The following is a twitter thread from Congresswoman Katie Porter:
When I came to Congress, I knew I had a responsibility to pull back the curtain for the American people and expose corruption in real time. So, I’m filling you in on Senator McConnell’s attempts over the last 8 days to tank a *bipartisan* COVID relief bill.
You may have heard that Democrats and Republicans have agreed upon spending $900 billion to fund another round of small business loans, support hospitals and essential workers, and help the 10 million people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Everyone at the negotiating table—including Senate Rs—has agreed to a compromise. Except one. Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring it to the floor unless it wipes away all COVID-related lawsuits filed that “allege injury or death” due to corporate negligence.
These lawsuits represent the worst of the worst examples of disregard for human life—cases filed on behalf of nursing home patients and grocery store workers who died because the company in charge of keeping them safe prioritized cutting costs over protecting them.
The same McConnell who said that President Trump is “100% within his rights” to pursue baseless lawsuits alleging election fraud is now refusing to pass urgently-needed relief unless it strips those same rights from the most vulnerable among us. This must be exposed.
Originally tweeted by Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) on December 9, 2020.
Trump and McConnell share a belief in dominance. Trump is an imbecile who uses power in a haphazard, self-aggrandizing way that doesn’t translate to anything but hype. McConnell is much more deliberate and strategic.
Right now McConnell is demonstrating his dominance. It won’t be the last time if he maintains the majority. In fact, it’s just a small taste of things to come. And, by the way, even if the Dems win the Georgia runoffs and fail to get rid of the filibuster, he’ll do it from the minority as well. The Grim Reaper plays for keeps.