• twistypencil@lemmy.world
    211·
    4 hours ago

    I think people misunderstand what these roles actually do. Just hear me out. Schumer is directly responsible for our midterm victory. Now, the stars aligned in other ways, of course. Cost of living, hatred of the orange clown. Democrat voters were angry and mobilized.

    Elections are money and strategy. And Chuck Schumer handled both. Two years ago, after the disaster of 2024, while everybody was screaming at Democrats to do something, Chuck Schumer opened a map of the United States. They decided to focus on deep red territories, territories that Dems thought were lost forever. Schumer LED the effort to scout new candidates, and he was very specific about it. He said, find me people that are not politicians, military, veterans, doctors, farmers, a Tejano music star. He knew the environment was right for these new candidates. In May 2025, Chuck watched a young, barely known state legislator give a five minute speech at a donor retreat. He said, that guy’s gonna Flip Texas. Roy Cooper had no intention of running. Chuck took three trips to convince him. He ran, and he won. Same thing with Sherrod Brown. Schumer said, you are absolutely not retiring.

    The Dem leadership was also incredibly intelligent with their money, because obviously nobody can outspend corporations. Instead of spending millions defending vulnerable incumbents, party would move money into deeper red territories and then pull those incumbent seats to see if they still needed money. This freed up millions of dollars to move around the map. Soon after that, diesel prices hit all time highs and everything clicked into place.

    You might not like these establishment Dems, I don’t either, and that’s okay. Are Schumer and Jeffries my kind of politician? No. But do they know what they’re doing? Yes. And many of you are single issue voters at this point, just like I am. Or you want investigation, subpoenas, and jail. I want to remind you that the house speaker and Senate leaders do not lead investigations. That is not their job. Their jobs are negotiation, strategy, and compromise. And if you want anything done in the next two years, you want to get a Bill or a law on the books, you want anybody impeached, we are going to need at least six Republicans to do anything. And you know how you get that done? Somebody like Nancy Pelosi. You probably don’t like her, she drive me nuts, but Nancy was probably the most effective and successful speaker of the house of all time. She was a freaking beast. Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Act, CHIPS Act, inflation reduction. She got all of those done, you will never find a more Establishment Dem as her.

    And as for retribution, the team is already assembled, and it’s good. Garcia on the oversight and Government Reform Committee. He’s the one who told them all to lawyer up, and I believe him. Jared Huffman, National resources Committee. It’s gonna be the ballroom construction, money laundering, mineral deals. Bloomenthal, Homeland Security Committee. That’s gonna be the real estate projects and crypto deals and many, many more.

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      3 hours ago

      You’re right about much of that – as is The Atlantic article you clearly pulled from – except for two things.

      You left out the part about the very real power of those positions to control and modify legislation, and how it is the job of Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House to control what legislation comes to the floor for a vote. Mike Johnson has spent the last two years not legislating, but blocking legislation, and Schumer and Jeffries have spent that same time caving to almost all of what the MAGA Republicans wanted.

      You also left out the part about Schumer’s and Jeffries’ cash and where it comes from, and how those big donors are their actual constituents and not the American people.

      Honestly, when I read your comment, all I could think was, of course most of these legislators are good. (With the exception of Jeffries, who gave up before he even started.) I’d say some are even great. When it comes to doing what they do best, nobody beats Pelosi, and even Schumer’s good.

      They’re just not OURS. They work for others. Jeffries’ list of asinine moves is so long I don’t have time, so I’ll talk about Schumer. Schumer, for example, has said publicly that Israel is his priority. And we know that’s true because he makes absolutely sure that BILLIONS of American taxpayer dollars flow like water to Israel – a country with excellent socialized healthcare and subsidized higher education – so that Netanyahu can use it to commit genocide against their fellow humans while Israelis enjoy a basic standard of living that is much higher than that of the Americans who are paying for all of it.

      When Trump cut off already-funded SNAP payments to hungry American families last November, and the Senate was keeping the government shut down to force the administration to follow the law, it was Chuck Schumer who orchestrated the reopening – on the day the airlines shut down, which coincidentally, I’m sure, is not generally a problem for poor people on SNAP but a hell of an issue for people who run PACs. He tried to keep his name out of it, but Jeanne Shaheen, one of the nine senators who broke the deadlock, told reporters that the nine breaking ranks had done so with Schumer’s knowledge and consent.

      See how this works? I’d love to be a tech bro, or a crypto bro, or even just a regular Israeli, with Chuck Schumer as my senator. Hell, for all I know, maybe you are and you just don’t want the gravy train to end. I don’t expect Anduril and Palantir to hire a shitty rep: I expect them to get their money’s worth out of Hakeem Jeffries and they certainly are.

      But as an American I don’t fucking rate, and I don’t fucking forget, and I DON’T fucking support Chuck Schumer for Senate Majority Leader or Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker of the House.

      TL;DR: If you want progressive goals and ideals to never cross a Congressional floor, keep Schumer and Jeffries in their current roles.

      #nochuck #nohakeem

      Hakeem Jeffries: https://www.change.org/p/house-democrats-choose-a-new-speaker (currently at 985K signatures)

      Chuck Schumer: https://www.change.org/p/replace-chuck-schumer-as-senate-majority-leader (currently at 148K signatures)