"Congress Goes On Vacation During An Economic Crisis!"
The Jimmy Dore Show (August 16, 2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAEe7epD51w
[stuff about Congress going on vacation during the pandemic without passing a Corona virus relief package]
[1:36] Jimmy Dore: “So we said this when this all started. They’re going to take care of Wall Street. They’re going to take care of the rich oligarchs. They’re going to take care of the rich corporations. And they’re going to give you crumbs and “fuck you over. And that’s exactly what they did. And who is ‘they’? Nancy Pelosi. Chuck Schumer. Bernie Sanders. And every Democrat in Congress. Because when they voted for the CARES act they voted for the largest upward transfer of wealth in the history of the human race. Without getting anything in return. And now they can’t get anything for you. Now you’re going to get kicked out of your house. You don’t have healthcare, still. There isn’t a jobs program, still.” [shows screenshot of article from The Hill]:
The inaction comes as the unemployment rate is at 10.2 percent, down from a peak of 14.7 percent, higher than the peak during the Great Recession. – The Hill.
[2:35] “ There is no way that number is accurate. It’s much higher than that.”
And the country continues to report tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases per day, including reporting nearly 1, 500 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday in what is the highest number of daily deaths since mid May. – The Hill.
[3:03] Jimmy Dore: “1500 people a day died from coronavirus. So like every two days it’s another 9/11. ‘Ahhh. Let’s go home for a month.’
The stalemate is taking place less than three months before the November election, injecting more politics into the dynamic compared to the four previous coronavirus relief bills that passed the Senate with either no opposition or only a handful of ‘no’ votes – The Hill.
[3:35] Jimmy Dore: “So they’ve been handed out money, trillions of dollars, left and right, to the richest motherfuckers in this country, and there’s been no opposition. Zero. In fact, it’s been engineered by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the Democrats.”
Vulnerable incumbents in both parties have sent warning signals this week to leadership that they need to cut a deal. – The Hill.
Jimmy Dore: “Vulnerable incumbents. Vulnerable incumbents. The time to do that [delivering the goods] was with the CARES act. You didn’t do it. In fact you voted for it. That’s when Bernie Sanders sold you out and revealed his true colors, that he’s a partisan hack who turned his back on his own movement. I like what Dan Price says: [shows screenshot of tweet]
Corporations: We spent all our money on buybacks + dividends for a decade instead of saving for a rainy day.
Now we’re broke.
Congress: Here’s $4 trillion
Regular people: “We’re broke.”
Congress: You should have saved more. We’re going on a 1 month vacation.”
[4:55] Jimmy Dore: “The people: ‘We’re broke save us.” “Fuck You. We don’t work for you. Nancy Pelosi doesn’t work for you. Mitch McConnell doesn’t work for you. Chuck Schumer doesn’t work for you. You idiot. Now go vote for them.”
“There couldn’t be a situation where it was laid bare more that this government is corrupt and is an enemy of you. They’re not your friend. It’s like a foreign power is occupying our country. Because it is. We are an occupied country. We’re occupied by Rayheon, the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the Health Insurance and Big Pharma companies. We are occupied. Now go vote for them. Now you have to go vote for them instead of revolt. You have to shut your mouth and [not] revolt. You know who tells you to do that? Dictators. And so whenever you see a blue-check motherfucker telling people to shut their mouths and vote, you tell them you’d feel more comfortable in North Korea.”
[6:05] “I’m saying, ‘Don’t vote.’ What if they had an election and nobody showed up? Trump would still be President, just like last time. A hundred million people didn’t vote last time. Nobody cares. We’re in a failed state. And participating in these elections is pretending that it’s not. It’s pretending that somehow Joe Biden and Congress is going to fucking come around and somehow fix our problems, when they are going to make them worse. [shows screen shot of tweet]
“Let us not forget that the Senate is made up of members of BOTH parties. Both found time to fund military expansion and corporate bailouts before leaving for VACATION during a pandemic when last week 30 million did not have enough to eat in the richest nation in the world.” -- The Hill
“You still want to vote and feel good? Because you’re a sucker. You’re a chump. They’re not giving you health care in the middle of a pandemic and you’re going to vote for them? You’re a chump.
[shows picture of Asian child with arm putting boot on his own head]
“I live this. Here’s Trump’s military budget and here’s the Democrats. Turns out they’re doing it to themselves.” [shows screenshot of tweet]:
If Congress is going home for the next month, shouldn’t we all follow their lead? #generalstrike
[8:17] Jimmy Dore: “I think so. I would.”
Steph Zamorano: “And hang out at their homes.”
Jimmy Dore: “There isn’t a leader in this country worth a shit.”
[shows screenshot of tweet from Steven Cotterill]
“Throughout this pandemic and economic meltdown, our government has repeatedly shown us that they don’t give a shit if we die.
They only care about their corporate overlords, the 1%, and their own re-election.
We have nothing left to lose and everything to gain.”
[8:57] Jimmy Dore: “I say, don’t vote and General Strike. If you don’t vote third-party this year, if you’re going to vote and you vote blue or red, you are a chump and a sucker. You’re going to vote for a guy who is telling you right now: “I am more loyal to the health insurance industry than I am to you. Vote for me. I care more about Big Pharma’s profits than I do for you. Vote for me. I care more about the military industrial complex than I do for you. Vote for me. I care more about Wall Street’s profits than I care about workers. Vote for me.
[9:42] “Hey, fuck you. I’m not voting, for you. We’re a bunch of adult children of alcoholics in this goddamn country. We don’t get mad at the guy fucking you over. We get mad at people like me who point out that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are fucking us over and pledged to. Joe Biden has pledged to keep fucking you over and denying you health care in the middle of a pandemic. That’s how corrupt Joe Biden is. And the rest of the country is, their minds are, they’re in such need of therapy, they’re such abused children. It’s what we are. A nation of abused children. Well, I need the protection. I need somebody to protect me from Donald Trump, so I guess I’ll vote for this guy. I need someone to hug me. I need someone to hold me. I’ll vote for this guy? The guy who vowed to deny you healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. And why did he do that? Because he thinks it’s a better idea? No. Because he’s corrupt. And anybody telling you to vote for corruption is an abused child. Or, and abuser. That’s an abusive relationship. And somehow I learned how to make strong boundaries as a kid. And I’m able to not fucking feel the heat from every other asshole in the world telling me I have to vote for Joe Biden and Kamela Harris. I do not. And I fucking will not. I will not participate in corruption. I will not participate in blatant, 100 [%], in your face, in broad daylight corruption. I’m not going to participate in it. Do you really think things are going to get better when Joe Biden is president. You don’t think there’s going to be 27 million people in the street? You don’t think 80% of America is going to be living paycheck to paycheck when Joe Biden is President? You think we’re going to have health care when Joe Biden is President? We are not going to have health care when Joe Biden is President. It is going to take people in the fucking streets. So if you think that voting for Joe Biden is going to make anything better, ‘Now who’s being naive, Kay?’ You are.”