H.R.1 passes in the House, "For The People Act" DOA in the Senate

After a horrible week putting out fires set by the new Congresswomen on the far left, Speaker Nancy Pelosi finally got a victory. Her first item on the Democrat agenda passed in the House by a vote of 234 to 193. I think Minority Whip Steve Scalise put it best when he described the legislation as a solution in search of a problem. The “For the People Act” is chock full of all kinds of Democrat hopes and dreams.

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The bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Majority Leader McConnell already said it is. The number one priority, as this bill shows, is for Democrats to continue their tropes of voter suppression while enacting measures that will provide taxpayer dollars for campaigns. It is a leftie’s fever dream of campaign finance reform. It also requires nonprofit groups that contribute to campaigns to disclose their donors. This “dark money” is a frequent complaint of Democrats though both political parties benefit from it. Conservatives consider a mandate to disclose the identity of donors a violation of First Amendment rights. Political donations are a part of free speech. Even the ACLU has a problem with that.

A central provision establishes public financing for congressional elections, giving candidates as much as a 6-to-1 match for small donations to participating campaigns. Republicans have attacked the measure for funneling taxpayer money to political candidates; Democrats reworked the bill to tap revenue from fines from people and companies found guilty of corporate malfeasance.

Another key campaign finance provision would require nonprofit “dark money” groups that engage in political activity to disclose their large donors — a provision that has generated opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups that argue the disclosure could chill free speech.

The bill is seen as a drain the swamp measure but it skews heavily in favor of Democrats. Shocking, I know. One provision changes the number of seats on the FEC, currently 6 to 5. This would change the evenhanded distribution of members by political party and turn it into a partisan battle, depending on which party is in the majority. The wish list continues as the bill takes drawing district lines from legislatures and puts the task into the hands of state commissions. There’s language for automatic voter registration nationwide and the ability for felons to vote. There are also stricter laws on purging voter rolls and loosened laws on voter id laws.

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Democrats couldn’t resist a few mandates that only appear because of the current occupant of the White House. There is a requirement that presidential and vice-presidential candidates disclose 10 years of tax returns as well as tax returns of companies owned by candidates. Also, no federal funds can be spent at Trump hotels or resorts.

Is making election day a national holiday a good idea to you? The Democrats have you covered. There’s a new mandatory ethics code for the Supreme Court, too. And the cherry on top – no first class travel for federal officeholders. (Sheila Jackson-Lee, call your office.)

Freshman Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas offered a motion to recommit which would have added language against illegal aliens voting. It failed. The Democrats are establishing themselves as the party of illegal alien voting, infanticide, and anti-Semitism. Swell.

McConnell isn’t having it. He calls it a power grab by the Democrats. He’s right.

This new House Democrat majority’s top priority is apparently assigning themselves an unprecedented level of control over how they get elected to Washington, D.C., along with how, where and what American citizens are allowed to say about it,” he said Tuesday. “More than anything else, Washington Democrats want a tighter grip on political debate and the operation of elections, nationwide.”

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It’s a 500- page bill. Democrats promise that they are all about the long game here. Even if McConnell holds fast and doesn’t allow it to be brought up in the Senate, Democrats pledge to persist. There’s always 2020 if a new president is in place and 2024 if a new Senate majority is in control. We’ll see what the people have to say.

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Stephen Moore 8:30 AM | December 15, 2024
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