Prima Donna Diva Kyrsten Sinema Obstructs Democrats’ Pursuit of Voting Rights

Now that hillbilly coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin has decided that he is comfortable with being the one man who would deny 330 million Americans what they want for Christmas – he is a villain the equal of the “Grim Reaper of Democracy,” Sen. Mitch McConnell – Senate Democrats pivoted on Wednesday back to pursuing voting rights, what should always have been their top priority in the face of creeping fascism in the GQP. Only the Democrats can save American democracy from a GQP which has embraced fascism and is hellbent on destroying American democracy.

Once we handle the debt ceiling, the Senate must prioritize passing federal voting rights legislation.
 
TUNE IN NOW as I press upon my Senate colleagues why protecting our sacred right to vote is the *most* important issue we face this Congress. https://t.co/z3qpwgAEqs

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— Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (@SenatorWarnock) December 14, 2021

The Washington Post reports, Senate Democrats renew focus on voting rights as domestic policy bill stalls and filibuster changes are considered:

Senate Democrats are scrambling to find a way to pass in the coming weeks voting rights legislation they have portrayed as necessary to protect democracy amid increasing pressure to counter Republican changes to election laws in key states and as progress on the domestic policy bill they have made their top legislative priority for months has stalled.

Several lawmakers said Wednesday they are optimistic the new push could succeed where previous efforts have failed because of growing support for changing the Senate’s filibuster rule that has allowed Republicans to block previous attempts to pass voting rights legislation. [Hold that thought.]

But it remained far from certain that the rules changes under consideration would ultimately go beyond nibbling around the edges of the filibuster’s 60-vote supermajority requirement for most legislation, leaving the party once again facing the seemingly intractable predicament of how to deliver on a campaign promise they say is needed to deal with an existential crisis for the country.

“If we can get the congressional voting rights done, we should do it. If we can’t, we’ve got to keep going,” President Biden said Wednesday while visiting storm-ravaged Kentucky. “There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights.”

Civil rights groups aligned with the Democrats are warning that the party needs to show a greater sense of urgency and stop letting congressional rules get in the way.

Acting before New Year’s Day is “crucial” given that state legislatures are scheduled to begin returning to session in January — potentially expanding obstacles to voter access and drawing partisan congressional maps that would be outlawed under Democratic legislation, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said after meeting with a handful of senators Wednesday.

“This is protecting our nation, our Constitution, so it would be unconscionable for members to leave before acting,” Johnson said, noting that the Senate acted last week to exempt a debt ceiling hike from the filibuster — albeit for one lone occasion.

Arizona’s prima donna Democratic diva Sen. Kysten Sinema has not been receiving the media attention she craves of late – ” that damn diva Joe Manchin keeps stealing my spotlight!” – so she decided to play the villain on this new emphasis on voting rights legislation on Wednesday.

Politico reports, Sinema pops Democrats’ filibuster trial balloon on voting rights:

Kyrsten Sinema [says she] supports the elections reform bill that Democrats are considering a year-end push to pass. But she doesn’t support a shortcut around the filibuster to get it done. [Gaslighting.]

The Arizona moderate [obstructionist] is making clear that she intends to keep protecting the Senate’s 60-vote requirement on most legislation and she isn’t ready to entertain changing rules to pass sweeping elections or voting legislation with a simple majority. Her Democratic colleagues have been discussing those revisions as they weigh dropping their focus on President Joe Biden’s $1.7 trillion climate and social spending bill and pivoting to voting rights, though it’s not clear that avenue will be any more successful.

Note: Sinema just voted to raise the federal debt ceiling with a carve out for the Senate filibuster rule that allowed Democrats to pass the bill with only Democratic votes to prevent a default on the debt, something all 50 senators in the Default Party were more than happy to do. There is no logical consistency to her actions.

In a statement to POLITICO, a spokesperson said that Sinema “continues to support the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, to protect the country from repeated radical reversals in federal policy which would cement uncertainty, deepen divisions, and further erode Americans’ confidence in our government.” Since joining the Senate in 2019, Sinema’s been a fierce defender of the filibuster and warned that reversing it could lead to terrible outcomes for Democrats down the line.

These are the words of a fool. The very first order of business if Republicans take control of the Senate will be to eliminate the filibuster rule so that they can pass “enabling acts” to impose their fascist GQP tyranny of the minority, and end American democracy. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it, but this ditzy diva.

Sinema continues to support the Freedom to Vote Act, which was negotiated with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, even as she raises questions about how to pass those bills in an evenly divided Senate. Democratic senators have mostly focused on lobbying Manchin to try and sway him to pass elections legislation with a simple majority, but Sinema isn’t there yet either.

“Senator Sinema has asked those who want to weaken or eliminate the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation which she supports if it would be good for our country to do so,” said her spokesperson John LaBombard. He warned that legislation could be “rescinded in a few years and replaced by a nationwide voter-ID law, nationwide restrictions on vote-by-mail, or other voting restrictions currently passing in some states extended nationwide.”

Have you noticed that “Silent Sinema” almost never speaks for herself? Just what is this Greta Garbo act? It is always her spokesperson John LaBombard. Is he actually our putative senator?  Because he does all the talking. Nobody elected him. Just who the hell is this guy, anyway? He appears to assert a malign influence over our prima donna diva senator. Maybe this is why so many people are confused and are asking “what the hell happened to Sinema?” Kyrsten, if you are being held captive by this guy, blink three times quickly the next time you are on camera. We’ll come and get you.

Manchin and Sinema both attended a Wednesday afternoon meeting with Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Angus King (I-Maine), centrists who are advocating for a workaround to the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation. Democrats also discussed how to pass elections reform bills during a party lunch on Tuesday, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer met with Manchin, King, Kaine and Tester on Wednesday morning.

Importantly, Democrats are no longer trying to scrap the filibuster altogether given Manchin’s and Sinema’s opposition to that step. Instead, they’re pivoting to an attempt to sway the duo to support a rules change that could enable legislation curbing gerrymandering and restoring the Voting Rights Act to evade the 60-vote requirement.

The leading options that Manchin and Sinema’s colleagues hope to sway them on are installing the talking filibuster, which would force the minority to hold the floor and continuously put up at least 41 votes to block legislation, or creating a filibuster exception specific to the issue of elections and voting.

Regardless, Democrats would need to use the so-called “nuclear option” to change the Senate’s rules on a simple majority vote, something Manchin and Sinema have typically opposed. After Wednesday afternoon’s meeting, Manchin said the issue is “a tough one … because what goes around comes around here. You’ve got to be very careful what you do.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). lamented the Senate’s filibuster exemption to raise the debt ceiling, saying he agonized over whether to support that proposal as voting legislation stalls. Warnock is a leading advocate for confronting voting rights this month, rather than punting on reforms until January or later.

“Our democracy is clearly imperiled. The lights are flashing and we are irresponsible if we don’t respond,” Warnock said.

And Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) came out in support of changing the filibuster to pass elections legislation, reasoning that “if we can change the process on the debt ceiling, then surely we can do the same to protect our democracy.”

Sinema’s spokesperson said she “believes that the right to vote and faith in our electoral process are critical to the health of our democracy.” And though she’s open to discussions about the Senate rules, she still wants to hear a more comprehensive debate on the Senate floor.

“It is time for the Senate to publicly debate its rules, including the filibuster, so senators and all Americans can hear and fully consider such ideas, concerns, and consequences,” LaBombard said. “If there are proposals to make the Senate work better for everyday Americans without risking repeated radical reversals in federal policy, Senator Sinema is eager to hear such ideas and — as always — is willing to engage in good-faith discussions with her colleagues.”

It’s time to play hardball with our senator. Arizona is scheduled to have the next Super Bowl. Super Bowl LVII is February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona.

If Senator Sinema is comfortable with being the one senator who would prevent voting rights and election reform legislation to save American democracy from creeping GQP fascism, then it is time for the NFL to pull the Super Bowl from Arizona and for civil rights groups to call for an economic boycott of Arizona. Sinema is “all about the Benjamins,” hit her where it hurts, financially. It’s all on your head, senator. You brought this upon yourself and Arizona.

This is reminiscent of what Arizonans did for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday years ago. The NFL pulled a Super Bowl from Arizona over our opposition to the holiday. The voters then approved the holiday, because they really wanted that Super Bowl. “You can have your damn holiday.” Whatever it takes, baby.

Fortuitously, King Family and Activists Plan Marches to Pressure Democrats on Voting Rights:

Frustrated with President Biden and congressional Democrats for failing to enact voting rights legislation this year, progressive advocacy groups and descendants of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are planning to use the January holiday commemorating the civil rights leader’s birth to call for more aggressive efforts to overcome Republican opposition.

With two measures stalled on Capitol Hill, members of the King family, backed by dozens of liberal organizations, say they will take their campaign to protect voting rights on the road, holding a series of marches to promote the urgency of the issue beginning Jan. 15 in Phoenix [at Sinema’s office?] and ending two days later in Washington, D.C., on the official holiday.

Among the groups organizing and participating in the marches are the National Action Network, National Urban League, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Service Employees International Union, MoveOn, Demos, the Center for Popular Democracy, Voto Latino, Sierra Club, Coalition for Peace, Faith in Public Life, When We All Vote, March For Our Lives, Bend the Arc and the African American Christian Clergy Coalition.

They hope to spur action, after months of stalemate in Congress, to offset new voting restrictions being imposed around the country by Republican-led legislatures. And they plan to press their case for killing the filibuster — the maneuver Republicans are using to thwart action in the Senate — condemning it as a tool for perpetuating racist policies.

The planned marches are the most vivid sign yet of activists’ growing dismay with the White House and top Democrats about the party’s inability to move forward on the voting rights bills. Some involved in the fight say they see no clear strategy for success, and argue that Democrats have moved too slowly even as they have pressed hard to break through Republican obstruction on other issues.

“We are calling for no celebration without voting rights legislation,” said Martin Luther King III, the son of Dr. King, who is taking a lead role in organizing the events along with his wife, Arndrea Waters King.

The marches announced on Wednesday will take place across bridges, both to symbolize the 1965 civil rights clash on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., and to contrast Mr. Biden and congressional leaders’ success in finding a way to enact a $1 trillion infrastructure measure with their failure so far on the voting bills. The Kings and their allies say it is time for Mr. Biden to apply the same all-out approach to ensure equal access to voting.

“What we have seen in the last several months is what happens when Congress and the administration lend their full weight behind an idea,” Mrs. King said, referring to the infrastructure measure. “Now it is time to use that same power for the people.”

The Kings said they would happily cancel the demonstrations, should Congress find a way to enact the legislation before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a prospect that appears highly unlikely.

“If it does,” Mrs. King said, “then on Jan. 17, we will have a glorious celebration.”

Mr. Biden has at times seemed committed to using his influence to advance the voting measures — even saying he was willing to “fundamentally alter” the filibuster — but he has also said that any action would have to await approval of sweeping domestic policy legislation. [That changed on Wednesday.]

On Wednesday, Mr. Biden suggested he would be willing to put the social policy bill aside to win passage of the voting rights measure, but also seemed to nod to the long odds of doing so.

“If we can get the congressional voting rights done, we should do it,” Mr. Biden said, when asked whether his marquee social safety net bill should be delayed in favor of the elections legislation. “If we can’t, we got to keep going. There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights. It’s the single-biggest issue.”

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema obviously does not share this concern.

Democratic Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have been adamant that they would not support [a rules] change, leaving Democrats short of the necessary votes despite intensifying calls for action.

The topic dominated Tuesday’s closed Democratic lunch as Senator Raphael Warnock, the Georgia Democrat whose own re-election could be imperiled by Georgia election law changes, gave what attendees described as a powerful speech urging his fellow Democrats to move expeditiously on voting rights.

Repeating the sentiment on the Senate floor, Mr. Warnock said if the Senate could find a way to get around the filibuster for legislation to raise the debt ceiling, as it did last week, it must do the same for voting rights rather than allowing “the ceiling of our democracy to crash in around us.”

The fascist barbarians are at the gate, and Kyrsten Sinema is holding the gate open for them. History will condemn you, senator.