Thread by @l78lancer

@Maddow did an excellent job of explaining the tactical issues and problems with the #COVID19 relief bill. Trump is pretending that he will veto it, but that looks like a ploy at best. Here's why:

A pocket veto requires a bill to sit unsigned on the president's desk for 10 days.

Then it automatically becomes law. However, any bill not signed by the end of a congressional session essentially dies and has to be rewritten and put on the floor for a vote all over again in the next congress.

From the date the #COVID19 relief bill passed the senate to the day it expires on January 2, 2021, is 9 days. The that bill will die even without a veto. Therefore, Trump has to do absolutely nothing to kill the relief bill and the appropriations bill that is connected.

A backdoor.

For all of the hoping and wishing that he will find the character and act in good faith to sign it that democrats will do, history has shown that he lacks the character. And, there is no incentive for him to act if his goal is to inflict maximum damage on America.

No amount of democratic outrage or indignation on TV will shame Trump, or appeal to reason for him to sign it. If he does, it will be only because he perceives some personal benefit to be derived from his actions based on his own political calculations.

Likewise, all of the panic by republicans now is completely disingenuous. People were suffering on November 2, 2020. They were suffering December 1. They didn't care. The only change was the beginning of runoff election voting in Georgia, and the realization the GOP could lose.

What compounds the problem is because the relief bill requires government to be open to process the benefits, and the omnibus spending bill is necessary to keep government open, if one bill fails both fail. There'll be no relief anyway with a closed government.

All of the corrupt pardons, pardons, Trump leaving for Mar-a-lago to party and play golf, his attempts at election theft, speculation about derailing the final electoral college process, and other issues while critical, are distractions.

But I believe that too much attention is being paid to Trump's potential inaction and those other ancillary matters, and not enough on the root cause of the problem.

The real culprit and proponent of the problem here is McConnell. And what's happening is not coincidence or an accident of the calendar, but pure, raw, calculated politics. McConnell has been doing this too long for accidents and lapses to occur.

McConnell knew that the relief was necessary for months. He also knew that he had essentially removed himself from the negation process, abdicating the senate's responsibility and effectively delegating the congressional bill writing process to the the White House.

He decides what goes to the senate floor for votes. He decides the calendar. He knew if any bill went to the floor at any time there'd be sufficient votes to pass it. He knew that there were at least two opportunities prior to the election for the bill to be taken up. (May & Oct)

He knew that passing a bill for the sake of his majority didn't become relevant until the election. He knew by waiting till the end of the session there'd be insufficient time left to respond if Trump chose to let the bill sit the day that he put it on the floor for the vote.

He knew that the $900 billion settled on was close to the original amount proposed by Mnuchin and Meadows from the beginning of the negotiations. And McConnell never wanted to approve any relief no matter the outcome of the vote. He said so in the past.

The entire point of the theatre behind the relief bill was to pretend that the republicans were doing something in order to boost the reelection prospects of the endangered Georgia senate candidates while ensuring not a cent was actually spent. It was a shell game.

Now ask yourself, how did the must pass relief bill and the spending bill get here, at this late date, with such great importance attached to both yet with no alternate of back-up plans, when McConnell was holding all of the cards? It may be Trump's bill, but McConnell's process.

And should be noted that while republicans in the house and senate are feigning freaking out about the hazards of failure here, the one silent, stoic person through it all is McConnell.

This is evil and divisive, and America shouldn't be blind to what's happened here. For all of the current threats to democracy, not providing for the people during a crisis and shutting down the government are as much existential threats as any other national dangers.

This is political gamesmanship that could have been completely avoided, but the #COVID19 relief bill was designed to fail. And based on 2018, the republicans could care less if the government is shut down to accomplish that goal.

These days, there seems to be a tendency for people to invoke and throw around the expression "conspiracy theory," that sometimes allows intellectually laziness and dishonesty, refusing to look and the facts, data and reality of the process. It's easier and less enraging.

But we as a society need to be able to see all of the things that compose the reality before our eyes, otherwise, we will not be able to be responsible and effective citizens who hold our elected public officials to account for their actions especial when they threaten democracy.

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