An assault on American voters is underway

[skinsmarydu]

What is the USSC? 

[JCB]

SCOTUS, I think.

[skinsmarydu]

53 minutes ago, JCB said:

SCOTUS, I think.

I kinda figured, but he normally would type it as such.  . My PC is on the fritz, i have no heat, and Larry got acronyms mixed up. 

We're doomed. 

[The Evil Genius]

 

[China]

 

[China]

 

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

And why did it take so long to figure out that these loopholes exist?

[bearrock]

What is the passed Senate bill that they are going to use as vessel for the message between houses?  And once it comes back in the form of the voting rights bill, are we sure Manchin and Sinema are going to vote for it or are we going to hear soliloquy on spirit of the filibuster and bipartisanship?

 

And how is this any different than nuking the filibuster?  Because unless senate is never ever going to pass any bills in the future, a bill to rename that obscure post office goes through message between houses and now comes back as an omnibus bill to fulfill every partisan wetdreams and gets voted on without filibuster?  Stop the pretense and just kill off what never existed within the framework of the Constitution.

[Larry]

I'm really not fond of stunts like these to get around congressional rules.  

 

I'm also not fond of them being necessary.  

 

But, two wrongs, and all that.  

 

(And, has anybody checked this with Mr. "I'll vote against any voting rights legislation that doesn't have a Republican vote"?  Really ought to make sure that you can pass the thing, without the filibuster, before you pull this stunt.) 

[bearrock]

This is going to blow up in Sen Dem leadership's faces.  OMG, Schumer is incompetent and stupid.

https://www.democracydocket.com/alerts/live-updates-voting-rights-battle-in-the-u-s-senate/

Quote

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to take advantage of a rarely-used procedural tactic: “messages between the Houses.” There is an unrelated bill — regarding NASA leasing “underutilized” property to private groups — that has already moved several times (sometimes called the amendment exchange or “ping-pong method”) between the House and Senate for revisions. Either today or tomorrow, the House will replace the existing language from the NASA “shell” bill with the language of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. If the House passes this revised bill, they will send it to the Senate. Due to procedural rules, the motion to proceed on this “message” cannot be filibustered, meaning the Senate will be able to open debate on the bill. 

 

First, I would be shocked is either Manchin or Sinema signs onto this naked attempt to do an end run around the filibuster, much less both of them.  In fact Sinema just spoke today on the floor about how she opposes changing the filibuster even though she supports the voting rights bill.  

 

Second, if this is some cheap stunt to bring the voting rights bill to a debate so they can have a list of people who voted against it (they way overestimate the effect of these lists on the average voter), the Collins and Murkowskis of the world can simply say "I am in full support of upholding the right to vote, but this is such a naked power grab and end run around a long enshrined rule of the Senate, I simply in good conscience cannot support passing a bill utilizing these tactics today" (read: I will only support it when the GOP uses it).  

 

Now the next time GOP has both houses and the White House, McConnell will happily utilize the messages between houses and say, well, the Dems have already utilized this measure.

 

My message to the Senate Dem Leaders: Have you people lost your minds?????? 

 

[Larry]

16 minutes ago, bearrock said:

Now the next time GOP has both houses and the White House, McConnell will happily utilize the messages between houses and say, well, the Dems have already utilized this measure.

 

Just pointing out - Skippy is perfectly capable of saying "The Dems did it first!", even when they didn't.  

[The Sisko]

I don't think he's stupid at all. In fact, this is precisely the kind of thing we want them to finally have the cojones to pull. Yes, it empowers Moscow Mitch to do the same thing, but it's kind of a Hail Mary at this point anyway. If they don't do something like this, there won't ever be a need for Moscow Mitch or any Grand Oligarch's Party leader to do it anyway because they'll have one party rule in perpetuity. As with all Hail Marys, it's a long shot given the issues with the fascist sympathizers, Manchin and Sinema. However, all I can say is at least they tried. As previously mentioned, the only issue I have with it is that they didn't just cut to the chase sooner when it became clear that the Grand Oligarch's Party had moles in place.

As for backlash, it's a non-issue. After all, Moscow Mitch paid no political price for among other things, holding up the Garland nomination to allow Trump to pack the court. Neither will Schumer. Besides, unlike McConnell, Schumer can truthfully say he was standing up for democracy, not just making a naked power grab.

[bearrock]

9 minutes ago, The Sisko said:

I don't think he's stupid at all. In fact, this is precisely the kind of thing we want them to finally have the cojones to pull. Yes, it empowers Moscow Mitch to do the same thing, but it's kind of a Hail Mary at this point anyway. If they don't do something like this, there won't ever be a need for Moscow Mitch or any Grand Oligarch's Party leader to do it anyway because they'll have one party rule in perpetuity. As with all Hail Marys, it's a long shot given the issues with the fascist sympathizers, Manchin and Sinema. However, all I can say is at least they tried. As previously mentioned, the only issue I have with it is that they didn't just cut to the chase sooner when it became clear that the Grand Oligarch's Party had moles in place.

As for backlash, it's a non-issue. After all, Moscow Mitch paid no political price for among other things, holding up the Garland nomination to allow Trump to pack the court. Neither will Schumer. Besides, unlike McConnell, Schumer can truthfully say he was standing up for democracy, not just making a naked power grab.

 

Just wanted to clarify, I'm not concerned with backlash either (I don't think there really will be one).  I'm exasperated that Sen Dems are using it for a meaningless show of hands while GOP will someday use it to pass a bill that sets our collective heads on fire.  If you're gonna use it, at least use it to pass something.  

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

What difference does it make? It’s never going to pass. And with the maps being redrawn everywhere, the Dems will never control both houses of Congress ever again. Ever.  These are dark times.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[The Sisko]

2 hours ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

What difference does it make? It’s never going to pass. And with the maps being redrawn everywhere, the Dems will never control both houses of Congress ever again. Ever.  These are dark times.

Blaxitglobal

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[techboy]

18 hours ago, bearrock said:

 

Just wanted to clarify, I'm not concerned with backlash either (I don't think there really will be one).  I'm exasperated that Sen Dems are using it for a meaningless show of hands while GOP will someday use it to pass a bill that sets our collective heads on fire.  If you're gonna use it, at least use it to pass something.  

 

They can't. From what I've read about it, the method they're using allows them to bypass the fillibuster on holding debate, but not on the actual cloture motion that would allow them to put it to a vote. Even if they could get all 50 Democrats to vote yes, Republicans could still fillibuster by refusing to allow it to go to a vote.

 

This is just a stunt to force Republicans to debate it on the Senate floor, and I guess show the base that they're trying every angle possible to get something done.

[The Sisko]

Looks like our only hope is COVID then.

[China]

Michigan AG Dana Nessel refers GOP electors review to federal prosecutors

 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Thursday she referred to federal prosecutors a probe into Republicans who signed and submitted a certificate falsely claiming Donald Trump won Michigan's electoral votes.

 

The revelation demonstrated the potential seriousness and ongoing nature of the investigation and could have repercussions throughout state politics, as the 16 Republicans in question, include high-ranking members of the state GOP, like Co-Chairwoman Meshawn Maddock.

 

During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," Nessel announced the case's referral to the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Michigan. The Democratic attorney general specifically suggested forgery charges could be considered and said the GOP electors in Michigan seemed to be part of a "coordinated effort." Similar certificates were created by Republicans in a handful of other battleground states.

 

"Under state law, I think clearly you have forgery of a public record, which is a 14-year offense, and election law forgery, which is a five-year offense," Nessel said during the appearance.

Sixteen Michigan Republicans, who supported Donald Trump for president, signed an inaccurate and unofficial "certificate of the votes of the 2020 electors from Michigan."

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Lock 'em up!

[China]

 

[Barry.Randolphe]

it'll never happen, but I'd love to see the DoJ pull out these videos and start issuing warrants for the arrest of these idiots. It's the only way to stop it from happening again.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Barry.Randolphe

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

 

[Cooked Crack]

🙄