Thread by @ASlavitt

COVID Update December 3: Not enough attention has been played to the villainous role of Mitch McConnell and the Senate in this pandemic. 1/

With 100,000 people in the hospital & 2500 people dying in a day, things are about to get worse. 2/

There are a lot of reasons for this. Number 1, the virus itself does this and number 2, we have had no public health strategy & practices. 3/

But Congress is another major reason. 4/

Congress has broken the most significant compact with the public in my lifetime. 5/

Why do I say this?

Because if Congress had done it’s job— telling the public in a once in a century virus—“we have your back”, everything would have been different. 6/

Bars & restaurants— if you have to close temporarily, we will make sure you don’t go out of business

You— if you’re feeling sick or test positive, we will pay you as you stay home & pay for you to isolate in a hotel 7/

And— if you lose income, we will make sure you are continually supported & don’t have to lose your home or apartment. 8/

And while we’re at it...if schools or need to be retrofitted, if doctors offices need support...we will keep you hole. 9/

We’re not talking about forever. We went ahead and started manufacturing vaccines before they were tested & approved. We bet on science.

But we couldn’t do that for the country. 10/

The result of all of this— things many of us have been able to anticipate— has been unprecedented stress on our states, on our schools, on small businesses, on people who have lost their jobs.

And the Senate didn’t do it’s job. 11/

Why? Possible reasons...
1- Racism: the Senate just doesn’t care as much about the populations that are dying
2- Ideology: the people who told us the budget deficit was going to be our undoing never invested 12/

3- Trump’s incompetence: Congress assumed the Trump Admin would get this under control my mid year. They put enough money away for that. End of year at the outside. Well guess what Mitch, your boy didn’t get it done. 13/

4- Schools, states, cities, renters & people who owe student loans are not Republican constituencies. Cruise ships, airlines, big business is.
5- America’s misplaced liberty & bootstrap mentality.
6- Trump didn’t give a shit & was a completely unskilled legislator to boot. 14/

Does it surprise anyone that people protest keeping their bars & restaurants open?

Does it surprise us that teachers are concerned about entering 50 year old classrooms?

That people are more reluctant to pull their weight because the government won’t. 15/

Stop getting angry at restaurant & bar owners. They are not to blame.

They have been failed by the Congress. 16/

Stop blaming governors for asking them to close.

They have been failed by Congress. 17/

Don’t blame landlords or tenants. They are out in a bind by Congress, who has failed them. 18/

We pay taxes. Congress is supposed to allocate those taxes to national priorities. They aren’t. This is a major failing. 19/

The President-elect is going to need to get that to change if progress can’t be made before he’s there. People are going to need to make noise with their Senators.

Not just Twitter noise. Noise noise. 20/

In failing us, the Congress has helped turn the country against one another. Has made us more cynical in our politics. Less trusting of our government.

None of those things strike me as things that bother Mitch McConnell in the least. 21/

Pulling together is what you’re supposed to do in a crisis. Having our backs during a crisis is now the government helps.

The House did its job. The Senate fell down. 22/

McConnell can be pushed into the minority.

What happens in Georgia in a month could make all the difference. /end