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16 Feb, 9 tweets, 4 min read
NEW: U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker voted for more than $3.6 trillion in stimulus spending under Trump last year.

But he says he'll vote 'No' on Biden's stimulus because it “would add to the mountain of debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay.” mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
In 2009, Sen. Roger Wicker cited concerns about the debt as he voted against Obama's stimulus $830billion stimulus, calling it "the most expensive piece of legislation in the history of our republic.”

Under Trump, he voted for the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
Since he joined the U.S. Senate, @SenatorWicker has twice voted against stimulus bills when under Democratic presidents, calling them "Spending Bills," and twice voted for stimulus bills under a Republican president—Trump—calling them "relief packages." mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
“Biden’s push for a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is premature. Over $1 trillion in aid from previous packages has yet to be distributed,” said Sen. Wicker.

But he voted for the Trump-backed December stimulus, lamenting "months of unnecessary delays." mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
In Mississippi, $369 million in CARES Act funds remained unspent as of Jan. 24 and the state had spent $0 of the $1 billion that Congress sent Mississippi to support education under the December 2020 stimulus bill. mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
For those of you asking how Sen. Wicker voted on Trump's 2017 tax cuts that cost $1.9 trillion tax cut, here:
After Sen. Wicker voted to acquit Trump, he said, "I hope we can put this trial behind us & recommit to the cooperative spirit we need to meet our republic’s pressing challenges.”

2 days later, he said he announced his renewed opposition to stimulus bills.mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
Sen. Roger Wicker on stimulus/relief bills:

2009, $0.83T (Under Obama):
AGAINST: "will take Americans decades to pay for."

2020, $3.6T (Trump)
FOR: "will bring much needed financial relief"

2021, $1.9T (Biden)
AGAINST: "will add to the mountain of debt"
mississippifreepress.org/9294/sen-wicke…
P.S. While statewide elected leaders in MS are Republicans, our approach to accountability journalism is cross-partisan. We're open to tips on accountability for *any* leader.

If you believe in our work, please consider donating to help us do more of it: mfp.ms/donate.

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
10 Feb
NEW: University of Mississippi Police are pursuing a criminal investigation into Ole Miss Information, the anonymous whistleblowers who tipped @MSFreePress off about racist emails between UM officials and prospective wealthy donors. #UMEmails mississippifreepress.org/9134/um-pursui…
The emails revealed how, even as University of Mississippi officials condemned racism publicly, they privately catered to and coddled donors like the one who referred to Black students as "African hookers" or using ape emojis to describe Black women. mississippifreepress.org/9134/um-pursui…
Now, the UM Emails whistleblowers, who obtained the emails following an official and legal public records request, are facing a criminal investigation as officials and some faculty members accuse them of "creating a hostile work environment."mississippifreepress.org/9134/um-pursui…
Read 13 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
9 Feb
Just help set 4 up with vaccine appointments. If you know anyone who needs them, esp if they don't have access to or skill to use technology or just might not know when appointments are available, give them a call NOW and help them set up an appointment: covidvaccine.umc.edu
Appointments are going QUICKLY and there likely won't be many if any left an hour from now, so get on it! covidvaccine.umc.edu
Remember, the more people you can help get COVID-19 vaccine appointments and get the shot in the arm, the closer we all will get to herd immunity and ending this pandemic.

So if you need a selfish motivator, there's that, too! covidvaccine.umc.edu
Read 5 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
8 Feb
When a politician's main talking points are some variation of:
-"I'm a true _______" (conservative/progressive)
or
-"I'm committed to _______ principles/ideas"

then they aren't looking for solutions to fit your problems; they're trying to make your problems fit their sortions.
And that can either be because they're an ideologue or because they believe the people who vote for them are ideologies and they're essentially "virtue signaling" to that crowd.

Either way, such people aren't about problem solving. They're about furthering their ideology.
Because if they were about problem solving, they wouldn't have to invoke ideology or promise to uphold it; they'd just craft the best solutions based on the problem, and hey, maybe one ideology fits the problem! Maybe it's a combination. Or no ideology. Who cares? Solve problems!
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
6 Feb
I know Bill Maher is a bit of a one-trick pony, but it's not Christianity at the root of QAnon/MAGA—it's white supremacy.

Black Americans are more religiously devout (and Christian) overall than white Americans—but they aren't storming capitols or bombing abortion clinics.
White supremacy has long used Christianity as a public-facing cover (defending slavery, segregation, homophobia, etc), but it wasn't driving those things; it was used as a tool to defend privilege.

Religion was also used as a tool to support abolition, civil rights, et al.
Am I saying there are no good criticisms of religion? No. But don't say "Christianity" when you really just mean "white evangelical Christians," or when you really mean, "white supremacy."

Because Christianity ≠ conservative white evangelicals. You're erasing *a lot* of folks.
Read 14 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
5 Feb
NEW: More Mississippians have now died of COVID-19 than died in 1918 amid the Great Influenza pandemic—the deadliest in modern history.

Mississippi's excess death toll in 1918 was 7,312.

Mississippi's excess death toll in 2020 was 7,314.
mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…
Mississippi's mortality rate reached a 102-year-high in 2020, dwarfed only by 1918, when the state's population was a third smaller and medical science was far less advanced (there was no flu vaccine until 1945).

Interactive chart here: mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis… Chart shows that Mississippi recorded more deaths in 2020 th
Mississippi's 2020 excess death toll of 7,314 likely means thousands more died of COVID-19 last year than officially reported; By year's end, the state had officially confirmed only 4,816 deaths.

Last year, Dr. Dobbs said "undercounting" was likely. mississippifreepress.org/8979/in-missis…
Read 17 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
4 Feb
NEW: A week after police shot a Black teenager multiple times near Hattiesburg High School, Mayor Toby Barker addressed the shooting today for the first time.

If an investigation finds misconduct, "there will be accountability," he said.mississippifreepress.org/8940/hattiesbu…
“In recent days, we have asked the Dept. of Public Safety, through MBI, to provide the public with an update, to assist in at least dispelling inaccurate information circulating on social media" about the shooting, but they have not done so, Barker said.mississippifreepress.org/8940/hattiesbu…
Black Lives Matter MS President Reginald Virgil:

“He did the right thing in putting something out to the people, but the thing the people want is transparency because the people are on edge. This is in the community—there are different stories coming up."mississippifreepress.org/8940/hattiesbu…
Read 6 tweets

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