U.S. House Rep Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) made her presence known yet again today by tweeting about the controversial stance to abolish the filibuster. People from both parties have suggested this when having majority power. However, Democrats may be nervous about the 2022 elections which would put them in a bad spot if the GOP took back over with an abolished filibuster.
Recently, President Joe Biden tweeted out that he wants to enact the “For the People Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act”. Republican states have been shoring up the vote with election security measures as of late, which is potentially a band-aid for some red states in the eyes of some. If it does help Republicans in elections though, we only think it will be temporary, with demographic shifts appearing to help Democrats in the long term.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Republican efforts for election security is making Democrats nervous in the short term. Tlaib noted that it would be easier for Democrats to push back with an abolished Senate filibuster. Clearly moderate Democrats are not ready to do that yet, or they would have been able to pass the recent bill to further scrutinize the event at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th involving the breach of the premises.
Tlaib represents the more radical wing of the Democrat party, and Biden the more moderate wing, although moderate Democrat isn’t saying much these days, as even Republicans on the moderate spectrum are seemingly taking up more and more left-wing views as it seems.
Likely there will be pushback to Tlaib’s demands, but her sector of the left, including ‘The Squad’, with AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley are likely to keep the heat on as the left appears to be in a power consolidation period in the U.S.
Biden originally tweeted:
“We’re witnessing an all-out assault on our democracy — and we need to act swiftly to protect the sacred right to vote. We need the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.”
To which Tlaib quote tweeted:
“Let’s abolish the filibuster and get it done!”
Let’s abolish the filibuster and get it done! https://t.co/uBlpV6pmAw
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) June 2, 2021
The “For the People Act” appears to have passed the House but not the Senate and is composed of the following:
This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government.
Specifically, the bill expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls.
The bill requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting.
Additionally, the bill sets forth provisions related to election security, including sharing intelligence information with state election officials, supporting states in securing their election systems, developing a national strategy to protect U.S. democratic institutions, establishing in the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions, and other provisions to improve the cybersecurity of election systems.
Further, the bill addresses campaign finance, including by expanding the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requiring additional disclosure of campaign-related fundraising and spending, requiring additional disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices.
The bill addresses ethics in all three branches of government, including by requiring a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibiting Members of the House from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, and establishing additional conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.
The bill requires the President, the Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns.
Although it could be argued that she didn’t lose her temper with this tweet, Tlaib does have a history of losing her temper or at least being dramatic. She previously was removed from a Trump event in 2016 for yelling and screaming, said of former President Donald Trump that we are going to “impeach the motherf—–” and had other dramatic performances during House testimony.
Time will tell what the future of election security, the filibuster and political control will look like in the near term for the United States, but it is sure to be a rocky few years in the near future.
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