Greene County Democrat

Tag: Hakeem Jeffries

  • Newswire: Democrats dig in: Healthcare at the center of looming Shutdown fight

    Hypertension In Older Age. Young Female Medical Worker Measuring Arterial Blood Pressure Of Senior Black Man Using Cuff, Patient Having Problems With Tension, Sitting At Table. Health Care Concept

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

     

    The air in Washington has grown thick with a familiar tension, the kind that precedes the shuttering of government offices and the silencing of paychecks for thousands of workers. Yet at the heart of this looming shutdown lies something far greater than partisan brinkmanship: a ferocious fight for the soul of America’s healthcare.
    Democrats have planted themselves firmly in the path of what they call a reckless assault on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. They are not speaking in the language of compromise this time. They are speaking in the cadence of survival—for the poor, the sick, the disabled, and the working families who stand to see their coverage ripped away.
    Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned of what was at stake. “Senators will have to choose: to stand with Donald Trump and keep the same lousy status quo and cause the Trump healthcare shutdown, or stand with the American people, protect their healthcare, and keep the government functioning,” he said. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries framed the fight with defiance. “We don’t work for Donald Trump, we don’t work for JD Vance, we don’t work for Elon Musk, we work for the American people. And that is why we are a hard no on the partisan Republican spending bill because it continues to gut the healthcare of everyday Americans,” he stated.
    In their joint letter to President Trump, Schumer and Jeffries accused him of deliberately courting a shutdown to “gut the healthcare of the American people.” They wrote, “We do not understand why you prefer to shut down the government rather than protect the healthcare and quality of life of the American people,” they stated.  Journalist Karen Tumulty analyzed the Democrats’ approach, noting that the minority party, though constrained in power, is wielding rare leverage in this moment.
    They have tied their stand to demands that strike at the heart of Trump’s agenda: restoring Medicaid funds slashed earlier this year, extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire, and halting the administration’s freeze on appropriated dollars. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland cut to the essence of Democratic resistance. “I’m not going to write a blank check for a lawless president. That is my starting point here,” he said.
    The stakes, Democrats argue, are not abstract. They warn that millions could see premiums soar, hospitals and clinics could close, and the poorest communities—urban and rural alike—could be left without care. In Delaware, Sen. Chris Coons described how both the most urban and most rural hospitals in his state depend heavily on Medicaid. “Part of our challenge is lots of people haven’t felt that yet, but they will next month,” he said.
    The president has brushed aside these warnings, saying there may be “a closed country for a period of time,” even as he pledged to shield the military and Social Security checks, he stated. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker made clear where he stands. “I’m on Team Fight. You don’t think Republicans would use every ounce of leverage they would have in this circumstance?” he said. For Democrats, the fight is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet, but about what kind of nation America chooses to be. They are wagering that voters, when confronted with rising costs and shuttered care, will see the struggle not as political theater but as a line drawn in defense of their health and their dignity.

  • Newswire: House Dem Leader Jeffries blasts Rep. Byron Donald on blasphemous Jim Crow comments

    Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called Donald Trump “a two-bit racial arsonist” and said that the Republican presidential nominee has done nothing, but fan the flames of bigotry. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA)

    By Hakeem Jeffries
    NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    In what quickly turned into a polarizing week for Black Americans, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) delivered a scathing denunciation of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on the House floor, while rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent visited Capitol Hill presumably to advocate for Black entrepreneurs. Both events highlighted the stark divisions within the Black community regarding political allegiances and historical perspectives.
    Donalds, who earlier co-hosted a Donald Trump campaign event for Black voters in Philadelphia, incredulously asserted, “You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative—Black people have always been conservative-minded—but more Black people voted conservatively.”
    Jeffries responded forcefully, condemning Donalds’ remarks as inaccurate and deeply offensive. “Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow,” he stated. “That’s an outlandish, outrageous, and out-of-pocket observation.”
    Highlighting the brutal realities of the Jim Crow era, Jeffries continued, “We would not be better off when a young boy named Emmett Till could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when Black women could be sexually assaulted without consequence because of Jim Crow. We would not be better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when children could be denied a high-quality education without consequence because of Jim Crow. We would not be better off when people could be denied the right to vote without consequence because of Jim Crow. How dare you make such an ignorant observation?”
    The Congressional Black Caucus echoed Jeffries’ condemnation in a statement: “This is a pattern of embracing racist ideologies that we see time and again within the MAGA Republican Party. Rep. Donalds is playing his role as the mouthpiece who will say the quiet parts out loud that many will not say themselves. His comments were shameful and beneath the dignity of a member of the House of Representatives. He should immediately offer an apology to Black Americans for misrepresenting one of the darkest chapters in our history for his own political gain.”
    On the same day, 50 Cent, meeting with lawmakers in a visit hyped as an attempt to advocate for Black entrepreneurs and Black representation in the liquor industry, commented on the political climate. Speaking to CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion, 50 Cent gave a nod to an alarming trend among Black men identifying with the twice-impeached Trump, who is a convicted felon and still under indictment. When asked about his stance in the upcoming presidential election, the rapper, who supported Trump in 2020, stated he hadn’t decided yet but highlighted Trump’s appeal among Black male voters. “I see them identifying with Trump,” he explained, “because they got RICO charges.”
    Trump has more than 50 felony charges pending in three jurisdictions after a Manhattan jury convicted him of 34 felonies related to hush money payments, he made to an adult film actress to cover up their extramarital affair. A New York jury also twice found him guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, while a judge declared the former president committed massive business fraud and ordered Trump to pay nearly $500 million in fines and restitution.
    But the week underscored a significant divide within the Black community, juxtaposing Jeffries’ and the Congressional Black Caucus’s fierce defense of historical accuracy and social justice against Donalds’ and 50 Cent’s perspectives.
    Many noted that Jim Crow laws, enforced through local and federal legislation, relegated Black Americans to second-class citizenship, enforcing racial segregation and instilling systemic violence and terror. That era included the wrongful execution of 14-year-old George Stinney, Jr., convicted by an all-white jury in 1944 after just 10 minutes of deliberation. Stinney’s case epitomized the racial injustice of Jim Crow.
    Jeffries further criticized the romanticization of Black family history during that oppressive period, which included the Scottsboro Boys wrongly accused of raping a white woman in 1931, 14-year-old Emmett Till lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of whistling at a white girl, and four Black girls murdered in a church bombing in Alabama in 1963? Not gone unnoticed, too, is that Donalds is married to a white woman, something that would have led to his lynching during Jim Crow.
    “You better check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Jeffries assailed. “I yield back.

  • Newswire: House Republicans elect Mike Johnson as new speaker after weeks of turmoil

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    U. S. Capitol
    In a protracted and contentious process that ground Congress to a halt for over three weeks, House Republicans have finally chosen a new Speaker. Mike Johnson, R-La., a lower-ranking member of the GOP leadership and notorious right-wing election denier, emerged as the victor on Wednesday, succeeding the ousted Californian Kevin McCarthy.
    The long and turbulent journey, which has lingered and prevented America from aiding its Israeli and Ukraine allies, saw Johnson become the party’s fourth nominee for the role since the MAGA wing of the caucus ousted McCarthy. On Tuesday morning, Republicans initially selected Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., as their nominee, only for him to withdraw later in the day, unable to muster the 217 votes required to secure the position.
    With only 221 Republicans in the House, the margin for error was slim for any nominee vying for the top spot. While the GOP celebrated the long-awaited appointment of a new speaker, some members struggled to break old voting habits. GOP Rep. Kay Granger of Texas initially voted for Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama before eventually changing it to Mike Johnson.
    In a routine unanimous show of Democratic support, all 212 members voted for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, as Speaker.
    As he noted about a potential Jim Jordan speakership, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California said Johnson would now preside over the counting of electoral votes in the next election. “After he was deeply involved in trying to overturn the last one. Just when you think they can’t be more irresponsible, they prove you wrong,” Schiff stated.
    Similarly, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee expressed disbelief in a now-deleted social media post, saying, “I can’t believe this is happening after January 6. If Trump can get to another electoral college, House Speaker will be able to subvert votes of the people/ This is the first act in insurrection 2.0.”
    Johnson, a pro-Trump election skeptic, now holds a position that could influence future election outcomes. Notable for his involvement in various controversial matters, Johnson pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland on a conspiracy theory involving the Justice Department and Hunter Biden. He also advocated for the expunging of Donald Trump’s first impeachment and pushed for a national abortion ban.
    Johnson also took a more active stance in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. In 2020, he spearheaded efforts to rally House GOP members to support a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate election results in crucial states. Over 125 members eventually signed on.
    Essentially, Johnson was at the forefront of rallying support for a controversial theory posited by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, aimed at overturning a U.S. presidential election. His instrumental role earned him recognition as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” by The New York Times just a year ago.