Fwd: GMOM - New bills in Congress; meeting on March 25
Charlie Cooper
March 24, 2024
Colleagues,
Focus on bills in Congress
At our meeting on Monday evening, we will review two new bills intended to bolster political equality and counter the disproportionate influence of big money that corrupts our politics.
- The Democracy Restoration Act would restore voting rights in all federal elections to any citizen who has been returned to the community after serving time in prison for a felony. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D, TX) introduced the House bill, and Maryland's Ben Cardin is the Senate sponsor.
- The Fair Representation Act was introduced in the House by Rep Don Beyer (D, VA). Maryland's Jamie Raskin is a co-sponsor. The bill would require states to use ranked-choice voting for the selection of both senators and representatives and would ban partisan and racial gerrymandering. Moreover, it would establish districts with three to five House members for all states that have six or more representatives. Rep. Raskin has been thinking about these ideas for a long time, and I remember him explaining them to me almost a decade ago. Advocates say that the bill's provisions, taken together, would result in "greater inclusion for people of color, urban Republicans, rural Democrats, Independent and third-party voters, major party bases and other voters across the political spectrum." For more explanation of this innovative proposal go here.
Supreme Court cases
In two pending cases (Relentless and Loper Bright Enterprises), the Court is considering changing the standard for when federal agencies may regulate private enterprise. Critics are worried that the Court may eviscerate executive branch power to protect health, safety, environment, and financial equity by eliminating a principle (known as the Chevron defense) established 40 years ago by none other than Clarence Thomas that allowed federal agencies wide latitude in setting regulations. At that time, Reagan was President. Conservatives are arguing that SCOTUS should overturn the Chevron defense because the bureaucracy is too fickle, as it can change with every administration. Therefore, only Congress can make important regulations. (Of course, the current Congress has difficulty agreeing on anything -- so the result would likely leave business free to do as it pleases.) At the same time, the MAGA movement argues that the independence of the civil service should be dismantled so that the bureaucracy is more under the control of the President, making it more likely to institute far-reaching policy changes.
On March 18, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that local and state officials can remove people from office based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment (the "insurrection clause"). Earlier in this session they had ruled that Colorado cannot remove Trump from the presidential ballot because state-by-state enforcement would lead to chaos. However, that decision indicated that states can decide whether 14.3 applies to state and local officials (and, perhaps, to candidates). The court refused to hear an appeal from a New Mexico man who was convicted for his role at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Couy Griffin was removed from office as a county commissioner and is barred from serving in office in the state. Also, please note that the Supreme Court could have ruled that Trump did not participate in insurrection. Instead they came up with a technicality about state versus federal authority to enforce Section 3.
Bird-dogging opportunities
We have developed a list of questions that you can ask candidates to gauge whether they will be active proponents of political equality and whether they will support concrete action in Congress. You can print out this list of questions and take it with you to a forum or keep it on your desk during an online forum. We are focused on the races for the U.S. Senate, and for Congressional districts 2, 3, and 6 being vacated by Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, and Trone, respectively. Please let us know about candidate events in your area by e-mailing me at Cha...@GetMoneyOutMD.org
We encourage you to attend events and ask these questions. We must keep the pressure on Democrats to pass key bills like the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and Supreme Court reform if they gain the majority in both chambers of Congress. If you are able to ask any of these questions, please report how the candidate(s) responded. Thank you.
News
USA Today: Fund transfers between a "leadership PAC" and a SuperPAC are helping to pay Trump's legal fees.
Lever News: "Snyder v. United States could make it legal for public officials to accept rewards following enactment of their corrupt decisions." So-called conservatives are pursuing this case to reverse a conviction because they have the money to buy favors from public officials.
The Brennan Center: Republicans, led by Cleta Mitchell and Mike Lindell, seek to gain advantage through party-biased voter purges. Their "efforts appear to be focused on precincts that lean Democratic or are home to large communities of color."
Gander Newsroom: Michigan officials restored 1,100 voters to the rolls in two townships because voters are entitled to time to explain whether their voting residency has really changed or whether an address change is temporary. "[Journalists] exposed a targeted, right-wing plot to expedite that cancellation schedule ahead of the 2024 presidential election—including a failed scheme to cancel registrations in Genoa and Waterford townships." Right-wing allegations designed to remove voters in Democratic-leaning areas rarely prove true. A federal judge recently found that Michigan is "consistently among the most active states' in canceling the registration of dead voters."
Washington Post: Ken Block was paid $800,000 by the Trump campaign to examine claims of fraud in the frantic period following the 2020 election. He never was able to substantiate any of the claims. Now he has published a book recounting his experiences. He has been subpoenaed in some of the election fraud cases filed against Trump.
GMOM and For the People -- Maryland teleconference
Meeting Monday, March 25, 2024, 7:30 pm
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Onward together,
Charlie Cooper
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Get Money Out - Maryland · Baltimore, MD 21209, United States
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