Robert Hubbell's wise words tonight--always but tonight especially--provide much-needed comfort for us Democrats/Progressives/Liberals who understand the frightening prospects implied by ANY success for a Trump-dominated Republican Party. I do not believe the 2022 election will be primarily about Donald Trump, nor even the traditional narrowly-decided struggle between Democrats and Republicans, as has every election since 2000. Rather it will be, I truly believe, a fight between believers in DEMOCRACY vs. its opponents. This will not produce a 52/48 split, but in my opinion rather something much closer to a 58/42 split in our favor. But this will only prove true IF the constant organizing effort at the ground level that Mr. Hubbell describes continues to grow. I am increasingly convinced it will--despite the barrage of dirty tricks by the GOP and despite the endless negativity of the supposedly "liberal" media.
"Senator Mitt Romney warned Democrats against modifying the filibuster “because Trump may win in 2024.” I'm SO disgusted with Romney. He's a liar and a hypocrite, as are all Republicans in Congress. I didn't vote for him but I thought he was a Republican with at least a shred of integrity (I knew people who worked for him at Bain, and they all respected him; he also did a few good things as governor of Massachusetts). To see him lick the boots of the Trumpists and let them get away with their BS is absolutely sickening (to say nothing of Susan Collins).
Thanks to Heather Cox Richardson this is a synopsis of what is contained in the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. I did not know specifically what was in those bills till I read the contents.
The Freedom to Vote Act is a trimmed version of the For the People Act the House passed at the beginning of this congressional session. It establishes a baseline for access to the ballot across all states. That baseline includes at least two weeks of early voting for any town of more than 3000 people, including on nights and weekends, for at least 10 hours a day. It permits people to vote by mail, or to drop their ballots into either a polling place or a drop box, and guarantees those votes will be counted so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day and arrive at the polling place within a week. It makes Election Day a holiday. It provides uniform standards for voter IDs in states that require them.
The Freedom to Vote Act cracks down on voter suppression. It makes it a federal crime to lie to voters in order to deter them from voting (distributing official-looking flyers with the wrong dates for an election or locations of a polling place, for example), and it increases the penalties for voter intimidation. It restores federal voting rights for people who have served time in jail, creating a uniform system out of the current patchwork one.
It requires states to guarantee that no one has to wait more than 30 minutes to vote.
Using measures already in place in a number of states, the Freedom to Vote Act provides uniform voter registration rules. It establishes automatic voter registration at state Departments of Motor Vehicles, permits same-day voter registration, allows online voter registration, and protects voters from the purges that have plagued voting registrations for decades now, requiring that voters be notified if they are dropped from the rolls and given information on how to get back on them.
The Freedom to Vote Act bans partisan gerrymandering.
The Freedom to Vote Act requires any entity that spends more than $10,000 in an election to disclose all its major donors, thus cleaning up dark money in politics. It requires all advertisements to identify who is paying for them. It makes it harder for political action committees (PACs) to coordinate with candidates, and it beefs up the power of the Federal Election Commission that ensures candidates run their campaigns legally.
The Freedom to Vote Act also addresses the laws Republican-dominated states have passed in the last year to guarantee that Republicans win future elections. It protects local election officers from intimidation and firing for partisan purposes. It expands penalties for tampering with ballots after an election (as happened in Maricopa County, Arizona, where the Cyber Ninjas investigating the results did not use standard protection for them and have been unable to produce documents for a freedom of information lawsuit, leading to fines of $50,000 a day and the company’s dissolution). If someone does tamper with the results or refuses to certify them, voters can sue.
The act also prevents attempts to overturn elections by requiring audits after elections, making sure those audits have clearly defined rules and procedures. And it prohibits voting machines that don’t leave a paper record.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) takes on issues of discrimination in voting by updating and restoring the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) that the Supreme Court gutted in 2013 and 2021. The VRA required that states with a history of discrimination in voting get the Department of Justice to approve any changes they wanted to make in their voting laws before they went into effect, and in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court struck that requirement down, in part because the justices felt the formula in the law was outdated.
The VRAA provides a new, modern formula for determining which states need preapproval, based on how many voting rights violations they’ve had in the past 25 years. After ten years without violations, they will no longer need preclearance. It also establishes some practices that must always be cleared, such as getting rid of ballots printed in different languages (as required in the U.S. since 1975).
The VRAA also restores the ability of voters to sue if their rights are violated, something the 2021 Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision makes difficult.
The VRAA directly addresses the ability of Indigenous Americans, who face unique voting problems, to vote. It requires at least one polling place on tribal lands, for example, and requires states to accept tribal or federal IDs.
With the Voting Rights laws about to fail in the Senate, we need to take action. I say B.S. to the Senate. I call for a National Boycott Strike (B.S.) starting on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on all donors to Senator Sinema, Senator Manchin and all Senate Republicans until the Freedom to Vote, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Build Back Better bills are passed and signed by President Biden. The Great Resignation needs to tell the rich that it is the people that own this country not the oligarchy, greedy billionaires and corporations not paying their fair share of taxes and starving all of us for their own gain. This is not a left or a right issue, this is an up versus down issue. It's time to tell the very rich to stop stealing from the rest of us.
Time to resist and turn this around! Let's get at it!
Now to go compile a list of donors to these Senators to Boycott and Strike.
Biden replied, “I like Mitch McConnell — he’s a friend.” And those opposing statements tell you all you need to know about the character of Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell.
That can also be seen as no backbone, no fighting, not pointing out what’s wrong - all things that contributed to where we are now.
It is worth noting that The Ohio Supreme Court's ruling hinged on the judgement of the rarest of animals, a genuine moderate Republican of substance, and courage, Chief Justice Maureen O'Conner. Unlike her fellow Ohio Republcan Gov. Mike "Mr. McGoo" DeWine, often trumpeted as a "moderate conservative" in national press, who hasn't seen an anti-abortion or anarchial gun bill he could't put pen to. And as a member of the commission supported the Court-ejected product. Sorry, can't stand the snake. Thank Justice O'Conner in your prayers.
I’m hoping this is an easy request: could you please forward your newsletter from January 6, 2021 to January 10, 2021. There may be a weekend in there so no worries about missing a day or 2. If this is a hassle or you can’t locate them, no worries.
Is this headline getting out front or the real action and on-going discussions you wrote about?
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/13/1072778094/sen-sinema-dashes-democrats-hope-to-change-the-filibuster Or, is it over? Whatever! As you have repeatedly pointed out, we need to get beyond Sinema & Manchin to stay focused on 2022 & 2024 elections. They have drained us of too much valuable energy with too much emotional drama. I hope Sinema, in particular, has a Democratic opponent to knock her out even though I don't favor the primary 'em out mentality. Let's move on to a wider margin.
And might I add, others have said as much, but Mitch McConnell offered a LOL moment when he had the audacity to say Biden's speech was not presidential. Would someone check on where Mitch has been since he-who-shall-not-be-named came down the escalator. My only regret is that Mitch McConnell IS NOT a laughing matter. As another post stated one party is playing by the rules, the other has no interest in anything that does not serve them. Governance for the people is not in their play book.
I'm commenting here in hopes that you'll respond, Robert, as I've been unsuccessful via email. First, thanks for all of your efforts to keep us informed and motivated. It's truly an astounding commitment, and is greatly appreciated. I'm wondering why you've never mentioned Andrew Yang's Forward Party in any of your newsletters, as it seems like a much bigger opportunity for lasting positive change than continuing to fight to add more progressives to the current dysfunctional 2-party duopoly. I urge you and your readers to check out the Forward Party platform, which is here: https://www.forwardparty.com/platform Thanks.
I haven't laughed as hard, in quite a while, as I did after reading Mitch McConnell's response to President Biden's speech in Atlanta. Mr. Hear-No-Evil then had to explain himself to the President, a day later. As for Mitt Romney- he knows his own jig will be up-if DJT is, by some strange misalignment of stars, re-elected in 2024. There are all manner of recall petitions in the pipes, for any Republican official who opposes Trump. On the other hand, there is the very effective, and gleefully underrated, Prescott Indivisible, which largely orchestrated the election of a superbly talented, albeit conservative, Mayor and three Progressive City Council members, this past Autumn. NOTE: Paul Gosar has yet to announce any plans for a re-election campaign. At least two anti-Trump Republicans are exploring a campaign for our Congressional District, and there is ALWAYS a Progressive Democrat in the running.
Robert Hubbell's wise words tonight--always but tonight especially--provide much-needed comfort for us Democrats/Progressives/Liberals who understand the frightening prospects implied by ANY success for a Trump-dominated Republican Party. I do not believe the 2022 election will be primarily about Donald Trump, nor even the traditional narrowly-decided struggle between Democrats and Republicans, as has every election since 2000. Rather it will be, I truly believe, a fight between believers in DEMOCRACY vs. its opponents. This will not produce a 52/48 split, but in my opinion rather something much closer to a 58/42 split in our favor. But this will only prove true IF the constant organizing effort at the ground level that Mr. Hubbell describes continues to grow. I am increasingly convinced it will--despite the barrage of dirty tricks by the GOP and despite the endless negativity of the supposedly "liberal" media.
"Senator Mitt Romney warned Democrats against modifying the filibuster “because Trump may win in 2024.” I'm SO disgusted with Romney. He's a liar and a hypocrite, as are all Republicans in Congress. I didn't vote for him but I thought he was a Republican with at least a shred of integrity (I knew people who worked for him at Bain, and they all respected him; he also did a few good things as governor of Massachusetts). To see him lick the boots of the Trumpists and let them get away with their BS is absolutely sickening (to say nothing of Susan Collins).
Thanks to Heather Cox Richardson this is a synopsis of what is contained in the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. I did not know specifically what was in those bills till I read the contents.
The Freedom to Vote Act is a trimmed version of the For the People Act the House passed at the beginning of this congressional session. It establishes a baseline for access to the ballot across all states. That baseline includes at least two weeks of early voting for any town of more than 3000 people, including on nights and weekends, for at least 10 hours a day. It permits people to vote by mail, or to drop their ballots into either a polling place or a drop box, and guarantees those votes will be counted so long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day and arrive at the polling place within a week. It makes Election Day a holiday. It provides uniform standards for voter IDs in states that require them.
The Freedom to Vote Act cracks down on voter suppression. It makes it a federal crime to lie to voters in order to deter them from voting (distributing official-looking flyers with the wrong dates for an election or locations of a polling place, for example), and it increases the penalties for voter intimidation. It restores federal voting rights for people who have served time in jail, creating a uniform system out of the current patchwork one.
It requires states to guarantee that no one has to wait more than 30 minutes to vote.
Using measures already in place in a number of states, the Freedom to Vote Act provides uniform voter registration rules. It establishes automatic voter registration at state Departments of Motor Vehicles, permits same-day voter registration, allows online voter registration, and protects voters from the purges that have plagued voting registrations for decades now, requiring that voters be notified if they are dropped from the rolls and given information on how to get back on them.
The Freedom to Vote Act bans partisan gerrymandering.
The Freedom to Vote Act requires any entity that spends more than $10,000 in an election to disclose all its major donors, thus cleaning up dark money in politics. It requires all advertisements to identify who is paying for them. It makes it harder for political action committees (PACs) to coordinate with candidates, and it beefs up the power of the Federal Election Commission that ensures candidates run their campaigns legally.
The Freedom to Vote Act also addresses the laws Republican-dominated states have passed in the last year to guarantee that Republicans win future elections. It protects local election officers from intimidation and firing for partisan purposes. It expands penalties for tampering with ballots after an election (as happened in Maricopa County, Arizona, where the Cyber Ninjas investigating the results did not use standard protection for them and have been unable to produce documents for a freedom of information lawsuit, leading to fines of $50,000 a day and the company’s dissolution). If someone does tamper with the results or refuses to certify them, voters can sue.
The act also prevents attempts to overturn elections by requiring audits after elections, making sure those audits have clearly defined rules and procedures. And it prohibits voting machines that don’t leave a paper record.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA) takes on issues of discrimination in voting by updating and restoring the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) that the Supreme Court gutted in 2013 and 2021. The VRA required that states with a history of discrimination in voting get the Department of Justice to approve any changes they wanted to make in their voting laws before they went into effect, and in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court struck that requirement down, in part because the justices felt the formula in the law was outdated.
The VRAA provides a new, modern formula for determining which states need preapproval, based on how many voting rights violations they’ve had in the past 25 years. After ten years without violations, they will no longer need preclearance. It also establishes some practices that must always be cleared, such as getting rid of ballots printed in different languages (as required in the U.S. since 1975).
The VRAA also restores the ability of voters to sue if their rights are violated, something the 2021 Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee decision makes difficult.
The VRAA directly addresses the ability of Indigenous Americans, who face unique voting problems, to vote. It requires at least one polling place on tribal lands, for example, and requires states to accept tribal or federal IDs.
That’s it.
Can you comment on this: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/13/trump-loyalists-secretary-of-state-candidates?utm_term=61e022566d98c340825c4b7c3b82bed8&utm_campaign=USMorningBriefing&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=usbriefing_email
With the Voting Rights laws about to fail in the Senate, we need to take action. I say B.S. to the Senate. I call for a National Boycott Strike (B.S.) starting on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on all donors to Senator Sinema, Senator Manchin and all Senate Republicans until the Freedom to Vote, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Build Back Better bills are passed and signed by President Biden. The Great Resignation needs to tell the rich that it is the people that own this country not the oligarchy, greedy billionaires and corporations not paying their fair share of taxes and starving all of us for their own gain. This is not a left or a right issue, this is an up versus down issue. It's time to tell the very rich to stop stealing from the rest of us.
Time to resist and turn this around! Let's get at it!
Now to go compile a list of donors to these Senators to Boycott and Strike.
Thank you, as always, for your message of hope, as well as your call to action.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and knowledge.
Biden replied, “I like Mitch McConnell — he’s a friend.” And those opposing statements tell you all you need to know about the character of Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell.
That can also be seen as no backbone, no fighting, not pointing out what’s wrong - all things that contributed to where we are now.
It is worth noting that The Ohio Supreme Court's ruling hinged on the judgement of the rarest of animals, a genuine moderate Republican of substance, and courage, Chief Justice Maureen O'Conner. Unlike her fellow Ohio Republcan Gov. Mike "Mr. McGoo" DeWine, often trumpeted as a "moderate conservative" in national press, who hasn't seen an anti-abortion or anarchial gun bill he could't put pen to. And as a member of the commission supported the Court-ejected product. Sorry, can't stand the snake. Thank Justice O'Conner in your prayers.
Hi Robert:
I’m hoping this is an easy request: could you please forward your newsletter from January 6, 2021 to January 10, 2021. There may be a weekend in there so no worries about missing a day or 2. If this is a hassle or you can’t locate them, no worries.
Is this headline getting out front or the real action and on-going discussions you wrote about?
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/13/1072778094/sen-sinema-dashes-democrats-hope-to-change-the-filibuster Or, is it over? Whatever! As you have repeatedly pointed out, we need to get beyond Sinema & Manchin to stay focused on 2022 & 2024 elections. They have drained us of too much valuable energy with too much emotional drama. I hope Sinema, in particular, has a Democratic opponent to knock her out even though I don't favor the primary 'em out mentality. Let's move on to a wider margin.
And might I add, others have said as much, but Mitch McConnell offered a LOL moment when he had the audacity to say Biden's speech was not presidential. Would someone check on where Mitch has been since he-who-shall-not-be-named came down the escalator. My only regret is that Mitch McConnell IS NOT a laughing matter. As another post stated one party is playing by the rules, the other has no interest in anything that does not serve them. Governance for the people is not in their play book.
I'm commenting here in hopes that you'll respond, Robert, as I've been unsuccessful via email. First, thanks for all of your efforts to keep us informed and motivated. It's truly an astounding commitment, and is greatly appreciated. I'm wondering why you've never mentioned Andrew Yang's Forward Party in any of your newsletters, as it seems like a much bigger opportunity for lasting positive change than continuing to fight to add more progressives to the current dysfunctional 2-party duopoly. I urge you and your readers to check out the Forward Party platform, which is here: https://www.forwardparty.com/platform Thanks.
I haven't laughed as hard, in quite a while, as I did after reading Mitch McConnell's response to President Biden's speech in Atlanta. Mr. Hear-No-Evil then had to explain himself to the President, a day later. As for Mitt Romney- he knows his own jig will be up-if DJT is, by some strange misalignment of stars, re-elected in 2024. There are all manner of recall petitions in the pipes, for any Republican official who opposes Trump. On the other hand, there is the very effective, and gleefully underrated, Prescott Indivisible, which largely orchestrated the election of a superbly talented, albeit conservative, Mayor and three Progressive City Council members, this past Autumn. NOTE: Paul Gosar has yet to announce any plans for a re-election campaign. At least two anti-Trump Republicans are exploring a campaign for our Congressional District, and there is ALWAYS a Progressive Democrat in the running.