McConnell just called #ForThePeopleAct "a partisan effort" "racial justice" "hot wiring our democracy"
He said, "He helped pass HAVA (Help America Vote Act)." BTW HAVA had "poison pill" in that legislation. It opened the path for strict Voter ID implementation.
Senator Roger Wicker (R) still called #ForThePeopleAct "partisan" and makes it "easier to vote."
Democrats need to ask The GOP: "Should voting be impossibly difficult? Is it partisan to make sure voters are picking their candidates, not state legislatures picking the voters?"
Senator Jeff Merkley (D) quotes Cairre Catts, “The vote is the emblem of your equality, women of America, the guaranty of your liberty. That vote of yours has cost millions of dollars and the lives of thousands of women."
"Women have suffered agony of soul which you never can comprehend, that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom. That vote has been costly. Prize it! The vote is a power, a weapon of offense and defense, a prayer. Use it intelligently, conscientiously, prayerfully"
"We need national elections protections... [#ForThePeopleAct] defends the rights for every American to cast a ballot! We must defend every American's right to vote" - Sen. Jeff Merkely really showing some needed passion for Voting Rights. Democrats, follow suit.
Sen. Blunt saying "Ballot Harvesting will be forced on the states."
"Ballot Harvesting" is a pejorative for "Ballot Collection" which is used in Native, Rural, and Senior/Disability Communities to pick up ballots and drop them off. The GOP have used Ballot Collection for yrs 🤦🏽♀️
Sen. Ted Cruz just said this is going to help "illegal aliens (racist), criminals (racist), and felons (racist) vote for Democrats." Talks about "Ballot Harvesting" again. Calls #ForThePeopleAct dangerous.
Democrats PUSH BACK hard against this grotesque invective.
Sen. Angus King, "In Maine, we have no Voter ID Law, we have Same-Day Registration, No-Excuse Voting, 24/7 Drop Boxes and we have NO VOTER FRAUD. Fraud isn't an issue. We're not more honest than other states. [Voting Rights] is not a partisan issue." 👏🏽 #ForThePeopleAct
GOP talking points echoed by Sen. Hagerty:
"#ForThePeopleAct should be called For The Politician Act." (GMAFB)
"Democrats are trying to Federalize our Elections." (LOL)
"Democrats are just going for a Power Grab." (Insurrection?)
"Ballot Harvesting will be mandatory." (Nope)
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Since Jill Stein only shows up every 4 years I wanted to quickly remind everyone, not just of this photo, but how notoriously difficult to it is to have access to war criminal Vladimir Putin, let alone *a seat at a table with him*. Backing Jill Stein is willful ignorance.
Even Jill Stein’s Twitter account goes pretty silent every four years and then picks back up when she’s running for office again. Such an unbelievable scammer. I get if you’re frustrated by two-party system, our policies, but holy sh-t, she’s a grifter.
Jill Stein can’t win. She’s not even on the ballot in half the states, she’s been disqualified from the ballot in New York and Illinois. She can only be a spoiler for Kamala Harris. I can’t imagine who that helps except Trump and oh, Putin! ballotpedia.org/Jill_Stein
1. @RonDeSantisFL’s bigotry will destroy Florida’s economy. FL’s 47,500 farms bring an annual income of approx 7 billion; construction contributes over $58 billion annually. Most of this work is done by the skilled labor of undocumented workers. #SB1718
2. Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed SB1718 which goes into effective on July 1st. It’ll requires businesses with 25 workers or more to register employees under E-verify, and have hospitals ask for citizenship status. Many have stopped working worried about deportation.
3.
13 billion in taxes.‼️🤯
"Immigrant communities are 20% of our state workforce, they contribute with over 13 billion to the state in taxes every single year," said David Metellus, Director of Policy and Politics at the Florida Immigration Solution.”cbsnews.com/amp/miami/news…
1. This isn't how I wanted to start my thread on fascism, but here we go. Below is an example of how legacy media aids, abets, and normalizes fascism. The Proud Boys were there to promulgate antisemitism and other bigotry. Not a comedy show (I'll come back to this).🧵
2. As I say in my newest article, one reason why Republicans have been so successful in utilizing fascist tactics is that much of the public and press do not recognize these tactics even when witnessing them. open.substack.com/pub/mayatcontr…
3. Even if members of the press and public recognize fascist tactics, they may not fully comprehend the catastrophic danger of totalitarianism. My article below is a guide to the fascism much of The GOP has embraced. Next are a few "lowlights." mayatcontreras.substack.com/p/farewell-to-…
🚨New From Me. Republicans have been successful in utilizing fascist tactics because much of the public & press don't recognize these tactics even when witnessing them. If they do, they may not fully comprehend the catastrophic danger of totalitarianism. mayatcontreras.substack.com/p/farewell-to-…
The actions of Trump & MAGA Republicans have laid the groundwork for a totalitarian regime. As Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels said, “This will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy, that it gave its deadly enemies the means by which it was destroyed.”
I hope my article will be a guide to the fascism that much of the GOP has embraced, and why it should never be acceptable or normalized by the press or the public. Understanding fascism & the danger it possesses is the only way we can potentially stop it. mayatcontreras.substack.com/p/farewell-to-…
1. As a reference, Sen. Chuck Grassley was born 2 yrs before Cudjo Kazoola Lewis died. Then there is William Casby, one of the last living Americans born into slavery (Photo by Avadon, 1963). Yet we have Representatives who ignore or deny intergenerational inequality and poverty.
2. We have representatives who’ve long ignored or denied the emotional and socioeconomic impact of the intergenerational transmission of inequality and poverty — and a media that has largely ignored the racist intent behind that denialism (mostly from Republican reps).
3. While some media outlets report how damaging cuts to the social safety net have been, many don’t make the historical connections of continuous discrimination, wage gaps, and other policies keeping people in cycles of poverty, low income, and lacking access to opportunities.
1. It's the 17th Anniversary of #HurricaneKatrina. Aug. 29, 2005. Below is a report from 2002. It warned that the Levees had only been built "to withstand a Category 3." Katrina was a Category 5. 1,833 died, and millions were displaced. Bush, cut the levee budget to pay for Iraq.
2. June 8, 2004: Walter Maestri, emergency management for Jefferson Parish, warned the Times-Picayune a year before Katrina: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq. I suppose that’s the price we pay..."
3. Walter Maestri, from the June 8, 2004 interview continued, "Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us." pbs.org/wgbh/pages/fro…