#chris murphy

[labelleizzy]

It's important to know what is going on.

Written by US Senator Chris Murphy (D - CT)

Report from the Senate Floor:

Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.

So I want to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back. The apex of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted.

In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes.

So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here.

The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 5 AM.

This is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials. So we can’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and shine a light on what is happening.

And you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.

Every best wish,

US Senator Chris Murphy (D - CT)

[corporationsarepeople]

If any person in this country does not have due process, then no one has due process. You’re a citizen? Oh yeah? Prove it.

[seahorsepencils]

[saywhat-politics]

Republicans wanted to fast track confirmation of a controversial CIA nominee. I blocked it.

Because right now, after their unconscionable endorsement of Trump's Jan 6 pardons - including the most violent rioters - we cannot let them pretend they care about national security.

[political-us]

[thearchivaljinglebeast]

This makes me feel ill. I want to speak violence, but I'm sure I'll get censored...🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[tomorrowusa]

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN-05) is one of a dwindling number of Republican House members to hold town hall meetings with constituents. The one she held on Friday in a suburb of Indianapolis went about as you would expect.

Less daring than Rep. Spartz is Rep. John James (R-MI-10). Like most House Republicans, Rep. James is hiding from his constituents. So Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10) are holding a town hall in Michigan's 10th so that James's constituents will be able to voice their concerns to elected officials in the federal government.

Republican congressman from Michigan won’t meet with voters—so Dems are doing it for him 

Murphy and Frost are intelligent and energetic speakers. They are worth catching in Warren, Michigan on Saturday if you live in the area.

[raygun631]

Chris Murphy: the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy.

@chrismurphyct.bsky.social Original

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. 1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

2/ This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense. That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.

3/ You see, our founders created a President with limited and checked powers. They specifically put the power of spending and taxation in the hands of the legislature. Why? Because they watched how kings and despots used spending and taxes to control their subjects.

4/ British kings used taxation to reward loyalty and punish dissent. Our own revolution was spurred by the King’s use of heavy taxation of the colonies to punish our push for self governance. The King’s message was simple: stop protesting and I’ll stop taxing.

5/ Trump knows that he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by using spending and taxation in the same way. He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges.

6/ Healthy democracies rely on an independent legal profession to maintain the rule of law, independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority, and independent state/local government to counterbalance a powerful federal government.

7/ But the private sector also plays a rule to protect democracy. Independent industry has power. The tariffs are Trump’s tool to erode that independence. Now, one by one, every industry or company will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief.

8/ What could Trump demand as part of a quiet loyalty pledge? Public shows of support from executives for all his economic policy. Contributions to his political efforts. Promises to police employees’ support for his political opposition.

9/ The tariffs are DESIGNED to create economic hardship. Why? So that Trump has a straight face rationale for releasing them, business by business or industry by industry. As he adjusts or grants relief, it’s a win-win: the economy improves and dissent disappears.

10/ And once Trump has the lawyers, colleges and industry under his thumb, it becomes very hard for the opposition to have any viable space to maneuver. Trump didn’t invent this strategy. It’s the playbook for democratically elected leaders who want to stay in power forever.

11/ The tariffs aren’t economic policy. They are political weapons. But as long as we see this clearly, we can stop him. Public mobilization is working. Today, a few Republicans joined Democrats to vote against one set of tariffs. The people still have the power.

u/chrismurphyct.bsky.social

[slycooperconfessions]

"To me, part of the charm of this series always was that most of the OG trilogy voices weren't well-known. I mean, there were a few, Penelope's VA was the main character in Freddi Fish, and Dimitri's was a recurring voice in HALO, but they're not actors that everyone would know by name. Hell, fun fact, the Contessa's VA literally only ever did voicework for Sly 2, all of her other roles were live-action. I dunno, something about it always gave the trilogy a fun sort of 'small town theater troupe' feel, like even if you aren't super famous you can still put a lot of passion into roles like this. It's nice, I think."

Confessed by: Anonymous

(For any fans of the original Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder, the woman who's husband was kidnapped and held ransom for Wonka bars is the Contessa's VA, Gloria Manon. Always loved that movie, and making that connection floored me. ~Mod)

[dicapiito]

Senator Cory Booker is at damn near 19 hours on the Senate floor filibustering. 🫡🇺🇸

[mylionheart2]

[saywhat-politics]

Chris Murphy: "We don't pledge allegiance to the creepy 22 year olds working for Elon Musk. We pledge allegiance to the United States of America."

[political-us]

[vyorei]

Protests in DC, nice job guys, people have to keep making noise.

Reading the names is also important.

Speak them.

Those people existed, had lives, were meant to live and grow and experience a world without occupiers pointing guns in their faces and dropping bombs on their children. They can't because the global powers who could prevent further chaos, failed to do so. There is blood on the hands of the Biden Administration.

Good to see USians aren't completely brainwashed.

BASED WASHINGTON DC ✊🇵🇸