U.S. Rep Edward Markey addresses America’s Digital Inclusion Summit at The Newseum, March 9, 2010.
In the sort of sly stroke of Senate genius he is known for, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided to quickly hold a vote on the resolution known as the “Green New Deal.”
The resolution, championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and sponsored in the Senate by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey contains a litany of outrageous demands from the most radical quarter of the progressive environmentalist cabal. It is unlikely Markey ever thought the resolution would get a vote in the Senate.
But McConnell has other plans. Knowing full well that the resolution will fail spectacularly, and that any Senator who attaches his or her name to the radical proposals will be a laughingstock, he has decided to force progressive Democrat senators to put up or shut up.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders, are all either declared or potential candidates for president. They have each voiced support for the resolution. Putting them on record as voting for its outrageous ideas will be a win for Republicans in 2020. Other vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2020 will be forced to choose a side on the resolution’s ideas, either alienating their base if they vote against it, or hurting their chances with moderates if they vote for it.
The idea of being put on record over the resolution has Democrats crying foul, with Markey complaining loudest. Fox News reporter Joseph Wulfsohn writes:
One of the co-authors of the Green New Deal is slamming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for announcing he’s bringing the resolution to a vote.
Last week, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced a sprawling blueprint of an environmental and economic overhaul that has gotten the support of numerous Democrats, including most of the candidates who have announced 2020 presidential runs.
However, after McConnell told the press that he would bring the Green New Deal to a vote, Markey took to Twitter to slam the decision.
“Don’t let Mitch McConnell fool you: this is nothing but an attempt to sabotage the movement we are building. He wants to silence your voice so Republicans don’t have to explain why they are climate change deniers. McConnell wants this to be the end, this is just the beginning,” Markey tweeted. “This isn’t a new Republican trick. By rushing a vote on the #GreenNewDeal resolution, Republicans want to avoid a true national debate & kill our efforts to organize. We’re having the first national conversation on climate change in a decade. We can’t let Republicans sabotage it.”
That led to widespread mockery of Markey on social media.
Read more here.