Republicans Use Filibuster To Block Debate On Democrats’ Major Voting Rights Bill

TPM Article Topics
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Republicans filibustered the For The People Act Tuesday evening, blocking the bill from proceeding to debate on the Senate floor. 

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1378658
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The system is ridiculous. What would Mitch McConnell (if D) do?

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Shorter GOP: ”Democracy is for chumps. Suck it, America!”

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That’s too hard to conceive. I’m sure Mitch’s Mom thought so as well.

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Are the R’s afraid they can’t win if they can’t cheat? Yes, yes they are.

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“By now, the rotten inner workings of this power grab have been thoroughly exposed to the light,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Tuesday before the vote. He’d aggressively whipped his members against it.

Ya think Mitch? Your rotten inner workings have been exposed to light (again).

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They are really good at using the worst features of government to control it. And they pay no price for it in the Senate.

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I’m shockingly shocked. Maybe we could get some GOP support if we propose a Voting Last Rites bill.

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Do you think a couple of Dems are getting the idea now? Let’s see if the baby steps I read about in another thread turn into leaps in faith.

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Manchin added, to the likely relief of those same Republicans, that he continued to be “committed to finding a bipartisan pathway forward…”

(Frantically googles “DSM-5”)

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I’m as shocked, SHOCKED, as Joe Manchin that McTurtle fillibustered discussion of the bill. No one, aside from everyone, saw this coming.

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The GOP has made their choice - we don’t need no stinking debate on voting rights or anything else. It is time to put the onus on the minority to sustain their filibuster, by holding the floor until they have made their points. The majority has the right to hear these points and then proceed to an orderly debate - including for Sen. Manchin’s well-considered amendment.

There is no need to eliminate the filibuster - we just need to reform it such that the principals espoused by Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute are instantiated. The filibuster, as currently constituted does not serve any purpose but obstruction.

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OK, this is where Manchin and Sinema should blink. Crickets …

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Thanks to Sinema and Manchin the bill is dead.

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Just like that.

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Back an insurrection to overthrow a majority-backed democratic government and install a militant authoritarian theocracy?

Oh… if he was a Democrat… like Sinema?
(See above)

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McConnell is correct about this exposing the rotten inner workings of things, just not the way he wants everyone to believe. Republicans continue to refuse to do things that will help our democracy, simply because their policies can no longer win in a robust US democratic system. The majority of the nation stands against their policy positions, and increasingly only the worst elements of the nation strongly supported them.

The choice for America is if we are going to allow Republicans to thwart our democracy with their power grab, or if we are going to make sure that everyone has a voice in the direction of the nation. It should be a simple choice, but allowing Republicans to control who is allowed to vote, and possibly overturning elections when Republicans lose, is going to be a huge complication. Democrats really need to pass comprehensive voting rights legislation that protects the right to vote, they all should understand the survival of the Democratic party, and our nation’s freedom, are at stake.

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So it goes out, not with a bang, but with a whimper?

Schumer’s taking no other action?

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Does this get new life before another election?

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Yes, I’ll be that person. I wonder if the liberal media couldn’t have done a better job managing expectations about HR1. It was a Democratic wish list passed by the House in 2019. They never expected it to go anywhere in the Senate.

Yes, we need to do something. Was it ever going to be via this bill?

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