Moscow Mitch McConnell

[Dandruff]

Looks like Trump has managed to refocus much of America's ire toward other individuals.  He has powerful Dems agreeing with him on the $2,000 issue, which I expect him to blur into the Dems agreeing with him.

He is, IMO, playing an impressive appearance game, which will be recorded in history.  His presidency is ending with the Democrats pushing for one of his proposals.  Who says he couldn't be bipartisan?  Who says he wasn't trying to help the American people?  Why shouldn't he have remained as President?  For those whose political memories don't extend much beyond the last media clip, he may be redefining himself...reality-tv style.

[Howl]

Oooh, I smell smoke!  Also, accurate. 

 

 

[fraurosena]

I repeat: McConnell is evil.

 

[Alisamer]

10 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I repeat: McConnell is evil.

 

Somebody needs to knock him in the head and explain that Scrooge pre-ghost visits was never meant to be an aspirational role model. 

$600 is essentially one extra paycheck for many people. That's it. Just one. Many people have been out of work for most of this year, most others are struggling one way or another working reduced hours or juggling remote work, child care, and a zillion other things all at once. Prices on things are going up. There have been shortages. more people than ever are relying on food banks, who are getting fewer donations than normal. People need help. $600 will help, but not much. $2000 would help more, but still just barely help many families float by. 

Government money is the people's money. It comes from our paychecks and out of our pockets. People want a bit of that back!

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

$600 is essentially one extra paycheck for many people.

Is this paycheck for a week? (Please tell me it's for a week...)

Because if it's for a month, then that measly amount is both astounding and appalling to me. That is less than a third of our minimum monthly wage for people who are 21 or older. Converted to dollars, our current minimum wage is $2.054. Heck, it's even less than what our 15 year old kids get as a minimum wage ($616). 

So, please tell me it's for a week. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Is this paycheck for a week? (Please tell me it's for a week...)

Because if it's for a month, then that measly amount is both astounding and appalling to me. That is less than a third of our minimum monthly wage for people who are 21 or older. Converted to dollars, our current minimum wage is $2.054. Heck, it's even less than what our 15 year old kids get as a minimum wage ($616). 

So, please tell me it's for a week. 

 

Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which equals $290 per week for a 40 hour week, before taxes. Some states have higher minimum wage guidelines. It's pitiful, isn't it?

Dems want to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. Guess who is against it? Yup, the repugs.

Edited December 31, 2020 by GreyhoundFan

[fraurosena]

19 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which equals $290 per week for a 40 hour week, before taxes. Some states have higher minimum wage guidelines. It's pitiful, isn't it?

Dems want to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. Guess who is against it? Yup, the repugs.

Good grief. That's less than our financial assistance benefits* per month.   I really hope at least the cost of living in the US is significantly lower than over here, because how can anyone actually survive on that measly amount?

I hesitate to ask, but do you guys have any "financial assistance" benefits (for those who aren't eligible for unemployment benefits)? Or are you basically without any income whatsoever if you don't have work?

*Over here people who have lost their jobs and have run the course of the unemployment benefits, have a right to financial assistance. Depending on your age and marital status, the amount you get varies between $1286 (converted from euros) for singles between 21 and retirement age (currently 67), or $1948 if you are married. There are other variables that can complicate things, but I'll spare you those details. 

[WiseGirl]

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

significantly lower than over here, because how can anyone actually survive on that measly amount?

They can't if they live in my area which is very expensive. 

If you do a quick search about unemployment benefits it is quite grim. This year has taught me how corrupt our government is and that many elected officials don't give a fuck about their constituents.

https://www.epi.org/blog/many-workers-have-exhausted-their-states-regular-unemployment-benefits-the-cares-act-provided-important-ui-benefits-and-congress-must-act-to-extend-them/

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by WiseGirl

[GreyhoundFan]

@fraurosena, now you see why the repug party isn’t pro-life. They couldn’t give a crap about people. I live in a very expensive area of a moderately expensive state. For 25 years, repugs were in charge of our state legislature, tightening up all the social safety nets. I have a friend who lives in my county. She has a good job with the federal government and he had a professional job with the state government. 20 months ago, he was fired, supposedly because of a dispute. He has been searching for a job ever since, to no avail. When his unemployment ran out, the state just shrugged. They are struggling to survive on her salary. She realizes they’re lucky that she has good health insurance and can carry him on her plan, for a significant charge. He’s 55 years old and is worried he’ll never have something better than walking dogs or as a clerk in a grocery store. 
 

In ruby red areas, there are many tests an applicant must pass to get any assistance. Drug tests are very common. 
 

I still believe it’s based on racism. The people who want no safety net are often the same people who oppose any assistance for minorities because they they don’t want a black person have a chance to get ahead. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by GreyhoundFan
edited for riffles

[smittykins]

And the “it’s your own fault if you’re poor” mindset(ie, “You shouldn’t have quit school/had kids you couldn’t support/gotten a college degree in something esoteric like philosophy/art history.”)

A couple of years ago, someone posted “Nobody who works 40 hours a week should have to live in poverty” meme on FB, and this was an actual response:

”Nowhere is it written that one job should supply all of your needs.  If you want more, work more.”

[Alisamer]

On 1/1/2021 at 10:01 AM, fraurosena said:

I hesitate to ask, but do you guys have any "financial assistance" benefits (for those who aren't eligible for unemployment benefits)? Or are you basically without any income whatsoever if you don't have work?

Hahahahaha... No. No work, no money, basically. When unemployment runs out, you're out of luck as far as I know, until you're old enough to file for social security payments.

If you're out of work due to a disability, you can get something, but it's carefully regulated. (My co-worker's husband has been on disability due to a traumatic brain injury several years ago - she keeps literally every receipt for everything she buys and gives it all to her tax preparer, and also often has to deal with changing regulations, changes in which prescriptions are covered by his healthcare, etc. AND, due to the disability income he gets, she "makes too much" to qualify for health insurance subsidies for herself, meaning her health insurance a couple years ago was nearly $1000 a month. She'd be better off financially to divorce him, but that leads to other issues since she manages all his healthcare and such.)

As for the "one paycheck" thing, I said it that way intentionally vaguely - for me, a weekly paycheck is right around that, I think (before taxes). For many people, that's 2 weeks pay. For some, it's a month's pay. I live in a relatively low cost-of-living area, thankfully, but that's still not much money considering the pandemic.

And unemployment payments are capped around $350 weekly here, I think. So on full unemployment $600 is a little less than 2 week's worth.

For most of the people in congress, $600 is a pair of shoes they bought on clearance. But they think that it's enough to keep a poor person fed, clothed and sheltered after nearly a full year of disruption due to a pandemic. After all, they handed out $1200 whole dollars last year! And god forbid someone who could scrape by without that extra $600 get their hands on it. They might buy something... frivolous.

They're like Ebenezer Scrooge but without the self-denial.

On 1/3/2021 at 9:24 AM, smittykins said:

And the “it’s your own fault if you’re poor” mindset(ie, “You shouldn’t have quit school/had kids you couldn’t support/gotten a college degree in something esoteric like philosophy/art history.”)

Yep. This is the Republican party line in a nutshell. You should have worked harder/tried harder/got a second, third, fourth job. Born into poverty? Your parents shouldn't have had kids. Sucks for you. Pull up those bootstraps. 

[GreyhoundFan]

30 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

Yep. This is the Republican party line in a nutshell. You should have worked harder/tried harder/got a second, third, fourth job. Born into poverty? Your parents shouldn't have had kids. Sucks for you. Pull up those bootstraps. 

These billboards were spread around KY before the election. They fit in with MoscowMitch's "I've got mine, screw you" philosophy.

[GreyhoundFan]

A good one from Dana Milbank: "We all suffer for Mitch McConnell’s sycophancy"

Quote

These are the wages of sycophancy.

For more than four years, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate majority leader, enabled and normalized Donald Trump. He didn’t join other Republicans in trying to oust Trump as the nominee in 2016 after the “Access Hollywood” tapes. He hesitated to side with Republicans who condemned Trump’s friendly words for neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.

McConnell blocked witnesses from appearing at Trump’s impeachment trial and boasted that he ran the trial “in total coordination” with the White House. He supported Trump’s plan to build an “emergency” border wall without congressional consent. He averted his gaze as Trump trampled legislative powers, staffing his administration with unconfirmed “acting” officials, shunning congressional subpoenas and circumventing Congress with executive orders.

McConnell blocked bipartisan efforts to protect against a repeat of foreign election interference after Russia helped Trump in 2016. And he held off on acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden’s win for six weeks, helping Trump to foment the fruitless coup d’etat attempt that will occur on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Were it not for McConnell’s efforts to rally big Republican contributors behind Trump, there probably wouldn’t be a President Trump. Never-Trump Republican operative Stuart Stevens, a former George W. Bush and Mitt Romney adviser, calls McConnell “Trump’s Franz von Papen,” the German politician who dissolved the Weimar Republic.

Now McConnell supposes he can turn all that off. He’s telling Senate colleagues not to reject the electoral college results on Wednesday — not because it’s an inherently authoritarian act but because he doesn’t want Republicans to face a “terrible vote” — either against Trump or against constitutional democracy. He told them the Jan. 6 vote would be “the most consequential I have ever cast.”

But McConnell is powerless to stop the Trump adulation he fueled for so long. Egged on by Trump, a dozen Republican senators — a quarter of the GOP caucus — have defied McConnell and said they will vote to reject the electoral college results, in effect authorizing a bloodless coup.

And Trump now berates his longtime lap dog as weak and ungrateful. “Mitch & the Republicans do NOTHING … NO FIGHT!” he tweeted. Trump shared an article reporting, “Trump allies slam Mitch McConnell for congratulating Biden.” To “Mitch,” Trump added a message: “People are angry!”

Republicans worry the fracturing of the GOP will cost the party two Senate seats (and with them, control of the Senate) in Tuesday’s runoff elections in Georgia, particularly after Trump called Georgia’s (Republican) secretary of state to say he wants him to “find” an additional 11,780 votes for Trump in November’s results. Neither Republican candidate in Georgia took issue with Trump’s request to falsify the vote tally.

Republicans say they need control of the Senate to be a check on Biden. But they’re acting now as a check on democracy.

Even if Republicans win in Georgia, McConnell’s Trump toadyism has left him atop a GOP caucus in which a substantial proportion no longer accepts the central tenet of democracy: that we honor the results of elections. How can democracy function if one side proposes (even symbolically) rejecting the people’s votes?

Trump, of course, was only ever in it for himself — as seen in the way he has turned against stalwart allies who acknowledged Biden’s obvious win. Another Trump enabler, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), is now, in Trump’s telling, “Mitch’s boy” and a “RINO,” Republican in Name Only. The Republican governors of Georgia and Arizona, both longtime Trump boosters, also get Trump’s RINO label now. Trump turned against his own attorney general for affirming Biden’s victory, and he even threatened a fervent loyalist, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), for declining to participate in Wednesday’s clownish overthrow attempt.

For weeks, McConnell humored Trump’s refusal to accept the election results. McConnell declined to refer to Biden as “president-elect.” He voted against a resolution from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies — because it affirmed Biden’s election. He remained silent as Trump alleged the FBI and Justice Department were conspiring against him.

With the Senate majority leader casting doubt on the election results, the most unscrupulous in his caucus ran with the idea — until we ended up where we are now, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) leading an effort Wednesday to ignore the Constitution and reject the electoral college results.

We probably could have avoided this moment if McConnell hadn’t made the cynical calculation long ago that embracing Trump would best serve his own political ambitions. We could have avoided it if McConnell had the courage of Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (who called the election-overthrow attempt an “egregious ploy”), Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse (“bad for the country”), Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney (“exceptionally dangerous precedent”), Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey (“wildly inappropriate”) or former House speaker Paul Ryan (“difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act”).

But McConnell didn’t have the courage. And now, regardless of what happens in Georgia on Tuesday, we all suffer for his sycophancy.

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

[fraurosena]

Why is this even legal? McConnell is one of the jurors in the impeachment trial, so how can he be allowed to visit with the accused?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Why is this even legal? McConnell is one of the jurors in the impeachment trial, so how can he be allowed to visit with the accused?

 

That was Kevin McCarthy at Mar-a-Loco, I don't believe MoscowMitch was there recently.

[fraurosena]

Shut up and sit down, Mitch. Nobody believes this cartful of horse shit meant to cleanse your reputation.

“The senator was also under a false impression that the president was only blustering, the officials said. Mr. McConnell had had multiple conversations with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and the senator’s top political adviser, Josh Holmes, had spoken with Mr. Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser. Both West Wing officials had conveyed the same message: They would pursue all potential avenues but recognized that they might come up short. Mr. Trump would eventually bow to reality and accept defeat.”

[GreyhoundFan]

Mitch is the epitome of a class act /s

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I guess MoscowMitch's boss is unhappy with him:

[fraurosena]

I only want your money, so give it to me and shut up!

 

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

I only want your money, so give it to me and shut up!

 

Why does anything that walking phlegm ball says matter? He has to add about the money.  So he can make (empty) threats and still have his cup out begging for money. Pathetic.

[Howl]

Maybe last month (???) there was talk that McConnell would be quitting before his term was up due to health reasons.  BUT, not until Kentucky legislature reworked the state constitution's law re: succession, to be sure a Republican would fill McConnell's seat. Have not heard anything since. 

I'm also wondering if Biden will bring down some heat on Elaine Chao -- McConnell's wife and ex Sec. of Dept. of Transportation.  There was some open corruption, as in "This would be a raging scandal in any other administration";  I can only imagine what was hidden.  

I also forgot to mention:  F**k Mitch McConnell, one of the most conniving, cold, corrupt and evil American politicians, at least in modern times -- say post WWII. 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Howl

[fraurosena]

Remember how, in no uncertain words, McConnell denounced Trump and actually blamed him for the insurrection?

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by fraurosena

[GreyhoundFan]

He's so talented at lying with a straight face.