Voting Rights

Monday Morning Open Thread: Moving Forward, Regardless of the Haters

by Anne Laurie| January 10, 20227:59 am| 94 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Voting Rights

I mean, insofar as both are mission-critical, yes. https://t.co/nGcgndyLPz

— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) January 8, 2022

NEW: President Biden and VP Kamala Harris will travel to Atlanta on TUESDAY to deliver remarks about the "urgent need" to pass voting rights legislation and stop "corrupt" attempts to restrict ballot access, WH says. https://t.co/pq6Ls5JwGq

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) January 5, 2022

Analysis: Biden escalates the stakes for next week’s voting rights speech https://t.co/BInf79hLip

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 7, 2022

… “Right now, in state after state, new laws are being written — not to protect the vote, but to deny it; not only to suppress the vote, but to subvert it; not to strengthen or protect our democracy, but because the former president lost,” the president said from the Capitol’s Statuary Hall Thursday.

“It’s wrong. It’s undemocratic. And frankly, it’s un-American,” Biden said in his speech, which neither called Trump out by name nor suggested any remedies to a Republican endeavor he has regularly described in apocalyptic terms…

Biden has revisited the theme of voting rights since taking office, but began a fresh push on the issue last month as his Build Back Better legislation stalled, one of several progressive priorities he wasn’t able to deliver in the past year. His speech on Thursday harked back to his rhetoric about Trump during the 2020 campaign, urging voters to see the election as a stark choice, not a referendum, something some Democrats says could help them in the midterms.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki later made clear Tuesday’s remarks would center on calling for passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, both stalled in the Senate because of GOP opposition and the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to overcome. To date, Biden has not had enough Democratic support to change Senate rules, which requires all 50 members of his party to band together…

WATCH: As Senate Democrats continue to press holdouts in their party to embrace the voting rights bills, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would vote to change chamber's rule known as the filibuster by January 17 https://t.co/RWa5Way27h pic.twitter.com/4gRQgSyYeK

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 10, 2022

Sen. @amyklobuchar on the Senate filibuster: "I would argue that maybe the people in this country — the hundreds of millions of people in this country — that their voting rules might be just a little, tiny more important than our voting rules in this chamber." pic.twitter.com/UvnXQn0B8l

— The Hill (@thehill) January 8, 2022

Monday Morning Open Thread: Moving Forward, Regardless of the HatersPost + Comments (94)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Sometimes the Future Is Better Than We Imagined

by Anne Laurie| December 28, 20217:32 am| 183 Comments

This post is in: Popular Culture, Proud to Be A Democrat, Voting Rights

When kids say to me how much better the 1970s must have been, I remind them that the 70s were so awesome that we extrapolated our future to being "Soylent Green" https://t.co/WxZ5kdI8gP

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 27, 2021

It’s a long & winding road, though…

When it comes to voter suppression, it’s no longer just about making it easy for eligible people to vote—it's about whether or not those votes will count at all.

It's simple: voter suppression is un-American, un-democratic, and unpatriotic.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 27, 2021

The first thing the United States Senate should do in 2022? Protect voting rights. It’s time to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) December 27, 2021

How to steal an election: by making it easier for people to vote legally and convincing them to do so. Wow.
OK, genius. https://t.co/HEG08D37Xg

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) December 28, 2021

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Sometimes the Future Is Better Than We ImaginedPost + Comments (183)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Season of Giving

by Anne Laurie| December 18, 20218:42 am| 108 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat, Voting Rights

(Ozy & Millie via GoComics.com)

“Let’s go, Joe,” someone yells when Biden takes mic at @SCSTATE1896 pic.twitter.com/nC05i3YNOF

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) December 17, 2021

Biden decries “unrelenting assault” on voting rights in S.C. graduation address at Clyburn alma mater https://t.co/slyiiqFLPF

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 17, 2021

Wish they’d assigned this story to somebody other than Anklebiter Annie Linskey, but still:

… “I thought we had some of those major victories. We finally crossed the threshold,” Biden told the students and their families gathered inside a gymnasium for the event. “But what I didn’t realize is you can defeat hate, but you can’t eliminate it.”

Raising his voice, Biden said: “And when given oxygen by political leaders it comes out, ugly and mean as it was before. We can’t give it any oxygen. We have to step on it. We have to respond to it.”

The mostly Black crowd gave Biden his biggest applause as he continued: “It’s not who we are. It’s a minority, but if the majority doesn’t speak up it has a profound impact, as we’ve seen in the last few years.”…

The president came at the request of Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who graduated from the university 60 years ago but did not have the chance to walk and receive his diploma in person…

“People give me credit for his resounding victory here in South Carolina, but he deserved it,” Clyburn said. “And I said to him way back before the election that I didn’t want him to forget South Carolina, and he’s demonstrating with this visit that he’s not going to forget South Carolina.”

Clyburn said Friday that he arranged for Biden to give the address after the university’s president originally offered him the slot. During Friday’s ceremony Biden handed Clyburn a diploma…

Biden has said that he’s open to a last-minute push on a voting rights bill this year — he said Friday that a new “sinister” combination of voter suppression and election subversion is “un-American.”

“It’s undemocratic and sadly, it is unprecedented since Reconstruction,” Biden said.

In his most partisan remarks, he blamed Republicans for using the filibuster to block a voting rights bill. “Each and every time it gets to be brought up that other team blocks the ability even to start to discuss it,” Biden said. “The team used to be called the Republican Party.”…

Speaking of giving, if you still need a stocking stuffer…

$10 for a whole year of supporting @washingtonpost journalists, reading fascinating stories and not hitting a paywall. You're worth it! Or buy it for your mom. The gift of always having something smart to think and talk about: https://t.co/iEBG9K4sKm

— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) December 17, 2021

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Season of GivingPost + Comments (108)

For the Record Open Thread: No Voting Fraud

by Anne Laurie| December 16, 202110:35 am| 82 Comments

This post is in: Past Elections, Republican Venality, Voting Rights

“The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all those votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.” https://t.co/oSIosDdLAi

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) December 14, 2021

Apart, of course, from the persistent Repub claim of ‘massive voter fraud’…

An @AP review of six battleground states found fewer than 475 cases of potential voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, a number so small it would have had no effect on the results.

Here are the details of @AP's review in each of those states: https://t.co/WSLkfTnUQ6

— The Associated Press (@AP) December 15, 2021

In Wisconsin, five people have been charged with fraud out of nearly 3.3 million ballots cast.

“I would have to venture a guess that’s about the same odds as getting hit by lightning,” said George Christenson, an election clerk in the state. https://t.co/PF3kf1Brfa pic.twitter.com/fKOcZAdmTm

— The Associated Press (@AP) December 14, 2021

For the Record Open Thread: *No* Voting FraudPost + Comments (82)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Resisting Repressive Regimes

by Anne Laurie| December 7, 20217:41 am| 124 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Readership Capture, Voting Rights

“Keep going on behalf of human rights, civil rights, women’s rights for a better future” — @HillaryClinton addresses hundreds of Georgetown students gathered to watch her depart after her speech here earlier today. pic.twitter.com/bnv0XVbwE4

— Gabe Fleisher (@WakeUp2Politics) December 6, 2021

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Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak over video link on Tuesday about contentious issues including Russian threats to Ukraine and cyberattacks on U.S. companies https://t.co/uBKH13dKn3 pic.twitter.com/zctZbtPBrb

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 7, 2021

Allies have been briefed, Ukraine's President Zelinsky has been briefed, Senate Foreign Relations, before the video call with Putin.

It's nice to have a competent President. https://t.co/OEjjTuaKwc

— Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) December 6, 2021

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Breaking: Justice Department files suit challenging extreme gerrymandered Texas redistricting maps

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) December 6, 2021

show full post on front page

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Resisting Repressive RegimesPost + Comments (124)

Monday Morning Open Thread: Another Week, Another Show

by Anne Laurie| October 18, 20216:51 am| 248 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Voting Rights

Buttigieg on concerns about holiday shopping: "The holidays are gonna be a lot better this year than they were last year, b/c a year ago, millions of Americans were sliding into poverty who now have jobs. And a year ago, a lot of us were gathering with loved ones over a screen." pic.twitter.com/iTVLF6UiX7

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 17, 2021

"Because of these men and women, we avoided a catastrophe." Framed by the Capitol, President Joe Biden paid tribute to fallen law enforcement officers and honored those who fought off the Jan. 6 insurrection at that very site. https://t.co/jnejd49PcZ

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 16, 2021

"Voting is an act of faith." In Virginia, voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams urged Black churchgoers to turn out for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the governor's election next month. McAuliffe faces GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin in a tight race. https://t.co/TqGeITYSDn

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 18, 2021

What’s in Build Back Better

ACA subsidies
Fill Medicaid gap
Medicare dental/vision/hearing
Medicare negotiates drug costs
Elder care $
$250-$300/mo child cash
Universal pre-K
Paid family/medical leave
2-yr free community college
Clean energy money
Tax hikes >$400K + corporations

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 16, 2021

Monday Morning Open Thread: Another Week, Another ShowPost + Comments (248)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Fighting Back

by Anne Laurie| September 8, 20217:07 am| 253 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Climate Change, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Voting Rights

If we want to fight back against bills like this, we’ve got to organize state by state and block by block to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. I hope you’ll join me. https://t.co/F8etafNsNu

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) September 7, 2021

The Biden administration is asking Congress for an additional $14 billion for pre-Ida disaster aid and $6.4 billion for Afghan resettlement, @elwasson reports. It will make an additional Ida request, expected to be around $10 billion, in the coming weeks. https://t.co/aE4Q47ivYk

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 7, 2021

“We’ve got to listen to the scientists… they all tell us this is code red”

US President Joe Biden gives warning on climate change as he tours areas damaged by Hurricane Idahttps://t.co/DLrxD5Z7OC pic.twitter.com/TpFT5KH41G

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 7, 2021

"Sometimes, some very bad things happen that have a tendency to bring out the best in a people and a country," Biden says in Queens. And it's bringing even more attn to climate change, "people are beginning to realize this is much, much bigger than anyone was willing to believe."

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 7, 2021

Biden on climate change: "The threat is here. It's not going to get any better. The question, can it get worse? We can stop it from getting worse." Experts "all tell us this is code red. The nation and the world are in peril. That's not hyperbole. That is a fact."

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) September 7, 2021

.@POTUS comforting a young resident after surveying the devastation left behind by Hurricane Ida damage in Manville, NJ.
pic.twitter.com/NyuORd5Jy3

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@KJP46) September 7, 2021

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Fighting BackPost + Comments (253)

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

No one could have predicted…

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The math demands it!

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

It was, in fact, named Jelly.

Good luck with your asparagus.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Cillizza, who will never be asked to bring the noodle salad to the mensa picnic…

Accountability, motherfuckers.