Since there actually IS little election fraud, perhaps we SHOULD set DOJ out to “find” it. It would keep them from doing a lot of other damaging stuff. Just have the statute read that anyone accused of fraud gets attorney fees and payment at hourly rate for personal time spent if not convicted. Plus the state, for each failed case (and failed means accused even if not indicted), gets an additional $X in funding to be sure their rolls are up to date.
Extreme, yes, but we would have a much better country if the GOP obsession with barely existent fraud was finally put in its grave.
Except it’s a disingenuous obsession. They know there is no voter fraud, they just want an excuse to purge possible Dem voters from the voter rolls. Why give them more power to do that?
I know. But they’d have to PROVE the purge or take a financial hit. Right now they purge with impunity, using their little list that thinks anyone named Carlos Sanchez must be registering in multiple states. In other words, carefully worded legislation could be recourse, not additional control. Would have to be after we get past 2026. I’m pretty sure this threat of funding stop is going to be in court past the election. Particularly in GymJ and Mikie try to stop funding the courts.
“review for potential withholding of grants and other funds that the Department awards and distributes, in the Department’s discretion, to State and local governments for law enforcement and other purposes, as consistent with applicable law.”
Footnote: “‘Applicable law’ does not include anything from Article 1 of the Constitution, or from Article 3 for that matter, because we have an Article 2 that says we can do whatever we want.”
Good point. In 2023, I believe about 9 red states backed out of ERIC, the low-cost, independent, bipartisan nonprofit state cooperative in 2023 that compares voter registration data from participating states with DMV, federal death (via SSA records) and postal records to help states rid voter rolls of people who may have moved or died. Participating states also must send postcards to residents who are eligible to vote but are unregistered.
The red states backed out (or did not join) due to Trump mouthing off that ERIC “‘pumps the rolls’ for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up,” and some have complained about its push to help register new voters.
While ERIC probably is different from Trump’s EO to require an “information-sharing agreement” with the Attorney General regarding “suspected violations of state and federal elections laws,” I for one would be against highly partisan federal hacks (including DOGE) getting this data so they can continue illegal activities.
The US is not a guy coming into the ER though, and there isn’t anything in the political system that can stop a rogue executive moving at a fast rate to do things. The judicial requires a lawsuit to be filed, and it then takes time to hold hearings and do things, and then they depend on the executive to obey the orders. The legislative branch takes time to pass even the fastest laws, and they have to be signed by the president or the veto overturned…and again it requires the executive to follow the law. They have procedures to follow, and breaking from those is just piling more illegality into the system…it’s not going to fix anything.
Really, the only thing that can move as fast is the people, who can go out and protest on a moment’s notice…the protests are growing (even if the media won’t report on them), and it seems clear that the Trump administration is reaching the point where mass protests are assured. How that goes is still up in the air, Trump’s going to ignore them and might even try to have people shot, but people just might turn that into a far bigger fight (and the soldiers and police just might refuse to shoot anyone).
The judicial branch is our best hope to stop this, Congress won’t be able to stop this as long as Republicans worship Trump. And the judicial branch is doing its job so far…we’ll find out soon if the Supreme Court is complicit or will rule on the law.
I noted somewhere that DOGE will determine that everyone named “Juan Martinez” is a fake registration except for some Republican in Texas, and cancel out all those (likely Democratic) registrations. Or, someone who moved and didn’t cancel their registration will be charged with fraud…I don’t think I ever cancelled my registration in Iowa and I moved away from there 20 years ago. There’s lots of ways to spin it, and cancel things so people are forced to prove they are legitimate voters again…if they can keep Democratic voters off the rolls in 2026 then it’s a win for them.
I agree with peaceful protest. And yes our system is built to go slow but very deliberate. But we do have a president very willing to ignore laws passed by Congress and signed into law. And he has a BFF who also thinks he can ignore laws and fire federal workers and close down whole departments. This BFF thinks he has the power to simply buy votes. He posted the offer but someone told him bribery was illegal and he deleted his post but copies remain.
If democrats make major gains in the House and Senate I hope trump gets impeached a third time for his egregious run of criming. But impeachment won’t happen with the cowed and boot licking majority in both chambers at present. I’ve watched government for near 60 years and I’ve never seen a more spineless bunch in the majority in all that time. It is sickening
Yes, and it’s what we’re stuck with for the moment. But, this is where the final remedy the founders of our nation planned for: we, the people, should step in and course correct if the government got out of line. Not in the 2nd Amendment fashion that right wingers pray for (and, honestly, this governing is the one they should be opposing, but since it’s Republican they are all onboard for the coup), but in the voting booth. It’s up to us to turn this thing around, by making our voices heard and by voting our asses off to get rid of Republicans (and a few Democrats) who are complicit in the undoing of our government and the law. When everything else fails, it’s up to us to ensure that the nation continues…if we can’t do that then it’s time to close the book on the USA and figure out how to split up the nation into whatever it’s going to become next.
I don’t think we’re at that point yet, overall people outside of MAGA don’t seem happy, and Project 2025 hasn’t openly implemented the really unpopular stuff yet (like forcing all of us to go to church and reading the Bible at home). They know it’s not popular, so they want to institute control and then force the rest on us and figure they can keep everything in line. That’s never going to work unless they can cow all Americans into compliance, and I don’t think that’s going to happen…some of us may go other places so we can have freedom, but if you’re really a patriot this stuff just won’t ever be digestible. Before the election about 4% of Americans were in favor of the final plan, I doubt it’s much more than that even now. We can win this, we can get the nation back on a course towards freedom, but it’s not going to be easy.
Not only do we have a downsizing of DOJ staff that will inherently make it more difficult to prosecute federal crimes, we have the top DOJ lickspittle team who will absolutely spend resources on investigating and/or prosecuting purely political, non-criminal cases to the point where I’d be surprised if almost any real work gets done.
Terrorists are going to have a field day, and I don’t just mean the right wing ones. Same for banks and other corporations.
