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Robert Reich On What Dead Soul Cruz is Up To
Don't recall if this AP info might have been posted here last week, but thought we should keep this in mind when considering anything short of ending the filibuster which, as far as I know, can be reinstated anytime, say, near the end of this congressional session. In the meantime, polled bipartisan public support can get us to 51 votes on a number of bills.
The fact that Cruz is mobilizing against S1 shows that this is their hill to die on.
Friends,
The choice is either allowing Republicans to enact an avalanche of state laws restricting voting rights, or passing the “We The People Act,” which would preempt all this (but has to get through the Senate filibuster).
According to the Associated Press, on an invitation-only call last week, Sen. Ted Cruz huddled with Republican state lawmakers to encourage them to escalate their movement against voting rights – claiming Democrats are trying to expand voting rights to “illegal aliens” and “child molesters,” and that if they get the “We the People Act” through the Senate, the GOP won’t win elections again for generations.
Asked if there was room to compromise, Cruz was blunt: “No.”
He added: “H.R. 1′s only objective is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election, that they will win and maintain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and of the state legislatures for the next century,” Cruz said told the group organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed, conservative group that provides model legislation to state legislators.
For Republicans, voting restrictions are now viewed as a political life-or-death debate -- and the fight has all-but eclipsed traditional Republican issues like abortion, gun rights and tax cuts as an organizing tool.
Which gives added urgency to getting the “We the People Act” through the Senate – and quickly. Any Democratic senator still supporting the filibuster is in reality supporting the Republican assault on voting rights.
The choice is either allowing Republicans to enact an avalanche of state laws restricting voting rights, or passing the “We The People Act,” which would preempt all this (but has to get through the Senate filibuster).
According to the Associated Press, on an invitation-only call last week, Sen. Ted Cruz huddled with Republican state lawmakers to encourage them to escalate their movement against voting rights – claiming Democrats are trying to expand voting rights to “illegal aliens” and “child molesters,” and that if they get the “We the People Act” through the Senate, the GOP won’t win elections again for generations.
Asked if there was room to compromise, Cruz was blunt: “No.”
He added: “H.R. 1′s only objective is to ensure that Democrats can never again lose another election, that they will win and maintain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and of the state legislatures for the next century,” Cruz said told the group organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed, conservative group that provides model legislation to state legislators.
For Republicans, voting restrictions are now viewed as a political life-or-death debate -- and the fight has all-but eclipsed traditional Republican issues like abortion, gun rights and tax cuts as an organizing tool.
Which gives added urgency to getting the “We the People Act” through the Senate – and quickly. Any Democratic senator still supporting the filibuster is in reality supporting the Republican assault on voting rights.
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