You Will Anyway: Dems try again for voting and campaign finance reform

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Dems try again for voting and campaign finance reform

The House has once again passed [H.R. 1, the For the People Act] aimed at voter reform and campaign finance overhaul. The Wednesday night vote was 220-210.

NPR

No GOP support.

The bill seeks to "to expand Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes."

[...]

Included in the act is mandatory automatic voter registration, restoring voting rights to people with completed felony sentences, and a reversal of state voter ID laws that would allow citizens to make a sworn statement affirming their identity if they are unable to produce an ID.

[...]

In addition to revamping voting laws, the bill also takes aim at "dark money" in politics by requiring organizations to disclose large donors and creates a matching system for small donations.

Measures desperately needed at a time when 43 states are considering voting rights restrictions.

The 2021 "For the People Act" is a reboot of a 2019 bill of the same name. At the time, the House passed the bill along party lines, but it never had a chance to move forward in the Senate, which was controlled then by Republicans.

By Mitch McConnell, more precisely. It's pretty ridiculous that the Senate Majority Leader is able to block bills from even being brought to a vote.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.