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.
In a letter today, Democracy 21 urged the 50 Senators who support the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to “do whatever it takes” to pass the legislation. When Senate proponents “fought for the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964, they recognized the bill was of overriding importance to the country,” according to […]
WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | JANUARY 13, 2022 Last night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a strategy to use a little known procedure that will bring voting rights legislation to the Senate floor for debate – bypassing a filibuster. The voting rights legislation, consolidated into a single bill, the Freedom to Vote: John R. […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Democracy 21 strongly applauds Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his masterful strategy to get the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the Senate floor for consideration without being blocked by a Republican filibuster. Working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, […]
Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on Background Briefing With Ian Masters on January 11, 2022. (18 minutes)
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s latest threats against modifying the filibuster rules give new meaning to the word “chutzpah.” McConnell reportedly said today that if Democrats “nuke” the filibuster, Republicans will act “in ways that are more inconvenient for the majority and this White House then anyone has seen in living […]
View & Download This Report As A PDF By: Fred Wertheimer, President, Democracy 21 | UPDATED: January 2022 The United States Senate is facing a decision of historic consequence with the fate of our democracy at stake. Will 50 Senators plus the Vice President be able to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and override […]
“Democracy is at stake this month, and that is not hyperbole.” – D21 President Fred Wertheimer in The Atlantic “The next few weeks will likely answer the most crucial question that emerged from last year’s insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump: Can one political party defend American democracy on its own?” Ronald Brownstein, senior editor of […]
WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | JANUARY 6, 2022 Today, one year after the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol, our democracy faces its greatest internal threat since the Civil War. Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him may well be the most dangerous con job ever perpetrated on the American people. […]
“The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was an attempt, through force and violence, to overturn the will of the majority expressed in a free and fair election,” Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. writes in a new op-ed. “In a well-functioning democratic republic,” he writes, “its anniversary would engender a commitment across party lines to protecting and enhancing […]
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 […]
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