23rd Amendment

Essential To Pass Voting Rights Legislation, Which Republicans In Senate Supported Unanimously In 2006!

Ronald Leave a comment

Voting Rights legislation is essential if America is to remain a democracy.

The 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24, and 26th Amendments guarantee voting rights, as did the Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed as part of the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Supreme Court in 2013 weakened the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County V Holder, and have caused the deterioration of voting rights, now accelerated by many states in the South and Midwest and Mountain West creating all kinds of restrictions, designed to prevent minority groups, the elderly, college students, and the disabled from ability to vote.

This MUST be reversed by dropping the filibuster and allowing “reconciliation” to be used to insure voting rights are restored to what they were.

The shocking thing about this whole matter is that the Republican party unanimously supported renewal of the Voting Rights Act in 2006 under the Presidency of Republican George W. Bush! The vote was 98-0, so therefore, there is no excuse for Republican opposition other than they have allowed their party to be hijacked by Donald Trump and his supporters.

But it is still hard to believe that at least some Republican senators–such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and others who voted to convict Donald Trump, and also those Republican Senators retiring in 2022, should by their consience, if they have one, support the voting rights legislation promoted now–the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom To Vote Act.

Nineteen states have passed 34 restrictive laws, which would be negated by passage of the above two proposed laws. Meanwhile, 25 states have passed 62 expansive laws, and the right to vote should be the same in every state, so action to overcome restrictions is essential!

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

admin Leave a comment

Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

Automatic Mail Ballots Should Be Sent By All States To All Voters As A National Law To Insure Voting Rights!

admin Leave a comment

Nine states and Washington, DC send automatic mail ballots to all eligible voters who reside in their states.

These states include:

California
Colorado
Hawaii
Nevada
New Jersey
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington State
Washington, DC

There is no viable reason why voters have to show up in person to vote, as long as they are registered and live in the state they reside in.

Such a system of mail in voting boosts voting, particularly of poor people, racial minorities, the disabled, members of the military, and the elderly.

Voting rights were guaranteed over time, and then added to by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with Constitutional amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26, and so therefore, there should be ZERO boundaries for voting!

If we are to remain a democracy, this needs to become a national law that goes into effect by the Presidential Election of 2024, if not earlier with the Midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

Voting Rights Repressed In 17 GOP States And Counting, As Joe Biden Gives Strong Speech At The National Constitution Center In Philadelphia!

Ronald Leave a comment

Joe Biden gave a stirring speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday, condemning the attack on the most basic right every American should have—-the right to vote.

The 15th, 19th, 23rd, and 26th Amendments, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were designed to insure that no state could deprive anyone who is a citizen and at least 18 years of age, of the right to vote.

But 17 states (Southern and Western and Republican controlled) have made it more difficult for many Americans, particularly young, disabled, poor, or people of color to vote, including the following states:

Florida
Georgia
Alabama
Louisiana
Arkansas
Texas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Iowa
Indiana
Kentucky
Arizona
Utah
Nevada
Wyoming
Idaho
Montana

Republicans currently control both chambers of 30 state legislatures, and the number of states that are attempting to add to this list is alarming.

Texas Democrats have left the state, and face the possibility of arrest and fines when they return, but the idea that this could happen makes the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, practically a dictator of Fascist orientation.

But the Democrats have every right to fight against the authoritarian bent going on in Texas and elsewhere.

The only way to stop this is national legislation, as with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has now been emasculated by the right wing Supreme Court, which has gone way beyond normal limits.

The John Roberts Court has brought us back to the 1930s!

It is urgent for the Democrats to unite and end the crisis in Texas and elsewhere by passage of (HR 1) For the People Act, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, (HR 4)!

Time For Washington DC To Be The 51st State

Ronald Leave a comment

Washington DC has more population than two states, Wyoming and Vermont, and not much lower than Alaska and North Dakota.

Washington DC has a higher educational and income level than the above named states.

Washington DC had a proposed statehood amendment passed through Congress in 1978 that failed to be ratified within the seven year limit, only gaining 16 states approval.

The 23rd Amendment, giving DC residents the right to vote for President, and giving DC three electoral votes, was ratified in 1961, and in 1964, for the first time, DC participated in the Presidential Election of 1964.

In a 2016 DC Statehood referendum, 85 percent of the residents in DC supported statehood.

DC would be first in Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (nearly two and a half times the next state), and first in Educational Attainment, with 60 percent having an advanced degree, and 34 percent having a bachelor’s degree.

Conservative Right Wing Attack On The Constitution: The Threat Of Another Constitutional Convention Wiping Out Constitutional Amendments!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Founding Fathers gave us a Constitution, admitting in the process that there would always be room for improvements, so made clear that amendments were appropriate over time.

So we have had 27 Amendments, including the first ten that make up the Bill of Rights.

When one looks at the amendments, particularly those that came after the Bill of Rights, one realizes that the vast majority of them were “progressive” in tone, designed to expand democracy in America, or else, amendments dealing with the office of the Presidency.

So the “progressive” amendments included the 13th (ending slavery and involuntary servitude); the 14th (promoting due process and equal protection and making African Americans citizens); the 15th (guaranteeing the right to vote for African Americans and others which had been denied that right); the 16th (providing for a federal income tax to raise revenue to deal with mounting social and economic issues); the 17th (granting the people the right to elect their two United States Senators by popular vote); the 19th (guaranteeing women the right to vote); the 23rd (guaranteeing residents of Washington, DC the right to vote); the 24th (preventing a poll tax for voting); and the 26th (guaranteeing young people 18-21 the right to vote).

So nine of the seventeen amendments after the first ten of the Bill of Rights promote progressive change, while the 12th, 20th, 22nd and 25th deal with the office of the Presidency.

The only amendment that was ever passed to limit the freedom of Americans was the 18th (prohibition of liquor), but later repealed by the 21st Amendment.

Now we have the real threat by right wing conservatives, including the Tea Party Movement, who want a new Constitutional Convention to wipe out these “progressive” amendments!

They do not like voting rights for African Americans, other minorities, women, residents of Washington DC (mostly African Americans) and young people; and they are unhappy that African Americans are considered equal under the law, and if they had the ability to do so, they would love to re-enslave poor people, which by corporate power is occurring in an informal way for many minorities, as well as white lower class people struggling every day to survive!

And they wish they could restore the US Senate elections to the corrupt state legislatures, taking away the popular vote. Finally, they hate the federal income tax, even though many of them avoid substantial taxation by having investments, rather than working for a living like most of us do. So they would prefer a sales tax, which is regressive, and would hurt the middle class and the poor much more than the wealthy elite!

But that is exactly the extremist right wing intention—to restore the “good old days” when they were in charge, and everyone had to kowtow to them!

We must not allow such a threat to develop, so the battle for progressivism is never ending, as a result!

The Republican Motivation For Power: Take Away Human Rights Already Granted!

Ronald 1 Comment

America has developed over the past two centuries into a republic promoting democratic values and the advancement of human rights.

The Republican Party of 2011-2012, however, is making clear its desire to TAKE AWAY human rights already won over the past two centuries, with blood, sweat and tears!

We have seen the acquisition of voting rights in the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th Amendments, as well as with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and yet now, the Republican Party in many states is working very hard to LIMIT the right to vote by unreasonable limitations that particularly affect African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, college students, the elderly and the poor of all races!

Women have gained the right to control their own privacy, including control of their own bodies, through a Supreme Court decision in Roe V. Wade in 1973 and other Supreme Court decisions and legislative actions, and yet now in many of our states, the attempt to take away women’s rights, including the right of abortion, is being fiercely waged, including encouragement of violence against abortion providers and closing down of locations where a woman can pursue her reproductive rights.

Gay men and lesbians have gained the right to serve in the military openly, be married in several states, adopt children in most states, and have other basic human rights, but now the move is on to take away these rights so hard fought for!

Working people, both immigrants and those born in the US, have fought for labor protection and representation through formation of labor unions, which have now been undermined for decades, and the attempt to impoverish workers by corporations and their Republican allies is in full development!

This has been a land of immigrants, and yet the Republican Party of today believes in polarizing Americans against undocumented immigrants who they would support deporting in the millions, even with the fact that 98 percent of them have committed no crime beyond entering the nation in an illegal manner, and just want the opportunity to work toward eventual citizenship through learning English, paying fees, and waiting patiently in line for the “American Dream”, and yet now work at low wage jobs that no Americans wish to fill, particularly in agriculture, retail, and home and hotel services.

Americans in general have been able to see improved educational opportunities, better health care, and opportunities for better housing and safer environment and consumer protection due to past Democrats and moderate Republicans working to better conditions for the middle class and the poor, but now the goal of the GOP is to take away these advancements and simply promote the interests of the top one percent and the corporations that sit on money, refuse to hire, and instead use government money that saved them to give bonuses to overpaid, under worked executives, and to lobby corrupt politicians who do their bidding!

Will the nation at large continue to accept an opposition party that works to DENY all of the progress on voting rights, women’s rights, gay rights, labor rights, immigrant rights, and the advancements for the middle class and poor gained over two centuries?

Only if the people are appealed to based upon ignorance, emotion, prejudice, and manipulation! For the future of America, this cannot be allowed to happen, as it will undermine the social fabric of America for the long haul!