The Republican Senate is intent on blocking all coronavirus relief efforts!
Indivisibles,
Did you see this? Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked emergency legislation to guarantee 14 days of paid leave for workers affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).
Seriously! You cannot overstate how dedicated Senate Republicans are to putting the profits of corporations over the well-being of their constituents. Democratic Senator Patty Murray pushed to have this emergency bill get through committee and to the floor of the Senate for a vote but Republicans stopped it in its tracks.
Sen. Murray urged the committee to understand that paid leave was important both for public health and the good of the broader economy, and that 27% of the workforce is without adequate options:
“For many of our workers ― restaurant workers, truck drivers, service industry workers ― they may not have an option to take a day off without losing their pay or losing their job,” — Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
And today, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling the House Democrats’ coronavirus bill an “IDEOLOGICAL WISHLIST!” And he is seeking a “smaller, non-controversial” bill.
To be clear, the House’s bill offered:
- Free coronavirus testing
- Paid emergency medical leave
- Extended unemployment insurance
- Food assistance
- Help for health care workers.
Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans believe House Democrats have gone too far. How dare they expect paid leave, testing, insurance, food assistance, and protections for doctors and nurses to be a part of the bill? But just last night, the Senate bill that would solely provide paid emergency medical leave was blocked in committee.
Exactly how much smaller does a bill aimed at protecting working families and public health have to be, one might ask.
We’ve got a clear choice here: a Senate that is prepared to do absolutely nothing to ensure the safety and welfare of the American public or an opportunity to actually elect people who will put the American people before partisan bickering.
We want payback. Do you?
Here’s the deal: on that Senate Health committee sit two of the most vulnerable, Trumpian senators, right now: Senators Susan Collins (Maine) and Kelly Loeffler (Georgia). They’re a part of our list of the top eleven Republicans that we can all organize around to defeat and take back the Senate from Trump and Mitch McConnell (pssst — he’s on the list, too).
But defeating this many Senate Republicans will not be easy — it will take a massive awareness campaign to expose the truth of their complicity to voters and a growing grassroots army on the ground ready to ensure their Democratic opponents have the funding and people necessary to knock doors, activate voters, and win.
We have a comprehensive, four-pronged approach to make sure Republican senators are held accountable for their actions, their votes, and their enabling of Donald Trump.
Here’s how we’ll do it:
01. Build awareness & accountability.
When one of the eleven Payback Project senators takes bad votes or do something else awful, we’ll be in their state to broadcast it and hold them accountable for refusing to listen to constituents
02. Boost local political power.
We’ll do the work to get as many people involved in the election as possible, educating folks about what’s at stake and growing local people power by funneling voters in these ten states directly to their local Indivisible groups.
03. Organize to win.
Our nationwide network of organizers will work directly with groups on the ground to leverage their power with voters, the candidates, and the media to build support for strong progressive challengers.
04. Get out the vote.
We’ll run a robust GOTV campaign to turn as many people as possible out to the polls. Remember — these senators thrive on disenfranchisement, so it’s our job to make sure voters show up to kick them out.
Here’s what you can do right now:
01. Call your senators and tell them you support H.R.6201 (the Families First Coronavirus Response Act).
The bill hasn’t even passed the House yet, and GOP senators are already working against it; we need to make sure it passes in the House and that the Senate is ready to pass it as soon as they receive it. There are literally lives on the line.
02. Read our resource on how to get Congress to act on this issue.
While COVID-19 clearly poses risks to the health and well-being of people globally, we have a responsibility to ensure that bad actors like Trump, pharmaceutical corporations, and white nationalists don’t seize on this opportunity for their own benefit, as we take swift and smart action to prepare and respond.
03. Donate to the Payback Project.
We already knew Senate Republicans aren’t interested in protecting their constituents — but this is just shameless. These senators are willing to block access to key health resources during a pandemic because they’re too focused on protecting corporations, not people.
It’s time for them to go — and we need your help to make it happen. Click here to donate so we can take back the Senate and continue all our crucial work this year.
Not in one of these states? No worries. When you’re taking on eleven senators in ten states, there’s more than enough fight to go around. Join the movement now and demand payback today!
This is a part of a series of articles to spotlight the eleven most vulnerable Republican Senate targets in Indivisible Action’s Payback Project! To find out more information, join the movement now and help the American people get payback. www.paybackproject.org.
