There are so many issues it's easy to get distracted -- Climate Change, Infrastructure, Health Care, Police Reform, Immigration, Civil Rights, Gun Control, SCOTUS Packing, New Statehoods, Campaign Finance & Election Reform, Taxes, Minimum Wage, Women's Rights, etc., etc.
Yet, there is one issue; just one issue, that overshadows them all. The most foundational issue, common to all, is voting rights. With sensible, uniform voting rights for all citizens that encourage voting and don't inhibit it, who knows how we might address all these critical issues. If we suppress the right to vote we suppress the will of the public; and if we suppress the will of the public, we suppress or distort the will to address these issues. Currently, on some issues there is no overarching public or political will to address the issue and so it will not be adequately addressed. On other issues there may be strong public will but, no overarching political will -- again, the issue will not be adequately addressed. If voters are not inhibited or disenfranchised in some way, the all important public will can be expressed in each new election (local, state, & federal). Until voter suppression is stopped and the public is allowed to freely express its will through voting for political leadership and direction little, if any, progress will be made on all of the major issues facing the country.
There is no more important issue than expanding voter rights and stopping blatant voter suppression.
Take climate change for example. . .
The challenge to address climate change is particularly difficult because of its global nature, over which we have only limited and indirect control. It’s doubtful the challenge will ever be met. However, if we focus on issues within the United States and under our government control, addressing climate change is no different than the many other critical issues that must be addressed and solved. While there is no specific proposal to address U.S. involvement in the issue, there is general public support for doing something. That public support may change dramatically depending on a specific proposal, however, there is no clear political support among the existing mix of Congressional legislators so it's highly unlikely that anything will be done. Free and uninhibited voter expression in upcoming elections could change that dynamic.
And how about infrastructure which we can more directly control. . .
On infrastructure there appears to be broad, bipartisan support for President Biden's fairly specific proposed $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan. Yet despite the public support, political support is fairly split and the opposition is entrenched based on definitional and funding issues.
What if Democrats called the Republican’s bluff? Republicans in Congress continue to say they are for infrastructure, but Democrats define it too broadly, their proposal is too big, and they propose increases in the corporate income tax rate and perhaps taxes only on persons making more than $400,000, all of which they are against.
As an alternative strategy to meet the public will, why don’t Democrats say to Republicans, tell us the parts of the infrastructure bill that you think are overreach or not germane. If Republicans won’t officially identify their objections, Democrats should do it based on various, on-record comments from Republican leaders. It appears that a small group of Republicans have rallied around a reduced infrastructure bill (conforming to their definition) of about $600 to $800 billion. Then, repackage the bill to near Republican standards and call it Infrastructure (Part A). Now, bring the Part A bill to the floor for a vote and see how many votes it gets or if Republicans filibuster it.
If it passes, it will at least be a starting point and Biden and Congressional Democrats can claim victory — they compromised and got something done on a huge issue. Democrats also should develop and and widely publicize their Part B bill and highlight the additional features that go beyond the Part A bill. If the Part A bill doesn't pass (I can almost guarantee that), Biden and Dems can expose the blatant hypocrisy of Republicans and their obstructionist agenda and focus solely on political power. If the Biden infrastructure bill (Part A&B) continues to be popular Democrats should attempt to pass it by whatever means and, if necessary, expose opponents to the public will in the midterm election.
By not focusing like a laser on the most critical and foundational issue of all -- voting rights -- I am seriously worried that Democrats are going to undermine what may be a one-time opportunity to save democracy as we know it. Despite the idiocy and corruption of the Trump years he continues to command control of the GOP (a factoid I simply don't understand). In typical Democratic fashion, with the narrowest margin of political control, Democrats are falling into their self-made trap of ideological overreach, lack of focus and confusing communications. This shortsightedness gives Republicans all the buzz words and soundbites they need to spread lies and disinformation throughout the electorate. Typically, Democrats try to push too much, too fast, beyond the middle ground of basic, widely accepted support for necessary reforms -- the so-called Overton window.
It is a time when filibuster reform (not elimination) and plain and simple "voting rights" (exclusive of distracting issues like campaign financing & election reforms) should be the number one priorities. Voting rights in particular is the critical underpinning upon which all other reforms depend; now and in the future. I'm afraid Democrats are not focused on the prize and instead are laying the groundwork for the Republican barrage of "see, I told you so" -- misleading attacks on spending & taxes, packing SCOTUS, reparations, green deals, defunding police, 2nd amendment rights, new statehoods, and other highly controversial and complicated issues that are all important but scare the electorate, do not have overwhelming public support and dominate the news media and overshadow the basic priorities.
Democrats cannot even muster unanimous support from their own Party on many of these issues and as the 2022 midterm election approaches there is no time to waste. If Dems lose their narrow political control in the midterms, all is lost. Filibuster reform and voting rights legislation to stop voter suppression are essential to any future Democratic agenda and must be accomplished well in advance of November 2022, to allow time to implement reforms. I don't see a focused effort to make that happen.
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Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) along with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Mike Crapo (R-ID) and John Barrasso (R-WY), and Mitt Romney.( R-UT).
