Fighting Back: Nancy Pelosi – “The Republican Administration has mistaken cruelty for strength and prejudice for strategy.””

January 28, 2017 JanF Editors' Choice, Fighting Back 20

The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the Democratic Leader of the People’s House – Pelosi Statement on Trump’s Executive Order Targeting Muslims

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after President Trump signed orders to make it more difficult for families, including refugees, to enter the United States based on their religion or religious heritage:

“As the Statue of Liberty holds her torch of welcome high, there are tears in her eyes as she sees how low this Administration has stooped in its callousness toward mothers and children escaping war-torn Syria. This Administration has mistaken cruelty for strength and prejudice for strategy.

“As the Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration said recently of the men, women and children who seek a better life in America, ‘We remind our communities and our nation that these families have intrinsic value as children of God.’ Today’s executive actions dishonor our values and do not address the threat of terrorism. Americans of all faiths must confront and reject any attempt to target for exclusion or discrimination anyone on the basis of their religion.

“House Democrats will continue to demand strong and smart action to defeat terrorists while protecting religious freedom and defending our Constitution.”

Leader Pelosi’s weekly address is below.

Transcript: Pelosi Delivers Weekly Democratic Address

“On January 20th, our nation witnessed the peaceful transfer of power with the inauguration of a new president. The next morning, America awakened to a peaceful show of power of millions of women, and men, across the country – and indeed across the world.

“Congratulations to the courageous organizers of the Women’s March – who enabled women and their families to demonstrate our values, our unity, and our good spirit – in crowds that dwarfed the inaugural turnout.

“The actions of the Administration and Congressional Republicans following the march were swift and nasty. The President reinstated an international gag rule that silences even the discussion of women’s reproductive choices. And House Republicans passed an expanded and even more dangerous version of the Hyde Amendment.

“The week of the inauguration though, we also observed Martin Luther King Day. Dr. King always challenged Americans to recognize the connection between the ballot, legislation and their lives.

“This week starkly demonstrated that connection. Women have marched for progress. Now they must run for office. Nothing is more wholesome to government and politics than the increased participation of women.

“Last weekend, one of the reasons women marched was to protect the health care of the American people. Sadly, Republicans, instead of focusing on raising wages and creating jobs – their first actions this year moved to repeal the Affordable Care Act, planning to slash and burn Medicaid, and to destroy the sacred Medicare guarantee that has protected generations of seniors – unleashing the long-standing Republican plan to let Medicare ‘wither on the vine.’

“The Affordable Care Act has made immense progress in each of the goals it set forth: improving quality of care, expanding access and lowering cost. The Republicans’ plan won’t make America great again. It will Make America Sick Again.

“The facts are these. The Congressional Budget Office – whose Director was appointed by a Republican Speaker – has documented the dire consequences of repealing the ACA: The number of uninsured Americans will increase by 18 million in the first year alone, surging to 32 million by 2026. The costs of premiums for Americans in the individual market will double in the same time, with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

“Protecting the Affordable Care Act is not just about the 20 million newly insured Americans. It’s also about the more than 150 million Americans with insurance through their workplace, who under the ACA, cannot be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, who are now protected from lifetime limits on care, whose children can now stay on their parents’ policy until age 26, who cannot be charged more because of their gender – because being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.

“It’s about fighting for children like Zoe Madison Lihn – born with a severe congenital heart defect in May of 2010. She faced her first – of three open heart surgeries – at 15 hours old – and by six months old, Zoe was halfway to the lifetime limit her insurer placed on her care. Without the ACA, Zoe and her family faced a harrowing future; not only using up all her lifetime health coverage before preschool, but carrying the burden of a pre-existing condition. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Zoe is protected. Her family can have confidence in her future.

“Tragically, repeal of the Affordable Care Act will lead to death, disability and suffering. And Republicans will do all of this to give a massive new tax break to the wealthiest – as they abandon seniors and working families across America.

“Democrats will stand our ground to protect the Affordable Care Act, because – as we, and many marchers believe – health care is the right of every American – not just the privileged few.

“Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.”

Bolding added.

~

20 Comments

    • Hello, everyone. I think I gave the wrong email address last time because half my brain is in a paper I’m currently writing. Anyway, this is my comment to join MM. :)

      missLotus

      • Hi, Meli! Would you like to be added as “Meli” or “Miss Lotus”?

        When you comment, your comment ends up in a moderation queue. An admin looks at it to make sure it is not spam, then releases it. That does not add you as a user. When you say “I would like to be added”, the admin will add you (it is not automatic – you might not see it until the next morning) and you get a an email from “wordpress at motleymoose.net” with a user name and password. Then you can log in (see this FAQ: How to Log in which describes the log in process). After you log in, you can change your password using the Dashboard. If you choose password reset from the log in screen and have not logged in yet, you may encounter problems.

        Watch for the email and welcome aboard!

  2. Malala Yousafzai’s powerful statement condemning Trump’s anti-refugee executive order

    I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war. I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants — the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.

    I am heartbroken that Syrian refugee children, who have suffered through six years of war by no fault of their own, are singled-out for discrimination.

    I am heartbroken for girls like my friend Zaynab, who fled wars in three countries — Somalia, Yemen and Egypt — before she was even 17. Two years ago she received a visa to come to the United States. She learned English, graduated high school and is now in college studying to be a human rights lawyer.

    Zaynab was separated from her little sister when she fled unrest in Egypt. Today her hope of being reunited with her precious sister dims.

    In this time of uncertainty and unrest around the world, I ask President Trump not to turn his back on the world’s most defenseless children and families.”

    Malala Yousafzai is the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

  3. The Republican president’s order marked Holocaust Remembrance Day …

    Eddie Marsan ‏@eddiemarsan

    It started as a promise to make Germany great again & a list of crimes committed by immigrants. #holocaustremembrance

    Mikel Jollett @Mikel_Jollett
    Today is #HolocaustMemorialDay. Remember it didn’t begin w death camps. It began w words dehumanizing a religion & laws taking away rights

  4. From the Guardian: Trump signs ‘extreme vetting’ executive order for people entering the US

    Trump’s unprecedented action will indefinitely close US borders to refugees fleeing the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Syria and impose a de facto ban on Muslims traveling to the US from parts of the Middle East and North Africa by prioritizing refugee claims “on the basis of religious-based persecution”. […]

    The move, which appears to run counter to the US constitution’s principle of not discriminating on the basis of religion, fulfills the vow Trump made on the campaign trail to limit Muslim immigration to the United States. […]

    Although Trump administration officials have continued to insist that the president’s actions are not targeted at Muslims or any one faith, the text of the executive order made explicit that the US government would prioritize religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries upon resuming its admittance of refugees:

    “Upon the resumption of USRAP [US Refugee Admissions Program] admissions, the secretary of state, in consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, is further directed to make changes, to the extent permitted by law, to prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality.”

    It could not be more clear:

    Betsy Fisher, the director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project, said: “The executive order doesn’t say ‘we’re banning Muslims’. It says, ‘we’re banning people from Muslim countries except for the non-Muslims’.”

  5. Oh, and about our “tradition of welcoming”? Actually, not so much …

    Surveys taken last year found that most Americans oppose temporarily barring Muslims from other countries, but that there’s also little enthusiasm for helping Syrian refugees. Last fall, a majority of Americans told Pew Research that the U.S. doesn’t have a responsibility to accept Syrian refugees, and 50 percent of voters in a Quinnipiac poll they’d favor “suspending immigration from ‘terror prone’ regions, even if it means turning away refugees from those regions.”

    In the years leading up to World War II, many Americans were also suspicious of Jews fleeing the Nazis. In 1938, 65 percent of Americans told Gallup that the persecution of Jews in Europe was at least partially their own fault, and nearly three-quarters opposed allowing “a larger number of Jewish exiles from Germany to come to the United States to live.” […]

    “Americans have a general reluctance to accept refugees into the U.S., even in response to situations that are clearly oppressive,” Frank Newport, the editor-in-chief of Gallup, wrote in 2015. He noted that the firm had found majority support for allowing in refugees only once, in response to a 1999 question about bringing several hundred Albanian refugees from Kosovo.

  6. What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “white supremacy”? For actor comedian Peter Kim, it’s facing the commonplace cultural assumption that white is the default race in America.

    “The white supremacy of being asked where I’m from”

  7. Thank you for these posts, Jan! Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has the right stuff. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown—not so much. Both voted to confirm Ben Carson as HUD secretary.

    I read a lengthy story about the people who were murdered because the USA turned their ship away from these shores. How shameful! The photos and explanations were heartbreaking.

    We must continue to resist.

    • I was searching for the best “face” for Fighting Back and Nancy Pelosi has never disappointed me. I am not a fan of people in the Senate whose first reaction is “comity”. Fk comity … it enables our enemies to do us, and by extension our country, harm.

      Al Franken is the closest we have to a true liberal Democratic Senator – one who won’t compromise on principles. His hero is Paul Wellstone, whose seat he fills.

  8. In other news, rich guys say “Trump Administration will be just fine”

    Bill Gates and Warren Buffett on Friday expressed optimism that the United States will move ahead as a nation, even as it works through political differences and gets used to the new Trump administration.

    The world’s two richest people were speaking to students at Columbia University after U.S. President Donald Trump started to unwind the work of his predecessor Barack Obama in a series of executive orders, prompting concern from critics over what the actions mean for Americans and their place in the world.

    “I am confident that America will move ahead,” Buffett said.

    “And if it doesn’t … ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

    • I wonder if this interview was before or after the immigration ban. Google’s CEO has a different opinion about how “fine” this is:

      Alphabet Inc.’s Google delivered a sharp message to staff traveling overseas who may be impacted by a new executive order on immigration from President Donald Trump: Get back to the U.S. now.

      Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai slammed Trump’s move in a note to employees Friday, telling them that more than 100 company staff are affected by the order.

      “It’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues,” Pichai wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. “We’ve always made our view on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so.” […]

      Some Google employees were traveling abroad and were trying to get back to the U.S. before the order took effect. The company asked them to reach out to Google’s security, travel, and immigration teams for assistance, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person asked not to be identified talking about internal company communications.

      The employees in question normally work in the U.S. but just happened to be abroad either on work assignments or vacations. The concern is that even if Google staff have valid visas, they may still be at risk if they’re from one of the seven countries and they’re outside the U.S. when the order kicks in, the person also said.

  10. Add me to this blog? I’m friendly and I only bite republicans and third party voters.

  11. Hey Jan! It’s me raina. Deal me in? I don’t remember my login info from the old MM, not sure if it’s transferable.

  12. I wrote a comment yesterday, but haven’t heard anything. I was a member years ago but don’t remember my password.

    • Hi, broths. I am still trying to catch up and I thought I had everyone as of 6am signed up. I am going to go back through the list and try to get a better handle on who is successfully registered and who is not. Stay tuned!

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