Podcasts about vote act

OA1081. We're taking a broad survey of the 2024 elections, starting with the many, many 2020 election deniers who are still in--and seeking--public office. How many of these people are still around, and how many are up for re-election? What kinds of threats to democracy are still built into the system and how could we do better? What would real reform look like, and what is it going to take to get there?  “The Story of Election Denial in America," ElectionDeniers. org SCOTUS decision in FEC v. Cruz for Senate (2022) “Interactive U.S. House Election Map,” 270towin. Com “At least 30 election deniers and 2020 fake electors serving as Trump electors this year,” CNN (10/17/2024) Fifth Circuit's decision in Lamb v Wetzel (10/25/24) “A Comprehensive Look at the Freedom to Vote Act,” Jonathan Diaz, Campaign Legal Center (9/17/21) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

The election season is in full swing at the Haverhill City Clerk's office even though final election day is two weeks away.Haverhill City Clerk Kaitlin M. Wright, a recent guest on WHAV's “Win for Breakfast” program, explained why the window for early voting seems longer than usual. In-person early voting started this past weekend.“In regular elections, like the September primary or maybe a municipal election, you would see one week of early voting, but the Vote Act that was passed by the legislature requires that for the November election you have two weeks of early voting.”For citizens requesting a mail-in ballot, Wright noted an important step voters must take.“When you're requesting a vote by mail ballot and filling it out, it's really important that you sign that manila ballot envelope. If it's unsigned, we are going to have to reject your ballot. So, your signature matters. Please sign that inner ballot envelope.Wright has also noticed some voters in requesting a mail-in ballot express confusion when they see the “State Election” label.“This is a state election because we're electing state representatives, members of Congress, things of that nature. But it is also a federal election where we have the president on the race. So, if you are feeling a little confused because it says State Election, please just look at the race in the upper left-hand corner, you'll see that it's the presidential race and know that you have the right ballot. Also, keep in mind that the ballot is two-sided with questions as well, so make sure once you fill out the first page that you are flipping over and completing the second page as well.”And when it comes to returning mail-in ballots, there are options.“If somebody is to hand deliver it to our office, or use our drop box, is has to be delivered by 8 p.m., Nov. 5. Alternatively, if it's mailed, it has to have a postmark of Nov. 5 and we can accept those for three days. So, if there is no postmark, we cannot accept it. It has to have a postmark of at least Nov. 5, then we can accept it for three days after the election,” she explained.Early voting continues today. Dates are Mondays through Wednesdays, Oct. 21, 22 and 23 and 28, 29 and 30, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended hours Thursdays, Oct. 24 and 31, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26 and 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Wright also suggests voters become familiar with the ballot before voting. A sample is located on the Haverhill City Clerk's web page.Support the show

Today is National Voter Registration Day, a civic holiday dedicated to ensuring that every single American is registered to vote. Since its launch in 2012, the initiative has helped more than 5 million Americans register to vote and 1.5 million registered in 2020 alone. Now, the day's efforts are supported by thousands of organizations nationwide focused on getting people to sign up, educating them on election processes, and uniting communities around the shared responsibility of voting. President Joe Biden marked the day by emphasizing the importance of voter registration and talking about the ongoing fight against voter suppression targeting African American communities. He highlighted efforts to restrict access to the ballot box through gerrymandering, dark money, and attempts to subvert elections. Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, securing the right to vote has been a long battle and continues today. This administration is pushing for Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — laws that will strengthen protections for marginalized communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 26, 2024Passing the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are Top Priorities for Democrats, But They Need Majorities to Do ItSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during the Democratic National Convention that he would make passing the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act a 2025 priority.  But THAT requires Democratic majorities in the House and Senate – AND fixing the filibuster.To view the whole script of today's report, please go to our website.Today's LinksArticles & Resources:Brennan Center for Justice - Explainer: The Freedom to Vote ActBrennan Center for Justice - Explainer: The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement ActNBC News - Chuck Schumer outlines 2025 agenda if Democrats sweep, eying filibuster changesThe Hill - Schumer: Voting rights will be first priority in 2025 if Democrats control CongressGroups Taking Action:Declaration for American Democracy Coalition,  NAACP Legal Defense Fund, LULAC, Native American Rights Fund,  Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Check Your Voter Registration: U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.orgWant ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network's Audioport and PRX#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FreedomtoVote #JohnLewisAct  

With elections approaching in much of the country, Cliff Perez, Systems Advocate with the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley gives us a short history lesson on the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Read more here: https://www.eac.gov/about/help_america_vote_act.aspx What do you think? Follow the podcast on social media and on your favorite podcast platform! Facebook and Twitter: @blaisinshows Support Blaisin' Access Podcast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/blaisin-access-podcastRead transcript

ACT's leader is pitching his party as the way to create a government that can put New Zealand on the right track.  Herald poll of polls shows National and Act have only a 28.5% chance of getting into Government without New Zealand First.  David Seymour told Mike Hosking why people should vote for him.  He said that those who want real change and stability should party vote ACT.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to live in a fragile democracy? It can be difficult to imagine what that actually looks like. State voter suppression laws and candidates for elected office threatening political retribution against their opponents are two examples. But it isn't every day that we witness the fragility of our system of government up close. On August 2, NETWORK government relations advocate Jarrett Smith experienced how a single false alarm can shut down the function of an entire Congressional office building. His experience makes clear how the threat of political violence can stop the functions of democracy in their tracks. If people fear for their safety, they are less likely to participate. From January 6 to people with assault rifles standing near polling places of voters of color, Christian nationalism is a serious threat to democracy in the United States today. That's why this season of Just Politics will focus on democracy, the perils it faces, and what we can do to protect, promote and expand the system to build a pluralistic, inclusive society. You can read more about Jarrett Smith's experience, NETWORK, and the importance of democracy in the links below: Associated Press report on the August 2 incident on Captiol Hill https://apnews.com/article/congress-senate-lockdown-capitol-police-acf2c7c341e3445f190a59e0aaf52067 NETWORK's support for the Freedom to Vote Act https://networklobby.org/news/2023-freedom-vote-act/ More on why this season of Just Politics is centered on democracy https://uscatholic.org/articles/202309/season-3-of-just-politics-podcast-digs-into-promise-of-democracy/ You can read the transcript for this episode at U.S. Catholic:https://uscatholic.org/articles/202309/just-politics-what-we-mean-by-fragile/

How well do you understand the intricacies of election integrity? How aware are you of ERIC - the Electronic Registration and Information Center? Join us in our riveting conversation with Representative Rob Harris from House District 36 as we explore the inner workings of ERIC and its role in the voting process. We dive deep into the controversial aspects of the National Right to Vote Act, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, and how ERIC is striving to expand voter participation. We also discuss why some states have chosen to withdraw from the ERIC program and our effort to stop its funding in South Carolina.Ever wondered about the vulnerabilities of the voting process? Curious about the implications of proposed bill S406? Buckle in as we continue our detailed conversation with Representative Harris. We uncover the potential risks of transmitting early voting information from the state SEC and the complexities behind electronic voting machines and poll watchers. Garnering insights into the importance of citizen engagement for maintaining election integrity, we discuss the benefits and training involved in volunteering as a poll worker. Come along on this enlightening journey as we discuss the challenges of maintaining election integrity and the role each one of us can play in this process.https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.comhttps://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/

Rep. Troy Nehls says the Marxist Dems didn't win a free and fair election in 2020 so they have to keep Trump off the ballot in 2024. Nehls says Mark Zuckerberg was working in concert with the Biden Administration and the FBI to hide information relating to Hunter Biden's laptop and censor Americans just prior to the 2020 election. He says we know the DOJ and FBI are working together with support from the Administration to protect themselves. It's all about going after their political adversaries, with Donald Trump their main focus, their main target. Nehls has introduced the “Vote Act” calling for verification of on time elections. The Constitution calls for elections on Tuesday following the first Monday in November. To bring back integrity into our elections, he's calling for a one day national holiday to vote using paper ballots, removing all machines and restricting Vote by Mail to those 65 and older and the military serving overseas. Nehls says we need to rein in states who have gone against the Constitution by having 2 to 3 weeks of vote by mail. Nehls believes a slim majority of the country are beginning to realize that Democrats and Joe Biden have destroyed this country and there's only one person we need to put in the White House, Donald Trump.GUEST: REP. TROY NEHLS, JUDICIARY COMMITTEESee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senate Democrats reintroduce the Freedom to Vote Act, Republicans claim the government is weaponized against former President Trump, and more flights could fly in and out of Washington's Reagan National Airport.

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In the second hour of The Vince Coglianese Show, Vince speaks with Bob Good, Congressman representing Virginia's 5th Congressional District about the “One Citizen One Vote Act” he is introducing. Josh Hawley introduces the most appropriately acronym-named act, the PELOSI Act. Benjamin Hall makes his first appearance back on Fox News. Vince speaks with Angela Morabito, Spokeswoman for the Defense of Freedom Institute and former Department of Education Press Secretary about the fall outs of Governor DeSantis rejecting racist course materials.  For more coverage on the issues that matter to you visit www.WMAL.com, download the WMAL app or tune in live on WMAL-FM 105.9 from 3-6pm.   To join the conversation, check us out on social media: @WMAL @VinceCoglianese See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interview with Dave Chandrasekaran, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Voter Empowerment Project. VEP leverages skilled volunteers to help front-line community-based organizations that work on voter engagement. Dave shares how they engage volunteers to support communities over time rather than just every 2 years.    Learn how trust was built with CBO's over time and how skill-based volunteering is creating amazing impact.    The Voter Empowerment Project (VEP) is a grassroots initiative that launched in November 2019 and mobilizes individuals to support voter turnout in high-need areas. VEP's network of volunteer professionals provides remote technical assistance to small, high-impact, front-line organizations that mobilize voters in historically disadvantaged communities.   Find VEP on: https://twitter.com/EmpowerVoters  https://www.instagram.com/empowervoters/  https://www.facebook.com/empowervoters  Volunteer here     Rough Transcript   [00:00:00] We have a very timely guest on with the midterms coming up. We reached out to the voter empowerment project, voter empowerment.org, voter empowerment.org, and we found none other then the co-founder and executive director Dave Chandresakaran to join us on the podcast. [00:00:46] Dave, how is it? It's going great, George. [00:00:48] Thanks so much for having me on. [00:00:51] Well, I could imagine, I don't know, a million other things that you are racing to do as we approach such a important time in American Politic, but I maybe we could start with your story. How did, how did this begin? I, I know 2019 was the year, but maybe you [00:01:08] can bring us back. [00:01:09] Sure. Our founding was back in 2019, but it really was inspired by some experiences several of us had in 2016. And I, along with many of my colleagues who are here based in the DC area, we like to every election cycle go knock on doors and go phone bank, and we try to recruit as many of our friends and colleagues to come and do the. [00:01:30] And so in 2016, many of us were in Pennsylvania. And on, on one day I was in South Philadelphia knocking on some doors, predominantly African-American neighborhood. And there was an older black gentleman who answered the door in one case and had no interest in voting. And he explained that was because quote, you people come here every four years, you yell at us to go vote and you leave because you don't give a damn. [00:01:52] That's something that when I tell that story, often everyone in the room nods their head. They've all experienced that when they're doing election related work. But I think the problem was as I spoke to some of my colleagues in the campaign sector, they said, You know, that's what happens. You talk to 10 million voters and you upset 2 million of 'em. [00:02:07] It's just collateral damage. And I think as we experience what happened to people, especially communities of color after the 2016 election and for the years afterwards, a lot of people were absolutely suffering, especially people of color. And when we approached 2020, I really didn't wanna perpetuate that situation of having out of towners, parachute into black and brown neighborhoods and just tell them what to do and then leave. [00:02:31] And so we really, were brainstorming in 2019, how can we still activate volunteers from around the country, but do so in a way that's more respectful, that's gonna have, you know, meaningful impact and really values the communities we're talking to. And so we recognize that. Hundreds or thousands of really small, amazing non-profits out there that are doing this work. [00:02:52] And they do it year round and they're based in the community. They reflect the community. They work not just on elections or voter empower, empowerment or civics. They also work on housing and healthcare and education and criminal justice reform. So they just have far more trust in their communities, but a lot of them are under. [00:03:10] And so we thought, why don't we find volunteers from around the country, all of whom are just really smart and have a lot of skills, and let's go to these fall nonprofits and let's say, Hey, if you have access to our network of just really smart people, what could we do for you? And so that morphed into this model where we kind of became a pro bono consulting firm for small organizations that were at the front lines of helping get out. [00:03:32] That's [00:03:32] so interesting cuz you hear this, You know, you people come here every four years and tell us to go vote. It's like there's this giant voter apparatus, this amazing engine that gets revved up with the order of billions of dollars and then disappears, vanishes overnight. and it in one way makes complete sense. [00:03:55] It, it seems like there's just like a lack of feedback loops because I imagine the other side of the narrative, the people that are working for progressive change in these neighborhoods say, Well, well, well, yeah, well, we're going to do the work. Didn't you see that, this or that, or the things that happen, How do you view the, the underlying problem here? [00:04:12] I've labeled it as a feedback loop, but clearly that's over. [00:04:15] Sure. So if you think of the sort of electoral industrial complex, it's a multi-billion dollar industry that pops up every two years, every four. I recognize that for better, for worse, that's how our electoral system works. It's donors going to campaigns to political action committees, and then hundreds of millions of dollars spent mostly on advertising, on networks and digital space. [00:04:37] And the whole goal is either to persuade people to vote for your candidate or to eventually get them to come out to vote. And that's not gonna change any time soon. But for those of us who want to participate in a way that's maybe. We have built our model recognizing that there's amazing groups who do this work, who can help build trust among folks who are disenfranchised, who've really been left behind and can earn their trust. [00:05:00] When we then go and say, Hey, we'd love for you to register to vote. If you aren't, or we know you're registered, we'd love for you to go and exercise your right to vote. And what can we do to help you if there's barriers because of voter suppression laws, because of the difficulty in finding your polling place because you move. [00:05:14] and I wish there was more emphasis on that to the larger, broader industry that's working on elections to realize that investing in these groups and doing so not just every two years or four years, but year round, that really helps a lot of these groups report that's funding comes, you know, the summer before an election. [00:05:30] There's all this beltway influence on them of what they need to do with strings attached to the funding and then it disappear. So they hire people and then have to fire people and then find new ones again. And then, you know, and one thing I'm very thankful of is that a lot of the philanthropic community who cares about civic engagement and democracy have really moved more to this longer term investment in these kinds of organizations, multi-year grants that are big enough that they can hire and train quality staff, that they can use some of that money to invest in the community through outreach and events. [00:06:01] And I think that is having an. But I'll be honest, as you know, the rise in voter suppression in many states around the country is making the task of helping people vote all the more difficult, You know, dozens of laws have been passed in, in many, many states that are specifically targeted at help, making it harder to vote, especially for people of color and other disfranchised communities. [00:06:21] So I do hope that the larger industry that cares about voting rights will really look at how we invest that. and the support, not just episodically, but year round over the long term, and helping these groups really expand their impact over time. [00:06:37] I do wanna get more into how you are working with volunteers, training them, placing them, connecting them. [00:06:44] But I'm also curious because there's a sizeable voter engagement and, you know, midterm circus going on right now. I know you're focused on the overall, like how do we build over time, But I have you in this moment. What is top of mind for you right now? What are you looking for as we roll into what's gonna be a very noisy week [00:07:05] politically? [00:07:06] [00:07:06] Our model has two. One is helping amazing small, high-impact organizations working at the state and local level who are mobilizing communities of color and rural Americans and returning citizens and first time voters and young people, and we want to really help them expand their impact. [00:07:24] The second objective though, is activating more people in civic engagement, and so we really prioritize creating volunteer opportunities that are more accessible and meaningful and engaging. For people who otherwise wouldn't get involved. And in fact, in our first year of operations, over 80% had only participated in less than three campaign cycles. [00:07:46] 40% had never been involved. So we see that as our mission in addition to helping frontline work. And where that really comes in this year though, is what many people are noticing traditionally in midterm election. The enthusiasm among voters and the enthusiasm among volunteers and the enthusiasm among donors is just significantly lower than presidential years. [00:08:07] And I can honestly say that 2020 probably had the most attention compared to, you know, decades of elections. And I think we all understand why it was a very intense election. There was very vitriolic. But that really has had an impact on us when we're trying to find more people to participate as volunteers. [00:08:21] It was much more difficult this year compared to 20. So that was huge lessons in what we need to do in a year on fact function of engaging volunteers, building opportunities that will keep them involved, keep them enthusiastic and make sure that they're available to support these groups in a year round fashion. [00:08:38] Since that's the one, one of the most important things, I think we're seeing that the vitriol and, and devices and politics is not going, not going away anytime soon. And that certainly motivates some people. But there was a lot of people who were volunteers with us and a lot of the groups we. They just really care about helping people get out to vote. [00:08:54] It doesn't matter whether you're liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter, you know, where the voter is in the country. Everyone should be able to exercise their right to vote, especially those who've been disenfranchised. And I think that's been a huge selling point to a lot of the volunteers that we talk to, rather than door knocking or phone banking and talking to strangers on the phone. [00:09:11] And, you know, that's a very difficult circumstance difficult activity, and frankly, not everyone's good at. . But instead of that they can use their existing skills helping really amazing frontline groups and the staff they get to interact with. It's, it's just a much more pleasant experience. And so we certainly hope despite lower enthusiasm in these quote unquote off years, we wanna figure out how we can grow our impact in recruiting volunteers so that we're delivering for the groups that we're helping. [00:09:33] That makes sense. And so, Maybe you could say a bit more about, I think on a macro level, I will also say that we've seen a, a decrease in, in volunteers. There are, you know, big picture things like employment levels after effects of covid involved in this, as well as inflation costs of gas for transport. [00:09:54] That volunteering in general seems to be on a bit of a decline. What is your hope though, when you recruit volunteers at this time of year? There's a sudden surge, albeit much lower than our every four year. This is an off cycle. What is your hope though, in, in raising the, the visibility of the voter empowerment project, in front of volunteers? [00:10:18] I guess at this [00:10:19] moment [00:10:19] we are very much interested next year and focusing on understanding what motivates people to volunteer, what excites them about it, and what can we do. To earn their participation. So for example, we're really broadening our investment in professional development. So we recruit volunteers. The youngest was 14 in 2020. [00:10:40] The oldest was much, much older. They are anywhere from students in high school and college to early career professionals, to executives, to retirees. But especially for the younger volunteers, we know that there's a way we can help them develop. Help them find mentors, help them as they advance in their careers or in their education. [00:10:58] And so we really wanna highlight that. We wanna develop that more formally so that when we approach, you know, the masses we wanna recruit to volunteer, we can say this is something that you benefit from as well. So that it doesn't rely on people's political motivation or the intensity of an election cycle. [00:11:11] It's just an opportunity that they see that's meaningful to them. We also want to convey that volunteering to help other people vote. Perhaps it's just something everyone should. For those of us who have an easier time to vote, maybe that's a way of giving back the way. Volunteering at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, or helping to mentor young people in your nearby schools. [00:11:31] Those are things that many of us have done over the years. This is something we all should just do and everyone can do it whenever you have time using your existing skills. We really believe that it doesn't matter what skills you have. Maybe you have graphic design, social media skills, data analysis. [00:11:44] We need a lot of. But also just people who are really good at Googling information or really good at just writing and building information putting up to da the documents calling volunteers of a small nonprofit and getting them to come out to volunteer. There's a lot of ways people can help and, and it, so we're gonna spend a lot of time next year figuring out both what to offer and then how to take that message out to the public when we recruit volunteers. [00:12:07] Yeah, it's a couple steps removed, I imagine, on off cycle years and timing. It is. Potentially tough to connect that, that impact, right? A volunteer who hands out and creates, you know, impact in a soup kitchen is very different than someone who builds capacity in a frontline voter empowerment organization on the ground somewhere doing, you know, as you mentioned, data analysis or marketing, pr, communications, research. [00:12:38] You know, you're helping the people who are helping the people who are then going to vote. How, you know, are these times of year, maybe I'm getting into more specifically here, are these times of year easier because voting and the importance of voting is top of mind for recruiting volunteers? Or is it just so noisy that it is other sort of more, we'll say soup kitchen focused direct service on the ground, smile and dial types of volunteering that that overtake these. [00:13:07] The first thing I'll say is we really wanna say there's no such thing as an off year. That voting is a thing we should think about always, regardless of whether it's midterm or presidential election. And in fact, in many places, your state or your local municipal government will have elections in odd numbered years. [00:13:25] And there's many elections that happen. Some happen early in the year even. And so we want. Both voters understand the importance of coming out to vote, but also volunteers understanding the importance to volunteer throughout the year, throughout different cycles. And we recognize though that, that the larger narrative around what's happening, presidential election, you know, Democrats are Republicans, that's probably gonna motivate most people, but we really think that there were a lot of volunteers in 2020 who wanted to get involved, didn't know how, and once they did, they were really eager to come. [00:13:56] Our post activity survey in 2021 showed that 97% were interested in volunteering again, and 86% said that they just had a deeper understanding of issues around voter disenfranchisement. And over 60% said that really helped them understand issues around racial injustice. And so we hope that once folks get in the door and they participate once that, they'll really come back. [00:14:18] And we have seen that. But you're right, there's, there's, nothing's gonna make it easy to build enthusiasm at a time. People have been overwhelmed and traumatized by the pandemic and by other issues and political vitriol and criminal justice reform issues. So we wanna also be empathetic to that. [00:14:33] Our big motto is that those who want to help, here's an opportunity for one way you can. And there's many, many ways you can help, whether it's in voting or other ways. We just wanna create a very attractive one for the people that it'll benefit and who who would like to, to get involved. And so that's really on us to make that volunteer opportunity attractive. [00:14:51] And one of the things the volunteers really said, they appreciated volunteering in a nonpartisan way. They appreciated working with these frontline groups, most of whom are led by staff of color, who were just genuinely amazing people. And some of our volunteers built really great relationships with the staff of those groups on the ground, even if they lived a thousand miles away. [00:15:10] Some of them joined the boards of these organizations. Some of them became direct volunteers for these organizations. Some of them became donors. So I really think that experience is one that makes it worthwhile and we hope to really amplify that message by saying, Here's this great opportunity not just to help the public, but really to help you as well. [00:15:26] I really [00:15:27] am interested in how you're crafting this volunteer experience. Clearly based on the, you know, exit polling, , the surveying that you're doing of volunteers that are, are part of. It is working. How many volunteers have gone through this process? Can you gimme an idea of some of the numbers and then as much as you can, Like what kind of impact can you tell these volunteers are having given the wide range of services that these volunteers are then providing to frontline [00:15:56] organizations? [00:15:58] Since the start of 2019 when we launched, we've had, you know, close to 500 people sign up, interested in volunteering. About a half of them eventually ended up participating, getting onboarded, getting involved in a project. But I'd say about 180 or so have been like really active in doing, in delivering services. [00:16:15] And we certainly hope in the future to double or triple that number once we expand our capacity. We know. For most volunteers, it's really hard to balance their work commitments and other things going on in their lives during a pandemic childcare, a lot of you know a lot, and that's why we allow volunteers to volunteer when you have time. [00:16:36] Do you have a couple hours this week? Great. If that's, if there's a project that needs someone to help edit a newsletter and you have time to do it, great. Do it. And then if you're busy for a month, that's okay. And when you're free again, come back and we'll offer what other projects are. We also want to make sure that the groups we're helping are able to receive our help without adding burden to them. [00:16:54] And that's why one of the most important things we do is we manage the delivery of services. A lot of groups match people, They match volunteers to organizations, and I think that model absolutely works as well. But we wanted to be careful because. We didn't want the organizations to have to have an additional thing or additional person to have to oversee. [00:17:12] So we just get the info from an organization. Let's say they wanna update their website, They want new information on their civic engagement page. They just don't have time to research it. They don't have time to upload it. We'll find a volunteer who can do the research. We'll find a volunteer who can then take that information and write copy to go on the website. [00:17:26] And then we'll find a website expert who can then take it and put it up online, maybe a graphic design volunteer. We'll create some great graphics with it and add it to that webpage. And so, you know, multiple people are working on a. And we can get this done in maybe a week. And if folks want to go out and hire people, if they had the funds that could take, you know, three weeks just to sign the contract and then months of meetings, and then maybe it's update. [00:17:47] So we really value our rapid response process to help these groups who are in need, who just don't have the time or capacity to do it in house. This is such an [00:17:57] important point, and I'm really happy that we're turning towards it because I think there's this myth. All you have to do is point a volunteer at a nonprofit and boom, good things happen. [00:18:08] Ignoring the amount, the amazing amount of project management, organizing, messaging, and generally corralling of volunteers to have an actual workable product created. Maybe you can dig a little bit deeper into how this actually works, because it sounds like you are effectively running an agency. That is leveraging volunteers to have finite [00:18:36] deliverables [00:18:37] that can be relied on by these organizations. [00:18:42] Like, What, This sounds like a PM circus. What is going on? How are you doing [00:18:46] this? So we often describe ourselves as a pro bono consulting forum for small, under-resourced voting rights organizations at the front lines of voter engage. But I think that sounds a little corporate. So we really consider ourselves an organization that gives free technical assistance in a way that is tailored to what an organization drives is their needs. [00:19:08] But you're right, managing all of the different projects is an enormous hercule effort, and it's not insignificant. And that's one of the reasons we're really, you know, aggressively trying to raise more money from foundations, from donors, so that we can hire more staff. It really just comes down to. Good people who are organized, who can help recruit volunteers, who can help identify the great frontline groups that are doing voter engagement, and then who can help assign the volunteers of the work. [00:19:34] But the most important is following up and making sure the services get delivered, especially since volunteers are donating their time. It's not like their staff, It's not like you have that ability to sort of really just directly have that authority to sort of order them to get certain things done. [00:19:47] You're really asking for. , which is why we are very supportive in helping. Any time a volunteer needs help or needs information from the organization, we can help facilitate that if needed. Anytime the organization feels like a volunteer maybe isn't responding we'll step in and figure out what's going on and just wanna make sure that soup to nuts, everything gets done. [00:20:06] And that's our really we pride ourselves in delivering things on time and in a satisfactory fashion. In a way that's equal to or better than what a private sector consulting firm would do because these groups deserve that. They don't deserve second tier service. [00:20:21] We were talking with the podcast r i p, medical debt and how they turn $1 into a hundred dollars of leverage to alleviate medical debt. [00:20:30] I see for voter empowerment dot. That you actually can, can claim that you are getting a three to one, right? You're getting matched on your generous founders, which is awesome. Can you explain maybe, is there a leverage where I donate $1 to essentially your amazing project managers there who are organizing all of these volunteers and these hours, Like what type of leverage do you see happening with dollars put into the organiz? [00:21:02] Yep. I appreciate you bringing up our current fall fundraising campaign. Our, one of our board members has generously agreed to put up $10,000 in matching funds. She's gonna donate $200 for every donor who contributes this fall, and so we're very excited to be able to expand our impact by securing more funds that can both help us, you know, invest in hiring more staff, but also in different projects like our professional development program. [00:21:31] That's gonna help create opportunities for skills training and mentorship for our volunteers as well as for staff at the partners, because a lot of our frontline partners said we really would love more professional development opportunities, but we also wanna see how we can leverage getting more financial and other types of resources to our frontline partners. [00:21:48] And so, for example, in 2020, We recognized that a lot of our organization partners had never had voter file data before to help them target their messaging, target, their outreach, door knocking, et cetera. So we said, How can we help you access voter file data? And so we found some opportunities where they existed that were actually pretty affordable, but they didn't have it in their budget. [00:22:07] So we were able to raise a bit of money from some donors to pay for that voter. But then we realized we have this voter file data. Well now you need to use text banking tools and phone banking tools, et cetera. And some of them didn't have that. And so we said, Okay, why don't for, you know, for the next three months, we'll pay for those services for you so you can get it off the ground. [00:22:24] And then a lot of them had never done paid advertising on social media before, which is another key way to reach certain demographics. And so again, we were able to raise a bit of money to help them fund their digital marketing campaigns that we ran through volunteers, but we needed that tiny bit of money to help it get out the door. [00:22:40] So that's another area where we're willing wanna expand our project to help support these organizations. And donor and foundation support is gonna be critical to. [00:22:48] Yeah, there's a lot of leverage happening here. I, I don't know if it's even possible to say like, Oh, we do this many projects. This is the average size, this is the average output, or however it would come across. [00:22:59] But this is a leverage play very clearly, where you are able to create the, the tool, get access to the data, and then. Offer it to organizations that need it the most, on the front line and also, you know, it seems like provide funding to them on occasion as well. [00:23:16] Yeah, we've executed several hundred projects for the organizations and from a wide range. [00:23:21] It could be revamping or redoing many of their websites and no critique to non-profits. But our websites are not known for being cutting edge . And we were fortunate enough to have several computer science students who then became graduates from Stanford, who were just amazing at this stuff. And we also created, you know, 50 to a hundred pieces of individual social media content, graphics, cap. [00:23:43] That were plug and play for several organizations based on topics they described, or we analyzed voter file data for them to help them create targets of who they should go doorknob to, who they should phone bank based on the demographics and the zip codes that they wanted to focus on. Or we actually helped some groups figure out how to do volunteer recruitment better, so it could be anywhere from as simple as updating their volunteer signup form on their website to collect the information they need to better use their volunteers. [00:24:10] To researching what are some great student groups in your area? Or if you need, say, volunteers who speak Korean or Vietnamese, let's find some networks of people who speak that. And then we would actually engage those organizations to recruit those volunteers to the frontline partners. So the projects were, were really diverse. [00:24:25] And some would take an hour or three hours. Some would take, you know, once a week for, for three months to help execute. And it just, A broad range of ways. We help organizations and the, and create them in a way that volunteers who have different time, different skill sets and different interests can really plug in wherever they want. [00:24:42] Yeah. This [00:24:43] is, this is great. I'm, I feel like I'm being sold to become a volunteer. I'm like, Oh, I know how to do that. I could do that. I could, I know how this would work. Talk me through. I'd go, I would sign up on the form and then I'm contacted. I imagine I'm vetted to some extent. What would my experience be? [00:25:00] And I guess maybe it also depends on the time of year, because right now, let's just be honest, , you're volunteering to like work for the next week. This is not the, you know, maybe the right flow, but big picture, if you care about voter engagement, it seems like a great use of, of energy and skill. So walk me through what that, you know, onboarding, What does it feel [00:25:20] like? [00:25:20] What does it look. Well first off, George, I absolutely would like to recruit you to come volunteer, and I know several groups have been interested in launching podcasts. Your expertise would be very, very well received. Oh, yikes. . So, in terms of the process you know, if you find our website, voter empowerment.org, you know, you can click there to sign up to volunteer, and. [00:25:40] You know, you'll, we'll reach out to you pretty quickly and just say Thank you for volunteering. The signup form includes an opportunity for you to list what are the different skills you might have. It might be creative, like graphic design or social media or writing. It might be technical, like web design or data analysis. [00:25:56] Or computer programming, or it might be sort of logistics, an administration, like helping to recruit volunteers or helping with backend HR operations. and we'll, we'll onboard volunteers just to give an overview of what the experience is like and we really get a sense of, well, what kind of time, you know, do you have now over time, over the year? [00:26:16] And then we can add you to our list of volunteers based on the skill set you said you have. And as we approach organizations throughout the year and they share with us, Hey, right now I really need someone to help me draft some new social media content, we'll reach out to anyone who said they had social media expertise and say, Is anyone available to help this amazing. [00:26:33] Asian Pacific Islander Outreach Group in Arizona or in North Carolina create some new social media content targeting youth from API backgrounds. . And so we see which volunteer might have both the skill set, but also the sort of experience in those communities that can help volunteer. And then we'll, we'll, you know, ma link the organization and the volunteer and we'll oversee the process, provide them with any information and support and check in as they, you know, create the social media content. [00:26:59] We'll make sure it meets the needs of the partner, ultimately leading to creating, you know, a Google Drive full of content that the organization can, can use. And once that volunteer's completed, you know, we like to check in and see how things. and then the volunteers sort of able to come back whenever they, they are interested or if they get busy, they're, you know, we understand that and we, we, you know, give them their space cuz everyone has a lot going on. [00:27:20] But it really is flexible, built around your, your availability, your skills, and your interests. The other thing we do is that we know some people might come in with a little bit of knowledge of something, but not a lot. And maybe they wanna enhance those. So let's say you're, you know, preliminarily good at some website design, or maybe you're someone who likes the, you know, you wanna learn more about fundraising. [00:27:41] Well, maybe we'll pair you with a volunteer who's an expert in that on a project so you can get some sort of apprenticeship exposure. And we hope that you can develop those skills as a volunteer. Not just to be able to help other partners through v e P over time, but also that can add to your skill set as you develop your own career and can apply for jobs that look for those kind of skills. [00:28:01] So like I said, we really want to invest in the people participating in the program as much as we're investing in the organizations we're serving. [00:28:06] Yeah. That, you know, that makes, that makes sense in terms of just like the amount of time, like how much time is like, I'm gonna fill out this form. I'm like going through right now, I'm entering in my skills and the extra pieces that I can. [00:28:18] You know, what is the amount of time before I would be potentially placed on a project? Or is it, it's like I get called in if the project arises that matches [00:28:26] it. The volunteer can get invited whenever we have any project that seems to meet their skill set. So it might be that someone signs up and maybe they're someone who has video editing and video prediction skills. [00:28:37] And at the moment there isn't an organization who needs that. Well, it might be, you know, we're not gonna reach out to that volunteer right away until we have that. But for many of the groups, they have such a broad range of needs for, for so many different skill sets that most volunteers have something that fits some project that's open. [00:28:53] It can be as complex as doing some really sophisticated regression analysis of something, something through data, data tools, or it can be as simple as data. Just need to find out what is the demographic breakdown among 18 a plus year old in Milwaukee. Folks can just quickly research that and pull together and make it into a little, you know, worksheet that they provide to the partner. [00:29:17] So for most volunteers, we really will have an opportunity right away. Now you did mention, you know, how about right now we're less than a week away from the election, and it's true that most things towards the election is already in motion. But one of the things the organization said very clearly is that when they need help is not only September through. [00:29:37] Perhaps even more important, starting next year, January through next summer, the summer of 2024, that's when they have time to work on things, to take on new projects. That's when they really want to test out new tools or new ways of doing outreach. That's when they'd like to learn and take trainings on how to, they can improve their social media skills. [00:29:58] So we really are aggressively inviting people to sign up, to volunteer right now while elections are on their. So they can help us out, you know, in November, in December, and into next year, which I think is gonna make or break voter turnout in 2024, if that's something people care about. [00:30:13] The human [00:30:14] response to emotion and disaster thinking and of the moment is gotta be so frustrating for you. We donate and we're triggered to donate to disasters, hurricanes, when they happen, and then the interest die. As well as the attention and then the commitment to it falls off. So it really does seem like when people are motivated in this window is, is when you would recruit the most volunteers. [00:30:40] Is that accurate [00:30:42] or do I have this wrong? It's a hundred percent accurate that people are certainly more motivated to donate or volunteer. In the moment in a crisis in response to a, a severe event, whether that's, as you mentioned, hurricanes like Katrina or the tsunami in Southeast Asia or it's in the aftermath of earthquakes or, you know, horrible, horrific mass shootings in the US And then certainly elections and 2020 was probably a hallmark sign of how so many people were interested in getting involved. [00:31:11] And some found a way, but many didn't. And so we were one opportunity that many people got. And like I mentioned, a lot of folks said they appreciated our opportunity cause it was unique. It allowed them to use their existing skills and didn't put them outta their comfort zone and let them work with amazing small, frontline person of color led organizations. [00:31:29] But I think that's the reality and I don't blame anyone for being reactive when it comes to their tism in their philanthropy or their volunteer time. I think that's just part of human nature. And that certainly was the case for me when I was younger and, you know, I evolved to become someone who really got. [00:31:44] Year round. Volunteerism is a good thing, not just for the community, but for myself. And it can help me advance and grow as a person and in my career. So I take it upon ourselves to help educate the public that, you know, next year, next January, February, is as far away from an election cycle as you can be. [00:32:01] That's gonna, you know, really be on people's minds, but that might be the best time to come. Volunt. And we want to earn folks interest in that by creating opportunities that are easy, that are meaningful, that are rewarding by investing their professional development. But really, we're gonna sit down with all of the frontline organizations we work with, and we work with over 30, and we hope to grow that we're gonna find out what do you need now in 2023 to help you grow? [00:32:25] I wanna take that directly to the volunteers and say, I just heard from the most amazing frontline groups in Georgia and in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Arizona, and in Texas and Florida, and this is what they say they need to succeed. And you have those skills to help it. So we're partnering, We're looking to do an impressive outreach with universities. [00:32:44] For example, we've contacted about 300 universities in several of the states that we're working in, over the past couple weeks, thanks to our amazing interns who are working with us this fall. and we're talking to multiple student groups in those universities saying, We'd love for you guys to volunteer. [00:32:58] We'd love for your students to apply to intern with us, and we'd love to invest in those students so that they're getting something out of this. And we think that'll be a huge opportunity to, to both support young people, but also create a pipeline among them to become future leaders. In civic engagement, we wanna reach out to mid-career professionals, so folks who might be lawyers or data analysts or web designers and say, This could be a very easy way for you to compli. [00:33:23] what you're doing in your day job with a little bit of just rewarding altruism out there. And maybe that'll even help you build some connections and build relationships. And then there's a lot of executives and a lot of retirees who have enormous amount of skill, and especially the retirees have a lot of time on their hands. [00:33:37] Mm-hmm. and saying, You know, here's a great way you can help positively impact our country at a time when democracy is. So I'm consciously optimistic that we'll be able to recruit more volunteers despite, you know, this year's lower enthusiasm as we really invest in what we think is gonna matter to the volunteers. [00:33:54] One more important [00:33:56] part of the puzzle, I mean, you're dealing with a two-sided marketplace, which is notoriously the hardest where you're finding volunteers, but also the projects, the types of projects structured in a way that are. Package so that a volunteer can actually plug in play. But more importantly, you mentioned the, the 30 community based organizations as I understand it, that, that you have and you have built trust with because you know that is really where the actual impact occurs. [00:34:26] Maybe you can talk a little bit about how you recruit them, how you work with them to find those types of projects, and even like what is the most common project you see coming [00:34:35] in 2020? Yep. In late 2019 and early 2020, I just researched, you know, civic engagement organizations in the many states we were focusing on. [00:34:47] And I could tell you it was an enormous amount of research. I built a, a very impressive list of 300 plus organizations and I just called email . And then I had emailed them a second time and then a third time, and I got a response rate of maybe about 10%, but even that was 20 plus organiz. But I heard from one of our, you know, the first organization we work with, an amazing group in Michigan called API Vote Michigan. [00:35:05] The director has since joined our board and, and she's lovely. Rebecca, she's just been an amazing partner. She told me, you know, I got this email from you for free help and communications and social media and web design. I just didn't think it was real. It seemed too good. Definitely fake. Definitely [00:35:20] fake. [00:35:20] Here's three. Yeah, sure. Where's the catch? Where's the, you? . [00:35:25] And so you're right. We really had to earn the trust as a new organization that at the time was grassroots. We weren't incorporated at the time. We were just a, I always say we were just a bunch of nerds with the Google spreadsheet and we were eventually able to earn through, you know, having her on board, having a couple others during our pilot phase, having them be able to give us quotes that we used in our email outreach to other groups to show that we were real. [00:35:45] And so over time we built up, you know, we built connections with several groups, but the most important thing that we learned from them was that they. Didn't wanna be told what to do. And I think that's a very common relationship between Washington, DC and community based groups. Out in the field is a very didactic relationship, and that's not what we were, We were very wanted to hear from them what their needs were. [00:36:05] But the other thing they told us is that we would give 'em a list of ways we could help and they said, I didn't even know I could access voter file data, or I didn't even think about creating video ads to post on social media. So we didn't know what we didn't know until v p came and showed us the opportunities and that I really take pride in that we were able to help expand their scope of what they wanted to do to impact other entities out there. [00:36:26] We were fortunate enough to then get incorporated. Last year we joined a fiscal sponsor that handles all our back ends and now, Formal non-profit c3. We have our web domain, we have our formal emails, so that really helps in our outreach now. And I can assure you I haven't had as much difficulty getting organizations reaching out to me lately. [00:36:42] Many, many want help. And so we're actually in the opposite circumstance where we have so many projects that need to be done and not as many volunteers. Oh, interesting. Come all on. But again, I think that's the heat of the election cycle. Could we really ramped up in the summer and. And I hope next year as we are past the election cycle, we have a bit more time to both grow our volunteer network to invest in them, but also work with the organizations. [00:37:03] You know, they don't need a three day turnaround on something after the election the way they do now. So after the election, we can take a writing project on, and it's okay if it lasts three weeks, or we can do a web design and it's okay if it lasts a month, and that'll just help increase the number of volunteers who can participate since it'll fit their schedule. [00:37:19] That makes a lot of sense, but it also sounds like a lot of work. But that's where the leverage comes in, right? That right there is, you know, building that trust packaging, productizing the types of ways that, v e P can support via volunteers and, you know, then, then move those, those projects forward. I mean, it's, it's really impressive. [00:37:41] And I will say I'm, I'm sold. I officially, I hope I don't offend you. I literally did. The whole submission of my, my form as a, as a potential volunteer. So, maybe I'll be doing a follow up on my actual experience, because this makes a lot of sense to me. [00:37:55] I'm always satisfied and happy when I hear a new volunteer signs up close. [00:37:59] Very exciting. And I, I am shameless in recruiting anyone and everyone in all of my personal, professional and social engagement. So, so I'm very thankful, for you to. I should have [00:38:08] known when I entered into this, this podcast that this would be the net result. Before we move into the Rapid Fire, any final, final thoughts, notes on the upcoming midterms, the chaos confusion or what you see with the [00:38:22] organization? [00:38:24] Yeah, I'd say two things. One is, uh, someone who's worked both in the voter engagement volunteer side, but also on the policy side, trying to pass the Freedom to Vote Act this past year that. . I would argue that democracy is under attack now more than it's been in well over half a century, and I haven't been around for half a century. [00:38:40] So I've consulted a lot of folks who ha were around when the Voting Rights Act and others Civil Rights Act were passed. And they absolutely agree that the vitreal and divisiveness we have now is, is very scary. And most importantly, the laws that were passed to disenfranchise the vote have made it so that it's becoming legal. [00:38:58] To basically impede someone's constitutional right to vote. And so we really just hope people recognize that and are able to step up again with whatever they can. So my second point is when it comes to the voter empowerment project, we believe strongly that everyone can help in at least one of three ways. [00:39:14] You can volunteer, you can donate, or you can share. Now we'd love for you to volunteer, but not everyone's schedule allows, or maybe that's not meet their interest. But then would you be considering making a tax deductible donation at $25 during our fall fundraising campaign where you know it's gonna get matched by 200 bucks? [00:39:31] Uh, but if for, for some reason that's not possible either, can you just take our website and post it on social media? Say you heard it on this podcast, Sounded like a neat opportunity. Maybe you know, a few friends who have skills in graphic design or data analysis or web design or writing or fund. Can you email them real quickly and say, Hey, check out this website. [00:39:48] And we really feel like everyone can do at least one of those three things to help us try to preserve democracy. And I'm not being hyperbolic. I, you know, it's scary to think about where this country could be in 10 years or more if things continue in this way. So I'm, I'm just hoping we all can do our part and step up in whatever ways we can. [00:40:04] Yeah. [00:40:05] Catalyze on this, this moment of compassion and concern for the actual work that needs to be done with the organizations on the front. Makes a lot of sense to me. Alrighty. Moving into rapid fire. Here we go. What is one tech tool or website that you or your organization has started using in the [00:40:23] last year? [00:40:23] We recognize that doing everything off of spreadsheets was not possible. And so especially for managing all of the individuals who've donated to us and others we went to a very simple but very accessible CRM called action. And a lot of non-profits start there. There's, you know, bigger ones and more sophisticated ones that are more expensive, but it's really proven to be a very great entry level one for us to really get our, the, the hu the humans we work with into a, a, a more manageable circumstance, uh, so we can engage with them better, but also keep track of who's involved with voter empowerment project. [00:40:57] What tech issues are you currently battl? [00:41:00] The single biggest tech challenge we've had is being effective at project management tracking. So we've been using spreadsheets primarily, and I think we were lucky enough to have some pretty smart data people who created really sophisticated. [00:41:12] Formula is in our project management spreadsheet, so it is very functional, but we recognize the need to move over to more sophisticated project management tools. And we're actually in the process of doing so. Uh, we have a contractor who's bringing us on to monday.com in the next week or so, one of many that's out there. [00:41:27] And we definitely recommend to small non-profits that these tools, the one that fits your budget, the one that fits your needs. I really do think that they have a return on investment. Uh, and so we're excited to transition over. What [00:41:40] is coming in the next year that has you the most excited? [00:41:43] I do believe that one way or the other, the elections will motivate people to get more involved in democracy, or at least I'm consciously optimistic. [00:41:52] And I think everything that's happening in our public discourse, is, is being felt by more and more people. I hope then we can tap into that by and recruit them to volunteer and that we'll. The broad volunteer base next year like we had in 2020 to really meet the needs of the frontline partners that we know is gonna be great next year. [00:42:11] Can [00:42:11] you talk about a mistake that you made earlier in your career that shapes the way you do [00:42:15] things? Now? [00:42:16] Throughout my career, one thing I know I've done is try to do everything for everyone, all the. And that means, especially when working with Frontline Partners, which has been a core aspect of my career, whether it's health policy or gender based violence or here in voting rights, and in this project, we really recognized the need to focus in on where help was needed most. [00:42:37] And so we, you know, had to pick certain states where we knew voter suppression was at high risk. We also had to decide which services do we do, and which services do we know not focus on. We purposely limited our focus to voter engagement and not policy and. And then we really had to decide which groups to work with. [00:42:54] And so we prioritized small groups that are under resourced, that are at the state and local level. Even though there's other groups that are very deservative of help, we just wanted to tailor and focus in so we can, you know, do it well for the people we're serving. [00:43:07] Do you believe that [00:43:08] nonprofits can successfully go out of [00:43:10] business? [00:43:10] I think I have a broad response to that question. I think there are circumstances where there's a very intense specific need, a need to pass this bill, a need to address this urgent climate crisis that's in a particular community where a coalition can form or a non-profit can set up and they can say, Look, we're here through the end of this problem. [00:43:28] It might be a year, it might be five years. We're fundraising for it, we're staffing up for it, we're gonna. For the better. And then we disband, and I think that's healthy. So I think sometimes a lot of non-profits start up and then they're just in perpetuity forever, and then they're just fundraising forever and then they just become part of the Emilio. [00:43:43] But I do think a lot of the other non-profits that are built to solve some of the most intense issues of inequity, both domestically and internationally, I, I just don't have optimism that we're gonna solve most of those issues anytime soon. And so sadly, we do need those non-profits to exist and to fundraise and to have. [00:43:59] Over the long haul as we try to solve really big problems with really great solutions. Do you think the voter [00:44:05] empowerment project could successfully [00:44:07] go out of business? I will happily, you know, close up shop of the voter empowerment project. If and when every person is very able to exercise their right to vote in a, in a easily accessible way. [00:44:22] I think the trend is heading in very much the opposite direction. And so, you know, the main reason for us incorporating is. We check, is there a need for this model long term? Is there a support for it? Is, you know, does our frontline partners think that they need this help, uh, going forward? And the answer was absolutely yes. [00:44:38] So for as long as we can be helpful, we'll be around, uh, as long as we have the funding to do so. But if and when voting becomes as easy as it should be in the country, I will be the first person to close up our shop, free up our web domain for anyone else, and to, for us to go focus on the next big problem. [00:44:54] We won't be holding [00:44:55] our breath. Uh, aspirationally. I like it. If I were to put you in a hot tub time machine back to the beginning of your work with the voter Empowerment project in 2019, what advice would you give yourself? [00:45:07] Uh, a few, a few things. One would be start earlier. Uh, we certainly were aggressive in our thinking in 2019, but you know, we should have started it earlier. [00:45:13] The second would be to build relationships with formal entities sooner. Whether that's national organizations or especially universities. Uh, it wasn't until later that I really realized how much students were an, an amazing source of volunteers and had unbelievable skills, social media, web design, writing, uh, so start there earlier. [00:45:32] And then thirdly, I would've invested our project management tool much earlier on because I think that would've made us much more efficient. And so I do encourage organizations to think about that instead of just relying on spreadsheets and. [00:45:44] What [00:45:44] is something that you think your org should [00:45:47] stop doing? [00:45:49] We're really exploring next year comprehensively. What should our focus area be? You know, do we continue exactly how our model is? Should we expand the organizations we work with? Should we expand how we help? Should we look into charging money for our services? I. One of the things I think we've been good at is making sure we don't have mission creep. [00:46:07] And so I want us to resist that urge as much as possible. Cuz we've all, we've all heard the great need from the frontline organizations and so far we've been able to resist. I think there's a temptation to want to do more and to expand outward in a way that might stretch us too thin. And so that's one thing that I'm really hoping we, we avoid doing. [00:46:25] If you had a magic [00:46:26] wand to wave across the industry, what [00:46:28] would it. I would absolutely love more organizations to make good on their commitments to dei. I think there's a lot of talk and a lot of great language on websites about wanting to diversify their staff and wanting to ensure that more funding is going to under-resourced organizations from historically, you know, underprivileged communities. [00:46:46] I think it's starting, It's nowhere near where it should be, and so I'm the kind of person that wants to have this job. But if there's a great person with lived experie, That really has a better way to fit. I wanna be someone who will step out of the way and let them take the reins. And I just hope more people in the in the movement will recognize that one of the problems is who's in charge, and if they're willing to step away, that might actually help, uh, advance the cause. [00:47:08] How did you get started in the social impact sector? [00:47:11] It's interesting because my college focus very, was actually biology. I was really into the hard sciences and life sciences and wanted to pursue, you know, medicine over time. But before I applied to med school, I actually did an AmeriCorps program in Boston for two years working with young people in Boston, as well as focusing on healthcare advocacy in Massachusetts, and I got hooked. [00:47:30] I loved the advocacy area. I love the organizing side. I love the policy side. You know, the thinking part of my brain. Loved problem. But the human side really loved working with people, especially people who were facing challenges. Uh, and so that really, really stuck to me and I ended up going to med school and then halfway through I ended up quitting. [00:47:48] Cause I really missed the advocacy side when coming back to it. So I thank AmeriCorps so much for that experience. What [00:47:55] advice would you give college grads currently looking to enter the social impact sector? [00:48:00] I think broadly is. Really identify what is it you care about in terms of issue. Is it healthcare? [00:48:07] Is it climate? Is it, uh, criminal justice reform? Think about the ways you, what you like to do. Is it social media? Is it writing? Is it fundraising? Is it policy? Is it organizing? And then reach out to as many people as you know that are in the field. Not everyone likes to take on college grads as mentors, but many people out there are happy to talk to you. [00:48:25] I'm happy to talk to folks to just give them that advice. I will say this, right now, when you look at the job, If you are in development or you're in digital strategy, those are the two things. Well, you'll be employed for the next 10 to 20 years for sure. So if that's something you understand, I definitely recommend going into fundraising, Going into social media, digital strategy, what advice [00:48:45] did your parents give you that you either followed or didn't quite [00:48:49] follow? [00:48:50] Uh, my, I think at a young age, certainly there was a lot of pressure to do well in school and to make. And I think, uh, I think over time I've been able to help my parents understand how great it is to be in sort of progressive non-profit advocacy. But I think probably most importantly is they're just very into family and community and just sort of, you know, loving respect and honoring people in your life and, you know, contributing that way. [00:49:13] And I absolutely think I channeled that to the broader community at large. Uh, I will say the advice they're not, I'm not taking, that they would be mad at is going to visit them more. And so I think I know I need to do. Thanksgiving coming up, so I'll, I'll be sure to go and see them. Gotta go visit. Have you called [00:49:28] your mom [00:49:30] Yes. We talk, we talk periodically. Not as much as they'd like, but uh, but they've actually over the years, have become a lot more active in social justice issues and fundraising and donating and whatever. They sort of do something progressive or they donate money to a candidate or they, you know, knock on doors. [00:49:43] My mom will always text me excitedly and so it, it is heartwarming to see sort of how we've both, you know, we kind of share those interests in sort of supporting the. That's awesome. [00:49:52] Also, shout out to my mom, who's probably listening to this podcast. Hi mom. Alrighty, , final hardball question. How do people find you? [00:50:00] How do [00:50:00] people help you? [00:50:01] Please check us out@voterempowerment.org. As I mentioned earlier, there's three ways you can help that anyone can help. You can volunteer, you can donate, or you can share. Please sign up to volunteer. I promise you the opportunities will be fun. They'll be interesting, they'll be meaningful and rewarding, and we invest in you so you can grow your skills. [00:50:21] If you can't do that, or in addition to, can you please donate $20, $25, a hundred dollars, whatever you can spare, our, our generous board member is matching every donation with a $200, uh, match. And so we hope to get as many donors between now and the holiday. And then lastly, can you share our website? Can you share our social media? [00:50:40] Adam Empower Voters on Twitter and on Instagram. And voter empowerment.org is our website. We just need more people to know about us to know that we exist, cuz we know once folks find out about us and get involved, they really do appreciate our model and what, what it sort of allows for them to do as a volunteer. [00:50:54] And we just need to get that word out more. And we really appreciate everyone helping us do so. You have [00:50:59] it. Share either your time, your treasure, or your tweets. Do. I love the skill-based approach to a massive problem facing democracy in our country. I wish you all the best, and I thank you. Thank you for [00:51:12] the work you do. [00:51:14] Thank you George, so much for having me. And thank you for doing this innovative podcast. I, I always appreciate it and folks in the media really prioritize bringing folks on board who can talk about, you know, movement building. And so thank you so much for what you [00:51:24] do.                          

Another Way is back! Adam Eichen and Lawrence Lessig have a candid conversation about the state of our democracy, feelings of loss (post-Freedom to Vote Act campaign), and what keeps them motivated in a very disturbing political time.

(This conversation first aired on January 12, 2022) Back in January of this year, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Atlanta to speak about the importance of voting rights, and the need for federal legislation to overcome the dozens of state laws that have been enacted and the hundreds of laws that are being considered to restrict voting. Currently, legislation on voting rights continues to be at a standstill in the United States Congress with the stalling of two bills that seek to support voting access: The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. As American voters look forward to the 2022 midterm elections in November, we must also remember the significant progress made thus far for access to the ballot box.  Today on Midday, we revisit a conversation about an important and often overlooked dimension in the history of voting rights: the long fight for Black women's suffrage. Tom's guest is the acclaimed legal and cultural historian, Martha S. Jones. She has written a broad, insightful survey of the unsung heroes of the movement for equality, a movement that started two centuries ago, and which included scores of remarkable women whose importance and impact are made clear by Dr. Jones' compelling narrative. The book is called Vanguard:  How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All.   Dr. Martha S. Jones joined us for the hour on Zoom, from her home in Baltimore. (Because this conversation is recorded, we are not taking any calls or comments today.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(This program first aired on January 12, 2022) Back in January of this year, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Atlanta to speak about the importance of voting rights, and the need for federal legislation to overcome the dozens of state laws that have been enacted and the hundreds of laws that are being considered to restrict voting. Before the President spoke, Vice President Kamala Harris advocated for an end to the filibuster that might clear the path for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. And then, President Biden also called for changes to the filibuster that would make passage of the voting rights legislation possible. That was the first time he had taken that position publicly. It's a position that is not shared by at least two members of the Democratic caucus: Senator Joe Manchin, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. The war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and other issues have for the moment overwhelmed the policy agenda of the Admininistration. Voting rights appear to have taken a back seat. Today on Midday, we revisit a conversation about an important and often overlooked dimension in the history of voting rights: the long fight for Black women's suffrage. Tom's guest is the acclaimed legal and cultural historian, Martha S. Jones. She has written a broad, insightful survey of the unsung heroes of the movement for equality, a movement that started two centuries ago, and which included scores of remarkable women whose importance and impact are made clear by Dr. Jones' compelling narrative. The book is called Vanguard:  How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All.   Dr. Martha S. Jones joined us for the hour on Zoom from her home in Baltimore. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Supreme Court's upcoming decision to reverse Roe v. Wade (an early draft of which was leaked Monday) doesn't ban abortions; it leaves the issue to the states. As a result, it will put another large brick in the growing wall separating Blue and Red America. Some say we're on the verge of a civil war, but that's not right. It won't be a formal secession (we tried that once), but a kind of benign separation analogous to unhappily married people who don't want to go through the trauma of a formal divorce. We are already quietly splitting into two Americas — one largely urban, racially and ethnically diverse, and young; the other largely rural or exurban, white, and older — each running according to different laws and with different sources of revenue. The split is accelerating. Red ZIP codes are getting redder and blue ZIP codes, bluer. Of the nation's total 3,143 counties, the number of super landslide counties — where a presidential candidate won at least 80 percent of the vote — jumped from 6 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2020.Surveys show Americans find it increasingly important to live around people who share their political values. Animosity toward those in the opposing party is higher than at any time in living memory. 42 percent of registered voters believe Americans in the other party are “downright evil.” Almost 40 percent would be upset at the prospect of their child marrying someone from the opposite party. Even before the 2020 election, when asked if violence would be justified if the other party won the election, 18.3 percent of Democrats and 13.8 percent of Republicans responded in the affirmative. Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter. If you're not yet a paid subscriber, please consider a paid or paid gift subscription. While Red states make it nearly impossible to get abortions, they're making it easier than ever to buy guns — even easier to carry concealed guns without a permit. They're suppressing votes. (In Florida and Texas, teams of “election police” have been created to crack down on the rare crime of voter fraud, another fallout from Trump's Big Lie.) They're banning the teaching of America's history of racism. They're requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and join sports teams that reflect their gender at birth. They're making it harder to protest; more difficult to qualify for unemployment benefits or other forms of public assistance; and almost impossible to form labor unions. And they're passing “bounty” laws — enforced not by governments, which can be sued in federal court, but by rewards to private citizens for filing lawsuits — on issues ranging from classroom speech to abortions to vaccinations.Blue states are moving in the opposite direction. Several, including Colorado and Vermont, are codifying a right to abortion. Some are helping cover abortion expenses for out-of-staters. When Idaho proposed a ban on abortions that empowers relatives to sue anyone who helps terminate a pregnancy after six weeks, nearby Oregon approved $15 million to help cover the abortion expenses of patients from other states. Maryland and Washington have expanded access and legal protections to out-of-state abortion patients. One package of pending California bills would expand access to California abortions and protect abortion providers from out-of-state legal action. After the governor of Texas ordered state agencies to investigate parents for child abuse if they provide certain medical treatments to their transgender children, California lawmakers proposed making the state a refuge for transgender youths and their families. Another California proposal would thwart enforcement of out-of-state court judgments removing children from the custody of parents who get them gender-affirming health services. California is also about to enforce a ban on ghost guns and assault weapons with a California version of Texas' recent six-week ban on abortion, featuring $10,000 bounties to encourage lawsuits from private citizens against anyone who sells, distributes or manufactures those types of firearms.Please remember to join me for tomorrow's Wealth and Poverty class The new separation extends even to government revenue. A little-noticed trend is toward a growing share of total government taxing and spending occurring in the states — thereby making Blue states (which are overall wealthier than Red states) more financially autonomous. For years, the inhabitants of Blue states have been sending more tax dollars to the federal government than they get back (in the form of federal assistance to the poor, education, social services, and infrastructure), while Red states have been sending Washington fewer dollars than they receive back. But the significance of this Blue state subsidy to Red states is declining as an ever-larger percentage of total federal and state taxes paid by the inhabitants of Blue states are being spent in such Blue States. (A record half of all government revenue is now raised and spent by state and local governments.)We're also seeing more coordination among Blue states. During the pandemic, Blue states joined together on policies that Red states rejected — such as purchasing agreements for personal protective equipment, strategies for reopening businesses as COVID subsided, even on travel from other states with high levels of COVID. (At one point, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut required travelers from states with high positivity rates — Arkansas, Florida, North and South Carolina, Texas, and Utah — to quarantine for two weeks before entering.)We are splitting more quickly than anyone imagined. But the split raises a host of questions. For one, what will happen to the poor in Red states, who are disproportionately people of color? “States rights” was always a cover for segregation and harsh discrimination. The poor — both white and people of color — are already especially burdened by anti-abortion legislation because they can't afford travel to a Blue state to get an abortion. They're also hurt by the failure of Red states to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act; by Red state de facto segregation in public schools; and by Red state measures to suppress votes. One answer is for Democratic administrations and congresses in Washington to prioritize the needs of the Red state poor and make extra efforts to protect the civil and political rights of people of color in Red states. The failure of the Senate to muster enough votes to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, let alone revive the Voting Rights Act, suggests how difficult this will be. But Blue states have a potential role here. They should spend additional resources on the needs of Red state residents, such as Oregon is now doing for people from outside Oregon who seek abortions. They should prohibit state funds from being spent in any state that bans abortions or discriminates on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender. California already bars anyone on a state payroll (including yours truly, who teaches at UC Berkeley) from getting reimbursed for travel to states that discriminate against LGBTQ people (as of now, that list includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia).Where will all this end? Not with two separate nations. What America is going through is less like a civil war and more like Brexit — a lumbering, mutual decision to go separate ways on most things but remain connected on a few big things (such as national defense, monetary policy, and civil and political rights). We'll still be America. But we're becoming two versions of America. The open question is analogous to the one faced by every couple that separates — how will we find ways to be civil toward each other? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The United States Senate has become the focus of a power struggle between, on the one hand, a minority resistant to challenge, and a bare majority seeking to respond to a watershed moment in history - the systematic effort in the states to curtail voting rights. Two bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have been passed by the House and are logjammed in the Senate due to Senate rules. But rules can be changed. We talk with Former U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), host of the Al Franken Podcast, on what's happening in the Senate, what can be done about the filibuster, and what lies at risk. Because totalitarian minority rule isn't good for business.

The United States Senate has become the focus of a power struggle between, on the one hand, a minority resistant to challenge, and a bare majority seeking to respond to a watershed moment in history - the systematic effort in the states to curtail voting rights. Two bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, have been passed by the House and are logjammed in the Senate due to Senate rules. But rules can be changed. We talk with Former U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN), host of the Al Franken Podcast, on what's happening in the Senate, what can be done about the filibuster, and what lies at risk. Because totalitarian minority rule isn't good for business.

Nothing good comes from war except, on occasion, the prevention of something even worse. As pressure increases on the Biden Administration to take more aggressive action against Putin, the question is how to minimize the collateral damage to Americans and use the crisis to move toward a more humane future. Here are five possible ways. 1. Help Americans endure higher fuel prices. The best way to stop Putin's war machine would be to put economic sanctions on anyone buying Russian oil or gas, because oil and gas revenue makes up about half of the Kremlin's budget. But such sanctions would also drive the prices of oil and natural gas through the roof. (Biden's decision today to stop imports of Russian oil to the U.S. will have far less consequence because only a tiny fraction of the oil we use comes from Russia.)Gas prices in America are already topping four dollars a gallon (here in California, five dollars). That's less of a problem for higher-wage workers who can work from home, but it's a huge burden on lower-wage workers who have to make longer and longer commutes.What to do? Help Americans caught in the energy squeeze. Revive the refundable expanded Child Tax Credit, which enabled millions of poor and working-class families to survive the COVID recession.2. Move the nation toward green energy. Oil companies are pocketing windfall profits while their lobbyists are using the crisis to demand that the U.S. build new Liquid Natural Gas terminals, allow more oil pipelines, and approve new leasing of federal lands for oil drilling. That's the exact opposite of what we need to do. However we invest in new energy infrastructure, none of it will have an immediate impact on energy prices. The practical longer-term choice is between an energy infrastructure that supports the production of more fossil fuels (such as the additional LNG terminals, pipelines, and oil leases that energy lobbyists are now pushing) or one that moves the nation more quickly to renewable energy sources (such as subsidies for electric cars, batteries, and charging stations). Now is the time to redouble our efforts toward the latter. We need to use this opportunity to build more of the green infrastructure America needs for the long term. Meanwhile, there's no reason American oil producers should enjoy windfall profits from rising energy prices. Congress should enact a windfall profits tax on them, and use the proceeds for additional green infrastructure. (The European Union is urging member countries to do exactly this. Why can't we?)3. Trim the military-industrial complex. Though the U.S. and other Western allies have stopped short of sending troops to Ukraine, they are sending weapons. Even Sweden, a non-NATO member, has announced it will send anti-tank weapons, helmets and body armor to Ukraine. Finland has pledged assault rifles and anti-tank weapons. In America, budget analysts expect defense spending in the 2023 federal budget to rise to between 3.5 percent and 4 percent of GDP.All this military spending comes at the expense of domestic priorities in the United States and abroad. It also increases the likelihood of armed conflict. The big winners: U.S. aerospace and defense contractors that are making many of these weapons systems and whose share prices are surging. America's defense budget is already bloated — bigger than the next ten defense budgets put together. There's no reason for more defense spending. If anything, we should use the current crisis to reexamine defense spending and make our armed forces more efficient — using the savings to finance more humanitarian aid around the world. 4. Put democracy and human rights at the center of American foreign policy. In one way, Putin's war is elevating democracy and human rights in U.S. foreign policy. That's why Biden has unified and mobilized much of the rest of the free world. But in pursuit of oil sources to replace Russian oil, America seems to be recalibrating its emphasis on human rights. That would be a tragic mistake. This past weekend Biden officials met in Venezuela with the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Why? Because Venezuela's petroleum exports are seen as a potential substitute for Russian oil. But Maduro's government has been responsible for extrajudicial executions and short-term forced disappearances. It has jailed opponents, prosecuted civilians in military courts, tortured detainees, and cracked down on protesters. Judicial authorities have participated or been complicit in the abuses. Maduro used a state of emergency implemented in response to Covid-19 as a pretext to intensify his control over the population.Last year, a United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that the Maduro regime has committed crimes against humanity. The exodus of Venezuelans fleeing repression and the humanitarian emergency represents the largest migration crisis in recent Latin American history.Biden's advisers are also discussing a possible visit to Saudi Arabia to help repair relations and convince the Kingdom to pump more oil. Saudi Arabia is also among the world's worst abusers of human rights. According to the CIA, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was directly involved in the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.Abandoning democracy and human rights around the rest of the world is no way to protect democracy and human rights in Ukraine. 5. Protect and expand voting rights in America. The same goes for the United States itself. Let's use this crisis to reaffirm our commitment to voting rights. Last weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama. Standing by the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge that was the site of a violent clash between civil rights leaders and segregationist police in 1965, she drew a parallel between the Americans who marched for their rights and the Ukrainians fighting for their nation's survival against an invading Russian military. “Today, the eyes of the world are on Ukraine and the brave people who are fighting to protect their country and their democracy. And their bravery is a reminder that freedom and democracy can never be taken for granted by any of us.” The fight in Ukraine should galvanize America to protect voting rights. Whether it's a Black activist being beaten by a police officer or a mother marching across a muddy field fleeing violence, the brutality is the same. Months after the original Selma march, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Act — arguing that protections for Black voters were no longer needed in states with deep histories of discrimination. In the years since, states have moved methodically to make access to ballots more difficult. That effort has accelerated since the 2020 election, in light of Trump's big lie. The Senate is now sitting on two measures that would reverse these state efforts and make it easier for all Americans to vote — the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. But fifty Republican senators and two Democratic senators (Krysten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia) stand in the way. Putin's war against Ukraine's democracy should remind all of us of how fundamental the struggle for democracy is to America's own purpose and ideals, and enact these two measures necessary to protect voting rights in America. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

In a few minutes, Joe Biden will give his first State of the Union address. It's his best opportunity between now and November's midterm elections to shape the narrative — describing the key choices ahead and explaining where he's leading America. But there's far more at stake than mere politics. Biden needs to frame not only what he's accomplished and wants to accomplish but also what America stands for at this precarious point in our nation's history. That should be the choice between democracy and authoritarianism. Biden should emphasize that America's role in the world is to lead democracies against aggressors like Putin. And then he should connect this to voting rights here in America and the dangers posed by the ongoing assault on democracy spawned by Donald Trump. Biden should hold senate Republicans accountable for thwarting every attempt to protect the right to vote — rejecting the comprehensive For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (which would have restored those parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the Supreme Court gutted in 2013), and most recently, the Freedom to Vote Act — which was expressly designed to attract at least ten Republicans in order to overcome a filibuster, but did not. Biden should unequivocally state that this intransigence is undermining what generations of Americans have fought and died for — the defining legacy lying at the heart of the nation: our democracy. Biden should also make clear that record levels of concentrated wealth inside America also poses a danger to democracy, as big money engulfs politics. (It wouldn't hurt to use the quote attributed to the great Justice Louis Brandeis — “America has a choice: We can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or we can have a democracy, but we cannot have both.”) He could also use this opportunity to show the connection between inflation and increasing levels of corporate concentration and market power — requiring stepped-up antitrust enforcement. At this point in the nation's history when several existential challenges are converging — Putin's war and the fearful prospect of nuclear armageddon, COVID, climate change, the attacks Trump has provoked on democracy at home, along with racism and xenophobia — what Biden says tonight could be profoundly important. His address begins in about fifteen minutes. Please watch or listen, and let us know whether in your view he has risen to the occasion. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Today we discuss the two bills that died in the U.S. Senate seeking to federalize the election process -- the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act & the Freedom to Vote Act. Join us as we unpack how these bills would have affected the election process if they had passed. The bills may be dead but the larger push by Democrats to federalize all elections, making the states answerable to the DOJ, is very much alive. Therefore these concepts are likely to return in future legislation in an effort to standardize election procedure. Should the states be in control of their own elections? Does the Federal government have the right to arbitrarily step in and override state election laws? Would federalizing voting laws require a constitutional amendment? We discuss that and more! The livestream for this discussion can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ1yRcMLRNg&t=2821s Ken had some technical difficulties, so you can find his super secret takes that were added in post EXCLUSIVELY on our podcast platforms! We livestream our recordings every Saturday at 12 pm central--Come hang out!

This week we're discussing the failure in the Senate of the Freedom to Vote Act & John Lewis Voting Rights Act and its implications for both federal and state actions as well as the investigations and court cases that continue to emerge and shape our politics and democracy today. Also follow along at: Onefordemocracy.org @onefordemocracy

With the defeat of the Freedom to Vote Act, Andy turns his attention to the threat to our democracy with Crooked Media co-founder and Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau. They discuss just how real the threat remains, how a Big Lie scenario could play out in 2024, and what we can do to prevent that from happening. Plus, what Jon, a former Obama speechwriter, wants to hear the Biden Administration communicate to the American people about the pandemic.   Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt and Instagram @andyslavitt.    Follow Jon @jonfavs on Twitter.   Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.    Support the show by checking out our sponsors!   Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: https://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/  Throughout the pandemic, CVS Health has been there, bringing quality, affordable health care closer to home—so it's never out of reach for anyone. Because at CVS Health, healthier happens together. Learn more at cvshealth.com.   Check out these resources from today's episode:    Listen to Jon on Pod Save America: https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-america/  Read this opinion piece in The Washington Post about Trump, Arizona, and what could happen in 2024: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/17/trump-arizona-election-threat-democracy/ Learn more about the Electoral Count Act and the next steps on voting rights: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/voting-rights-electoral-count-act-next-steps/ Find a COVID-19 vaccine site near you: https://www.vaccines.gov/  Order Andy's book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165    Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.    For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's no coincidence that this week, as we honored the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Democrats had hoped to make progress on passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. However, the Democrats' efforts have been stymied by a Republican filibuster, resulting in a strategic shift from voting rights legislation to filibuster rule reform. Yet, with the rule change on the table, the Democrats failed to even secure sufficient party support, let alone the additional Republican support necessary to pass the change. So why is there so much controversy over the filibuster? How is it impacting legislation? And is reform the answer? On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, host Craig Williams is joined by professor Michael J. Gerhardt, from UNC School of Law, as we spotlight the past, present, and possible future of the filibuster, and its impact on voting rights legislation.  

Bill Kristol has good advice for what Democrats should not do if they want to win Katie Porter explained Biden's economic success better than any other Democrat Bill Kristol has good advice for what Democrats should not do if they want to win Progressive groups ditch Sinema, leaving her political future in tatters: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona tried her damndest to sell the idea that a random Senate rule was far more important than the fundamental right to vote, but Democratic voters and groups don't seem to be buying that bridge to fascism. Not only does Sinema have an abysmal 8% favorability rating among Arizona Democrats, many of her biggest progressive backers are giving her the heave-ho after she helped kill critical voting rights legislation in the upper chamber. Among the most impactful reversals came from EMILY's List, a group dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women, and NARAL, which fights for reproductive freedom across the nation. Both high-profile funders backed her in 2018 when she first ran for Senate, but this week they severed ties with the Arizona senator over her refusal to alter the filibuster in order to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/politicsdoneright/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/politicsdoneright/support

After the MLK holiday, activists gathered in Washington DC calling for the passage of federal voting rights legislation. Among them are students who have been on a hunger strike in support of the Freedom to Vote Act. They are part of a nationwide #hungerstrikefordemocracy. Todays guests are from Un-PAC, a nonpartisan youth-led organization that is working to get The Freedom to Vote Act passed. Brandon Ortega, a student at Arizona State University who has participated in the national hunger strike, and Adrien Horton, an Un-PAC organizer. We spoke with them while they were in Washington DC as part of the actions calling for the passage of the John Lewis Act. We spoke just before all 50 Republican senators used the filibuster to end debate on the bill, stopping it from advancing. All 50 Republicans and two Democrats, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, subsequently voted to preserve the filibuster.  

1.18.22 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Senate Debates Voting Legislations; Covid Surges, The Promise Homes Company, $200M Deal The showdown has begun in the Senate over voting rights. The debate on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act took place for the first time. Democrats used a loophole in the 60-vote rule to begin the debate, but there is no such loophole to get that final vote unless Democrats change the rules.  President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Melanie Campbell is here to talk about what happened on Capitol Hill. The US government's website for free Covid-19 tests launched a day early, and the country continues to battle a surge in cases driven by Omicron. Tonight we'll talk to Infectious Disease expert Dr. Lane Rolling on what to expect as covid remains a public health threat. The white cop who murdered Laquan McDonald is set to be released next month after serving just about half of his sentence. A Florida cop assaults one of his own as she tries to prevent him from attacking a handcuffed suspect. An investigation reveals a Virginia Police department used forged forensics to get people to confess to crimes. In our Marketplace segment, sponsored by Verizon, we'll talk to John Hope Bryant, the founder, and CEO of The Promise Homes Company, who has closed on a $200 million institutional debt facility from Barings, the global investment management firm. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Verizon | Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, now available in 50+ cities, is the fastest 5G in the world.* That means that downloads that used to take minutes now take seconds.

Capitalism and democracy are compatible only if democracy is in the driver's seat.That's why I took some comfort just after the attack on the Capitol when many big corporations solemnly pledged they'd no longer finance the campaigns of the 147 lawmakers who voted to overturn the election results.Well, those days are over. Turns out they were over the moment the public stopped paying attention.A report published last week by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington shows that over the last year, 717 companies and industry groups have donated more than $18 million to 143 of those seditious lawmakers. Businesses that pledged to stop or pause their donations have given nearly $2.4 million directly to their campaigns or leadership political action committees.But there's a deeper issue here. The whole question of whether corporations do or don't bankroll the seditionist caucus is a distraction from a much larger problem.The tsunami of money now flowing from corporations into the swamp of American politics is larger than ever. And this money – bankrolling almost all politicians and financing attacks on their opponents – is undermining American democracy as much as did the 147 seditionist members of Congress. Maybe more.Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema — whose vocal opposition to any change in the filibuster is on the verge of dooming voting rights — received almost $2 million in campaign donations in 2021 despite not being up for re-election until 2024. Most of it came from corporate donors outside Arizona, some of which have a history of donating largely to Republicans. Has the money influenced Sinema? You decide: Besides sandbagging voting rights, she voted down the $15 minimum wage increase, opposed tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, and stalled on drug price reform — policies supported by a majority of Democratic Senators as well as a majority of Arizonans. Over the last four decades, corporate PAC spending on congressional elections has more than quadrupled, even adjusting for inflation.Labor unions no longer provide a counterweight. Forty years ago, union PACs contributed about as much as corporate PACs. Now, corporations are outspending labor by more than three to one. According to a landmark study published in 2014 by Princeton professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern professor Benjamin Page, the preferences of the typical American have no influence at all on legislation emerging from Congress.Gilens and Page analyzed 1,799 policy issues in detail, determining the relative influence on them of economic elites, business groups, mass-based interest groups, and average citizens. Their conclusion: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” Lawmakers mainly listen to the policy demands of big business and wealthy individuals – those with the most lobbying prowess and deepest pockets to bankroll campaigns and promote their views.It's likely far worse now. Gilens and Page's data came from the period 1981 to 2002 – before the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to big money in the Citizens United case, prior to SuperPACs, before “dark money,” and before the Wall Street bailout.The corporate return on this mountain of money has been significant. Over the last forty years, corporate tax rates have plunged. Regulatory protections for consumers, workers, and the environment have been defanged. Antitrust has become so ineffectual that many big corporations face little or no competition.Corporations have fought off safety nets and public investments that are common in other advanced nations (most recently, “Build Back Better”). They've attacked labor laws -- reducing the portion of private-sector workers belonging to a union from a third forty years ago, to just over 6 percent now.  They've collected hundreds of billions in federal subsidies, bailouts, loan guarantees, and sole-source contracts. Corporate welfare for Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Tech, Big Ag, the largest military contractors and biggest banks now dwarfs the amount of welfare for people.The profits of big corporations just reached a 70-year high, even during a pandemic. The ratio of CEO pay in large companies to average workers has ballooned from 20-to-1 in the 1960s, to 320-to-1 now.Meanwhile, most Americans are going nowhere. The typical worker's wage is only a bit higher today than it was forty years ago, when adjusted for inflation.But the biggest casualty is the public's trust in democracy.In 1964, just 29 percent of voters believed that government was “run by a few big interests looking out for themselves.” By 2013, 79 percent of Americans believed it.Corporate donations to seditious lawmakers are nothing compared to this forty-year record of corporate sedition.A large portion of the American public has become so frustrated and cynical about democracy they are willing to believe blatant lies of a self-described strongman, and willing to support a political party that no longer believes in democracy.As I said at the outset, capitalism is compatible with democracy only if democracy is in the driver's seat. But the absence of democracy doesn't strengthen capitalism. It fuels despotism. Despotism is bad for capitalism. Despots don't respect property rights. They don't honor the rule of law. They are arbitrary and unpredictable. All of this harms the owners of capital. Despotism also invites civil strife and conflict, which destabilize a society and an economy.My message to every CEO in America: You need democracy, but you're actively undermining it.It's time for you to join the pro-democracy movement. Get solidly behind voting rights. Actively lobby for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.Use your lopsidedly large power in American democracy to protect American democracy -- and do it soon. Otherwise, we may lose what's left of it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

President Biden delivers his voting rights speech in Georgia, pushing for the Senate to change filibuster rules to pass the ‘Freedom to Vote Act’ and the ‘John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act’, saying, “I’m tired of being quiet”. But has Biden already lost the African American community within a year by not delivering on his promise to eliminate discriminatory voting practices, and what does it mean for voter turnout in the years to come?As Republicans push for more voting restrictions in Georgia, its Secretary of State joins to talk about election integrity and his views on non-citizens being allowed to vote. Plus, Dr. Fauci clashes with GOP Senators in a Covid response hearing and the Manhattan D.A. faces pushback from the NYPD after announcing he won’t prosecute certain crimes.Guests: CEO of the The New Georgia Project Nsé Ufot, Georgia Secretary of State (R) Brad Raffensperger, Former member of Biden’s Covid-19 Advisory Board Dr Zeke Emanuel and CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Charles Ramsey.Hosted by Laura Coates.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

This week, Democrats are desperately trying to figure out how to fix Senate rules in order to pass two election and voting reform bills – the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — that they believe could be all that stands between us and a total meltdown of our system of government in the next two years. So how big a threat is there to democracy, really? And how would these bills help? Today, top election reform expert Alex Tausanovitch of the Center for American Progress answers both questions, and describes what we need to do long term to protect our freedom.

Yesterday, a member of our group named Emmet Bondurant, a distinguished constitutional lawyer from Georgia, commented on this page about the filibuster: The biggest lie of all is the Senate's claim that it “is the greatest deliberative body in the world.” The filibuster makes the Senate the least deliberative legislative and least democratic legislative body by allowing a minority of Senators to prevent the Senate from debating, much less voting on, any legislation that is opposed by the minority party.A decade ago, when Emmet and I served on the board of Common Cause, he brought a case before federal courts, arguing that the filibuster is unconstitutional. He didn't get very far. (The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided against Common Cause on dubious grounds, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.) But this was before the high court became crammed with so-called “originalists” who believe the Constitution should be interpreted to mean what the Framers thought when they drafted it. Originalism is an absurd position, of course. American society is so different today from what it was in the eighteenth century that any attempt to apply precepts from that time to this time is doomed to failure. But why not test the sincerity of the originalists sitting on today's Supreme Court with an issue that the Framers would find a no-brainer? All evidence suggests they would agree with Emmet that the filibuster violates the Constitution. The Framers went to great lengths to ensure that a minority of senators could not thwart the wishes of the majority. After all, a major reason they convened the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was because the Articles of Confederation (the precursor to the Constitution) required a super-majority vote of nine of the thirteen states, making the government weak and ineffective. This led James Madison to argue against any super-majority requirement in the Constitution the Framers were then designing, writing that otherwise “the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed,“ and “It would be no longer the majority that would rule: the power would be transferred to the minority.” And it led Alexander Hamilton to note “how much good may be prevented, and how much ill may be produced” if a minority in either house of Congress had “the power of hindering the doing what may be necessary.”This is why the Framers required no more than a simple majority in both houses of Congress to pass legislation. They carved out only five specific exceptions requiring a super-majority vote only in rare, high-stakes decisions: (1) impeachments, (2) expulsion of members, (3) overriding a presidential veto, (4) ratification of treaties, and (5) amendments to the Constitution. By being explicit about these five exceptions to majority rule, the Framers underscored their commitment to majority rule for the normal business of the nation. They would have rejected the filibuster, through which a minority of senators continually obstructs the majority.So where did the filibuster come from? The Senate needed a mechanism to end debate on proposed laws and move to a vote. The Framers didn't anticipate this problem. But in 1841, a small group of senators took advantage of this oversight to stage the first filibuster. They hoped to force their opponents to give in by prolonging debate and delaying a vote. This was what became known as the “talking filibuster” — as popularized in Frank Capra's other great film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (a perfect compliment to his “It's a Wonderful Life”). But contrary to the admirable character Jimmy Stewart plays in that film, the result was hardly admirable.After the Civil War, the filibuster was used by Southern politicians to defeat Reconstruction legislation, including bills to protect the voting rights of Black Americans. Finally, in 1917, as a result of pressure from President Woodrow Wilson and the public, the Senate adopted a procedure for limiting debate and ending filibusters with a two-thirds vote of the Senate (67 votes). In the 1970s, the Senate reduced the number of votes required to end debate down to 60, and no longer required constant talking to delay a vote. 41 votes would do it.Throughout much of the 20th century, filibusters remained rare. (Southern senators mainly used them to block anti-lynching, fair employment, voting rights, and other critical civil rights bills.) But that changed in 2007, after Democrats took over the Senate. Senate Republicans, now in the minority, used the 60-vote requirement with unprecedented frequency. After Barack Obama moved into the Oval Office in 2009, the Republican minority — led by Mitch McConnell — blocked virtually every significant piece of legislation. Nothing could move without 60 votes. A record 67 filibusters occurred during the first half of the 111th Congress — double the entire 20-year period between 1950 and 1969. By the time Congress adjourned in December 2010, the filibuster count had ballooned to 137. Between 2010 and 2020, there were as many cloture motions (959) as during the entire 60-year period from 1947 to 2006 (960). Now we have a total mockery of majority rule. McConnell and his Republicans are stopping almost everything in its tracks. Just 41 Senate Republicans, representing only 21 percent of the country, are now blocking laws supported by the vast majority of Americans. This is exactly the opposite of what the Framers of the Constitution intended. To repeat: They unequivocally rejected the notion that a minority of Senators could obstruct the majority. My humble suggestion, therefore: Senators whose votes have been blocked by the senate minority should themselves take the issue to the Supreme Court. If anyone has standing to make this argument, they surely do. If the conservative majority on the Court stands by its “originalist” principles, they'll abolish the filibuster as violating the Constitution. (At the very least, the filibuster should not be allowed to block laws that are required to preserve democratic rules and norms. It must be lifted to enact voting rights legislation, such as the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.)If you like my argument — which is essentially Emmet's — please suggest it to your favorite Senator.What do you think? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

President Biden will go to Georgia tomorrow to give a speech on voting rights. It's expected to be as hard-hitting as his speech last Thursday about Trump and the attack on the Capitol. Biden will push for reform of the senate filibuster to carve out voting rights from its 60-vote requirement, thereby opening the way for senate Democrats to enact the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act. As you probably know, the Freedom to Vote Act would preempt state efforts to suppress votes and take over election machinery. The John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act would restore the “pre-clearance” requirement of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (before the Supreme Court gutted it in 2013) which forced states with a history of discrimination – including Georgia -- to get Justice Department approval before they changed their voting rules.But Biden will need more than a hard-hitting speech to reform the filibuster and open the door for these two critical pieces of legislation. And his most important audience isn't in Georgia, which already has two Democratic senators who will support him. It's in West Virginia, whose senior Democratic senator is signaling he will not. Georgia is, however, strategically important to voting rights in other ways. It has several major races this year, including Senator Raphael Warnock's bid for reelection and Stacy Abrams' campaign for governor against Republican incumbent Brian Kemp. (The only reason Democrats have a Senate majority right now is because they prevailed in both of Georgia's runoff elections on January 5 of last year, electing Warnock and Senator Jon Ossoff.)Thanks for subscribing to my letter. If you'd like to support this effort (and be part of the conversation) please consider a paid or gift subscription. Georgia also typifies what's happening in several other southern states, such as North Carolina, Texas, and Arizona. Atlanta is becoming a major global economic hub, inhabited by upwardly-mobile and well-educated professionals who tend to vote for Democrats. Rural Georgia is a challenged economic backwater inhabited by less-educated voters who have been on a downward slide for years, making them highly susceptible to Trumpian racism and xenophobia, and Fox News's conspiracy theories. The shift toward cosmopolitan Atlanta hasn't yet changed the composition of Georgia's legislature, which is still dominated by Republicans. Shortly after Biden's victory, it passed laws requiring additional ID for absentee voting, removing early voting sites, and allowing state takeovers of county elections. Georgia's GOP lawmakers are now readying bills to nix voting touchscreen machines and expand probes into voter fraud, among other anti-democracy initiatives. Hence the importance of national voting rights legislation, and of the Democrats' move to reform the filibuster. Senate Democrats have given up on “Build Back Better” for now and are pivoting to voting rights, and a filibuster carveout for voting rights. But Manchin, the Holdout-in-Chief, is standing in the way, just as he did on “Build Back Better.” He says the only way he'll support a carveout from the filibuster for voting rights is if it's “bipartisan.”This is a bizarre argument, for several reasons. First, there's no precedent requiring that changes in the filibuster rule be bipartisan. In recent decades the rule has been changed several times -- most recently by McConnell and the Republicans, to confirm Supreme Court nominees with a bare majority – without bipartisan support.It's also bizarre because of America's history of racism, which has not been fought through bipartisanship. Representative Jim Clyburn from South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat, whose endorsement of Biden during the Democratic primaries put Biden over the top, put it bluntly:“I am, as you know, a Black person, descended of people who were given the vote by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 15th amendment was not a bipartisan vote, it was a single party vote that gave Black people the right to vote. Manchin and others need to stop saying that because that gives me great pain for somebody to imply that the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution is not legitimate because it did not have bipartisan buy-in.”Third, American democracy cannot be saved with “bipartisanship” when one party is out to destroy it. The filibuster is becoming less democratic by the day. As of now, just 41 Senate Republicans, representing only 21 percent of the country, are blocking laws supported by the vast majority.Manchin (and Kyrsten Sinema, who isn't even trying to explain her position on the filibuster or much of anything else) -- now the darlings of Republican donors -- apparently have more allegiance to the filibuster than to democracy. (By contrast, Senator Angus King, the Maine Independent who caucuses with the Democrats and had earlier rejected calls to reform the filibuster, says he has “concluded that democracy itself is more important than any Senate rule.”)Meanwhile, Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, are making noises about changing the Electoral Count Act of 1887 – an arcane law that establishes the process for certifying presidential elections. (Manchin and Sinema are in talks with Republicans about this.) Make no mistake: This is nothing more than an attempt to give cover to Senate Republicans (and perhaps Manchin and Sinema), who want to be seen as doing something to reform elections but don't want to protect voting rights. The Electoral Count Act of 1887 could stand some more clarity, to be sure. Its ambiguities about which parts of state governments are authorized to confirm voting tallies and appoint electors were exploited by Trump in 2020, and could lead to a Constitutional crisis if he runs again in 2024. But if you think McConnell wants to prevent Republican state legislatures from substituting their views about who won a presidential election for the views of independent election officials and county boards, I've got a bridge to sell you.Biden can't rely on Manchin for anything, and it's impossible to knows what Sinema is up to. So to get his fiftieth vote to carve out voting rights from the filibuster, Biden may need the support of one or two of the few Republican senators who have shown a shred of interest in, or integrity on, voting rights.My short list would include Susan Collins, who in 2015 joined John Lewis and other national leaders in Selma for the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday; and Lisa Murkowski, the only Republican who voted to bring the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to a vote last fall. I'd also reach out to Mitt Romney, who voted to convict Donald Trump in the first impeachment trial. (Not incidentally, Romney's father, George Romney, was such a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 that when the Republican's presidential nominee that year, Barry Goldwater, opposed it, Romney refused to support Goldwater's candidacy.)The purpose of trying to get one or two of these Republicans on board is not to get “bipartisan” support for carving out voting rights from the filibuster. It is to get a bare majority of the Senate to support American democracy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

I sometimes hear from people who tell me they've been fighting for years for the common good — for social justice, for a stronger democracy, for a sustainable environment — but they can't do it any longer. They're burnt out. “I'm done,” one of my former students wrote me last week. She's been in the trenches for more than three years at a nonprofit dedicated to environmental justice, putting in 10 to 12-hour days, often six and sometimes seven days a week. “Maybe I've made a small difference,” she writes, “but it's not worth it. It's taken a terrible a toll on me. I have to get a life.” I understand. Regressive forces are huge and powerful. The moneyed interests have almost unlimited resources. The rightwing anti-social media have seemingly unlimited reach. Racism, xenophobia and outright lies seem to be growing louder. In the short term — even over three or four years — positive social change can appear an impossible task. The road is very long, and it's filled with potholes. But almost nothing worth doing can get done in the short term. Even under the most favorable circumstances, social change never occurs quickly.One of my dearest and oldest friends, Fred Wertheimer, has been fighting for voting rights and campaign finance reform for over forty years. When I spoke to him recently, he told me that he thought there was a good chance that senate Democrats would support the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Enhancement Act, and carve out a voting-rights exception to the filibuster. Thanks for subscribing to my letter on the system. If you'd like to support this effort (and join the conversation) please consider a paid or gift subscription. I hope Fred is right, but what astonishes me about Fred is his tenacity. He keeps fighting no matter what. If senate Democrats fail, Fred will just keep fighting. Almost thirty years ago, in the months before Bill Clinton moved into the White House, Fred asked me if Clinton was committed to reforming campaign-finance laws. I assured Fred he was, because Clinton told me so. Soon after the election, when I pressed the president-elect about it, he told me to check in with the then Democratic Speaker of the House, Tom Foley. Foley's response? “It will never happen.”I expected Fred to be dismayed. To the contrary, he said “Well, we have more work to do.” Fred didn't see it as a defeat. He saw it for what it was — a clear message that those who wanted campaign finance reform had more work to do before it could become a reality. The history of social reform — women's suffrage, civil rights, labor rights, LBGTQ rights, and so on — confirms the central importance of tenacity.A few years ago I spoke with Stacey Abrams, who had just lost her bid to be Georgia's governor to Republican Brian Kemp, then Georgia's secretary of state. Like Fred, Abrams is one of the most tenacious people I've ever met. She served in the Georgia legislature for ten years. She saw voter suppression first-hand. When Kemp was Georgia's secretary of state, he oversaw the purge of hundreds of thousands of voter registrations. Yet Abram's defeat in that election didn't seem to faze her. She promptly turned to organizing voters. “I'm optimistic,” she said. “We're going to win.” (Her organizing paid off in Democrats' big wins in Georgia in 2020. Abrams recently announced she'll be running for governor in 2022.)How do reformers maintain their strength and commitment over so many years? Continuous activism is exhausting. Burnout is a constant hazard. What's the secret to their tenacity? I can think of three:First, they pace themselves. They don't put in ten-hour days, six or seven days a week, as did my former student. Most put in normal working days. They take weekends and holidays off. They understand they're in a marathon which they can't possibly win if they go all out, continuously. They're patient with themselves. Second, they're part of a team or group that helps one another. They trade off the hardest work among themselves so no single member of the group has to do it continuously. They buoy each other's spirits. They share jokes and humorous anecdotes. They watch out for each other's mental and physical health. Third, they find opportunities to celebrate victories, no matter how small. Big victories are rare, but small ones — getting a particular city to enact a progressive measure, convincing some holdouts to join the movement, getting a favorable news story — do occur. And when they do, those who are in it for the long haul celebrate them, boosting everyone's morale and illustrating the possibilities for larger victories. Adam Hochschild's brilliant and inspiring book, Bury the Chains relates the true story of twelve people (a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and nine others united by their hatred of slavery) who in early 1787 came together in a London printing shop and began a grass-roots movement to end the British slave trade. It seemed impossible at the time. The slave trade was hugely profitable. The British establishment was getting rich off it. But for the next thirty years, the leaders of that movement stuck with it. Finally, in 1807, legislation was passed in both the Commons and the Lords bringing an end to Britain's involvement in the trade. The bill received royal assent in March and the trade was made illegal from May 1, 1807.How did they do it? Not only did they pioneer a variety of techniques that have been adopted by social movements ever since (from consumer boycotts to wall posters and lapel buttons to celebrity endorsements), but they found ways to sustain themselves: They paced themselves for the long haul. They helped one another along the way. And they celebrated even small victories. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Before we turn to what I'm calling the "Potterizing” of America (the consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of a few at the very top), we need to deal with one of its shameful consequences that will be front and center this week: accountability for Trump's ongoing attempted coup and the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Thursday marks the first anniversary of that attack. Last Wednesday I discussed four truths underlying the attack: (1) Trump incited it, (2) it culminated two months of his attempted coup, (3) his attempted coup continues to this day, and (4) he and his accomplices must be held accountable -- and we must also respond to the reasons why so many Americans continue to support him and his Big Lie.As Congress returns and the anniversary of the attack comes into view, the necessity of accountability presents itself in two forms. Democrats can and must act on both. The first is voting rights. The Senate reconvenes today. Voting rights is the most important issue before it, considering that Republican-dominated states have used Trump's Big Lie to justify a raft of measures to restrict voting and give their legislatures greater control over the administration of elections. More such measures are on the way. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Enhancement Act, both now before the Senate, are critical to protecting American democracy from these and other incursions. But because no senate Republican supports these bills, they can be passed only if senate Democrats change the filibuster rule. One way (which even Joe Manchin seems receptive to) would be to carve out an exception for voting rights bills so they can be enacted by a simple majority. Changing the filibuster is the first step to protecting voting rights and our democracy. Senate Democrats must take this step right away. Thanks for subscribing to my letter about the system. If you'd like to support this effort, please consider a paid or gift subscription. The other form of accountability is criminal responsibility for the attempted coup and the attack on the Capitol. The Justice Department has already charged more than 700 people with participating in the attack. Although no case has yet gone to trial, many of the defendants have pleaded guilty and received sentences from probation to 41 months in prison.Yet so far, the Department has charged no political figure, including Trump himself. To be sure, the Watergate scandal didn't result in significant prosecutions and convictions for two years after the break-in. But if Republicans gain a majority in the House next November, you can bet they'll close down the House's January 6 committee now investigating the attack. The critical political actors at this point are:Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, the committee's vice chair. Cheney is focused squarely on Trump's potential crimes. Yesterday she said of Trump: “Any man…who would provoke a violent assault on the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes, any man who would watch television as police officers were being beaten, as his supporters were invading the Capitol of the United States is clearly unfit for future office, clearly can never be anywhere near the Oval Office ever again.” She went on to warn her Republican colleagues that they “can either be loyal to Donald Trump or we can be loyal to the Constitution, but we cannot be both.”Mark Meadows, Trump's last chief of staff. After he failed to appear before the committee, Congress voted to hold him in contempt and referred him to the Justice Department for prosecution. As of today, the grand jury impaneled by the Department has not indicted Meadows (note that his is the same crime for which Trump adviser Steve Bannon was indicted).Former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark. His testimony could also implicate Trump. Recall that when top Justice Department officials told Trump that no widespread fraud contributed to President Joe Biden's win, Trump reportedly responded, “Just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me” and his allies in Congress. Clark apparently took Trump up on his request, drafting a letter giving Georgia elections officials a road map to overturn the election's results. When Clark appeared before the House committee about this, he refused to answer questions and has since missed several appearance dates (allegedly because of unspecified health issues).Republican congressman Scott Perry. He reportedly assisted Trump in trying to install Clark as attorney general. (Perry and Meadows seem to have communicated via encrypted apps, presumably to hide what they were talking about.) Perry has refused the committee's request for documents and testimony concerning the run-up to the attack on the Capitol, asserting that the committee is an “illegitimate entity.” (Hello? Multiple trial and appellate courts have ruled that the committee is doing precisely what it is authorized to do.)Republican congressman Jim Jordan. When the Jan. 6 committee announced it was seeking testimony from Jordan about his conversations with Trump on the day of the Capitol attack, Jordan also refused, alleging that the committee “altered” punctuation in a text message Jordan had sent to Meadows urging former Vice President Mike Pence to disregard Electoral College votes Pence deemed unconstitutional. (Rubbish. An allegation of altered punctuation is not a defense against a congressional subpoena.) Attorney General Merrick Garland. Responsibility for prosecuting Trump falls to Attorney General Merrick Garland. It would be good to know what he's up to. Is he simply being extra careful in putting together a case against Trump? Is he waiting until the House committee makes its report? Or is he putting a brake on all of this so as not to further enflame Trump supporters? Trump, meanwhile, has asked the Supreme Court to halt release of his White House records to the House select committee. But the House committee will forge on. My friends, the first anniversary of the attack on the Capitol will not be the occasion it should be: a day when the nation comes together to repudiate Trump and his co-conspirators whose treacherous acts led to it. That's because Trump has divided America with his big lie. A new ABC/Ipsos poll shows that although 65 percent of Americans believe President Joe Biden's 2020 victory was legitimate, 71 percent of Republicans believe Trump's false claims that he is the rightful winner. The division in America over Trump's attempted coup and the attack has no parallel in our nation's history since the Civil War. Yet if we do not strengthen voting rights, and if Trump and his accomplices are not held criminally accountable, we are inviting another attempted coup. Next time, it could succeed.Your thoughts? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

With the Senate now adjourned for the holidays and Joe Biden's “Build Back Better” social and climate package stalled if not dead (Senator Joe Manchin went on Fox News yesterday to announce he won't support it)*, Biden's remaining agenda is now at the mercy of the 2022 midterm election year — a perilous time to get anything enacted. So what should be Biden's and the Democrat's first priority when the Senate returns in January? I'm sure Biden still wants his Build Back Better package passed. But it's more important that the Senate now make voting rights its priority.Republican state legislatures will soon begin drawing partisan congressional maps that federal legislation could outlaw. Several states have already changed election laws in ways making it harder for people in minority communities to vote and giving Republican legislatures greater power over election outcomes.To be sure, any new national voting rights legislation depends on altering the senate filibuster so that the fifty Democratic senators (plus the Vice President) can pass it. (Senate Republicans have made it clear they won't support any voting rights legislation.) Hence the necessity of senate Democrats agreeing to carve out voting rights from the filibuster (back to Manchin again). I want to emphasize the urgency of this. Since the 2020 election, the foundations of our democracy have been gravely weakened. Just last Saturday, three top retired generals warned of a potential civil war in 2024 unless action is taken soon. Saving American democracy requires stopping three powerful forces on the way to destroying it.The first is Trump's big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. It's now believed by some 60 percent of Republican voters. The lie conveniently fits with the Republican Party's insight that demographic trends work against it unless it shrinks the electorate.The second is big anger spread by the media, especially Fox News and Facebook. It's boosting their ratings and revenues by inciting divisiveness, racism, panic, and paranoia. As a result, it's undermining the trust that democracy depends on. The third is big money from large corporations and wealthy individuals. It's inundating political campaigns, supporting one-sided issue ads, and bribing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support measures that will further enrich corporations and the wealthy and block measures that will cost them.The big lie, big anger, and big money reinforce each other because they all depend on Americans believing that democracy is rigged against them. And, to a shameful extent, it is. Urgent steps must be taken to counter all three.The first step is to set national voting-rights standards in light of Trump's Big Lie. Senate Democrats must enact the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as soon as possible in January, when they have a chance to prevent even more Republican state efforts to suppress votes and take over electoral machinery. If they fail to do this, they will be complicit with the Republican Party in using Trump's big lie to shrink the electorate.Trump and his Republican co-conspirators must also be held accountable for their attempted coup in the months after the 2020 election, leading to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Hopefully, the House committee now investigating it (with the crucial and courageous participation of Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger) will report its findings early in the new year. Timing is essential. Republicans must not be allowed to delay the committee's work. If they take control of the House next year they surely will shut the committee down. Armed with the committee's findings, the Justice Department must take legal action against Trump and all lawmakers implicated in the attempted coup. Even before the committee reports, the Justice Department should impanel grand juries to weigh the evidence in its possession. The second step is to constrain big anger instigated by social media, Fox News, and other outlets. There are two ways to do this without undermining freedom of speech: Revoke Section 230 of the Communications Act, which now protects digital media providers from liability for the content posted by their users even if that content is harmful, hateful, or misleading. There is no continuing justification for this legal protection, particularly at a time when the largest of these providers have become vast monopolies. Create a new “fairness doctrine” requiring that all broadcasters, including cable, cover issues of public importance in ways that present opposing perspectives. This will be difficult to enforce, to be sure, but it would at least affirm the nation's commitment to holding broadcasters to a higher standard than merely making money.  The third step is to get big money out of politics. The current Supreme Court won't reverse the Court's shameful decision in Citizens United vs. FEC and related cases. A constitutional amendment allowing the government to limit money spent on campaigns is extremely unlikely. But campaign finance reform is possible by matching small donations with public dollars. This was in the original For the People Act and should be added to the Freedom to Vote Act.These are the minimal essentials for containing the big lie, big anger, and big money. All three steps are urgently needed. There is no time to waste. Biden, Democrats, and any remaining principled Republicans – along with the leaders of nonprofits, universities, labor unions, major foundations, grassroots organizations, racial-justice and environmental advocates, and business – must wage a war to save American democracy. This war must start immediately. Nothing else we do for America is as important. Nothing else that needs doing in America is possible unless we do this.  What do you think?__* I can't resist opining on West Virginia senator Joe Manchin's motive for announcing yesterday he won't support the “Build Back Better” social and environmental package. He delivered the deathblow on Fox News Sunday (after refusing to take Joe Biden's phone call presumably asking him not to make the announcement).The reasons Manchin gave are absurd on their face. He must know that.He said he's worried about inflation and the national debt. But Build Back Better would be paid for with tax increases on big corporations and the wealthy — so it won't have any bearing on inflation or the debt. More to the point, its sticker price of $1.75 trillion covers 10 years, during which the Congressional Budget Office projects $288 trillion worth of economic output. So a Build Back Better plan of $1.75 trillion would amount to roughly 0.6% of gross domestic product — or slightly more than the 0.5% of GDP Americans spent last year on tobacco. And that doesn't begin to cover all the benefits to the economy of investing in K-12 education, childcare, and so on. Manchin also claimed he's worried about the impact of the latest COVID surge on the economy. But if COVID slows the economy, that's even more justification for federal spending that strengthens social safety nets. And even more reason to support a program that could possibly stimulate the economy in the short run. He said he can't face his constituents in West Virginia without renouncing “Build Back Better.” But on a per-person basis, West Virginians would be among the biggest beneficiaries of the legislation in all America. One out of four West Virginians over 65 have no natural teeth, for example — the highest rate in the nation. Biden's original bill provided dental benefits under Medicare.So what's really motivating Manchin? Four possibilities:West Virginia is a coal state, and Manchin doesn't want to do anything that might dampen coal production (the bill has a number of environmental measures). Possibly, but Manchin must know there's no long-term future in mining coal regardless of what happens to this legislation. There are far fewer coal jobs left in West Virginia than there are jobs in health care. The legislation would, however, help West Virginians transition from coal to new and better jobs. And help them survive in the meantime.He's self-dealing. He owns stock valued at between $1 million and $5 million in Enersystems, a coal brokerage firm he founded in 1988? Last year he made half a million dollars in Enersystems dividends (roughly three times the $174,000 salary he made last year as a senator).He's takes bribes. He collects more campaign money from coal, oil, and gas companies than any other senator. (In June, Exxon lobbyist Keith McCoy told the Greenpeace investigative unit that Manchin participated in weekly meetings with company operatives.)He loves the power and attention. Who ever heard of Joe Manchin before the Biden administration? A minor-league Democratic senator from a small, poor state suddenly has the national spotlight and has become the biggest spoiler in the Democratic Party.Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Tomorrow begins Joe Biden's two-day “Summit for Democracy,” whose avowed goal is to rally the nations of the world against the forces of authoritarianism.Yet some of the authoritarian forces that pose the gravest threat to American democracy (and to other democracies around the world) are homegrown in the U.S. -- such as the former guy's Big Lie and refusal to concede the 2020 election, his attempted coup, his instigation of the deadly January 6 insurrection, and his open encouragement of Republican state legislatures to suppress votes and take over state electoral machinery. And then, of course, the GOP's willingness if not eagerness to go along with all this. My newsletter on power, politics, and the real economy is reader supported. Both free and paid subscriptions are available. If you'd like to support this work, please consider a paid subscription. And then there's Rupert Murdoch's Fox News and Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook — both of whose relentless and intentional promulgation of lies and paranoid fantasies have done much to poison the American mind. (Not to be outdone, the former guy is about to launch his own media company, to be headed by Devin Nunes, the crazed pro-Trump California Congressman.) American business groups have been invited to the Summit, despite their nonstop lobbying against proposed voting rights legislation in Congress and their increasing pollution of politics with corporate money.Small wonder that Freedom House's 2021 Freedom in the World report — which scores countries on a scale of 0 to 100 — has given the United States a score of 83, a major drop from America's score of 94 just a decade ago.With all this in mind, I thought today's Office Hours would offer a good opportunity for us to speculate about the future of American democracy. Please answer this question: What will American democracy be like ten years from now unless … [you fill in the blank]?Eager to have your views. As usual, I'll chime in around 10 am PT, 1 pm ET.***Your comments so far are so thoughtful that you've prompted me to jump in earlier than I'd planned. Many thanks for this wonderful forum! First, to summarize points that several of you have made, I see three existential threats to American democracy: (1) Big money, from large corporations and wealthy individuals, that goes into political campaigns and into issue ads. The money is essentially bribing lawmakers. There's almost no countervailing sources of big money. Labor union contributions don't come close. (2) Authoritarian, anti-democratic moves by Trump Republicans to rig elections in ways that suppress the votes of likely Democratic voters and give Republican legislators power over election officials – based on the Big Lie that the 2020 election was “stolen,” but really based on the Republican Party's assessment that demographic trends work against it unless it shrinks the electorate. (3) A media (especially Fox News and Facebook) that lies incessantly to spread outrage, anger, panic, and paranoia in order to boost ratings and revenues. Unless these three threats are contained and reversed, I see little hope for American democracy as we know it. Ten years from now we'll be an oligarchy. We might still call ourselves a democracy. Hopefully we'll still maintain the rule of law. But America will a democracy in name only. What can we do? Fortunately, there are four immediate things we can do. But time is wasting. Each can be accomplished now, but each will become harder to achieve in coming months and years as anti-democratic forces gain ground. 1. Get big money out of politics. The Supreme Court is unlikely to reverse its shameful decision in Citizens United vs. FEC and related cases, especially given the current makeup of the Court. And a constitutional amendment allowing government to limit amounts of money spent on campaigns is extremely unlikely. But campaign finance reform is possible, especially reforms that provide matching public dollars for every small donation. Such a reform was in the original “For the People Act.” It can and should be added to the Freedom to Vote Act, now in the Senate. Small versions of it can and should be enacted in your state. 2. Enact the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act. Both are necessary to set national voting rights standards. Both have been passed by the House. Almost every Democrat in the Senate supports them. But because no Republican senator supports them, to be enacted the filibuster must be abolished or at least altered to carve out voting rights. This is where Manchin and Sinema come in. If they fail to join other senate Democrats in this, history will remember them as traitors to the cause of American democracy. 3. Hold Trump and his authoritarian lawmakers accountable for their anti-democratic moves, particularly those that entailed an attempted coup in the months after the 2020 election. Hopefully, the House investigation will reveal the coup in all its disgraceful detail. (When the history of this shameful period is written, lawmakers like Rep. Liz Cheney will be remembered as heroes.) The Justice Department must take action against Trump and all lawmakers implicated in the coup. 4. Constrain the divisive lies coming from social media, Fox News, and other outlets. How to do this without undermining freedom of speech? Two ways: (1) Revoke Section 230 of the Communications Act, which protects digital media providers from liability for the content posted by their users—even if that content is harmful, hateful, or misleading. There is no continuing justification for this legal protection, particularly at a time when the largest of these providers are vast monopolies. (2) Create a new “fairness doctrine,” requiring all broadcasters – including cable -- to cover issues of public importance in ways that present opposing perspectives. Obviously, this will be difficult to enforce but at least it would affirm the public's interest in knowing more than one side of a controversial issues. These four fixes are only a start. Over long term, as several of you have noted, we need an educational system that emphasizes civic virtue and citizen responsibilities; a Supreme Court more dedicated to constraining big money than suppressing votes, and which respects the critical wall between church and state rather than the weaponizing of religion; and a broad rejection of the use of racism to undermine our democracy. Hope this helps. I'll add more thoughts in response to yours, below. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness and respectfulness. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Which of these alternatives sounds more radical to you — abolishing the filibuster to save our democracy, or destroying our democracy to save the filibuster? Make no mistake. This is the choice. And whichever way it goes will be Joe Biden's most enduring legacy.Not long after Biden assumed the Presidency, Freedom House, a democracy-watchdog group, ranked the state of democracy in the United States below that in Chile, Costa Rica, and Slovakia. Freedom House pointed to the increasing use in the United States of precise gerrymandering, the growing influence of money in American politics, and the continuing disenfranchisement of people of color.Since then, the anti-democratic tide has risen substantially in the United States. Nineteen states have enacted thirty-three laws that make it more difficult for citizens to vote. Several states have replaced nonpartisan election administrators with partisan hacks. In other states, nonpartisan election officials have been threatened and harassed by Trump supporters, causing many to leave their positions. Republican legislatures in states that have begun to swing toward the Democrats, such as North Carolina and Texas, have redrawn electoral maps to disenfranchise communities of color. Legal challenges to the new maps are likely to be unsuccessful, given the increasingly Republican composition of the federal courts.For years, Republican strategists had predicted that any enlargement of the American electorate would work against the election of Republicans. The 2020 election proved them right. Voters turned out in great numbers and sent a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress to Washington. Not surprisingly, Republicans have responded by doing everything in their power to shrink the electorate and make it harder to vote for those they assume will choose Democrats.What will be the nation's response to this noxious anti-democratic tide? We know there will be a few speeches about America's commitment to democracy. In the weeks ahead, Joe Biden will be hosting a virtual “Summit for Democracy.” Invitees will represent more than a hundred countries. When he announced the Summit in August, its apparent goal was to reestablish America's moral authority in the aftermath of Trump's squalid foreign policy.According to the State Department, the Summit will “aim to show how democracies can deliver on the issues that matter most to people: strengthening accountable governance, expanding economic opportunities, protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and enabling lives of dignity.” The State Department goes on to promise that “The U.S. government will announce commitments in areas such as bolstering free and independent media; fighting corruption; defending free and fair elections; strengthening civic capacity; advancing the civic and political leadership of women, girls, and marginalized community members; and harnessing technology for democratic renewal. The United States will also hold itself accountable to these commitments on a global public stage.”But how exactly will the Biden Administration be accountable to those commitments when Republicans at every level are working so hard to undermine them? As Biden said in February, “Democracy doesn't happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it.”Yet in that fight so far, Biden has been AWOL. He hasn't used his bully pulpit to inform Americans of the clear and present dangers to democracy now underway. He hasn't used his administration, including his Justice Department, to push back against the anti-democratic forces. He hasn't acted forcefully in support of voting rights legislation and against the filibuster. His absence from the fight is fast becoming one of the most glaring omissions of his administration — a moral vacuum that is growing by the day. Last spring, Democrats in the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a set of minimum national election standards intended to eliminate partisan gerrymandering, reduce the influence of money in politics, expand voting rights, and increase election security. But H.R. 1 was stymied in the Senate by Republicans who voted against bringing it to the floor for debate. Senate Republicans also sunk the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, designed to correct the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, that gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and allowed many of the state voter-suppression laws that have been passed since.In September, Democratic senators, led by a group including Amy Klobuchar and Joe Manchin (who says he is committed to preserving the filibuster) presented a new election-related bill, the Freedom to Vote Act. It contains several new provisions to protect election workers, as well as measures in the For the People Act, such as same-day voter registration, a ban on partisan gerrymandering, and a restoration of voting rights to former felons. But in October, Senate Republicans filibustered the Freedom to Vote Act into oblivion.Let's be clear. As long as the filibuster stands, this will be the fate of all election-related legislation proposed by Democrats. There should no longer be any doubt about the choice ahead: It's the filibuster or democracy. Senator Angus King, the Maine Independent who caucuses with the Democrats and who had earlier rejected calls to reform the filibuster (and whom I'm proud to claim as an old friend) recently concluded that “democracy itself is more important than any Senate rule.” Exactly. Biden must use the full strength of his presidency – his bully pulpit, the power of the executive branch, his influence inside the halls of the Senate (and over his old putative friend, the senior senator from West Virginia), and the credibility that comes with being President of the United States – to end the filibuster, and thereby open the way for voting rights. It is necessary. It is time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Lurie talks to Lawyer and Indivisible Director of Democracy Policy, Meagan Hatcher-Mays, about the Freedom to Vote Act and how drawing unfair maps confers power to one group over another. Check out The Indivisible Guide!Follow Lurie Daniel Favors @LurieFavors on Twitter and listen to her live M-F, 10 a.m.-noon ET on SiriusXM, Ch. 126.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

11.08.2021 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Starving For Voting Rights! We'll talk radio host Joe Madison, who has vowed to abstain from eating until Congress passes, and President Biden signs the Freedom to Vote Act or the J.L. Voting Rights Advancement Act." A Missouri prosecutor's investigation reveals a black man convicted of a triple homicide 43 years ago is innocent because he wasn't even at the scene. He's still behind bars, but maybe not for long. It's day two of testimony in the trial of the three white men who hunted and killed Ahmaud Arbery. We'll recap what happened in the courtroom with Rob Patillo, including testimony from an officer who said one of the suspects told him they "cornered" Arbery the day they killed him. We'll talk to the Managing Director for K-12 Education Policy of the Center for American Progress, who will break down how the GOP is weaponizing Critical Race Theory to win elections.  #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful!

11.02.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: It's election day, and there are a few races across the U.S. we have our eye on: The Virginia Governor's races, the mayoral races in New York, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Rochester. As well as Minneapolis' push to create a Department of Public Safety and a new public health approach to safety. Reverend William Barber returns with his weekly segments. Today, it's all about voting as activists continue to demand the swift passage of For the People Act, John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act. We'll have an update on Reverend Jesse Jackson's condition after being hospitalized for a fall on Howard's campus. Critical Race Theory - Where is all of this resistance coming from? One journalist thinks she knows and is here to tell us about what she is calling "The Radical Capitalist Behind the Critical Race Theory Furor." President Biden announces his vision to tackle the climate crisis. We'll take a look at his plan to reduce methane emissions by 30-percent by the year 2030. An Alabama judge is no longer on the bench after asking a black man if he was a drug dealer when one of his staffers purchased a new car. And to commemorate the new black wall street, the largest black-owned bank, OneUnited, debuts its Greenwood Debit Card. The owner of the bank will tell us how this card is rooted in his family's legacy. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful!

Julián and Sawyer talk about the ever-evolving nature of President Biden's two-tiered infrastructure package ahead of a purported final vote and the hotly-contested gubernatorial race down in Virginia set for next week. They also welcome renowned election law attorney Marc Elias to break down gerrymandering efforts in Texas and the continued fight to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.   Follow Marc online at @marceelias.    Keep up with Julián on Twitter at @JulianCastro and Instagram at @JulianCastroTX. Sawyer can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @SawyerHackett. And stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.    ‘Our America' is presented in part by the Marguerite Casey Foundation.    Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Rashanah revisits a conversation with Ted Williams, III who explains why the then 2020 presidential election is more important than any other U.S. election. A year later and it seems our democracy is still up for grabs. It's now October 24, 2021, and the Democrat-led Freedom to Vote Act has failed to pass Congress as the bill was filibustered by Republicans. The bill is aimed at strengthening voting rights and essentially overhauling the nation's election system, however, there is a stalemate in Congress between Democrats and Republicans. In October 2020, Williams explains why voting in all elections is important, Ice Cube's Black Agenda, how President Trump became president, and past policies of former Vice President Joe Biden. Williams also shares how he is keeping his students informed about the role civics plays in our everyday lives. Ted Williams III has taught Political Science at Wright College, Chicago State University, and currently is the Chairman of the Social Science Department at Kennedy-King College. He holds degrees in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and Rutgers University and is the former host of WYCC-PBS television's The Professors weekly talk show. He has provided political commentary for BET-TV, WGN-TV, NBC-TV, Upfront with Jesse Jackson, PRI's Smiley and West, WVON radio, and a host of periodicals. Have thoughts about the episode? Share on social media using the hashtag #SomoneYouNeedToKnow. Email rb@rashanahbaldwin.com with feedback or questions! Be sure to subscribe to her youtube channel as well! @RashanahB Follow @RashanahBaldwin everywhere – Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Want to see the showcase of Someone You Need To Know, visit www.rashanahbaldwin.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rashanah-baldwin/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rashanah-baldwin/support

As recently as 2006, the Voting Rights Act was renewed regularly by a unanimous vote of the senate. So what changed? Why did the Senate Republicans just block even opening debate on the Freedom to Vote Act last week, for the THIRD TIME? That's one of the many questions I'll ask of Jennifer Cohn, election security advocate, writer & attorney when she joins us on today's show. Once we get past the why this is happening, we'll find out the what... as in what evil plans they've put in motion to steal the next and subsequent elections. And they do it while they accuse our side of "the steal". These people project their worst impulses on to us. And as most children under the age of around 11 are quite familiar, they're playing the old "I'm rubber, you're glue" game... everything you say bounces off of me and sticks to you. Sadly, the result of this game is much more consequential. We truly risk losing what's left of this democracy..

10.20.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Republicans delivered on their promise. They successfully blocked the Democrats' Freedom to Vote Act. Two cases in Georgia, we are watching closely. Three Washington County officers are on trial for the death of a black man who they repeatedly shocked with stun guns for walking down a road. The other, the Glynn County Superior Court "mistakenly" provided potential jurors access to suppressed evidence in the murder trial of the three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery on its website. Are Philadelphia's forfeiture laws giving law enforcement officers a license to steal? Two Pennsylvania lawmakers will join us to explain why officers can keep the property of those who were never convicted of a crime. The Hawaii ACLU says the civil rights of a 10-year-old black girl were violated when she was detained and questioned without a parent present for a drawing. In our Tech Talk segment, the Plug Me In App creator says it lets you keep in touch with your real-life social network. He'll tell us how. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful!

10.19.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Global Hope Forum; push for DC voting bill; Ben Crump talks SC case As the Senate is getting ready to vote on the Freedom to Vote Act, the voting rights bill the Republicans are promising to filibuster tomorrow, folks flocked to the White House to demand Congress pass the legislation. Pastor Jamal Bryant, who was at today's protest, will join us as well as Pennsylvania's House Minority Leader pushing for the federal law to help ease voting restrictions across the country. In Tennessee, a white juvenile court judge jailed kids under 12 for a nonexistent law. The co-founder of a Nashville Civil Rights Group and a Black juvenile judge will be here to tell us how this happened and the ramifications of putting children that young in juvenile detention. The family of a South Carolina black man who died while in custody in the Charleston County jail is demanding criminal charges for those responsible for killing Jamal Sutherland. A Virginia man shot by a sheriff's deputy shot is suing the department for $14-million. Elijah McClain's family settles its federal lawsuit with the city of Aurora for his death. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partners: Nissan | Check out the ALL NEW 2022 Nissan Frontier! As Efficient As It Is Powerful!

A busy month on the Hill kicks off and today, we break down the senate's new Freedom to Vote Act. We also keep our eyes peeled on the “pro-insurrectionist” rally at the Capitol on Saturday, and get you into action in Virginia. Joining us for our interview is the man who is leading the Organizing charge, Swing Left's Head of Community David Berrios. All that, plus our reasons for hope! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices