We have a President hostile to fixing the system and a Congress currently controlled by reform opponents. However, history makes clear that reform issues are cyclical in nature: the kind of scandalous system that exists today has led to major reforms in the past, and can do so again in the future.

Tag Archive for: Democracy Reforms

S. 1, The Filibuster, And McConnell

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | March 18, 2021 “Is a changed filibuster rule more important to confirm a Supreme Court Justice than it is to prevent the greatest suppression and disenfranchisement of voters since the Jim Crow era, to reform a corrupting campaign finance system, to prevent extreme partisan gerrymandering, to stop self-dealing abuses by […]

S. 1, The For The People Act, Introduced In The Senate Today

The For the People Act is being introduced as S. 1 in the Senate today. This follows the passage of the For the People Act as H.R. 1 by the House on March 3. Democracy 21 applauds and thanks Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Jeff Merkley, and Senate Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar for […]

Wertheimer in CNN: The Bitter Irony In The GOP Trying To Curtail Voting Rights

In an op-ed published by CNN Opinion on March 12, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer writes: While Republican state legislators are making disingenuous claims that they are acting to protect ‘election integrity,’ it is clear what is really going on: a brazen partisan effort to suppress as many Democratic voters as they can. Republicans are using former […]

H.R. 1 vs. GOP State Voter Suppression Efforts

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | March 12, 2021 “Senate Republicans will pull out all the stops to block H.R. 1 and enable GOP state voter suppression and disenfranchisement efforts to succeed.” Republican state legislators in Georgia are the leading edge of efforts across the country to enact new state laws aimed directly at the suppression […]

NY Times editorial: For Democracy to Stay, the Filibuster Must Go

Enclosed for your information is a New York Times editorial entitled “For Democracy to Stay, the Filibuster Must Go,” which was published here on March 11, 2021. According to the editorial: The point of H.R. 1 is not to help Democrats. It is to rebuild and reinforce the crumbling foundations of American self-government and abolish […]

Democracy 21 Applauds President Biden’s Efforts to Protect Voting Rights on the 56th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Democracy 21 Applauds President Biden’s Efforts to Protect Voting Rights on the 56th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer 56 years ago today, undeterred by the violent forces opposing their progress, John Lewis led thousands of Americans across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, demanding the right to vote. […]

House Passes Historic Democracy Reform

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | March 4, 2021 “The bottom-line choice is clear: either the Senate votes to meet the urgent need of the American people to repair our democracy and protect the sacred right to vote, or the Senate maintains without exception the filibuster that has been serially abused for years by Senator Mitch […]

D21 Applauds House Passage of H.R. 1, Urges Senate Action Soon

Democracy 21 Applauds House Members Whose Votes Passed H.R. 1, Urges Senate Action Soon Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer The House passed historic democracy reform legislation on Wednesday to repair our broken political system and fix our corrupting campaign finance system. Unlike 2019 when the House first passed H.R. 1 and Senate Majority […]

H.R. 1: Myths and Realities, Part 2

H.R. 1: Myths and Realities, Part 2 A Democracy 21 Response to Incorrect Claims Made About H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2021 H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2021, is sweeping democracy reform legislation that is being considered by the House of Representatives this week. Last week, Democracy 21 issued […]

It’s too difficult for ‘ordinary’ people to run for office. H.R. 1 can change that – D21 VP Matt Keller op-ed

Enclosed for your information is a piece by Democracy 21 Vice President Matt Keller entitled “It’s too difficult for ‘ordinary’ people to run for office. The For the People Act can change that,” which was published here in America Magazine, The Jesuit Review on March 1, 2021. According to the piece: With Mr. Biden’s leadership […]