Shameful Schumer

An absolute blitzkrieg. Like the Panzers rolling across the Polish plains in lightening fashion, ignoring international norms and justice, failing to respect another country’s sovereignty, Donald Trump has been rolling over Democrats at warp speed, ignoring the Constitution and rule of law, failing to respect the other two branches of government.

In 50 days Trump has signed 89 executive orders – most overstepping the boundaries in which the power of the presidency is confined and in violation of our Constitution. Many of them bypassing Congress whose duty it is to make these decisions. Many that do fall within his legal purview cause harm to many people ranging from crippling their health care to costing them their livelihood.

He is laying the foundation for weaponizing the Department of Justice and the FBI, putting people who will carry out his political vendettas; removing those who will not; seeking revenge against those who followed the rule of law in investigating his alleged crimes and those who were preparing to prosecute him when the evidence pointed to his guilt.

“I will be a dictator on Day One,” he smiled to Sean Hannity. He wasn’t kidding.

So, who do we have standing up to Trump, his right-hand-Right-Wing executioner Elon Musk and all the Republican Trump loyalists in Congress?

Not Chuck Schumer.

An abhorrent budget was presented by Trump for Congressional approval…a budget that takes crucial spending decisions away from Congress and steers these decisions to the president, strengthening his authoritarian grip on the nation’s purse and with that power the ability to control the function of government. It puts Medicaid; programs to aid the disabled; programs to feed the poor; programs to assist veterans; education; and environmental protection at DEFCON 5.

“It is not a simple stopgap that keeps the lights on and the doors open,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro. “This is Republican leadership handing over the keys of the government and a blank check to Elon Musk and to President Trump.”

Not just Republicans. Senator Schumer also handed over those keys and that blank check to Trump.

The GOP budget resolution needed eight Democratic senators to cross over and vote for it in order to avoid a filibuster. Many expected the Democrats to filibuster the GOP proposal, forcing the Republicans to compromise or go back to the chalk board and draw up a better budget. Schumer gave Trump those eight senators.

Schumer’s rationale is that if he did not support Trump’s budget, there would be a government shutdown, crippling essential services with the voters blaming the Democrats for the shutdown. That may sound reasonable to Schumer, but if you peel back the skin, the rationale doesn’t necessarily hold up.

Trump is already crippling essential services. In fact, he’s gutting them. That is the danger of his budget: it gives him more latitude to chop away at what services he has yet to dismantle. One of Schumer’s goals was to stop the hemorrhaging.  He accomplished the opposite.

Schumer feared what a government shut down would do both to the people in need of those services and what it could do to his Party politically. He feared the Democrat minority in Congress would be blamed. Recent political history indicates that wouldn’t be what would happen, and Mitch McConnell, the mastermind of exploiting such a situation for his political advantage, must have had difficulty containing his laughter as Schumer made his fatal mistake.

When Barak Obama was president, McConnell met with Republican Congressional leaders and crafted his strategy that the Republicans would commit to. Don’t vote to advance any legislation. Create gridlock. Sure, it’s his Party refusing to work with the other Party, but he theorized that the public’s attention span is on who is president. If gridlock occurs and people suffer, the focus of their frustration will be on the president and the party he represents. They will blame the Democrats. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened, and Republicans gained the legislative branch. Instead of gambling that Schumer and the Democrats would be blamed, Schumer should have gambled that Trump and the GOP would be blamed. Given both past history and the growing skepticism voters have regarding Trump and Musk in recent polling, the odds would have been in his favor.

The opposition party needs to stand up to Trump and deliver, if not a win, at least land a blow and make Mr. Trump feel the sting of energized defiance. Drawing a line on the Senate floor and not crossing over to support the Trump agenda should have been that moment. It most likely would have earned concessions – for how long could Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune endure the failure of their assignment as political leaders to guide a functional government before public scorn pounded on their office doors?

Democrats need a leader who will pick up the gauntlet and speak in defiance – and fight with fury – against the Trump/Musk oligarchy. Schumer is not that person