McConnell Is About to Block a Voting-Rights Bill. It's All Part of Democrats' Plan

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WASHINGTON — It’s not often the leader of the United States Senate holds a vote knowing it will fail. It’s even less often the Senate leader calls a doomed vote for one of the most important bills in his party’s legislative agenda.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is about to do just that. The Senate will vote Wednesday on the Freedom to Vote Act, a once-in-a-generation bill to safeguard the right to vote, disclose dark money, and stop the partisan operatives who tried to steal the last election from stealing the next one. The vote is almost certainly going to fail. Democrats hold 50 seats, they need 60 votes to beat a Republican filibuster, and there’s no indication that even one GOP senator, let alone 10, plans to break ranks and support the bill.

But for the Democratic lawmakers and outside activists pushing the bill, failure on Wednesday’s vote isn’t just expected — it’s part of the plan. They say it’s one of the final steps in a years-long, carefully choreographed strategy, one more proof point that Republicans won’t support even the most popular voting-rights and clean-government reforms.

And if not a single Republican will vote for those reforms, then Democrats have no choice but to negotiate a change to the filibuster rules that will allow them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and try to shore up America’s battered democratic system in time for the 2022 elections.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mcconnell-block-voting-rights-bill-143224857.html

[Celerity]

1. little chance Manchin and Sinema will do a carve out exception to the filibuster for voter rights nt

[JohnSJ]

8. You nailed that one

[Act_of_Reparation]

2. Kind of a sketchy plan.

If Manchin won't budge on the filibuster to avoid a default, I don't know that he can be relied upon to budge for voting rights.

[lagomorph777]

12. He might budge to avoid major Kompromat.

Anybody that corrupt has a whole warehouse full of "skeletons" he'd prefer not to show off.

[Act_of_Reparation]

24. I don't know abou that, either.

I don't think Manchin has a future in the Senate regardless of what happens here. It's not likely he'll survive another election cycle. He's probably just going to serve out the rest of his turn before turning lobbyist, and I don't know that kompromat will interrupt those plans significantly.

[lagomorph777]

25. Maybe a heaping helping of pork aimed at fossil fuels.

Pay them to convert to renewables or capture carbon. He'll take his cut, of course.

[BonnieJW]

17. I can't believe Schumer

Allows Manchin to chair the Energy Committee when he has a clear conflict of interest being a part owner of a coal company

[rickyhall]

3. Prove once and for the repugs are totally useless so go on without them.

Fuck 'em if they can't see they ARE the joke.

[markpkessinger]

19. Prove it to whom?f And go on to dod what?

The problem with your approach is that without reform of the filibuster, whicbh Manchin and Sinema have clearly said they will not support, even if all Democrats support a piece of legislation, it will require at least 10 Republican votes to pass anything (except for a limited scope and number of things that can be passed via budget reconciliation). Neither all the happy talk in the world, nor all the "fuck-em" attitude in the world, changes that calculus one iota.

[Mister Ed]

4. Excellent and informative article at the link. Thanks for posting.

I wonder, though: why on earth did Yahoo News put it in the "Entertainment" section?

[BComplex]

23. I'd say it's an appropriate place to put it.

This disintegration of democracy is just theater to the media. It's going to be nasty for the next 200+ years.

[nilram]

5. I hope it's a really clean bill, without amendments

the Reich-wingers could use for cover.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. GOP on Voting Rights...PREVENT Democrats from voting, period.

If people turn out to vote, they lose.

We need to be making calls, registering people to vote, knock on doors, be talking up Voting Rights everywhere.

We can all be a Stacey Abrams in our own way.

[Silent3]

7. If Manchin and Sinema gave a damn about voting rights, it would be a great plan

I see not a shred of evidence for that.

[ShazzieB]

15. Manchinema don't give a damn about anything but their own damned selves.

Fucking dinos.

[moniss]

9. Does

anybody seriously think that this won't automatically head to court if passed? They will ask for an injunction until it's finally decided by the SC which could be well after 2022 or even 2024. I know that is pessimistic but it's also realistic. Democrats and Progressives need to realize that the GOP/Conservatives/Koch Network/Mercer Network are out to destroy them completely and permanently and they began that strategy long ago. We are not in a debate. We are in a war for the democracy.

[kairos12]

10. Sinema will NEVER go along.

[KG]

11. 3D chess!

[berni_mccoy]

13. There is ZERO CHANCE that Manchin and Sinema are going to support

Removing or even reforming the filibuster

[NullTuples]

14. Sorry, "part of the plan" feels a bit too much like "32-dimensional chess"

The only workable plan necessitates eradicating the filibuster and pushing these bills throught.

Anything less is just a pause in the GOP's relentless ratcheting tighter and tighter control.

[DownriverDem]

20. Maybe

part of the plan means building more support for ending the filibuster. Hard to imagine more support would be needed, I know.

[NullTuples]

22. At this point & given the Dems reluctance to play hardball, I don't see much change in support?

[bucolic_frolic]

16. In order to support democracy they must use democracy to break the Senate super-majority

Maybe not break the filibuster, but make an exception to it?

Or at least have that debate. Expose the GOP Senate for what it is.

[Raine]

18. I'm so sick of all these political games

both sides play.

[uponit7771]

21. Except they could've done all of this before redistricting was done now we have to fight to get

... equitable districts in states like Texas that is blue but voter denied, text book 50 on access to vote for PoC.

That's not democracy, this "chess play" allows that lack of democracy to continue in that state