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THREAD: Here’s our big takeaway from last night’s primaries: the Democratic base clearly thinks party leadership, including @SpeakerPelosi, isn’t doing a remotely satisfactory job fighting against Trump and for racial and economic equality.
And why would they? (1/x)
And why would they? (1/x)
In 2018, Democrats swept the House on the hopes of millions of voters for some sort of check on President Trump.
The Revolving Door Project began conducting “Oversight of the oversight” to see how they’d do.
It was a near total wash. (2/x) https://rewire.news/article/2019/01/10/its-time-for-congress-new-members-to-use-their-long-forgotten-oversight-powers/
The Revolving Door Project began conducting “Oversight of the oversight” to see how they’d do.
It was a near total wash. (2/x) https://rewire.news/article/2019/01/10/its-time-for-congress-new-members-to-use-their-long-forgotten-oversight-powers/
The day before he took over as Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, Rep. Richard Neal was already backtracking on promises to request Trump’s tax returns.
RDP stayed on the case through the entire spring and summer, prodding this do-nothing chair at every step. (3/x)
RDP stayed on the case through the entire spring and summer, prodding this do-nothing chair at every step. (3/x)
In mid-January, we took to the pages of @theprospect to explain why Trump’s sluggishness had implications well beyond the single issue of seeing Trump’s tax returns (4/x) https://prospect.org/power/democrats-richie-neal-problem/
To help drive home the point, we developed a list of issues that fell under Neal’s jurisdiction that were screaming out for energetic oversight (5/x) https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/the-oversight-options-available-to-the-house-ways-means-committee/
By March we were organizing a a coalition to call on Speaker Pelosi to push Neal to not only request Trump’s tax returns, but conduct other pressing oversight as well
(cc @IndivisibleTeam @BoldProgressive @demandprogress @credoaction @CommonCause) (6/x) https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/speaker-pelosi-we-urgently-need-energetic-house-ways-means-committee-oversight/
(cc @IndivisibleTeam @BoldProgressive @demandprogress @credoaction @CommonCause) (6/x) https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/speaker-pelosi-we-urgently-need-energetic-house-ways-means-committee-oversight/
Soon, however, it became evident that Neal was not the only problem. Other committee chairs left issues within their jurisdictions untouched while new Trumpian transgressions rapidly piled up. (7/x) https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/house-democrats-are-failing-to-investigate-the-white-house/
By June, it was clear that the oversight aversion was coming from the upper echelons of Democratic leadership. Far from encouraging members like Neal to push ahead, Pelosi was seemingly actively pumping the brakes to avoid confrontations with Trump. (8/x) https://rewire.news/article/2019/06/13/can-activists-trust-nancy-pelosis-instincts-on-impeachment/
Keep in mind that even before Dems retook the House, their leadership already showed a willingness to work alongside Trump on certain things...namely, demolishing any small changes to Wall Street’s business-as-usual that had been enacted since 2008. (9/x) https://www.vox.com/explainers/2018/3/6/17081532/republicans-dodd-frank-financial-regulations
The one committee which took oversight seriously in '19 was @FSCDems, led by the unflappable @RepMaxineWaters. It’s no coincidence that HFSC has many of the breakout frosh from the ‘18 primaries: @AOC, @RepRashida, @RepPressley, and @RepKatiePorter. (10/x) https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/440185-maxine-waters-is-the-wall-street-sheriff-the-people-deserve
Still, party leadership refused to stand up to Trump, even in areas where they needn’t go through the "Grim Reaper." We wrote w/ @DavidSegalRI about @SenSchumer’s refusal to name an SEC nominee--one of his few duties as minority leader--in July 2019. (11/x) https://prospect.org/economy/sec-remains-secondary-concern-chuck-schumer/
And wouldn’t you know it, just one month shy of a year later, we wrote ANOTHER article with @DavidSegalRI with ALMOST THE SAME COMPLAINTS about @SenSchumer NOW! (12/x) https://prospect.org/power/quiet-seizure-of-independent-federal-agencies/
As the year trudged on, we kept begging House Democrats to finally do their jobs and expose Trump’s corruption. We predicted what you’re seeing now with Barr’s Justice Department: that Trump would manipulate his exec. authority to cling to power. (13/x) https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-going-to-manipulate-the-government-to-stay-in-power?ref=home
We pleaded for Democrats to use their subpoena powers… (14/x) https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/09/23/why-are-house-democrats-afraid-wield-their-subpoena-power
..And made a kitchen-table case for impeaching Trump. When a YEAR into her speakership, @SpeakerPelosi FINALLY charged the most corrupt President in US history, it was over complex legalisms of a phone call. The impeachment is all but forgotten now. (15/x) https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/09/19/the-kitchen-table-case-for-impeaching-trump/
Then COVID-19 struck. Suddenly, @SpeakerPelosi had leverage. She was the gatekeeper to stimulus packages which would resurrect Trump’s dear economy. She could pass a law & help people!
No. She saved corporate America, and stuck it to her own base. (16/x) https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-screwing-up-his-response-to-the-coronavirus-house-democrats-are-screwing-up-their-response-to-trump?ref=scroll
No. She saved corporate America, and stuck it to her own base. (16/x) https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-screwing-up-his-response-to-the-coronavirus-house-democrats-are-screwing-up-their-response-to-trump?ref=scroll
As @ddayen has shown, the COVID-19 bailouts are the greatest handout to big business and Wall Street in US history. Yet the actual public--the people whom Democratic leaders ostensibly value most--got one measly $1200 check and nothing. (17/x) https://prospect.org/coronavirus/how-fed-bailed-out-the-investor-class-corporate-america/
Food lines stretch for miles as Democratic leadership starts talking about an “infrastructure week” again. Hundreds of thousands have died, while leadership frets about the stock market. (18/x) https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-transportation/2020/06/24/the-infrastructure-pay-for-blame-game-788747
And amid the greatest shift in public understanding of police violence and racial injustice in memory, Democratic leadership...introduced a DOA bill and took a few photos in kente cloth. The Onion satirized leadership’s approach well. (19/x) https://politics.theonion.com/congress-announces-willingness-to-offer-black-lives-mat-1843954280
When political leaders is this far removed from the movements it claims to represent, how can a string of historic primaries *not* happen? This is, in fact, what democracy looks like. (20/x)
There’s a reason why @JamaalBowmanNY vowed to “cause problems” for the “rotten system” in his victory speech last night. It’s because that’s why he ran in the first place. (21/x) https://twitter.com/EmmaVigeland/status/1275620257403723776
Yesterday’s result in which one committee chair (Eliot Engel) was defeated and another (Carolyn Maloney) was almost displaced should be read as a repudiation of Pelosi’s non-confrontational approach. (22/x) https://www.businessinsider.com/eliot-engel-vs-jamaal-bowman-new-yorks-16th-district-results-2020-6
Given our long-time interest in @RepRichardNeal, we’re verrrry curious to see what happens next on Sept. 1, when Neal squares off against Mayor Alex Morse. Morse has elevated Neal’s inaction on oversight early and often. (22/x)
END https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/rep-neal-s-refusal-get-trump-state-tax-returns-emerges-n1034536
END https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/rep-neal-s-refusal-get-trump-state-tax-returns-emerges-n1034536
