Op-Eds Archive

As Democracy Summit Approaches, President Biden Must Make The Freedom To Vote Act His Absolute Priority, D21 Vice President Matt Keller Writes In The Hill

As the White House prepares to host a Summit for Democracy on December 9, President Joe Biden is “failing in his efforts to restore faith in American Democracy at home and abroad by standing on the sidelines as The Freedom to Vote Act is being blocked by a filibuster in the Senate,” Democracy 21 Vice President Matt Keller writes in an […]

Analysis: Why The Filibuster Rules Must Be Revised In Order To Protect Voting Rights And Save The Senate

  By: Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21 The filibuster is again at the center of an ongoing battle in the Senate over civil rights. Since June, four filibusters have blocked pending voting rights legislation that would protect millions of eligible Americans from losing their ability to vote in federal elections. The right to vote is […]

Wertheimer/Eisen Op-Ed: “Two Senators Could Save U.S. Democracy”

“We hope Senators Manchin and Sinema choose to be on the right side of history. Failing to do so could be fatal to the future of the American experiment.” “Today we face a full-blown national crisis for our democracy – with the voting rights of millions of Americans about to be sacrificed solely for partisan […]

D21 Vice President Matt Keller: What The Chaos In Afghanistan Can Remind Us About The Importance Of Protecting Democracy At Home

“As we witness the chaos, violence, and loss of freedom in Afghanistan, we must also recognize that democracy is not guaranteed here at home,” Democracy 21 Vice President Matt Keller writes in an op-ed published in The Hill. Keller describes his efforts in Afghanistan in the early 2010s to bring technology to help foster education in […]

McCarthy’s Threat To Telecoms Warrants Immediate Ethics Committee Inquiry, Former Obama Ethics Czar Norm Eisen And D21 President Fred Wertheimer Write In Politico Op-Ed

  “It calls to mind a movie where a gangster walks into a business and says ‘Gee, nice telecom company you have here. It would be a real shame if something happened to it.’ It may also be a sign that the committee is getting close to uncomfortable evidence that the minority leader wants to […]

How To Loosen The Hold Rich People Have On Our Elections

“Our democracy is at risk if the wealthy and powerful are secretly providing huge amounts to support federal candidates to serve their interests and suppress the participation of ordinary people without their knowing.” A recent New Yorker investigation by Jane Mayer, “linked two dangerous threats to American democracy today – election subversion and dark money,” former federal […]

We Need Action, Not Just Words, From President Biden On Voting Rights

“Establishing federal rules to protect the sacred right to vote should be a top priority for President Biden and his Administration. It may be by Biden’s words, but, to date, it is not by Biden’s actions,” Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer writes in a new op-ed published on Medium and originally released in Wertheimer’s Political Report on July 22, […]

The Senate may be a legislative graveyard, but debate is not yet dead in the US – D21 VP Matt Keller in The Hill

Enclosed for your information is an op-ed by Democracy 21 President Matt Keller entitled, “The Senate may be a legislative graveyard, but debate is not yet dead in the US,” which was published here in The Hill on June 6, 2021. Read the full piece below or here. The Senate may be a legislative graveyard, […]

The Most Important Decision of Senator Manchin’s Career – Wertheimer in Medium

Enclosed for your information is a piece by Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer entitled “The Most Important Decision of Senator Manchin’s Career,” which was published in Medium on May 27, 2021. Read the full piece here or below. The Most Important Decision of Senator Manchin’s Career Fred Wertheimer | Medium | 5/27/21 If, as expected, […]

Republican Officeholders in the States are Engaged in a Political Coup Supported by Congressional Republicans – Wertheimer in Medium

Republican Officeholders in the States are Engaged in a Political Coup Supported by Congressional Republicans Fred Wertheimer | 5/10/21 | Medium Republican officeholders in the states are engaged in a political coup supported by congressional Republicans. The voter suppression laws being enacted by Republican-controlled state legislatures around the country are an effort to eliminate as […]