A New Day In America
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | January 21, 2021
“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to repair our broken political system, fix our corrupting campaign finance system, and revitalize our democracy.”
A collective sigh of relief occurred across the nation yesterday when the term of defeated President Donald Trump formally ended at noon, as required by the Constitution.
There are tough times ahead starting with the need to bring the coronavirus under control, the top priority for President Biden and his new Administration. But the challenges that lie ahead for the country will now be met by a normal, highly experienced President – Joe Biden – rather than by the aberrational, worst President in our history.
Now, as we look ahead, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to repair our broken political system, fix our corrupting campaign finance system, and revitalize our democracy.
The stage is set for accomplishing these aims with the reintroduction of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, in the House, and the announcement this week that its companion bill in the Senate will be designated S. 1.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who along with Rep. John Sarbanes led the passage of H.R. 1 in the House in the last Congress, said today that “the status of H.R. 1 is that it is an exalted position. It is a priority for us,” and “that this is really central to the integrity of our government.”
New Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, in designating the Senate bill S. 1, “Senate Democrats are committed to advancing real solutions and fighting to uphold the core tenets of our constitution, which is why we are announcing today that the first bill of the new Congress will be the ‘For the People Act.’”
This historic democracy reform legislation would ensure every eligible citizen is able to easily vote; provide candidates with an alternative financing system that leaves them free from being dependent on, and obligated to, influence seeking, big money funders; prevent the innumerable misuses of public office for personal financial gain that occurred during the Trump presidency; and end gerrymandered congressional districts drawn by partisan officeholders that unfairly benefit their party.
In a New York Times op-ed today, Ezra Klein aptly wrote that H.R. 1 “would do more to protect and expand the right to vote than any legislation passed since the Great Society, and it would go a long way toward building a fairer and more transparent campaign financing system.”
The moment has arrived. We must seize it and restore our democracy.
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