Barack Obama & the For the People Act

When I first started blogging, the first rule I developed was this: the more innocent-sounding the name of a bill or organization, the more scrutiny I'd give it. Enter this year's For the People Act. The Brennan Center for Injustice Justice wants us to know about the bill.

It says "Our democracy urgently needs repair. The 'Big Lie' of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that motivated a violent insurrection at the Capitol has sparked an unprecedented wave of voter suppression laws in the states. The upcoming redistricting cycle threatens to once again be marred by extreme partisan gerrymandering that will distort congressional elections for a decade. And our broken campaign finance system continues to foster a widespread sense from Americans across the political spectrum that their voices simply do not count relative to big donors and entrenched interests."

First, there isn't much in the way of "extreme partisan gerrymandering." That's been a canard from the Democrats for decades. Next, the "unprecedented wave of voter suppression laws in the states" is a Democrat myth if it isn't an outright lie from the Democrats. The Georgia law provides for more early voting days than New York, home of Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer, Delaware, Joe Biden's home state, and Colorado, where this year's MLB All-Star Game was moved to after Rob Manfred got bullied into moving the game from Georgia. In all other objective ways, Georgia's law is superior to these other states.

Despite that, Barack Obama insists that our democracy hangs by a thread and that there was an armed insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6. How this bill would fix those things isn't explained. First, our democracy isn't hanging by a thread. Next, there wasn't an armed insurrection at the Capitol. The proof is that the US Capitol Police didn't find any firearms at the Capitol and none were viewed on the Capitol's video cameras.

Sen. Mitch McConnell explained why Senate Republicans would reject the Democrats' plan:

The bill also wants unelected federal bureaucrats to draw redistricting lines. That's the worst of all the ideas in this bill. What could be worse than putting that decision in the hands of unelected officials? Answer: putting that decision in the hands of unelected officials living 1,000+ miles from battleground districts.

Finally, the For the People Act seeks to silence people by overturning the Citizens United ruling. Anyone that thinks that the Supreme Court's  ruling can be overturned by simple legislation is kidding themselves.