Opinion| On Thursday, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer scolded Republicans over their plan to cast a vote on the Green New Deal.
Schumer went so far as to label the plan as a “stunt,” and a “cheap, cynical ploy.” He went on to claimed it was just “a game of political gotcha.”
“The Republican leader announced he’s going to bring up a resolution he intends to vote against,” the Senate Minority Leader stated on the Senate floor. “Now that is what the American people hate about Congress — the pointless partisan games.”
Fox News reports:
Schumer is the latest Democrat to criticize Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for calling a vote on the plan that many in the party have already rallied behind. Still, Schumer, joined by colleagues on the Senate floor, said: “Bring it on.” He said Democrats “believe that we need to do something about climate change” and added: “Do Republicans?”
Earlier this week, McConnell said that the Senate will vote on the Green New Deal – endorsed by nearly all top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates – in an effort to force Democrats to officially go on the record for the radical proposal.
McConnell told the media, “I’ve noted with great interest the Green New Deal. And we’re going to be voting on that in the Senate. We’ll give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal.”
Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presented the proposal, which is intended to “transform the country’s economy in a bid to combat climate change. It recently came under scrutiny after revelations that a related FAQ document included passages promising a job to ‘all people of the United States’ – including those ‘unwilling to work’ – and suggesting air travel could be made obsolete,” according to Fox.
“We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast,” the document, which has since been deleted, also stated.
Fox reports that the plan to bring a vote to the Senate floor will seriously test possible Democratic presidential candidates like Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who are all planning on running.
Fox predicts, “While backing of the far-left proposal will ultimately improve their liberal bona fides and their support from the Democratic base, the support of the plan will undoubtedly be the target of attacks during the general election.”
The Green New Deal has already received criticism from President Trump, who stated that it would “shut down American energy.” He called it “a high school term paper that got a low mark” in a Monday rally in El Paso, Texas.
Fox reports:
Corbin Trent, a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez, said that McConnell’s plan to bring the plan to the vote will only show “just how out of touch Republican politicians are with the American people.”
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, a co-sponsor of the plan, also decried McConnell’s move.
“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 said.