1/11
The House of Reps approving $2000 relief checks rather than $600 dollars. That’s a big deal. $2000 checks could ease the pain just long enough for millions of Americans to remember this is the good our government can do in moments like these. #velshi
2/11
The bipartisan bill was met by Mitch McConnell at the front door of the senate with the words "The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help.” #velshi
3/11
The bipartisan bill for $2,000 checks was met by Mitch McConnell at the front door of the senate with the words, "The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help.” #velshi
4/11
What is, indeed, “rich” is Mitch McConnell - estimated to be around the 9th wealthiest person in congress - and who makes $193,000/yr, talking about people’s “rich friends”.
#velshi
5/11
If you add $2,000 to the $1,200 checks that went out in March, that’s $3200 over 9 months. $11.85/day. Nobody’s getting rich off of that. #velshi
6/11
The cost of the relief bill, as it stands, with the $600 relief checks, totals $900 billion dollars. Increasing the checks to $2000 dollars would cost an additional $464 billion. That would be a total of $1.36 trillion dollars in relief. #velshi
7/11
$1.3 Trillion IS a lot of money. But it’s a lot less than the $2.3 trillion-dollar cost of the Trump tax cuts that Mitch McConnell quickly jumped on-board with and benefitted far fewer people in need. #velshi
8/11
The Trump tax cuts, which mostly benefited corporations and the rich, had overwhelming GOP support in the Senate. This Democratic bill to increase payments to $2k won’t get a vote in the Republican controlled senate, which McConnell brags is where bills go to die. #velshi
9/11
When you’re as wealthy as Mitch McConnell - estimated to be worth more than $35M - you can’t know what it’s like to choose between paying the electric bill or buying food. #velshi
10/11
When you’re THAT wealthy you forget that having to spend extra money each month on things like masks and sanitizer, is not for many Americans, “extra money.” #velshi
11/11
The median net worth of Congress members is just over $1M. We’re not expecting miracles, but a little basic empathy would help. For many workers and small businesses there’s no “extra money”, no deep well from which to keep paying rent and buying groceries. #velshi

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More from @AliVelshi

3 Jan
1/13
I don’t know how many GOP members of the House and Senate watch @VelshiMSNBC so I have a favor to ask of you: If you know any, or know anyone who knows any, could you pass this message on to them for me? #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 2/13
While the GOP is busy trying to tear down democracy, there are some difficult realities facing America right now that could really use their attention. We are starting 2021 off in bad shape, considering that this is the most prosperous country on earth. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 3/13
America is not the most populous nation in the world; it’s only about 4.25% of the global population. Yet America accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s coronavirus cases and deaths. #velshi
Read 13 tweets
27 Dec 20
1/13
I talk a lot on this show about expertise. I’m an expert about nothing except snack foods. But I’m big on expertise. Which is why, as I take stock of this last year, two of my biggest disappointments have been actual experts. #velshi
2/13
The addition of renowned AIDS researcher Dr. Deborah Birx to the Trump administration’s Covid-19 task force was hailed as a positive step that stumbled fast. While people counted on her expertise to counter Trump’s ignorance, she didn’t. #velshi
3/13
She praised Trump for implementing China travel restrictions that did very little, if anything, to stop the spread of Covid, already making its way across the country, with no working formal testing plan in place. #velshi
Read 13 tweets
20 Dec 20
1/9
December 21, 2020, marks 156 years since Sherman & 60,000 Union soldiers captured #Savannah. Sherman’s 285-mile, 3-week long “March to the Sea” devastated both the Confederacy & much of Georgia. Sherman reaching Savannah was the beginning of the end of the Civil War. #velshi
2/9
Though a stunningly beautiful city, prior to Sherman’s arrival, Savannah was a horrible Confederate bastion of slavery. Just 5 years prior, the city was the scene of one of the largest sales of enslaved persons in American history. #velshi
3/9
In 1859, at an event called “The Great Slave Auction”, 436 men, women & children were brought to Savannah racetrack & put in stalls used for horses, where they waited for days, in some cases even weeks. Hotels in town filled with potential slave buyers. #velshi
Read 9 tweets
19 Dec 20
1/11
When Donald Trump leaves office, his will be a legacy of division, chaos, mismanagement & death. His administration’s disdain for expertise—and its penchant for wishful thinking & conspiracy theories over fact—have become yet more evident this year. #velshi
2/11
America is the richest nation on the planet, in many ways the envy of the world, yet 17 million people have become infected with Covid. America is 4.25% of the world’s population, yet accounts for nearly 19% of the global covid deaths. #velshi
3/11
Sickness & death were inevitable, but NOT at this scale. Covid could have been mitigated, but instead we got denial, confusion & bad advice. America's handling of this pandemic is a failure at the highest levels, and it should be investigated. #velshi
Read 12 tweets
12 Dec 20
1/11
This week, over half the Republican Congress signed on to a Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to invalidate millions of votes in 4 battleground states, despite having ZERO evidence of voter fraud. This is shocking but, sadly, not the least bit surprising. #velshi
2/11
Last night, the Supreme Court—including all 3 of Donald Trump’s appointees—rejected Texas’ case to overturn the election results. But one wonders whether it would have been more useful for the court to have heard it and then decided against it. #velshi
3/11
Trump’s tactics may not have worked in the ACTUAL courts, but a poll out this week indicated that 77% of Republicans believe there was fraud in this election. While most of that misinformation comes from Donald Trump himself—he’s the spark—the fuel is all around us. #velshi
Read 11 tweets
6 Dec 20
1/12
Portland still bears the scars of a summer of protest—initially kicked off by police brutality & racial injustice, then fueled by federal agents operating violently & without accountability. A movement to #DefundThePolice grew there night by night. #velshi
2/12
Since then, the discussion about the meaning of #DefundThePolice has flourished. Is it a demand to end police funding or a more nuanced call to re-allocate some of the billions spent on policing toward addressing mental health, domestic violence & substance abuse? #velshi
3/12
The debate was renewed this week when former President Obama derided #DefundThePolice as a “snappy slogan.” Obama got some pushback from progressives who believe it’s not merely a slogan but, rather, a mandate. A very specific mandate. #velshi
Read 12 tweets

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