There’s no playbook for how President Biden’s Justice Department can protect minority voting rights in the coming round of redistricting.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1365455
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1365455
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It may not matter. Since the election and especially since the coup attempt, people have been leaving the Republican party and their attempts to gerrymander probably hasn’t and can’t take that into account. Since the SOP for gerrymandering is to give narrow wins in the districts they can win and pack as many of the ones who won’t reliably vote for them into a small of number of districts as possible, those narrow wins may turn out to be narrow defeats.
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It certainly will matter, the Republican party controls WAY too many state legislatures, including PA, AZ, GA, and I am sure numerous others. Redistricting is done by the states, and there is NO WAY those republicans who are in office now are going to be gone. I HOPE you are right, I FEAR you are not.
Also John Roberts raison-d’etre is killing voting rights to ensure Republican dominance, and there is no way we are getting rid of him in time to help this.
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OT
Mitch McConnell the other day was using the term "scorched earth"well Mitch is learning you play with fire you get burnt.
And I will add.
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Hence my "may:. Odds are, they will be successful in their attempts at voter suppression, There just isn’t much that can be done about that unless they have managed to over-reach and shoot themselves in the foot. As there is a decent chance of.
After decades of being able to run rough-shod over a more rational majority, they are starting to push the limits of their power. Sooner or later, and the sooner the better, that will change.
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Thankfully, the extreme skewness represented by egregious Republican districting will be quite obvious if and when Section 2 cases are brought. The Rs are as ambitious as they are evil, but also incredibly dumb about hiding their statistical tracks.
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I live in congressional district 2 in Arizona. It’ll be interesting to see how the maps are redrawn to try to gerrymander a goober to replace Ann Kirkpatrick who is retiring anyway. The only part of Southern Arizona that is really red is Santa Cruz County which doesn’t have a lot of population. Parts of the Tucson area are very solidly blue… most is on the cusp of blue. A small part is weakly red.
EDIT
My fond hope is that Steve Farley might take this opportunity to run for Congress. Of course it depends on how the maps are redrawn. Steve would make a damn fine Congressman. He has extensive experience in Arizona state government and he knows Pima County and the folks who live here.
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IMO the only real question is, will the conservative democratic leadership put up any genuine resistance to the republican effort to affect minority rule? If the history of democratic capitulation to republican aggression is any indication, we are toast.
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OT, but…
“MA! Lauren Boebert is chewing on the lead paint chips again!!!”
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Bullshit, dear.
This is the conservative leadership.
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I think the following is a far better headline Vs setting up Garland with a no win:
Will the Biden led Democrats be defenders of democracy or filibuster chickens?
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Biden is basically re-doing the census. I think districts are unlikely to change that much because the Rs did pretty much max out partisan/racial advantage in 2010 and saw that erode significantly. For example, how much more can you gerrymander TX? They already Swiss Army knifed it. Dems have some room to grow with gerrymandering in their states (NY/IL). I suppose the GOP could lock in more gains in FL, but that depends on a lot of rather fickle swing voters swinging their way. It’s not a given. If Dems engage their voters for the mid-terms, they should be able to lock in a majority in the House for the decade. That’s not a popular opinion among political types, but I just see Dems growing so much in urban/suburban/exurban counties that I think it’s going to be difficult for the GOP to draw in a majority for themselves.
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Those “Independents” who say “both sides are the same” are all asshole Republicans.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was ostensibly a pandemic relief bill, but it contains numerous changes to the Affordable Care Act that dramatically enhance benefits for those who purchase healthcare on the government exchange. This article outlines several of the most important changes which include elimination of the subsidy “cliff” and far more generous premium subsidies. The changes are limited to 2021 and 2022 but there will be pressure to make them permanent. Anyone who uses the ACA exchanges to purchase health insurance should definitely read this article which summarizes the important changes.
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I have been reading these stories about how all these proposed state laws will kneecap voting rights, especially in black communities and in the urban heartland of Democratic voters. I don’t know whether they will, but it is obvious that that is their intent. What I can’t figure out is why there is such an assumption of legal paralysis in going after these bills if they are enacted; these bills are obviously unconstitutional under both the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment prohibits the denial of “Equal protection of the laws.” The 15th Amendment is even more specific. Section 1 reads, in full, as follows: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. Section 2 gives Congress the authority to pass implementing laws, but doesn’t limit the scope of Section 1 in any way.
All of these bills cut back on current voting rights and can easily be proved to be designed - or have the effect - of reducing the votes of disfavored racial or political groups of citizens. So, they are immediately “suspect” and presumed to be unconstitutional. There is no reason on God’s green earth that our new Attorney General shouldn’t so describe them publicly - before they are enacted - and warn the bill sponsors that the federal government will use all of the means available to it to stop them, including going immediately into federal court to get an injunction. He should put the onus on the courts to protect voting rights— and leave no doubt that the Biden Administration will go after them with no holds bared. Biden needs to make this a big fight, and do it now. This is no time for the Marcus of Queensbury Rules. I assume Stacy Abrams will so inform the president and Vice President today
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People may be leaving the GOP but not in enough numbers to effect large scale electoral change and by all accounts, they’re still voting for Republicans despite not calling themselves ones.
Just the changes in GA alone would prevent the 2 Democratic Senators from being seated, and Warnock is up for re-election in 2022, lose him and all else being equal and McConnell is back in control of the Senate and that doesn’t even take into consideration other states with more or just as aggressive voter suppression.
Long term the GOP might be screwed but there is no long term for anyone if short term they can keep Democrats out of local office and out of the majority in the House and Senate which is an extremely likely scenario for 2022 if everyone isn’t fighting even harder than we did in 2018 and 2020.
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The only real protection for voting rights is to pass HR1/S1. And it pass this, the legislative filibuster needs to be reformed to allow an up or down 50 vote threshold. The current Supreme Court is hostile to voting rights being protected outside of legislation that is bulletproof, and its foolish to rely upon them.
If Democrats don’t pass the voting reform bill, the efforts of state level GQP efforts to shrink the electorate will be successful and minority rule established for many years to come.
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You assume the 6 right wingers on the Court would rule in good faith. Don’t.
Gutted bill? Why not enhance it with a tax on the Top 1% for slavery reparations so the bill can be passed through reconciliation? If McConnell can find a way to stack the Supreme Court with Far Right shills, we must find a way to pass a bill protecting democracy and the right for every citizen to vote in a Constitutional republic.
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Strongman Putin has been whimpering about Biden calling him a thug. But how old is this guy? Two?
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