Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday morning in a letter to members that the chamber will vote on the Freedom to Vote Act next week, after he files cloture to set it in motion on Monday. That sets up a vote to overcome a Republican filibuster on Wednesday. The Freedom to Vote Act is the newest iteration of the For the People Act, modified to get Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on board.
We need this. Iowa statehouse repubs are throwing out the census-mandated map developed by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. This so that they can rat-fvck voters with a self-serving map. That is as far from honoring their oath as it gets. The Iowa republicans don’t want to waste any of that ALEC and Koch Kampaign Kash.
Although I don’t expect it, it would be something if Schumer made a motion to change the threshold to overcome a filibuster from 60 to 51 votes for this bill and Manchinema went along with it. I don’t think Schumer has that LBJ level game, but it’s nice to dream some times.
What? I am outraged. How can we maintain rule by a privileged white minority if we allow just anyone to vote? The founders are surely rolling in their tombs.
Looking for 10 Republicans to support voting rights is like Diogenes looking for an honest man - ain’t gonna happen. Without a filibuster carve-out for voting rights, the Make America Gag Again crowd will seize control of both houses of Congress in 2022, which is exactly what they want. I am not sure that Biden has the swag to convince Manchin or Sinema to cooperate in saving democracy. I don’t see how this ends well.
Thank goodness voting rights are back on the menu. As an election officer in Northern Virginia, I work to make it easier for people to vote - we need full participation more than ever. Let the people vote, please!
Once Manchin fails to get 10 GQP Senators to vote for cloture, it just might be possible to get him to realize that the GQP isn’t interested in governance, cooperation, or bipartisanship on any subject under the sun.
Of course, Schumer may have to smack him upside the head with a 2x4, but there are always costs involved in helping people discover the truth.
A few weeks ago, I wrote that I expect Manchin would support a carve out for a voting rights act. If any carve out is going to happen, I still think a voting rights act will be the most likely be the area where it will occur.
I guess I just think that Manchin isn’t so stupid as to think he’ll get 10 GOP Senators to vote for this. His opposition to passing anything basically boils down to he just wants a portion of the infrastructure bill, and everything else he’s happy to let die on the vine. Voting rights mean zero for his reelection; he’ll either continue to survive on name recognition among Mountaineers, or he won’t. His game is to stall until the rest of the Democrats are desperate for something / anything, and then pass BIF on his terms. Any head fakes about bipartisanship, seeking compromise, right-sizing the agenda, being strategic, etc., etc., are just head fakes meant to stall and win time.
Manchin is one of the authors of the new voting rights act:
A group of Democratic senators — including key centrist Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — introduced a pared-down voting rights, campaign finance and government ethics bill Tuesday in hopes of building momentum for its passage through a closely divided Senate.
The new Freedom to Vote Act retains significant portions of the For the People Act, Democrats’ marquee voting legislation that passed the House this year but was blocked by a Republican filibuster in June. Those include mandating national minimum standards for early voting and vote-by-mail, establishing Election Day as a national holiday, and creating new disclosure requirements for “dark money” groups that are not now required to disclose their donors
