The season is officially open here in Delaware now that we have Senator Coons in front of every TV camera possible dismissing the votes of some of his colleagues as posturing for a 2020 Presidential run. You can see this in the two clips I posted below. No recognition of the real crisis here — 800K young people whose futures are up in the air while the Senator is busily punching progressives. There is some recognition that 4 months after the close of the government fiscal year, that there is not a budget — which means that the entire government is operating on hold.
Senator Coons wants you to know that yesterday’s victory was in getting back to bipartisanship. Even though those of us who follow these things know that Mitch McConnell’s word isn’t good for much. Senator Coons wants you to know that if you are fully committed to the Dreamers and a solution for them, that you are probably running for President and not working on today’s problems. Which is DACA, that runs out in early March. Senator Coons wants you to know that if you are a Senator who represents a great many Dreamers (Harris, Booker, Gillibrand) that you are just running to the left, rather than showing up to represent your constituents. As if the civil rights issue of our time (thank you Senator Durbin) is just too far to the left. 55 years ago, Senator Coons would have been one of the folks Martin Luther King was writing his Letter from a Birmingham Jail to. Think about that for a minute.
Progressives are working on solving problems NOW. March 5 is coming up quickly and that timeline is the same whether or not any other Senators are running for President. People are going to want to vote for people who not only solve problems, but do so in line with Democratic Party values. None of our values are on display in either of these interviews — disrespecting all of the work that progressives and others have done to push for a DACA solution. We’re all just supposed to shut up and go away because the bipartisan adults are here.
Senator Coons provides several markers that we can judge this new effort by:
- Funding of Community Health Centers
- Disaster relief funding including Puerto Rico
- Funding for the opioid crisis
- Addressing DACA and border security
Scarborough wants the CHIP funding to be the win. When it is really just one hostage released. The four bullets above are the other hostages. And getting these well taken care of (especially a path to citizenship for the DACA participants) is going to be how we judge this new deal that is supposed to be done in 3 weeks. Even though they’ve had months to do this. Even though McConnell is a demonstrated unreliable actor. And even though the Freedom Caucus can kill it all. A thing progressives cannot do, but all of the condescension is directed to the least powerful people in this entire equation.
I appreciated Senator Durbin’s comments from the Senate floor yesterday after the vote to break the filibuster. He acknowledged the stakes and promised to keep working towards them. He highlighted the bipartisan nature of this deal and his understanding of where everyone was coming from made me think that there might be some hope. He did not dismiss any of the concerns or work or hopes of everyone who pushed for a DACA deal. He insulted no progressives. He did not dismiss anyone whose lives are on the balance waiting for March 5. I had hope because he left me with the idea that he was still fighting for us.
Harris Booker and Gillibrand in reality are no different than Coons Carper and the other Corporate Dems
There were enough votes to give them cover on this issue so they ran with it nothing more
Schumer, at least……From POLITICO Playbook
Schumer withdraws offer on Trump’s wall,” by Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim: “Chuck Schumer is taking his big spending boost for Donald Trump’s border wall off the table. The Senate minority leader, through an aide, informed the White House on Monday that he was retracting the offer he made last week to give Trump well north of the $1.6 billion in wall funding Trump had asked for this year, according to two Democrats. And now they say Trump will simply not get a better deal than that on his signature campaign promise.
“Schumer ‘took it off,’ said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat. ‘He called the White House yesterday and said it’s over.’ In the now-infamous cheeseburger summit last Friday with Trump, Schumer offered a large increase in border wall spending as a condition for a broader deal to help Dreamers. But after that offer was rebuffed — prompting the three-day government shutdown — the president has now ‘missed an opportunity to get the wall,’ one Democratic aide said.” http://politi.co/2DxBGlH
Not so long ago, Susan Collins voted for the great Tax Cut bill because she got a promise from the Majority Leader on ACA that Ryan will never honor. Ditto this promise for DACA.
Thanks for the update on the wall. McConnell also promised Jeff Flake a DACA vote in the Senate in January too. There’s some days left on that promise, but doubt anyone is holding their breath.
The continued LIES
https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/chuck-schumers-three-decades-immigration-lies/
The typical Delaware Way. Tax hikes, more people will move out of this State!
http://delawarebusinessnow.com/2018/01/kowalko-henry-propose-income-tax-hike-making-125000-year/
Of course they do stuff like this: https://www.wsj.com/articles/scientists-out-12-million-sue-delaware-over-seizure-of-their-stock-1503054001
This comment, anono is not on topic for this thread. Which means that the name calling response is also not on topic.
Ok Cassy!
I’m ok w paying taxes we get tons from that arrangement
“more people will move out of this State”
People like you always say that, but you never leave.
“Of course they do stuff like this”
Which is why your taxes are as low as they are. If you are against this, then I’m sure you want to make up the $400 million it rakes in by paying higher taxes, right?
If you were any stupider we’d have to put you on a watering-and-fertilizing schedule.
Well said sir! Well Said!
“55 years ago, Senator Coons would have been one of the folks Martin Luther King was writing his Letter from a Birmingham Jail to.”
I had this exact thought when I got Senator Carper’s newsletter on MLK Day that closed with this: “In the months to come, guided by Dr. King’s legacy, I will continue to use the 3 C’s – communication, collaboration and compromise…”
Yes — I’m really displeased that he seems to think that those of us pushing for DACA protections are somehow moving the party too far left.
We need bipartisanship to get anywhere. Compromise is the only way forward and if you watch the whole video you will understand that Coons believes that we democrats didn’t give anything up. Daca is on the table and the government is funded and functioning for now. Anyone who believes partisanship and division, conflict, impasse and shutdown is the way to go needs to grow up and understand how politics, human relations, and the world works.Thank you Senators Chris Coons and Thomas Carper for your balanced, nuanced and dedicated service!