Republicans are having a meltdown over a House election reform bill (HR1)

[UCmeNdc]

On Friday, the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives passed a hefty, but badly needed, omnibus bill aimed at restoring American democracy after the beating it’s taken lately from big money and authoritarian interests. HR1, also called the “For the People Act,” has a series of provisions aimed at protecting the right to vote, muting the impact of big money spending on politics and strengthening ethics requirements for political candidates.

This bill’s aims are broadly popular with Americans. Its provisions to make voter registration essentially automatic — you can opt out, but you won’t have to opt in — are supported by 65 percent of Americans. Provisions to make voting easier enjoy similarly high levels of support. Campaign finance reform is also wildly popular, with healthy majorities supporting it. And when it comes to the power of lobbyists, well, they come last in polls where Americans ranks professions by ethical standards.

But while the public very much likes the provisions in this bill, Republican politicians and conservative activists very much don’t. The reason is simple: Conservatives know they’re not likely to win a fair fight, and so they want a system that makes it easy for them to cheat.



https://www.rawstory.com/2019/03/republicans-meltdown-house-election-reform-bill-kill-polls/

[Sherman A1]

1. Years ago I was talking with a Local Republican Committee Man

Now he was certainly a social conservative and we disagreed about most things, and when it would start to get a bit heated we would shift to discussing "the process" and leave the issues and candidates aside. He mentioned to me several times that Low Turnout was always in favor of the GOP. They knew it and they wanted the lower turnout the better.

[Firestorm49]

13. In the Walker days......

The Republicans outright said that their voting laws were meant to restrict, not enfranchise.

[beachbum bob]

2. no meltdown as the GOP KNOWS it will NEVER be a law or even have a VOTE on it, like saying GOP

is in a tizzy on climate change...nope, they just use it to vilify democrats coming for their coal and steaks

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Yes, a meltdown. It will be an issue in 2020, esp if Mueller report is large AND PUBLIC. . . . nt

[safeinOhio]

3. Democracy is

the enemy of Free Market Capitalism, and they know it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. No, it is not.

If by "Free Market Capitalism" you mean zero regulation, then it is the enemy of democracy.

But nobody thinks in such binary black&white terms, do they? There is NO free market capitalism anywhere. There are degrees of free market capitalism.

Regulated free market capitalism is completely compatible with democracy.

If unregulated capitalism is being set up as a target, it is a straw man, easy to knock over.

[safeinOhio]

7. I will refer you to a quote by Ayn Rand

“Democratic” in its original meaning [refers to] unlimited majority rule . . . a social system in which one’s work, one’s property, one’s mind, and one’s life are at the mercy of any gang that may muster the vote of a majority at any moment for any purpose."

While some Libertarians may claim to reject her and her ideas, they don't.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Here on DU we do not respect Ayn Rand as a definer or arbiter of democracy.

And libertarians are constantly mis-defined and mislabeled and ignorantly characterized on DU.

Ayn Rand is NOT a libertarian. She is an Objectivist.

[kwijybo]

17. based on her fiction

Ayn Rand was a bit of an idiot. But she was a right-wing idiot, so she was considered a genius.

[safeinOhio]

22. Cato org a Libertarian think tank...

"I might begin by noting that the very notion of a conflict “between libertarians and Objectivists” is flawed, as it seems to me that all Objectivists are necessarily libertarians, though not all libertarians are Objectivists. That is, anyone who believes in individual rights, free enterprise, and strictly limited government—and I assume that includes all Objectivists—is a libertarian. An Objectivist libertarian might well not belong to any particular party and might part company with some other libertarians on a wide range of philosophical and other issues, but at the level of political philosophy Objectivists are libertarians."
https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/objectivis
ts-libertarians

Allan Greenspan, Chicago Boys, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and his father are all Libertarians that have also aligned with Objectivists. It is a republican party move to limit voting, and not a Democratic Party policy..

I might be wrong in lumping the two together.

[Freddie]

6. Even though the Turtle

Refuses to bring it to a vote (he knows that a “no” vote will be used against Senate candidates) we can use the “no” votes against Repugs running for Congress.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Congress includes the Senate. . . . nt

[DownriverDem]

9. Excellent Tactic

The Dems are passing bills that show the American people who we are and what we support. I'm a proud member of the Democratic Party and am so proud of the House.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. +1. . . . nt

[Firestorm49]

15. Damn straight!

[Fla Dem]

18. This bill will not pass. It won't even come up for a vote.

"Not only is McConnell refusing to bring the bill up for a vote in the Senate, he is reportedly waging an all-out campaign to intimidate any Republican senators out of backing it in public."

It's a great bill, but as long as the GOP controls the senate and the WH we won't see election reform. That's why we have to take over the senate and WH in 2020.

[lagomorph777]

20. But it's smart to show the American people exactly who the Russiapublicans are.

This bill is a politically smart move.

[thesquanderer]

12. Here's a better link...

https://www.salon.com/2019/03/08/republicans-freak-out-over-hr1-they-dont-want-america-to-have-fair-elections/

That's the original source. Better to give the traffic to who deserves it.

[JHB]

14. Turtle inaction

[mysteryowl]

16. This will be a good topic to ask republicans about during town hall meetings.

"So, why did you not vote for HR1, the People's Act?"

[usaf-vet]

19. Since the early 1980 REPUBLICANS have wanted to suppress voting.

Paul Weyrich. The father of voter suppresion

It is as simple as this. "The GOO GOO Syndrome"

"Now many of our Christians have what I call the "goo goo" syndrome. Good Government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Interesting_ALEC_Quotes

[duforsure]

21. Where are the republicans on...

... human trafficing, child abuse, treason, money laundering, tax fraud, bank fraud, election fraud, acting as foreign spies and their agents, and selling policies, selling top secret information, serial lying, voter oppression, and sexual abuse, and widespread corruption. This new bill proposal is nothing compared to all the stuff that is going on from trump and the republicans NOW. Why is this all being normalized and ignored , and now judge tampering , and mob like tactics in our government and judicial system. Why is this all being ignored by republicans, because trump and his family are a criminal enterprise, and terrorist. So are the republicans now , and their party. They're even behind Hillary being further investigated for trump and putin, just like putin has done in russia.