3… 2… 1… The Battle For Reforms Starts Now!
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | January 3, 2019
“Democracy 21 does not go into this battle wearing rose-colored glasses. We know the battle will be difficult and take time. We also know that it can be won.”
The Democrats’ “Blue Wave” election last November translates into political power today as the 116th Congress is sworn in and Democrats take control of the House under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
The historic effort to revitalize our democracy also begins today with the introduction of H.R. 1 sponsored by Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD), unprecedented legislation that provides a holistic approach to repairing our democracy and political system.
The legislation addresses fundamental problems with our campaign finance laws, voting rights protections, congressional redistricting rules, and government ethics standards.
In the coming weeks, Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) will introduce the Senate companion to H.R. 1. Senator Udall led the democracy reform effort in the Senate in the last Congress as the sponsor of the We The People Democracy Reform Act of 2017, sponsored in the House by Representative David Price (D-NC).
New polling strongly demonstrates that the public wants anti-corruption measures adopted by Congress. The poll focused on battleground House districts in the 2018 elections and found that 75 percent of voters said attacking Washington corruption was their top priority. This was ahead of both protecting Social Security and Medicare (71 percent) and growing the economy and jobs (70 percent).
According to the poll, 82 percent of voters said they want Congress to quickly pass a bill of reforms to curb corruption.
Democracy 21 does not go into this battle wearing rose-colored glasses. We know the battle will be difficult and take time. We also know that it can be won.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will block action on the legislation in this Congress, but he cannot block it forever.
We faced Senator McConnell in the battle to enact the McCain-Feingold law banning unlimited contributions, or soft money, to political parties. McConnell stonewalled and prevented Senate consideration of this legislation in the late 1990s. Despite his unyielding opposition, however, public outrage over the soft money scandals in Washington resulted in the enactment of the McCain-Feingold law in 2002.
Citizens will rise up again to win this battle.
The fight is on.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.
