Anti-Democratic Sedition Party Filibusters Even Beginning A Debate On The Freedom To Vote Act

There you go, Joe Manchin. We wasted valuable time humoring you by letting you craft a watered-down version of the For The People Act, one which you asserted your self-proclaimed (mythical) powers of bipartisan persuasion would convince the Sedition Party, which is currently engaged in a slow-motion insurrection against American democracy, to go along with you and to pass a voting rights bill.

Goddamn you are one seriously delusional loser.

Huffington Post reports, Voting Rights Legislation Filibustered By Republicans For A Third Time:

For the third time this year, Sedition Party Senators filibustered voting rights legislation meant to override new voting restrictions in Sedition Party-run states that affirm former President Donald Trump’s Big Lies about election fraud.

The party-line vote blocking beginning debate on the Freedom to Vote Act came after months of interminable delay and negotiations among Democrats to craft a compromise voting rights bill that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) claimed could get Republican support. But Manchin failed to convince a single Republican to support the bill, let alone allow the Senate to debate the bill.

Once again, Manchin’s self-proclaimed (mythical) powers of bipartisan persuasion is an epic failure, just as it was on the gun reform bill following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

It is now up to the 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to decide whether or not to change the Senate’s filibuster rules to provide a path forward on what Democratic leadership has called must-pass voting rights legislation.

Looking at these two prima donna Democratic divas with no sense of the peril this nation faces from the anti-democratic Sedition Party, and the fierce urgency of now to pass a long-overdue voting rights bill – one Democrats promised voters they would deliver.

A vote to reform the Senate filibuster rule should have immediately followed today’s vote on The Freedom to Vote Act, a humiliating defeat for Joe Manchin. No more damn excuses!

There’s expected to be a caucus-wide debate on whether Democrats should change filibuster rules to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and other voting rights legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gutted by the conservative Supreme Court. The changes most likely to be debated include a carve-out solely for voting rights legislation and the reintroduction of a form of talking filibuster.

Democratic Party leaders have already hinted that they will look at potential rule changes in the event that Republicans do not join them in expanding voting rights.

“Everything is on the table,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in March upon introducing the first version of the Freedom to Vote Act, then called the For The People Act.

He added, “We will see if our Republican friends join us. If they don’t join us, our caucus will come together and decide the appropriate action to take. Failure is not an option.”

President Joe Biden called the passage of national voting rights legislation “a national imperative.” But he has stopped short of openly campaigning for the bill or engaging in behind-the-scenes negotiations on the bill or possible filibuster rules changes as he has done for his domestic economic agenda. He has stated his opposition to eliminating filibuster rules for all legislation but has endorsed the idea of bringing back some form of talking filibuster.

Joe Biden needs to demonstrate the urgency of the moment by finally calling for an end to the Senate filibuster rule in order to save American democracy, and to daily use the bully pulpit to advocate for the voting rights bills. Do as you promised voters!

White House press secretary Jen Psaki alluded to support for changing the filibuster rules on Tuesday.

“If Republicans cannot come forward and stop standing in the way, if they can’t support strengthening, protecting the fundamental right to vote, then Democrats are going to have to determine an alternative path forward,” Psaki said.

Psaki said it. Where is Joe Biden?

But Democrats need all 50 members of their caucus to support such changes, and two, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Manchin, have publicly expressed their opposition to changing the filibuster rules throughout 2021. Democratic leadership and the public will need to convince them that protecting voting rights is more important than their support for existing Senate rules.

The importance of enacting new voting rights protections is driven by Trump’s unprecedented efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss by lying about how the election was conducted, culminating in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the conservative Supreme Court’s increasing hostility to voting rights.

While Trump’s campaign to disenfranchise millions of voters and overturn his loss failed, it inspired Republican state legislatures to pass legislation enshrining his lies into laws by making it harder for communities who disproportionately vote for Democrats to cast their ballots. Trump’s lies have also inspired Republican candidates to run for office on the promise that they would abide by his desire to subvert democratic elections by refusing to certify any outcome other than his victory.

The Freedom to Vote Act would override many of the restrictive voting laws passed in Republican states by setting baseline standards for voter access, with mandates for at least 15 days of early voting, automatic, online and same-day voter registration, and minimum standards for mail-in voting.

The bill also allows voters casting provisional ballots to do so at any polling location. It combats the threat of election subversion by partisan legislatures by setting national standards for the removal of local election officials and creating a judicial review process disfavoring restrictions on voting. The bill also includes provisions limiting partisan gerrymandering and reforming campaign finance laws.

The bill is a slimmed-down version of the House-passed For The People Act. It was drafted by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Raphael Warnock (Ga.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Angus King (Maine), Tim Kaine (Va.), Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Manchin in order to secure Manchin’s support after he announced his opposition to the original For The People Act in June.

Manchin’s deep involvement in drafting the Freedom to Vote Act leaves many bill supporters wondering why he would invest so much time in this process if he were only to let his bill fail at his own refusal to change the filibuster rules.

Hmmm, maybe to waste everyone’s time and to run out the clock on the Biden agenda so that nothing gets done? It’s something that we must seriously consider.

Democrats are expected to continue internal party negotiations over how to pass voting rights legislation through November, at least. There is also an expectation that Schumer will bring the John Lewis voting rights bill to the floor for a vote, where it is likely to be filibustered by Republicans. Whether Democrats decide to protect voting rights amid an unprecedented assault led by Republicans inspired by Trump will be determined in the coming weeks.

WTF are Democrats debating and wasting time on? Just do it! This should have been done months ago, but for humoring the vanities of Joe Manchin. End the Jim Crow relic filibuster rule now, and pass landmark voting rights legislation. Democrats have an obligation to stop the anti-democratic Sedition Party slow-motion insurrection against American democracy by any and all means necessary. Those who will not do so are complicit in the GQP’s crime, and history will condemn them.

The Arizona AFL-CIO is sponsoring a rally in Phoenix on Thursday.

American democracy is under threat: the dismantling of workers’ rights, a scourge of attacks on voting rights, and a system that forces immigrants into the shadows where they’re exploited and put at risk. We’re fighting back!!! #1u #UnionStrong #PassThePROAct #FreedomToVoteAct.

RSVP Here.