Today’s Edition: “Fighting tooth and nail.”

July 9, 2021

          Toyota has reversed its position and now says that it will not contribute to the 147 members of Congress who voted against certification of the electoral ballots on January 6th, 2021. The reversal is a significant development that should give us confidence that there are ways for citizens to impact the behavior of corporate funders of politicians. Only two weeks ago, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”) identified Toyota as a top funder of the Sedition Caucus. When consumers initially pressured Toyota to stop supporting those members, Toyota issued a defiant statement that said, in part:

          Toyota supports candidates based on their position on issues that are important to the auto industry and the company. We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification.

           Many readers of this newsletter sent emails, letters, and voicemails to Toyota letting the company know that they would never buy another Toyota vehicle until the company changed its position. Earlier this week, The Lincoln Project began running a devastating ad that highlighted Toyota’s decision to support anti-democratic politicians. The ad is here: “Toyota vehicles feature safety detection systems, smartphone integration, and more white nationalism than you might've expected.” Toyota has now reversed its position, acknowledging that its prior stance had “troubled some of our stakeholders.” It issued a statement saying,

          At this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election.

See NYTimes, “Toyota to Stop Donating to Republicans Who Contested 2020 Results.”

          Toyota ultimately made the right decision but has suffered long-term damage to its reputation. It is a lesson that other corporations will heed. And it is one that we must heed as well. Georgia lost the MLB All Star Game (and $100 million in revenue) over its voter suppression legislation. Texas is about to enact its own voter suppression legislation. There must be a cost to politicians for anti-democratic behavior. The “cost” that politicians understand the most is “donations”—or the lack thereof. U.S. consumers made their voices heard. The Lincoln Project amplified those voices. We can change the outcome if we care enough and take the time to be proactive. The experience with Toyota is a good reminder to us all that, in the end, corporations, politicians, and governments respond to the will of the people.

Don’t mess with Texas Democrats.

          Texas Democrats in the state legislature prevented the passage of anti-voter legislation in June by walking out en masse, thereby denying Republicans a quorum to pass their voter suppression bill. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has now called the Texas legislature into special session to make a second attempt at passing the same voter suppression legislation. See Austin American Statesman, “Texas special session begins amid rising partisan tensions and protests.” Although special sessions of the legislature are intended to address “emergencies,” Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has sent more than a dozen bills to the Senate that are designed to advance the Republican social agenda. Per the Austin American Statesman,

          Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sent 15 bills to Senate committees for action, including new abortion restrictions, limits on transgender student athletes and a response to complaints that social media giants are censoring conservative expression.

Democratic legislators have said they will “fight these bills tooth and nail, and every option is on the table”—implying they may walk out of the legislature again. Republicans are threatening to punish Democrats if they walk out to prevent a quorum. The battle lines are drawn. It may be that the only course of action left to Texas Democrats is to boycott the special session and suffer the consequences, if any. In general, Democrats have been too passive in response to Republican voter suppression legislation. It would be good to see Texas Democrats setting an example for other Democrats nationwide. We need to fight tooth and nail. Let’s hope Texas Democrats remind us how to do so.

President Biden meets with civil rights leaders to discuss voter protection legislation.

President Biden met with civil rights leaders on Thursday to discuss the prospect for voting reform at the national level. The reports from attendees were positive. See The Hill, “Civil rights leaders find meeting with WH 'encouraging' amidst voting rights battle.” Those comments track the hopeful tone in yesterday’s newsletter about a reader’s meeting with a representative from Senator Schumer’s office. Democratic leadership must believe there is a path forward that involves a limitation on the filibuster. Otherwise, it would be foolish to raise expectations without a path to success. So, for the moment, I am reading the tea leaves in a favorable way for voting rights reform. And thanks to all of the readers who sent notes saying they contacted the White House yesterday to urge Biden to make a public statement in support of filibuster reform.

Help Pennsylvania Democrats in 2022 and 2024.

Pennsylvania is key to Democratic victories in 2022 and 2024. Democrats must retain (or expand) control of some part of the Pennsylvania state government in order to prevent Republicans from overriding the will of voters in 2024. Pennsylvania Republicans are actively pursuing the possibility of an Arizona-style “audit” of the 2020 election results—a prelude to overturning a Democratic presidential victory in 2024. See ABC News, “Trump ally launches election audit plan in Pennsylvania.”

          A grassroots organization dedicated to winning state legislatures, 31st Street Swing Left, is holding a fundraiser for Pennsylvania Democrats on Thursday, July 22nd at 7:00 p.m. If you are interested in joining (or just curious about the organization) email Mary Pence at marypence58@gmail.com. If you don’t live in Pennsylvania, why should you care? Because “carrying Pennsylvania will have a major impact on preserving and even expanding our razor-thin majorities in the U.S. Senate and House, and will play a key role in electing a Democrat to the presidency in 2024.” If you are interested, email Mary Pence.

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

          It is an unfortunate truth that computer algorithms “push” content to our newsfeeds designed to reinforce our pre-existing prejudices. This phenomenon explains (in part) why people fall into conspiracy theories and refuse to let them go. I just experienced an eye-opening example of this phenomenon yesterday. Several months ago, a reader wrote to me about a scientific topic. I did some quick internet research to provide links to the reader. The internet (wrongly) decided that I believed in a baseless theory that flies in the face of established science. The internet has been steadily pushing conspiracy-theory stories to me ever since.

          In my newsfeed today was a another story that seemed to promote the conspiracy theory but it was from credible source. Against my better judgment, I clicked on the link to an article that purportedly described new scientific findings from a major university. The headline and story summarizing the research seemed implausible, so I read the underlying study, which was published in a peer-reviewed international journal. The scientific study reached the exact opposite conclusion than that described in the headline and body of the news article. Ouch!

          The experience reminded me (again) that we must be discerning consumers of news—even from trusted sources. The internet is a revenue driven enterprise. Someone makes money every time we click on a link—even if that link takes us to reporting that is unreliable, false, or dangerous. See, e.g., Politico, “YouTube’s algorithm pushes hateful content and misinformation.” (“The Mozilla Foundation found that a majority of problematic videos were recommended by the platform itself.”)  If you wonder why 40% of Americans believe that Biden stole the election by fraud, it is (in part) because the internet tells them so every day.

          The internet is both a wondrous invention and a dangerous place. Using it requires that we consume information with discernment, intelligence, and a dash of skepticism. In other words, don’t believe everything you read on the internet. And don’t “forward” articles or posts unless you have performed a modicum of due diligence to determine if the information you are spreading is reliable and accurate. In other words, be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Yesterday, I included a note from a reader who attended an event where a staffer from Chuck Schumer’s office gave a hopeful report on prospects for passage of the “For the People Act.” I was surprised by the number of responses I received today from people who said (in one way or another), “Thanks! That story helped lift my spirits.” I am glad that the story was helpful. But the more important lesson for me is that people are yearning for hopeful signs during a difficult time in the political cycle. Republicans are in opposition and see their role in nihilistic terms. See CNN, “GOP lawmaker Chip Roy says he wants '18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done'.”

          It is tough to be participants in a political system in which your opponents want to destroy the system. But, in truth, that has always been the case. Southern governors refused to comply with federal court orders during the waning days of the Jim Crow era. Southern states passed laws designed to circumvent Civil War amendments that freed enslaved people and gave them the right to vote. White juries refused to convict white defendants who killed Black men in front of dozens of witnesses. We overcame those abuses, and we can overcome the current wave of voter suppression legislation designed to disenfranchise Black voters. I do not mean to minimize the present obstacles, but it would do us well to recall our past triumphs over laws and practices that were cruel and anti-democratic. We can do it again, but we need to fight tooth and nail. Let’s lead the way.

          My Managing Editor is a baseball super-fan and will spend most of the weekend explaining to me why Shohei Ohtani is better than Babe Ruth. Ah, well! Denver’s gain of the All Star Game is Atlanta’s loss. Hopefully the lesson is not lost on the Georgia legislators who deprived their citizens of the opportunity to see the next Babe Ruth do what no player has ever done: play as both as pitcher and position player in an All Star Game.

          Talk to you on Monday!