It’s time for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a proud New Yorker, to take the gloves off and deliver a knockout blow to Mitch McConnell’s reign of terror in the Senate.
At this moment in history, McConnell has become the biggest hurdle standing in the way of this country and the incredible economic relief it needs to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our city and state are broke; our transit system is broke; families are broke. Numerous other American states and American families are broke, and need help now.
And Mitch McConnell and his Senate Trumpist toadies don’t give a damn.
McConnell refuses to budge on delivering a new round of stimulus checks to American families. He refuses to budge on bailing out states and cities that have incurred billions of dollars in expenses this year to fight COVID-19, largely because they’re full of people who aren’t Republicans.
He refuses to budge even when some of his party’s own senators side with Democrats on a $940 billion stimulus bill — and because he controls the chamber as Senate majority leader, he doesn’t need to bring it to a floor vote if he doesn’t want to.
And he’s complicit by his silent evasiveness in his party’s blatant, undemocratic coup attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Some progressives speak of the Senate — with its equal state representation and antiquated rules such as the filibuster — as imposing minority rule upon the masses.
McConnell is the embodiment of “tyranny of the minority.” He holds veto power that disenfranchises New York and the 48 other states that didn’t put him there.
McConnell must no longer be Senate majority leader, and this country can’t afford to wait for the results of the January election for Georgia’s two Senate seats to figure out who will run the chamber next year.
It’s time for Schumer and Democrats to swallow some pride and cross the aisle to find the three or four Republicans who still live in reality and want to help their constituents. Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Susan Collins of Maine come to mind.
Convince these Republicans to break away from McConnell and caucus independently, but in support of Schumer running the Senate. They don’t need the Democrats to support them on anything; all they need to do is get control of the Senate out of McConnell’s hands and take his power away.
For the good of the country, Chuck, save the Senate and the country from McConnell’s tyranny.
