[1]U.S. Senator Chris Murphy

It’s been four days since Republicans shut down the government, and I wanted to share my thoughts on how Democrats need to approach this fight.

I think it’s first important to understand that Republicans wanted this shutdown. They’ll say otherwise in front of cameras. But Republicans are in charge of everything — the House, Senate and White House.

Republicans cheer and engineer shutdowns because shutdowns erode people's faith in government and its ability to solve problems. That benefits the corporations and billionaires who want to push the government out of the way so they can amass more power and wealth.

And you can see in this fight just how much the consolidation of the media and the vast right-wing propaganda machine is having an impact. A lot of DC pundits are carrying water for Trump and trying to blame Democrats.

But the American people know that Donald Trump is a chaos agent. Democrats can win a fight over whether or not we want to fund a government that is raising health care premiums by up to 100%. We can win a fight over whether or not to fund a government that is actively censoring political speech.

We need to be loud about the moral stakes of the fight.

Trump thinks that’s going to bully Democrats into submission, to signing onto a budget that would be bad for our people, a budget that would throw millions of people off their health care.

Within hours of the government shutting down, the White House announced suspending major projects for one city — New York, represented by the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. They’ve since cancelled more projects — again only states represented by two Democratic senators.

So here’s my plan: The more corrupt and lawless he gets, the stiffer my spine gets. Because at this point, if I give in and consent to these kinds of tactics, which are blatantly corrupt, then it just normalizes it all and makes it become standard fare.

We have no moral obligation to provide the votes needed to fund the government that will lead to the destruction of the rule of law.

I hope my colleagues understand that this is a risk worth taking if we want to constrain Trump’s attempt to destroy our democracy. If we stand up for our democracy, for the rule of law, for people’s health care, we’ll show people what Democrats stand for, which is necessary at this moment.

Every best wish,

Chris


👋An important request before you click away…

Chris Murphy is at the forefront of Democrats’ efforts to fight back against Donald Trump. He’s trying to model the kind of leadership you deserve from your elected officials in this moment.

It’s a tough fight that requires his full attention. Anything you can give makes a difference because we don’t take a dime from PACs or corporations.p>

Please consider making a donation to support Senator Murphy’s Mobilization Fund. Your donation will help Chris hit the road, invest in organizing efforts, and mobilize people against Trump. This is a 100% grassroots movement. Chris refuses to be beholden to the corrupt interests and billionaires who profit off the status quo.

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