If America falls whose left standing?
Biden must use the full strength of his presidency – his bully pulpit, the power of the executive branch, his influence inside the halls of the Senate (and over his old putative friend, the senior senator from West Virginia), and the credibility that comes with being President of the United States – to end the filibuster, and thereby open the way for voting rights. It is necessary. It is time.
Source: The Most Important Choice Ahead | The Smirking Chimp
By virtually any metric, the United States Senate is one of the most undemocratic legislative bodies in the advanced capitalist world. Given the geographic distribution of America’s population, the majority living in nine states wields a mere eighteen votes to the minority’s eighty-two: a balance of forces so disproportionate, most citizens of other countries would probably find it incomprehensible. In no other country could a jurisdiction the size of California (home to nearly 40 million people) possess the same legislative clout as Wyoming (home to less than 600,000). The Senate, in fact, is not so much undemocratic as it is antidemocratic — its design acting as a check on majority rule by default.
The Republican Party is not a party of ideas or policies. It is a party of grievance—including phony grievance—that is animated by the organizing principle of tribal resentment. It is hard to compromise with that, and it is tough to achieve unity with those who embrace such a stand. GOP leaders now see their future as tied to the exploitation of unfounded angst, the fanning of false narratives, and the suppression of democracy. The party resides within a dark, nonsensical, racist framework—and there is no sign this is a framework its leaders or its voters wish to cancel.
Post-Trump, the GOP Continues to be the Party of (White) Grievance – Mother Jones
Amid the GOP’s nationwide voter suppression onslaught that threatens to restrict ballot access for tens of millions of Americans, Senate Democrats’ introduction of the For the People Act on Wednesday was welcomed by progressives who also emphasized that passing the comprehensive plan to strengthen the country’s democracy through the Senate will require the upper chamber’s majority to scrap the anti-democratic 60-vote filibuster.
After Introduction of For the People Act, Senate Dems Told to ‘End the Filibuster and Pass’ It | Common Dreams News
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