Fred’s Weekly Note Archive

It’s Not Too Late To Save Our Democracy. Senate Showdown On Voting Rights Coming In January.

WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  DECEMBER 23, 2021 This has been a very difficult year for the country, starting with the devastating impact of the coronavirus. Nevertheless, we should also recognize our good fortune this year when the effort of a demagogic, lawless former President to pull off a political coup was averted. But, while that […]

President Biden Must Use His Bully Pulpit On Voting Rights — Now

WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  DECEMBER 16, 2021 Yesterday, President Joe Biden said, “There’s nothing domestically more important than voting rights.” This is an important statement by President Biden, but it belies Biden’s damaging failure over the past 11 months to treat the enactment of voting rights legislation as a top priority for his Administration. Nevertheless, […]

The Democracy Summit Highlights The Urgent Need To Repair Our Own Democracy

  FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  December 9, 2021 As the United States holds its Democracy Summit this week for more than 100 countries, our own democracy has serious credibility problems. The attempted political coup and insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, the baseless, demagogic attacks by former President Trump on the presidential election he lost, […]

5 Ways Trump’s Big Lie Is Setting The Stage To Rig & Steal Future Elections

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE  |  December 2, 2021 We need to be clear-eyed about what former President Trump, his acolytes, and state and congressional Republican officeholders are doing. Trump is a habitual liar who repeatedly claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, without a shred of credible evidence to back that up. Since […]

Nearly 9 Months And Still No Senate Action On Voting Rights. Here’s Why.

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | November 18, 2021 On March 3, the House of Representatives passed the For the People Act, landmark legislation to establish fair voting rules for federal elections and to stop voter suppression efforts in the states. Now, some nine months later, the Senate has failed to act on – or even […]

The Civil Rights Filibuster Returns With A Vengeance

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | November 11, 2021 One of the most famous Senate filibusters occurred in 1957, when South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond held the Senate floor for more than 24 hours in an effort to block passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The filibuster ultimately failed, and the Act – though […]

GOP Blocks Voting Rights For 4th Time; It’s Time To Revise The Filibuster Rules & Protect Democracy

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | November 4, 2021 For the fourth time this year, Senate Republicans have blocked essential voting rights legislation. Yesterday, their obstructionism blocked consideration of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. They previously blocked consideration of the For the People Act in June and again in August, and then, in October, […]

Bypassing The Filibuster Rules Will Save Voting Rights For Millions Of Americans

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 28, 2021 The stage is now set for enacting historic voting rights, anti-corruption, and anti-gerrymandering legislation. This essential legislation – the Freedom to Vote Act – will overturn the unprecedented wave of voter suppression laws passed this year by Republican-controlled state legislature around the country and provide protections to […]

The Battle For The Freedom To Vote Act Moves Forward

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 21, 2021 On Wednesday, Senate Republicans used a filibuster to block consideration of Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) compromise voting rights bill, the Freedom to Vote Act. Every Republican Senator voted to deny the Senate even the ability to debate the Manchin compromise bill on the Senate floor. This battle, […]

Voting Rights Scheduled For Cloture Vote Next Week To Begin Debate

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 14, 2021 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced today that he will file cloture next Monday, October 18, on a motion to proceed on the Freedom to Vote Act. This is the compromise legislation engineered by Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who had opposed an earlier version of the […]