linked to Obamacare.’ Obama has collected this payment since 2010, for a total of $40 million in taxpayer dollars’.” This is indeed completely false—something the current president did not disclose when he posted it. The source of the story, the Dunning-Kruger Times, has a pretty clear explanation on its site. “Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real,” a disclaimer from the outlet reads. “If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.”
Big fatty combing the internet to find something to rage over, anything, and immediately believing it. He's they typical over-75 y.o. FOX "NEWS" viewer. All the more reason that the idiot shouldn't be president. And he's fat, he's morbidly obese, his efforts at creating rage are just going to march him off to a massive stroke all the faster. Chump wasn't the only one spreading lies. Peter Wade (ROLLING STONE) observes, "Meanwhile, Trump administration officials took to the Sunday news shows to spread the message of good economic cheer. But actual economic indicators, such as the 3 percent inflation the U.S. saw in September, point to rising prices, although it wasn't as bad as the 3.1 percent economists had predicted. When Trump first announced his tariffs in April, inflation was at 2.3 percent. In September alone, consumer prices rose .3 percent, and prices increased for four of the six major grocery store food groups. We won't know the October numbers until Nov. 13."
Reality is very clear about Chump's failing economy. Mary Walrath-Holdridge (USA TODAY) reports:
Fast food chain Wendy's is planning to close hundreds more stores just a year after shuttering 140 locations.
Interim CEO Ken Cook told investors in a Friday, Nov. 7, quarterly earnings call that the company would be closing a "mid single-digit percentage" of locations. With around 6,000 locations still operating nationwide, this would amount to roughly 240 to 360 stores. One investor estimated the number at about 300 locations during the call. "When we look at the system today, we have some restaurants that do not elevate the brand and are a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective," said Cook. "The goal is to address and fix those restaurants."
Shay Johnson (PENNY GEM) notes, "Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, is planning to close about 60 stores over the next year and a half. These locations, which represent around 2% of the company’s total stores, are mostly ones that have been performing poorly. The decision highlights how the grocery business is changing as people shop differently, costs rise, and competition grows tougher." BUZZ60 notes, "Winn-Dixie, a staple of Southern grocery shopping for generations, is facing its most dramatic shift in decades. In October, parent company Southeastern Grocers (SEG) announced plans to close or sell 40 stores—32 Winn-Dixie and 8 Harveys Supermarkets—across Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi by year’s end."
So that's eateries and grocery stores, what about retail? Dominick Reuter, Sarah Jackson, Sarah Perkel, Brent D. Griffiths and Jordan Hart (BUSINESS INSIDER) report:
A Business Insider tally of disclosures from 16 retail chains found that more than 3,700 stores have closed or are set to close across the US so far in 2025.
The current number is up from last year's total and 2023, when the collapse of Bed Bath & Beyond contributed to the shuttering of more than 2,800 locations, by Business Insider's count.
UBS analysts estimated last year that US retail closures could reach 45,000 stores by 2029, primarily due to smaller stores going out of business.
As this more evidence piles up, Chump lies to the people. And some let him et away with it. There's one area where his lies don't work. Groceries. As SV Date (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:
President Donald Trump’s relentless lying finally appears to have encountered a problem it cannot overcome: grocery prices, which, in large part because of his tariffs, have been rising nearly twice as quickly as they had under predecessor Joe Biden.
“Grocery prices are way down,” the president has been saying, time after time after time after time, for months, including twice on Thursday and once again on Friday.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement on a deal to fund the government without lowering health care costs.
“I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable. The fight to lower costs is a righteous fight, and we must not give it up.
“Republicans in Congress extended tax breaks for billionaires and billionaire corporations, but they refused to extend tax credits to lower health insurance premiums for millions of working people. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.
“Donald Trump has made clear that he is willing to hurt people—hungry children, federal employees, working families—in order to get his way. The wannabe king may declare victory today, but Americans will remember his actions.
“While Trump and Republicans inflict more pain on people, Democrats’ most important job is to fight back. We will keep fighting to fix our broken health care system and lower costs for working people, but a vote for this legislation is a mistake.”
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