Democrats need a war time consigliere. Chuck Schumer ain’t it.
Schumer announced last night that he would cave to the convicted felon Donald Trump and the unelected bureaucrat Elon Musk on a bill to fund the government. This is a terrible mistake and it shows that Schumer is not the man for the times.
Schumer had his reasons. His point is that a shutdown would give Trump/Musk even more power to decide what are essential government services. He claims they actually want the government to shut down. And on top of that, they’ll blame Democrats.
It’s not an unreasonable position. But at some point Democrats have to turn and fight. If not here, then where? The bill Schumer will vote for essentially rubber stamps Musk’s chainsaw mayhem. This is the only leverage point, the only foothold, the Democrats have for the foreseeable future. Yeah, it’d be a hell of a tough fight. They’d have to aggressively make it clear to the American people what they were fighting for — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — and they’d have to win the war of words over who is responsible for the mess. It’s the Republicans. They run everything. It’s their responsibility to get the votes and that means working with Democrats in the Senate.
This has been a rare issue on which the left and moderates in the party have mostly agreed. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a moderate, has said he will vote against the bill despite Schumer’s new position.
“That is a calculation I’ve been struggling with for days — weeks, in fact,” he said. “It’s a tough call, and that’s why we spent a lot of time talking. That’s one of the challenging things on either path: There’s a lot of unknowns out there.”
But he added that Musk “had been wreaking havoc on our government,” and said that the Republican-written bill, drafted in consultation with the White House, “is designed to give him more influence, more power. This is not the way we should be funding the government,” Kelly said.
Kelly would not make a bad replacement for Schumer.
This thing is a tough call, but it’s time to make tough calls. Donald Trump is a madman bent on destroying American democracy, throwing away 80 years of liberal democratic alliances around the world, betraying our friends, bolstering our enemies and now, it appears, perhaps throwing us into a worldwide recession.
This man must be stopped. And Chuck Schumer is not the man who can do it.
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Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 
it is beyond time for the Schumer/Pelosi era/style to go…this everyone voting as a block as if what was good for Wisconsin was always the same as what was good for (insert any state name here). Time for Congress to support the voters who pay their salaries and substantial benefits instead of the “Party”.
You Dave said it more tactfully but plain and simple, the demorcat old guard that keeps insisting on hogging the limelight rather than empowering and supporting a cadre of younger talented individuals is a disgrace. The man is a coward and needs to find something else to do.
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Chuck Schumer, the man who told the world on his own socials “I don’t even know how to make a goddamn cheeseburger” is the wrong man for the job? Ya think?
The Dems are still fighting a propaganda war not realizing the population has moved on from their sources – AP being one of them.
Personally I think they need a leader who will welcome all the cuts DOGE makes due to fraud and abuse while at the same time fighting Musk for going too far. Get behind the most obvious decisions like shuttering the DOE. Do they have anyone with the spine to do that? Fetterman?
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I like Fetterman in a lot of ways, but (and I hate to say this) his mental state is not always stable. Kelly would be my choice. Moderate. A former astronaut, but not flashy. Quick on his feet. A likable guy. Wins in Arizona. Anybody from New York or California is going to be suspect simply because of how far to the left you need to be to be successful there. And also, people don’t like New York and California.
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Kelly just announced he’s getting rid of his Tesla. No acknowledgement of all the good things DOGE is doing. No thanks.
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Schumer reminds me way too much of Eddie Haskill on Leave it to Beaver.
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One of my favorite characters of all time! Schumer does sort of have the look and I suppose you could apply the Eddie thing to the continuing resolution. “Hello, Mr. Trump. Your spending bill looks lovely today. Can I help you with that?”
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OR Schumer knows things we don’t given he has been doing this for a while and has inside information. I can see Trump and the Republicans using the shutdown to shift the focus and the blame for the shit show going on to Dems and not where it belongs. Presumably he did try to negotiate. It is keeping the focus on this is ALL their doing.
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I think you’re right. There was a high risk in the Dems ending up being blamed for a shut down and I think Schumer and others are right to want to keep the focus on Trump/Musk. But there’s a good case to be made on the other side too. I don’t think Trump/Musk get any less power to destroy the government under the CR than they would under a shutdown. And at some point we really do need to make a stand against these guys. I don’t know when the next chance might come along. Maybe September and that might be too late.
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It was an awful decision to have to make. I’m with his colleagues who are not trash talking him even if they voted otherwise. And I don’t see what age has to do with this decision so for people to make it about that seems dismissive of someone who has the benefit of experience. Ick. I hate the lack of respect people have for seniors. I was raised otherwise.
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