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US DEMOCRATS DROP THE STEAL ACT Forbes Breaking News: BREAKING: Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries Introduce 'Stop The Steal Act' To Counter Elon Musk, DOGE Chuck Schumer speaking PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3YC7C3ooy0 Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Donald Trump together with his political enablers has unleashed a barrage of initiatives to 'break' the US governance structure. I have pointed out weaknesses in this structure for most of my adult life ... I am now 85 years old ... to make it better, not to destroy governence by the people for the people in favor of control by a single old man with dubious competence and probably evil intent. I am, of course referring to Donald Trump who has become rich together with his family while 'stiffing' most everyone else. The idea that Trump has been elected President of the United States not once but twice is difficult to understand. It suggests that the American electorate is pretty much 'brainless' and willing to 'Drink the Kool-Aid' unquestioningly following Trump's orders. The USA is in crisis ... though a large part of the American people are still ignoring the unfolding catastrophe. The Democrats in Congress are moving faster than normal to get control of the situation that has developed, but it is probably way too little and way too late. Worse ... much of the American electorate remains asleep three weeks after the Trump inauguration and the avalanche of 'Executive Orders' that he has issued! By the time America wakes up, a massive amount of damage will have been done, at home and abroad. Many of the people who have been processed in the new Trump era to take up positions of great power in the US Government seem to be of low administrative competence. They are, however, in lockstep with the Trump agenda, and will likely facilitate Trump's every move. The world has been watching and coming together in opposition to Trump's initiatives. I grew up in the UK, have worked around the world during a big part of my adult life, and have been based in the USA since the late 1960s. I 'chose' the USA in the 1960s because it offered me an amazing quality of life compared to most every other place in the world. For me ... a well educated white male ... the USA was just fine in the 1960s ... but sadly the USA was more racist and poorly educated than I expected. In part, there has been progress on these issues, but Trump and his followers are doing all in their power to reverse course in ... to me ... a very bad way!. But the world will not 'bow down' to an America where someone like Trump is calling the shots ... they will ... and to a great extent already have ... come together in opposition to an America that reflect Trump (and Musk) agendas. Peter Burgess
BREAKING: Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries Introduce 'Stop The Steal Act' To Counter Elon Musk, DOGE Forbes Breaking News 4.28M subscribers ... 335,717 views ... 13K likes Feb 4, 2025 Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing on Tuesday to discuss Elon Musk and DOGE. Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership... Stay Connected Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: / forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: / forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Hakeem Jeffries speaking Transcript 0:01 look at this when I'm here alone you're not here all together I got to bring H more often okay good afternoon first I have uh I'd like to announce that uh all 47 Democrats will vote against Russell vote we're United in our agreement that Russell vote is a dangerous and destructive choice to lead the Office of Management and budget and we saw a precursor to his leadership last week during the dangerous Federal funding freeze that crippled or nearly crippled critical duties of the federal government and its operation as the Chief Architect Chief cook and bottle washer of project 2025 it's Russell vote who is laser focused on undermining our government he's proven it Senate Democrats will unanimously oppose him and do everything we can to prevent him from leading om 1:01 and should Republicans not see the light and shoulder shrug this dangerous person into this seat they'll have to have to answer to the American people Russell vote wants to Casta chaos Across America he's depending solely on Republicans to do it and as I said he's a danger to the budget he's a danger to what people in America need now on the reason we are here so over the past few days and I'm 1:33 hakee and I work together really closely and well and I welcome him to the Senate as he welcomes me to the house I think yeah okay over the past few days Democrats have warned the American people that doge is operating like a shadow government yesterday I said that doge is not a real government agency it has no authority to make spending decisions to 2:00 shut down programs or ignore federal law this is not debatable this is an indisputable fact No Authority for spending decisions to shut down programs or ignore federal law yet Elon Musk took issue with that warning he said in answer to a tweet that I said that did this he said Doge quote is the one shot a the American people have to defeat bureaucracy and restore democracy Now give me a break nothing screams democracy like having a secret Squad of Company Men pull off a hostile takeover of America's Social Security and tax information in the dead of night that is not democracy Mr musk that's prec and yet it's precisely what doge is doing it's letting a small group of 3:01 unelected people secret run rampant through the executive branch accessing the private data millions of Americans need and God knows what they're going to do with it God knows so there are two dangers one people's privacy is at stake second that there's a risk that this small group could cut program after program using one excuse or another so today leader Jeff and I are joining together to push legislation to prevent unlawful meddling in the treasury Department's payment systems and protect Americans across the country our bill aims to do a few Simple Things One Deni to deny access to special government employees employees that don't have to disclose their conflicts of interest or any other ethic 4:01 agreements two to deny access to anyone with conflicts of interest or lack of appropriate clearance and three include personal tax information into existing privacy protections we call our legislation stop the steal whatever doge is doing it's not democracy we know what democracy is like it's out in the open it's not secret you the two sides debate and then the reg the elected officials make decisions democracy doesn't work in the shadows democracy doesn't skirt the lle rule of law and it doesn't give special privilege to the ideas and needs of a group of ultra wealthy people at the expense of American families of course we should talk about reform reform's a worthy cause everyone 5:00 agrees we should find ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government but you know what history shows when it's done in the dark of night it always leads to bad results when these Doge people decide to cut a program have they even talked to the people who run the program have they even done a little research have they heard the other side or they just in such rush to cut anything they can so that they can keep tax breaks and give deeper tax breaks to the wealthiest of Americans undoubtedly not they are not checking they are not debating they are not doing things in sunlight so we want reform we'd like to cut waste but do it in front of the American people hear the arguments have the back and forth that has been the Hallmark of this Republic for over 200 years you don't have a small small group of Select 6:01 people who have little experience across the breaths of govern breath of government have access to these records and an ability to cut funding the American people have a right to be part of the debate as to what program should be cut and just because a small group of people think they know better than the American people doesn't make it true so we are going to do everything we can to sound the alarm arm and fight with everything we've got to stop this horrible horrible act by this Doge group with the of course the permission acquiescence encouragement of Donald Trump leader Jeff thank you leita Schumer uh and before leita Schumer was a man of the Senate he was a man of the house uh and so we always welcome you back over to the people's chamber Democrats you sound like 7:01 Nancy Democrats are always always ready willing and able to work with anyone to find the common ground necessary to solve problems on behalf of hard-working American taxpayers particularly as it relates to driving down the High Cost of Living we understand that America is too expensive there are far too many hardworking American taxpayers struggling to live paycheck to paycheck housing costs are too high grocery costs are too high child care costs are too high Insurance costs are too high utility costs are too high America is too expensive Democrats are committed to driving down the high cost of living for workingclass Americans middle- class Americans and everyday Americans all across the land 8:00 our Republican colleagues are not serious about lowering the High Cost of Living they've done nothing introduced not a single Bill not put forth a single policy proposal they've done nothing as it relates to lowering the High Cost of Living at the same time they are raiding the government attempting to steal taxpayer money that's what the situation at the treasury Department is all about we will introduce the stop the steel act in short order to prevent unlawful access with respect to the Department of treasury's payment system connected to people who are trying to steal 9:02 personal sensitive and confidential information related to Social Security recipients Medicare recipients taxpayers businesses non for-profits veterans and everyday Americans it's unacceptable unconscionable and unamerican stop the steel act will prevent this unlawful access from taking place it's unfortunate that many of our Republican colleagues are determined to stand up a shadow government of the billionaires by the billionaires and for the billionaires that will stick it to the American people that's what's driving much of the behavior on the other side of the aisle because at the end of the day my house Republican colleagues are determined to pass 10:01 massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and Wealthy corporations and then stick workingclass Americans with the bill by doing things like ending Medicaid as we know it we won't stand for it we will push back against it and because we're confident that the American people are on our side we will stop it questions on this subject yes Senator uh Republicans have argued that this is not an effort to cut government quite yet that this is just a review process that they're looking that how the money is spent and that they're trying to come up with a plan to make sure that it's spent correctly is your issue with the process here or is your issue that Elon Musk is the one that's in charge of it our issue is of course with the whole process secret behind closed doors and you say they don't want to cut look what we saw what they tried to freeze payments to just about 11:00 everything what they want to do so our belief is there's a real danger a terrible terrible danger and a looming danger that they will not only have access to Americans Privacy Information but that they will use that to cut programs left and but how specifically are you concerned about musk himself is he we're concerned that musk is in charge of Doge but we're concerned about the how the whole process works and ultimately the buck Falls with Donald Trump the president but we are concerned that a small number of people were concerned with the whole process including musk and including the others who were in it as lead schum indicated the problem lies with some individuals who have been put in charge of this raid on the government including Elon Musk but it also relates to the so-called special government employees who aren't required to 12:01 adhere to the ethical laws and the disclosure requirements that were put in place by Congress in a bipartisan way for a reason to make sure that people have the best interest of the American people at heart and that clearly is not the case as it relates to this unlawful access to the treasury payment system when when it's something so important as to who the government helps it should be done in a way that adheres to our Democratic principles openness debate discussion and reflecting a broad group of people who have inputs into it not just a very limited few meeting in secret yes what other recourse do Democrats have obviously you guys are in the minority on both sides of the capital what can you guys be doing when this is money that you have appropriated to be spent both in the federal frees and in the international free we have four different ways of recourse the first is 13:02 just bringing this to light making sure that the American people know what it is we've had some success there already when we brought the freeze the uh freeze of of uh funds to the public there was an outcry and Trump had a back off when we brought up the tariffs to the American people there was an outcry and Trump had a back off I believe there'll be even a greater outcry or as long as much an outcry as this the second thing we we have is litigation there are various groups that are already going to court to sue because they believe that this is against the law and we are working with them in terms of giving them information telling them what we know helping make their court case as strong as possible the third is oversight in the H in the Senate we're going to have some Shadow hearings which discuss what this is and we're asking whistleblowers across Treasury and other places we're talking to some of them already to come forward and the final is 14:01 legislation uh on the appointments they don't need Democrats but on legislation particularly the funding resolution they do need us and we will insist that there be certain changes that undo these bad things go ahead you take the next one um do what they're targeting now is things that conservatives and Republicans have long targeted I guess with the exception of the FBI in a sense do you think Republicans will ever bring a Line in the Sand and if so what might it be that's an open question and in the house where the Republicans have the smallest majority of any party since the Great Depression when they're at full strength at this moment they're not at full strength and will shortly be 217 Republicans to 215 Democrats that'll be the smallest majority since since the 15:00 1800s but even when they're at full strength all we need is three three principled Republicans in the house and a lot of the madness and extremism that has been Unleashed on the American people can be halted particularly as it relates to the upcoming spending agreement that we need to resolve in a bipartisan way on March 14th all we need is three Republicans willing to draw a line in the sand now the extreme mag Republicans have made clear they want to end Social Security as we know it in Medicare as we know it and in Medicaid as we know it last week with the unlawful Office of Management and budget order they made their first move on Medicaid the public rose up in response and they back down in less than 16:00 40 hours but we will never back down and pointing out the types of things that the Maga extremists and the farri right are trying to do to hurt every day Americans the people that they claimed they were working hard to help they've laid out a plan $2.5 trillion in Cuts this is something that was in Project 2025 where Russell vote was one of the chief Architects it's something that Doge had talked about and they the cuts will be deep they can't do $2.5 trillion without cutting all so many of the things the vast majority of Americans Democrat and Republican really care about something you think thank you Senator Schumer have you reached out or do you plan to reach out directly to the White House to request a meeting with the president and try to talk to him about your concerns about about Elon Musk by passing The Congress directly 17:01 and what your message to the president would be our message to the president is it's exactly the opposite of what he's campaigned on it's going to hurt voters across the board people who voted for him people who voted against him people who didn't vote and look whenever he's ready to talk to us we're ready to talk to him when it comes to procedurally all of this one I wonder I mean the speed with which Elon Musk seems to be moving through the bureaucratic infrastructure structure introducing a bill the various other avenues you're pursuing are they fast enough to keep up with what he's seemingly trying to do and when it comes to this language that you're introducing is this going to be part of the negotiations when it comes to avoiding a government shutdown that you're going to try to force Republicans to include this or what's the Avenue there Congress has the power of the purse and when Congress allocates funding in the best interest of the American people Constitution requires that that funding be spent by the president and the administration the 18:00 Constitution requires the president has a responsibility to take care that the laws are Faithfully executed spending agreements passed through the Appropriations process are law and when those laws are violated the Constitution is being violated which is why there has been a flurry of righteous litigation that has been Unleashed and that will continue it's an all Hands-On deck effort right Schumer made that clear all hands on deck effort this is so there's a legislative component to it we saw that in the house in late December when the incoming president demanded that we hand his administration a $4 or5 trillion do blank check by suspending the debt ceiling for four years really that was rejected legislatively out of hand the next day the bill was 19:02 defeated there's a legislative component to it there is a court component to it the administration through the president issues an executive order to try to wipe out the citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment a few days later in response to litigation that was immediately brought a federal district court judge appointed by Ronald Reagan declared it unconstitutional there's a Judicial component to it and there's also a component to it that relates to Bringing along the public as it relates to pushing back and we saw that last week with respect to the illegal funding freeze that was reversed in less than 40 hours and we saw it as it relates to the wide ranging outof control tariff scheme applied to our North American Allies 20:03 that would have driven up costs for everyday Americans and so we are working on this and pushing back on all fronts and just finally the roots of democracy are still deep and when the public is really outraged by things there is a response as hakeim mentioned I mentioned before as well on tariffs on funding freeze we believe the public is so energized by what they have seen on this treasury action that there will be a similar strong push back and the president will feel that push back and hopefully respond to it thank you everybody

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