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January 6 Doesn’t Justify Wrecking the Filibuster

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Joe Manchin again spoils the party.Und noch FunI refer to attempts to force through federal voting legislation by all means.

Republicans don’t like the bill. They have blocked discussion on voting-related legislation multiple times and filibustered attempts to pass it in June, October and November 2021. Now, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) If conservative legislators try to do that again, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), is now threatening to amend Senate rules. But Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.)—one of two Senate Democrats, along with Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who has been opposed to such shenanigans—doesn’t think that’s the way to go.

It is currently 51 votes that are required to pass any post-debate Senate bill. It takes 60 votes to open and close the debate. That means it requires 60 Senate votes in order to get any legislation passed. And getting 60 votes for Democrat-led legislation in the Senate—where 50 members are Republicans—is a tall order.

Democrats want to abolish or temporarily overcome the filibuster, so that they can pass a vote bill with a simple majority. The “nuclear alternative”

Some supporter suggest that passing the voter bill is too important not to be played by the normal rules. These supporters are using the anniversary of last year’s Capitol riot to fuel their position. However, nothing in voting legislation would prevent that.

One example: Trump and his MAGA mob continue to tell us, in words and deeds, what they’re up to. Their belief is that violence might be required if they can’t win their election. … And so the question for the Senate — and for filibuster fetishizers Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) — is whether to stop the former president and his ilk,” wrote Jennifer Rubin in The Washington PostYou can mix it all up with an especially melodramatic touch.

This is the latest pitch from Democratic voters. It’s more detached and cynical than ever. It is believed that the best way to combat the furies that erupted on Jan. 6, 2017, is to impose same day voter registration in all 50 states and no-excuse mailing voting for the remaining ones. This would also end partisan and gerrymandering. Also, it will require that ballots arrive within seven days of Election Day.

Manchin, Sinema and others are standing in the path of filibuster reforms. They don’t seem to be moving despite Democratic colleagues “launching an all-court press to exert pressure [them]CNN explains that Democrats should support changes to the filibuster to allow them to vote legislation.”. 

Manchin stated Tuesday that he was open to any rules changes which would allow for a nuclear option. This is a difficult task.

“Once you change a rule or you have a carve out, I’ve always said this—anytime there’s a carve out, you eat the whole turkey,” Manchin told reporters. There’s nothing left, because the turkey goes back-and-forth.”

Manchin appears to be well aware of the possibility that Democrats could lose any short-term gains by blocking filibustering voting rights legislation. Manchin stated, “I believe that it is for us to do it alone, regardless of what side does it, it winds up coming back to you pretty hard.” He referred to a past Democratic effort to confirm lower-level judges with no filibuster, and the Republicans doing the exact same thing to get through Supreme Court nominations.

He stated that he has always advocated for the rules to be done in the same manner as they have been, with two-thirds voting. If you are able to make rules changes that benefit everyone, it’s usually a rule that will remain.”

It is not clear how exactly Democrats will change Senate procedures. Notes: There are many options. The Hill:

Democrats proposed a “talking filibuster” that would allow opposition to slow down any bill as long as they could keep the floor. The bill then would be possible to pass with a simple majority.

Another idea being discussed would be to create a carve out that would exempt voting rights legislation from the filibuster while keeping it intact for other areas — an idea endorsed by President Biden.

Also, they have looked into smaller rule changes such as getting rid of the 60 vote hurdle to start debate. The change would eliminate the barrier to end debate. This would allow them to debate voting rights legislation. However, they’d still need GOP support for that debate.

Democrats also considered obtaining a guarantee for amendment votes, or making it easier and quicker to vote on bill that receive significant support from the committee.

Schumer stated that the Senate would vote on rule changes by January 17 regardless of whether Sinema and Manchin are present.

“It has to be done for the good of this country,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) told The Hill recently.

While Durbin and the other Democrats are all for filibuster reform, Ashe Schow points out that their views were often different back when they were a minority party. Durbin stated that ending filibuster reform in 2018 would mean the end to the Senate “as it was created and designed back when our founder fathers first established it.”

GRATIS MINDS 

Please Can“Fire!” Both literally and metaphorically. Read Jeff Kosseff, Section 230 historian and lawyer on freedom of speech. At his most recent, AtlanticIn this video, he addresses the persistent myth of yelling in crowded theatres is illegal. He also explains why that trope still fails to be used online for misinformation or inflammatory rhetoric.

Collins and Collins have been joined by health professionals in using the metaphor to inflame public-health actions during the epidemic. Alexander Vindman is a national-security whistleblower usedTucker Carlson’s compassionate portrayal of the Jan 6 rioters in a crowded theater was described by the Fox News host Tucker Carlson using the trope “crowded-theater”. Other people have classified hate speech similarly. Rashad Robinson, a civil-rights advocate and activist said that Big Tech profited from hate speech being amplified at House hearings in December. While I am aware that there have been conversations regarding the First Amendment, it is not without limitations.

These statements are subtextual and suggest that some speech is simply too dangerous to ignore. How can we address it? The TV networks may choose not to air or discuss Carlson’s documentary. However, private online platforms are able to take down hate speech and misinformation prior it becomes viral. Perhaps because Facebook and Twitter remove some false or misleading posts—while failing to remove others—these platforms have created the expectation that someone should step in. The crowded-theater metaphor implies that the government is this person.

Although shouting “Fire” at a crowd in a theater may seem like a First Amendment loophole, it isn’t. It can be regulated. It was not used to describe yelling, crowds, theaters, or fires. Charles T. Schenck (general secretary of U.S. Socialist Party) was convicted by a Philadelphia federal court that he had violated the Espionage Act through printing leaflets that criticised the military draft.

You can read more here.

FREE MARKETS

​​Political candidates embrace non-fungible tokens.It began as a way to encourage art with the Blockchain technology, which underlies cryptocurrency, in the early 2021s. Now it has spread to comic books franchises, politics, and gaming,” notes the organization.Roll Call. The profusion of NFTs is occurring as legal professionals try to work out if they are a security offer, much like what stock companies offer. Therefore, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must regulate them.

QUICK HITS

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will stick with its earlier recommendation about when to end isolation after a positive COVID test or symptoms. Anthony Fauci, White House COVID-19 advisor, suggested earlier this week that the CDC might add a negative rapid testing to their recommendation. However, the agency decided not to do so.

• A record number of Americans quit their jobs in November.

• News consumption is way down from 2020 levels.

• Schools are reverting to 2020’s COVID playbook, writes Kerry McDonald.

• There’s a standoff between Chicago teachers and schools. In-person education is scheduled at the schools, however the Chicago Teachers Union has “told its educators in a memo” that Jan. 18 will mark the start of the next in-person instructional day. According to the CBS affiliate in the city, The district “has not yet addressed the plan beyond canceling classes Wednesday – and Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier said the union does not get to make such a decision.”

• A new lawsuit is challenging Ohio’s 25-year-old school voucher plan.

• In California, new regulations adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board “prohibit overwatering yards, washing cars without a shutoff nozzle, hosing down sidewalks or watering grass within 48 hours after rainfall,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

• Kosovo is banning cryptocurrency mining in a bid to save electricity.