comment: >
  
  'Murica!
context: Make America Go Away on its way, as GOP intended it. >
  
  “House Republicans have been focused on creating more chaos and promoting ultra MAGA proposals.”
  Of course they have. McCarthy made concessions to these extremist MAGA Republicans and now it’s time to pay the bill. 
  Clicks and chaos is what they thrive on. When C-SPAN spanned to Gaetz and Boebert after the 14th round of voting for the Speakership, and they were both laughing on their phones, it was clear they think this is all a fucking joke.  
  They know their constituents are addicted to outrage porn. And the more outrage they can generate the more fundraising they can do. Really unbelievable behavior and a dangerous time in American history. >
  
  Unfortunately, it's what many of their voters want. >
  
  This is America >
  
  I want to leave >
  
  Chuck Schumer's letter to his fellow Senate Democrats:
  Dear Colleague:
  The Senate Democratic majority is in a stronger position to tackle the challenges facing our 
  country than anyone ever expected. As we did these past two years, we will look for 
  opportunities to reach across the aisle and work in a bipartisan way to lower costs for American families, create good paying jobs, fund our government, protect our national security and more. 
  Unfortunately, what we’ve seen this week from House Republicans is more chaos and ultra 
  MAGA proposals. I want to work with Speaker McCarthy to get things done, but so far, House 
  Republicans have been focused on delivering for wealthy special interests and the extreme wing of their party. 
  
  Their first action this week was to allow large corporations and wealthy 
  
  individuals to continue to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Republicans 
  perpetuate the myth they’re protecting the middle class, just as they did with the 2017 
  Trump tax bill. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. Americans know in reality 
  Republicans are pushing tax breaks for tax cheats and the wealthiest Americans and 
  businesses.
  
  House Republicans have made clear that they will roll annual Appropriations 
  
  funding for FY24 back to FY22 levels. That means significant cuts to funding for 
  NIH, opioids and mental health, housing assistance, child care and child nutrition, law 
  enforcement and public safety, science and innovation, and veteran assistance 
  programs. Combined these cuts put America’s security at risk. Democrats won’t let that 
  happen. That’s why Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray and Ranking 
  Member Susan Collins announced this week they are beginning a bipartisan 
  appropriations process for FY24.
  
  They have also signaled their plan to slash essential programs like Social Security, 
  
  Medicare, Medicaid, and federal student loan programs. Republicans can’t say 
  they want to help middle class Americans while simultaneously attacking the bedrock 
  programs that families rely on. Senate Democrats will protect those essential programs.
  
  House Republicans continued their all-out assault on women’s health, proposing 
  
  legislation that once again shows they are hell-bent on enacting a nationwide 
  abortion ban. Their extreme views are dangerously out of touch with mainstream 
  America, and Senate Democrats will ensure women will have their health care 
  strengthened, not undermined. 
  
  We’ve seen them impanel a conspiracy committee to undermine and threaten law 
  
  enforcement, showing they’re more interested in defending January 6th
  insurrectionists and carrying water for the disgraced former president than 
  protecting democracy. Senate Democrats will be a firewall against this extremism.
  
  At a time when we should be working together to bring down costs for families, 
  
  Republicans have proposed a national sales tax bill that would raise taxes on 
  middle class Americans. Meanwhile, the Inflation Reduction Act Democrats passed 
  last year has lowered costs and put more money in Americans’ pockets. 
  Americans care about what House Republicans do not what they say. This week they’ve seen the House actions as part of the same ultra MAGA agenda voters rejected in the last election. 
  It is always my first choice to try and find common ground and work in a bipartisan way to enact meaningful legislation, just as we did in the previous Congress; and it is my hope that the nonMAGA Republicans will reject the extremists in their party and work with us to deliver real results. 
  But if Republicans follow the extreme wing of their party off a cliff and continue caving to 
  election deniers and those who threaten our democracy and help the wealthy at the expense at the of the working class, Democrats must make clear to the American people that we will fight tooth and nail against these attacks. 
  I look forward to continuing this work with all of you in the 118th Congress. >
  
  God please say this is real. PLEASE. >
  
  Dead link? >
  
  Yeah I don't know. It's in the article though. >
  
  I am convinced that the political consultant class that the Dems pay with what is essentially a DNC slush fund are intentionally giving losing advice.
  "Ultra MAGA". Is this really the fucking focus-tested voter approved terminology these dudes cooked up and went with? Build Back Better is another example of absolutely dogshit marketing.
  It is sheer insanity the money that goes into politics only for Dems to be this shit at messaging, marketing, and PR. How the fuck do you spend this kind of money and have such horrible terminology and inability to control the narrative? You could throw darts at notes on a wall and find a winner more often than they do with all the money they spend to focus-test this stuff.
  And Obama had the nerve to wag his finger at "Defund the police" for having a slogan that put people off.
  House GOP absolutely is sowing chaos and horrible policy. I'm not trying to say Schumer is wrong here. It just... boggles my mind how ineffective Dems are at selling these very obvious faults with the GOP to Americans. I get the right-wing propaganda machine is in full swing and has perfected dealing in outrage, and the right wing has been working the refs of the media for decades. But still, just, holy fuck dude just call them fascists and fundamentalists. We literally have actual works for this shit that aren't even hyperbole.
  But no, "Ultra Maga" like this is fucking pokemon and I spent a little more to get a higher percent chance at catching the fascist in my ball. >
  
  Building is much harder than destroying.  It's that simple. >
  
  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Friday said that while he has made efforts to work with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to deliver for the American people, House Republicans have been focused on creating “more chaos” and promoting “ultra MAGA proposals.” >
  
  “Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake" - Napoleon.  Chuck, go confirm a few dozen judges while they are messing around. >
  
  That's a Sun Tzu quote. >
  
  It is not, maybe you are thinking of “the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”  ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War >
  
  Republicans in the House approved their first bill Monday that would take away $71 billion in extra funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The Congressional Budget Office has warned this could end up costing the federal government a lot more than it saves in the long term, if the bill became law.
  “Republicans perpetuate the myth they’re protecting the middle class, just as they did with the 2017 Trump tax bill. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now,” Schumer wrote, in reference to the tax cuts passed by former President Donald Trump during his time in office. >
  
  "Even I saw that coming."
  ~Stevie Wonder >
  
  Elections have consequences. >
  
  I’m convinced some of the loudest MAGA extremists in Congress, as well as key personnel at Fox, work for Putin. They were supportive of Putin and Russia for years, stated Ukraine should surrender, wouldn’t applaud when Zelensky spoke to Congress in the early months of the war, have stated they will stop the US from supplying weapons to Ukraine, have stated Putin invaded Ukraine because Biden tricked him into doing so and has stated they intend to abolish the IRS which raises capital for pretty much everything in the US government.
  (Insert change my mind meme here) >
  
  Just call them out in public. Make them look like the fools they are. >
  
  Wait so don’t the republican voters want this from their representatives? Isn’t this exactly how politics is played? When you have leverage use it to get what you want? Wouldn’t this be exactly what democrats would want their representatives to do to get one of their priorities passed? >
  
  Ok I’ll bite.
  How do any of these “priorities” improve American life? There is no both sides… >
  
  Just because you don’t want what another political party wants doesn’t mean the members of that political party can’t petition their representatives to move forward with what they want. Do I personally think what they want will improve peoples lives? Nope. Credit where credit is due though representatives actually doing what their voters want is what representative democracy is all about. Democratic voters in the US should take notes and actually force their representatives to use their leverage when they have it and maybe you guys will get some meaningful change that improves peoples lives. >
  
  That's what they were elected for. Duh?