WOW WOW WOW. Leaked recording from 2 days after the Jan 6th Capitol mob. Koch-funded operation & McConnell's staff worry about how popular HR 1 is. So popular - even among conservatives! - that they advise simply killing it with the filibuster instead of debating it publicly.
This is also 3 days after Dems won the Georgia senate seats, giving them the trifecta that could allow the to pass the For the People Act.
At the same time at the state level, Georgia GOP started scheming to introduce the major voter suppression bill just enacted last week.
Pulling it all together: 1. Dems win Georgia + senate control 2. Driven by the Big Lie, a mob storms the Capitol 3. Georgia GOP accelerates voter suppression in support of the Big Lie 4. Dems prioritize democracy reform 5) McConnell plans to filibuster in support of the Big Lie
But read the whole article! It’s terrifying! They are systematically undermining democracy in the states explicitly as a GOP strategy to win in 2022 and 2024.
If they aren’t coming for your right to vote now, rest assured they will soon. It’s all literally part of the plan - they wrote it down!
If you care about climate legislation, this is a must read piece on the lessons from 2009 - the last time Dems had a trifecta and tried (but failed) to pass a big climate bill. rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
In 9 easy steps, you too can replicate the 2009 failure: 1) Start by crafting a climate bill with an eye toward GOP support
2) Introduce the House bill & allow conservatives to water it down further
3) Ignore progressive climate activists and amend the bill to get conservatives
4) Pass the House bill with almost no GOP support, despite all those concessions
5) Watch the donor-fueled reactionaries go into hyper-drive against the watered down bill
6) Wonder where the pro-climate activist energy has gone
I used to handle earmarks for a Member of Congress. They get a bad rap, but I think they're good if done right. Members of Congress get to direct some (less than 1%) of the federal budget to priority projects in their district.
Local reps have legitimacy here. They know their districts, represent constituents, and so *should* get to direct some fed funds.
The alternative isn't less spending - it's local reps relinquishing this power to the executive branch, or writing one-size-fits-all legislation.
Sure, this produces some funny outcomes like the "bridge to nowhere." But in general, reps want earmarks that are locally popular - they want the positive press. They want to brag about bringing home the bacon. That's a good thing - that's representative democracy in action!
Absolute must read. The GOP is on track to gerrymander themselves into a House majority next year. Trump is on track to be reelected with a trifecta after that. If you want to avery that catastrophe, Dems have pass democracy reforms NOW.
Short version of this argument: "But won't the GOP do a lot of damage after they win in 2022 or beyond??"
This is the anti-reform argument I hear most often, including sometimes from progressives. So I take it seriously, but don't find it persuasive for 2 reasons:
1st counter argument) McConnell + GOP have packed the courts, gutted the voting rights act, & blocked all democracy reforms. Of COURSE they're on a path to winning power again.
To fix this, we need to pass HR 1, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, DC Statehood, and court reform.
McConnell calls those bills "socialism" and a "power grab." He will filibuster them all because they threaten his power.
By eliminating the filibuster, Democrats can pass these reforms. That's good for democracy and reduces the pro-McConnell bias in the system.
Unfriendly reminder that Mitch used his GOP votes to gut the filibuster twice when Trump was president - once to expedite nominees and once to install reactionary conservatives on the Supreme Court.
Literally lesson #1 from the new Indivisible guide:
***Expect the GOP to obstruct, delay, and engage in bad faith BS***