North Carolina and Wisconsin are Exhibits "A" and "B" as to what the Republicans would like to do at the federal level (they already have control over the federal judiciary, pretty much), and what they would like to do nationwide. Our democracy is dying in real time.
Republicans know that they have lost the public so they will rig judiciaries and electoral maps even further in order to stay in power. This is antidemocratic in its nature and is a bright blinking light that warns of authoritarianism.
This should be he Mantra of every business and sporting event in the country. I left WI 11 years ago. The legislature and Walker clawed back negotiated benefits of all public employees with the exception of police.
I grew up in New Orleans, which has been a bright island of blue in a sea of red (pretty much the entire Gulf Coast) for a while, however, it's still the Deep South and it breaks my heart that I can't/won't move back.
I moved to NC - Asheville is cool - from fascist Florida. Guess I’ll move again when my lease expires. It’s hard to decide where to go...except maybe out of the US.
This makes bad reading but in the long term the gradual removal of older, white conservative voters from the electorate and the coming onto the rolls of a more progressive, ethnically diverse cohort (who will always care more about abortion rights) spell doom to the Republican efforts to hold power as a minority power. Gerrymandering is just a dam against a river that keeps on rising. That said it's going to take a lot longer than it ought.
And all this is possible because of the 2019 federal Supreme Court ruling that says that the feds don’t have purview over such state gerrymandering no matter how bad it is.
Which again points to the federal Supreme Court’s own power grab and its supermajority. We need to, in 2024, elect enough Democratic senators who will either abolish filibuster entirely, or at least modify it for this issue, and make it possible finally to expand the Supreme Court and to compel it to take ethical reforms.
The filibuster in the Senate requires 60 votes for almost everything, an anachronism that does not exist in the Constitution and defies the very definition of democracy. How many people are aware of this?! Currently the only things that permit a simple majority are reconciliation bills, and judicial appointments.
Robert Byrd developed reconciliation, which only applies to one financial bill a year, like the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, or the Affordable Care Plan, which is why it was not a law that simply allowed for Medicare for all, for example.
Democrats have been thwarted from having simple democracy due to Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. We need to get to 51 or 52 senators, with or without the Vice President’s vote, and including Manchin, whose Democratic seat we likely need in order to keep the Democratic majority in 2024, and ideally replacing Sinema. We only need a simple majority in order to abolish or modify the filibuster.
That means it requires only 40 Republicans to thwart democracy. Manchin and Sinema have been their stooges. Sinema actually wrote this defending the filibuster (link is free to read):
Democrats got closer to abolishing or modifying the filibuster in 2022, with 51 senators, but that’s still 49 Senators willing to abolish and two not. In 2024 Democrats need to replace Sinema with an actual progressive, like Arizona thought they were getting, and that at least would get us to 50 Democratic Senators that are required to be willing to abolish or modify the 60 vote filibuster.
That is what it would take in order to actually pass non financial/reconciliation only laws that the country needs and wants. It’s not just the Supreme Court expansion and Court system overhauling, it’s assault weapons bans, gun control, abortion rights nationwide, LGBTQ rights, and discrimination protections.
It would also make it possible to make DC a state, it has more population than 2 existing states, and making Puerto Rico a state, it has more population than TWENTY states. It will not in and of itself fix the severe distortion that the Senate has, but it will help enfranchise existing United States citizens and that will in and of itself help balance that distortion.
Republican policies have primarily been focused on financial bills, which suits them fine. That can be done with just using reconciliation bills, since that only requires a simple majority. Which they’ve used to pass enormous tax cuts repeatedly since the 1980s. They have had no affirmative policies that would need modification or abolishing of the filibuster. Saying no to everything only requires 40 votes in order to thwart democracy.
The reason that judicial appointments require only a simple majority is because Harry Reid was forced to modify that specific 60 vote filibuster in the face of relentless Republican blocking during the Obama administration.
I’m definitely not saying he was wrong to do that, it was a choice between zero judges being appointed and having a simple majority appoint judges. Mitch McConnell definitely leaned onto that during the Trump administration, since that suited him fine. He only wanted financial bills to cut taxes and to do judicial appointments.
Is it any wonder that Republicans are fighting hard against that the filibuster alone, let alone all of this? They aren’t the majority, and they wish to cement minority rule.
The North Carolina Republican voters are setting themselves up to be ruled, not represented. It doesn't just effect the Democrats in their state. They are handing over the power of their vote when they allow these kind of power plays. They let themselves be seduced by cheap wins now but in the future it may be their votes which are also diluted.
Time to rethink our system. I am not saying throw the whole thing out, but perhaps make it less easy for a minority to rule the majority. That is what this in essence is. White Supremacist policies (racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-non Christians) are ruling an increasingly diverse country and not reflecting the will of the people. We need to help states to represent the people, just as the country should too. There is too much protection of the minority for the majority. That must change.
North Carolina and Wisconsin are Exhibits "A" and "B" as to what the Republicans would like to do at the federal level (they already have control over the federal judiciary, pretty much), and what they would like to do nationwide. Our democracy is dying in real time.
Ohio is another. So is Florida. Demographically close to 50/50, but because of manipulation, they're all red.
And thanks to the court takeover, they're getting away with it, for the most part.
Republicans know that they have lost the public so they will rig judiciaries and electoral maps even further in order to stay in power. This is antidemocratic in its nature and is a bright blinking light that warns of authoritarianism.
Mental note to self - Do not move to NC or Wisconsin.
This should be he Mantra of every business and sporting event in the country. I left WI 11 years ago. The legislature and Walker clawed back negotiated benefits of all public employees with the exception of police.
I grew up in New Orleans, which has been a bright island of blue in a sea of red (pretty much the entire Gulf Coast) for a while, however, it's still the Deep South and it breaks my heart that I can't/won't move back.
I moved to NC - Asheville is cool - from fascist Florida. Guess I’ll move again when my lease expires. It’s hard to decide where to go...except maybe out of the US.
This makes bad reading but in the long term the gradual removal of older, white conservative voters from the electorate and the coming onto the rolls of a more progressive, ethnically diverse cohort (who will always care more about abortion rights) spell doom to the Republican efforts to hold power as a minority power. Gerrymandering is just a dam against a river that keeps on rising. That said it's going to take a lot longer than it ought.
And all this is possible because of the 2019 federal Supreme Court ruling that says that the feds don’t have purview over such state gerrymandering no matter how bad it is.
Which again points to the federal Supreme Court’s own power grab and its supermajority. We need to, in 2024, elect enough Democratic senators who will either abolish filibuster entirely, or at least modify it for this issue, and make it possible finally to expand the Supreme Court and to compel it to take ethical reforms.
The filibuster in the Senate requires 60 votes for almost everything, an anachronism that does not exist in the Constitution and defies the very definition of democracy. How many people are aware of this?! Currently the only things that permit a simple majority are reconciliation bills, and judicial appointments.
Robert Byrd developed reconciliation, which only applies to one financial bill a year, like the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, or the Affordable Care Plan, which is why it was not a law that simply allowed for Medicare for all, for example.
Democrats have been thwarted from having simple democracy due to Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. We need to get to 51 or 52 senators, with or without the Vice President’s vote, and including Manchin, whose Democratic seat we likely need in order to keep the Democratic majority in 2024, and ideally replacing Sinema. We only need a simple majority in order to abolish or modify the filibuster.
That means it requires only 40 Republicans to thwart democracy. Manchin and Sinema have been their stooges. Sinema actually wrote this defending the filibuster (link is free to read):
https://wapo.st/3nLXlLJ
Democrats got closer to abolishing or modifying the filibuster in 2022, with 51 senators, but that’s still 49 Senators willing to abolish and two not. In 2024 Democrats need to replace Sinema with an actual progressive, like Arizona thought they were getting, and that at least would get us to 50 Democratic Senators that are required to be willing to abolish or modify the 60 vote filibuster.
That is what it would take in order to actually pass non financial/reconciliation only laws that the country needs and wants. It’s not just the Supreme Court expansion and Court system overhauling, it’s assault weapons bans, gun control, abortion rights nationwide, LGBTQ rights, and discrimination protections.
It would also make it possible to make DC a state, it has more population than 2 existing states, and making Puerto Rico a state, it has more population than TWENTY states. It will not in and of itself fix the severe distortion that the Senate has, but it will help enfranchise existing United States citizens and that will in and of itself help balance that distortion.
Republican policies have primarily been focused on financial bills, which suits them fine. That can be done with just using reconciliation bills, since that only requires a simple majority. Which they’ve used to pass enormous tax cuts repeatedly since the 1980s. They have had no affirmative policies that would need modification or abolishing of the filibuster. Saying no to everything only requires 40 votes in order to thwart democracy.
The reason that judicial appointments require only a simple majority is because Harry Reid was forced to modify that specific 60 vote filibuster in the face of relentless Republican blocking during the Obama administration.
I’m definitely not saying he was wrong to do that, it was a choice between zero judges being appointed and having a simple majority appoint judges. Mitch McConnell definitely leaned onto that during the Trump administration, since that suited him fine. He only wanted financial bills to cut taxes and to do judicial appointments.
Is it any wonder that Republicans are fighting hard against that the filibuster alone, let alone all of this? They aren’t the majority, and they wish to cement minority rule.
The North Carolina Republican voters are setting themselves up to be ruled, not represented. It doesn't just effect the Democrats in their state. They are handing over the power of their vote when they allow these kind of power plays. They let themselves be seduced by cheap wins now but in the future it may be their votes which are also diluted.
It's high time to stop using the words "GOP, Republican, and Conservative" to describe the people who are stripping democracy from our society.
Time to rethink our system. I am not saying throw the whole thing out, but perhaps make it less easy for a minority to rule the majority. That is what this in essence is. White Supremacist policies (racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-non Christians) are ruling an increasingly diverse country and not reflecting the will of the people. We need to help states to represent the people, just as the country should too. There is too much protection of the minority for the majority. That must change.
Thank you, Lisa. Excellent report.
The GOP is so corrupt