Steve Benen

@stevebenen.com

64426 Followers 163 Following

Rachel Maddow Show producer, MaddowBlog author, MS NOW contributor, and author of Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past

Americans do not need a ballroom. They need relief. They want their Congress and their President to address the growing cost crisis bearing down on families across the country. Everywhere you look, Americans are paying more to make ends meet – more for gasoline, more for health care, more for electricity and more for housing – because Republicans keep putting Trump’s priorities ahead of working people. That is what today’s Republicans have become: Ballroom Republicans — asking working families to pay the price while Donald Trump pockets the perks. Let me make one thing very clear: Senate Democrats will not let them jam through this bill without making them answer for their endless cost hikes, health care cuts, and every dollar diverted from American families to Trump’s priorities. Democrats will fight the Republicans’ reconciliation bill with every tool we have. We will bring Byrd Rule challenges. We will offer floor amendments. And we will force vote after vote to make the choice unmistakable: will Republicans vote to help American families — to lower costs, to restore savage health care cuts, to roll back cost-spiking tariffs — or will they vote to fund Trump’s gaudy ballroom?
Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in Iran: “We speak today with one voice and one purpose: to condemn President Trump's threat to extinguish an entire civilization. “This is not strength. Intentionally destroying the power, water, or basic infrastructure upon which tens of millions of civilians depend to punish the very civilians who suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime would constitute a war crime, a betrayal of the values this nation was founded on, and a moral failure. It’s unconscionable to threaten the lives of so many people – grandparents, children, families – simply because they were born in Iran. President Trump’s reckless threat makes Americans less safe, further destabilizes our nation and economy, and puts at greater risk U.S. service members. It only serves to push us further away from the only viable solution to this war: a diplomatic one. The president must not follow through on this threat.”
Donald Trump is completely unhinged. His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response. The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III. For years, Republicans have enabled and excused Donald Trump’s deeply dangerous and extreme behavior. Enough is enough. Our brave men and women in uniform have been put into harm’s way in the Middle East. Over a dozen have already been killed and hundreds injured. Gas prices are skyrocketing, the cost of living in America is out of control and billions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted on a reckless war of choice. It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness.
In September 2013, amid concerns about a possible U.S. confrontation with Iran, Donald Trump published a tweet that read, “Remember what I previously said — Obama will someday attack Iran in order to show how tough he is.” The Republican added, two months later, “Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly — not skilled!” A year earlier, the then-television personality wrote, “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin — watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.”
Taxpayer dollars are being weaponized by the Trump administration to kill American citizens, brutalize communities and violently target law-abiding immigrant families. The country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done. Republicans are planning to shut large parts of the government down on Friday so that the DHS killing spree unleashed in Minnesota can continue throughout America. That is immoral. Dramatic changes at the Department of Homeland Security are needed. Federal agents who have broken the law must be criminally prosecuted. The paramilitary tactics must cease and desist. Taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, not kill them in cold blood. The violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith. Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer released the following statement calling on Senate Republicans to work with Senate Democrats to pass funding for five appropriations bills and work to overhaul the Department of Homeland Security funding legislation: “Senate Democrats will not allow the current DHS funding bill to move forward. “Senate Republicans have seen the same horrific footage that all Americans have watched of the blatant abuses of Americans by ICE in Minnesota. “The appalling murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis must lead Republicans to join Democrats in overhauling ICE and CBP to protect the public. People should be safe from abuse by their own government. “Senate Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the other five funding bills while we work to rewrite the DHS bill. This is best course of action, and the American people are on our side.”
“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling —and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no. “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”