Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas.
What we’re reading…
Senate Republicans have taken up the Trump torch on using immigration as a political cudgel, with no real belief that tactics they are using will work for any purpose other than to create a distraction. We know this is true because history has shown that politics trumps any real effort to address the immigration issue.
Instead, to assist Ukraine in keeping Russia at bay so we, as a NATO member, are not forced to fight an actual war instead of a proxy war, the GOP says our way or the highway once again with unreasonable demands inserted in what is a bipartisan bill.
Demands that include significantly narrowing the right to apply for asylum in the U.S.—which is a right recognized in both domestic and international law—and prevents the federal government from permitting blanket asylum in emergency cases, such as for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.
Ends the asylum program that permits people to enter the U.S. with a sponsor, a program that has reduced illegal entry by up to 95%.
Build the wall, and seize private property to do so.
And I expect that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Will you bring back children ripped from parents as well?
I think we’ve found the deep state. Trump-supporting MAGA Republicans are working not for the United States but for Putin.
Media outlets in Moscow celebrated the Senate vote to squash funding, gloating that Ukraine is now in “agony” and that it was “difficult to imagine a bigger humiliation.” One analyst said: “The downfall of Ukraine means the downfall of Biden! Two birds with one stone!” Another: “Well done, Republicans! They’re standing firm! That’s good for us.”
It is a bipartisan wish that strategic funding pass.
“Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul today noted that even the delay in funding has hurt the U.S. “Delaying a vote on aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan will do great damage to America's reputation as a reliable global leader in a very dangerous world. Delay is a gift to Putin, Xi, and the mullahs in Iran,” he wrote.”
The lurch towards anti-democratic norms in the GOP is profoundly disturbing. Perhaps the majority of you would agree. But GOP actions don’t indicate concern. They indicate compliance.
Lastly, the plight of women in your home state. Desperate. But fighting back. And the latest instance just heaps more fuel on our anger.
Yet another woman sought recourse. Her claim was supported in the courts. But overturned by her state. So she had to go to another state to potentially save her life, and her reproductive future.
“The image of a woman forced by the state to carry a fetus with a fatal condition at the risk of her own health and future fertility until finally she has to flee her state for medical care is one that will not be erased easily.”
Republicans did this.
