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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
July 1, 2019
The Courts Won’t End Gerrymandering. Eric Holder Has a Plan to Fix It Without Them.
While Democrats are fixated on 2020, Holder is fighting for fairer maps in 2021 and beyond.
Ari Berman
July/August 2019 Issue
snip//
Not long after the election, Holder launched the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), a political action committee that aims to unrig the system that has entrenched Republican control of the country’s most important swing states. He’d received the backing of top Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, who in December 2018 folded his own political operation, Organizing for Action, into Holder’s to give the fight against gerrymandering more clout. Now, while other top Democrats are focused on the White House, Holder has set his sights on neighborhoods like Merrill Park and on races like the one he was there to talk about, a state Supreme Court contest that had received virtually no attention outside Wisconsin.
“This state is in some ways ground zero for gerrymandering,” Holder told two dozen BLOC canvassers who would knock on doors that afternoon for the progressive judge running in the race. “Last year they called it a blue wave, and yet you didn’t flip one congressional seat here in Wisconsin. That’s not because you didn’t work hard or people didn’t vote. It was because of gerrymandering.” Republicans had so effectively gerrymandered the state that even when Democrats won 53 percent of the statewide vote in 2018, they took only 36 percent of the seats in the state legislature.
Holder views gerrymandering, which manipulates district lines to benefit one party, as part of a broader struggle for voting rights, since it effectively diminishes the value of certain communities’ votes. “There is a direct connection between gerrymandering and voter suppression, not only here in Wisconsin but in places around the country,” Holder told me before his speech at the union hall. “It is not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of voter suppression in those states where you see the greatest amount of gerrymandering.”
For decades, Democrats successfully fought these twin efforts at disenfranchisement in the courts. As Obama’s attorney general, Holder led that charge, filing lawsuits against states like North Carolina and Texas that challenged Republican-backed laws curbing the right to vote. But this tactic was handed an enormous defeat in 2013, when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder, ruling that states with a long history of discrimination no longer needed federal approval to change voting laws. Last week, the court struck another blow, declaring that federal courts couldn’t block partisan gerrymandering. Voting rights advocates face not only a hostile Trump administration but a growing number of federal benches controlled by conservatives. As the GOP’s war on voting has intensified, the traditional ways of protecting ballot access are no longer reliable.
So Holder is pursuing a new strategy, trying to elect down-ballot candidates who can deliver fairer maps and voting laws. The NDRC invested $350,000 in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, hoping that a liberal majority on the seven-member court might strike down any egregious gerrymanders in the next round of redistricting in 2021. “I don’t think that 10 years or so ago, you would have a former attorney general campaigning for a state Supreme Court justice,” Holder told me. “This is a recognition on the part of the Democratic Party, on the part of progressives, that we need to focus on state and local elections to a much greater degree than we have in the past.”
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/the-courts-wont-end-gerrymandering-eric-holder-has-a-plan-to-fix-it-without-them/
The Courts Won't End Gerrymandering. Eric Holder Has a Plan to Fix It Without Them.
The Courts Won’t End Gerrymandering. Eric Holder Has a Plan to Fix It Without Them.
While Democrats are fixated on 2020, Holder is fighting for fairer maps in 2021 and beyond.
Ari Berman
July/August 2019 Issue
snip//
Not long after the election, Holder launched the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), a political action committee that aims to unrig the system that has entrenched Republican control of the country’s most important swing states. He’d received the backing of top Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, who in December 2018 folded his own political operation, Organizing for Action, into Holder’s to give the fight against gerrymandering more clout. Now, while other top Democrats are focused on the White House, Holder has set his sights on neighborhoods like Merrill Park and on races like the one he was there to talk about, a state Supreme Court contest that had received virtually no attention outside Wisconsin.
“This state is in some ways ground zero for gerrymandering,” Holder told two dozen BLOC canvassers who would knock on doors that afternoon for the progressive judge running in the race. “Last year they called it a blue wave, and yet you didn’t flip one congressional seat here in Wisconsin. That’s not because you didn’t work hard or people didn’t vote. It was because of gerrymandering.” Republicans had so effectively gerrymandered the state that even when Democrats won 53 percent of the statewide vote in 2018, they took only 36 percent of the seats in the state legislature.
Holder views gerrymandering, which manipulates district lines to benefit one party, as part of a broader struggle for voting rights, since it effectively diminishes the value of certain communities’ votes. “There is a direct connection between gerrymandering and voter suppression, not only here in Wisconsin but in places around the country,” Holder told me before his speech at the union hall. “It is not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of voter suppression in those states where you see the greatest amount of gerrymandering.”
For decades, Democrats successfully fought these twin efforts at disenfranchisement in the courts. As Obama’s attorney general, Holder led that charge, filing lawsuits against states like North Carolina and Texas that challenged Republican-backed laws curbing the right to vote. But this tactic was handed an enormous defeat in 2013, when the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder, ruling that states with a long history of discrimination no longer needed federal approval to change voting laws. Last week, the court struck another blow, declaring that federal courts couldn’t block partisan gerrymandering. Voting rights advocates face not only a hostile Trump administration but a growing number of federal benches controlled by conservatives. As the GOP’s war on voting has intensified, the traditional ways of protecting ballot access are no longer reliable.
So Holder is pursuing a new strategy, trying to elect down-ballot candidates who can deliver fairer maps and voting laws. The NDRC invested $350,000 in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, hoping that a liberal majority on the seven-member court might strike down any egregious gerrymanders in the next round of redistricting in 2021. “I don’t think that 10 years or so ago, you would have a former attorney general campaigning for a state Supreme Court justice,” Holder told me. “This is a recognition on the part of the Democratic Party, on the part of progressives, that we need to focus on state and local elections to a much greater degree than we have in the past.”
more...
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/07/the-courts-wont-end-gerrymandering-eric-holder-has-a-plan-to-fix-it-without-them/
July 1, 2019
Former US attorney announces Senate bid in Kansas
By Max Greenwood - 07/01/19 11:22 AM EDT
Former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced on Monday that he would seek the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), becoming the highest-profile Democrat yet to jump into the race.
Grissom, who served as the top federal prosecutor in Kansas from 2010 until 2016, has entertained the possibility of a Senate bid for months, meeting with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) officials and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) about a potential run.
In his announcement, Grissom recalled how he helped “lead the investigation and successful prosecution against the Wichita Airport and Fort Riley bombers,” and touted his record combating gang violence.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/451158-former-us-attorney-announces-senate-bid-in-kansas
Former US attorney announces Senate bid in Kansas
Former US attorney announces Senate bid in Kansas
By Max Greenwood - 07/01/19 11:22 AM EDT
Former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced on Monday that he would seek the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), becoming the highest-profile Democrat yet to jump into the race.
Grissom, who served as the top federal prosecutor in Kansas from 2010 until 2016, has entertained the possibility of a Senate bid for months, meeting with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) officials and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) about a potential run.
In his announcement, Grissom recalled how he helped “lead the investigation and successful prosecution against the Wichita Airport and Fort Riley bombers,” and touted his record combating gang violence.
“As a federal prosecutor, I’m proud that I was able to stand up for Western Kansas and work with local sheriffs and police to help drive the violent Norteños gang off the streets of Dodge City, and disarm felons throughout the region,” he said.
“Now I’m running for the United States Senate, because I know we can do more for our healthcare and rural hospitals, we can fight harder for good paying jobs and education, and we must continue to keep the American people safe.”
“Now I’m running for the United States Senate, because I know we can do more for our healthcare and rural hospitals, we can fight harder for good paying jobs and education, and we must continue to keep the American people safe.”
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/451158-former-us-attorney-announces-senate-bid-in-kansas
July 1, 2019
Trump wants tanks at his Fourth of July shindig
Taxpayers will pay and infrastructure may suffer.
Zack Ford
Jul 1, 2019, 9:51 am
President Donald Trump is hosting his own Fourth of July celebration at the Lincoln Memorial this year, complete with a VIP section for which taxpayers will foot the bill. The latest wrinkle, according to The Washington Post: Trump has insisted on having tanks and other armed military vehicles present for the celebration.
Abrams tanks or Bradley Fighting Vehicles would serve as props for Trump’s “Salute to America,” set for just three days from now. That’s in addition to a military aircraft flyover, including a performance by the Navy’s Blue Angels.
Last year, Trump similarly hoped to hold a military parade on Veterans Day, insisting it would be “great for the spirit of the country,” having been inspired by a Bastille Day parade in France. That parade would have reportedly cost an estimated $92 million, half of which would have just been for non-military costs like security. Even the American Legion responded that “the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible.”
There were likewise concerns that these massive tactical vehicles, some of which can weigh over 60 tons, would damage roads and bridges in the District of Columbia. The D.C. City Council weighed in Monday morning, saying, “Tanks, but no tanks,” and noting concerns about infrastructure damage.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-tanks-fourth-of-july-celebration-af0677c162ac/
Trump wants tanks at his Fourth of July shindig
Trump wants tanks at his Fourth of July shindig
Taxpayers will pay and infrastructure may suffer.
Zack Ford
Jul 1, 2019, 9:51 am
President Donald Trump is hosting his own Fourth of July celebration at the Lincoln Memorial this year, complete with a VIP section for which taxpayers will foot the bill. The latest wrinkle, according to The Washington Post: Trump has insisted on having tanks and other armed military vehicles present for the celebration.
Abrams tanks or Bradley Fighting Vehicles would serve as props for Trump’s “Salute to America,” set for just three days from now. That’s in addition to a military aircraft flyover, including a performance by the Navy’s Blue Angels.
Last year, Trump similarly hoped to hold a military parade on Veterans Day, insisting it would be “great for the spirit of the country,” having been inspired by a Bastille Day parade in France. That parade would have reportedly cost an estimated $92 million, half of which would have just been for non-military costs like security. Even the American Legion responded that “the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible.”
There were likewise concerns that these massive tactical vehicles, some of which can weigh over 60 tons, would damage roads and bridges in the District of Columbia. The D.C. City Council weighed in Monday morning, saying, “Tanks, but no tanks,” and noting concerns about infrastructure damage.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-tanks-fourth-of-july-celebration-af0677c162ac/
July 1, 2019
Conditions at El Paso Border Station So Bad Agents Are Drinking and Arming Themselves
Tom Sykes
Published 07.01.19 6:48AM ET
Conditions at El Paso Border Station So Bad Agents Are Drinking and Arming Themselves
https://www.thedailybeast.com/homeland-security-conditions-at-el-paso-border-station-are-so-bad-agents-are-drinking-and-arming-themselves?ref=homeConditions at El Paso Border Station So Bad Agents Are Drinking and Arming Themselves
Tom Sykes
Published 07.01.19 6:48AM ET
Conditions at an El Paso border station are so bad that agents are drinking heavily and arming themselves against possible riots, the government’s own internal watchdog warned as far back as May, giving the lie to Friday’s claim by a top Trump administration official that reports of poor conditions were “unsubstantiated.” The internal report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general said that only four showers at the Texas site were available for 756 immigrants, half of the immigrants were being held outside, and that a cell meant for a maximum of 35 people held 155 adult males, with only one toilet and sink. The cell was so crowded the men could not lie down to sleep. Temperatures in the cells reached over 80 degrees, the report said. Border facilities were “seeing more drinking, domestic violence, and financial problems among their agents,” the report said. The unnamed El Paso facility did have formula and baby food for children, but did not have soft mats for them to sleep on or clean clothing. DHS Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Friday that news stories of poor conditions for children at a border station in the El Paso sector were “unsubstantiated.”
Read it at NBC News
Read it at NBC News
July 1, 2019
Forecast Model Predicts Democratic Win In 2020
July 1, 2019 at 7:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Forecast Model Predicts Democratic Win In 2020
https://politicalwire.com/2019/07/01/forecast-model-predicts-democratic-win-in-2020/Forecast Model Predicts Democratic Win In 2020
July 1, 2019 at 7:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Rachel Bitecofer’s Negative Partisanship Model — which nailed the 2018 midterm elections — predicts Democrats will win the presidency in 2020.
“The leaking of the Trump campaign’s internal polling has somewhat softened the blow of this forecast, as that polling reaffirms what my model already knew: Trump’s 2016 path to the White House, which was the political equivalent of getting dealt a Royal Flush in poker, is probably not replicable in 2020 with an agitated Democratic electorate. And that is really bad news for Donald Trump because the Blue Wall of the Midwest was then, and is now, the ONLY viable path for Trump to win the White House.”
“Start with the numerical fact that Trump ‘won’ Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan with 47.22%, 48.18%, and 47.5% of the vote, respectively, after five times the normal number in those states cast their ballots for an option other than Trump or Clinton. This, combined with the depressed turnout of African Americans (targeted with suppression materials by the Russians) and left-leaning Independents turned off by Clinton (targeted with defection materials by the Russians) allowed Trump to pull off an improbable victory, one that will be hard to replicate in today’s less nitpicky atmosphere.”
With 270 votes needed to win in the Electoral College, Bitecofer forecasts the map as starting at 279 votes for the Democrats and 197 for the Republicans, with an additional 62 a tossup.
This forecast has been added to the interactive, consensus Electoral Vote Map.
“The leaking of the Trump campaign’s internal polling has somewhat softened the blow of this forecast, as that polling reaffirms what my model already knew: Trump’s 2016 path to the White House, which was the political equivalent of getting dealt a Royal Flush in poker, is probably not replicable in 2020 with an agitated Democratic electorate. And that is really bad news for Donald Trump because the Blue Wall of the Midwest was then, and is now, the ONLY viable path for Trump to win the White House.”
“Start with the numerical fact that Trump ‘won’ Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan with 47.22%, 48.18%, and 47.5% of the vote, respectively, after five times the normal number in those states cast their ballots for an option other than Trump or Clinton. This, combined with the depressed turnout of African Americans (targeted with suppression materials by the Russians) and left-leaning Independents turned off by Clinton (targeted with defection materials by the Russians) allowed Trump to pull off an improbable victory, one that will be hard to replicate in today’s less nitpicky atmosphere.”
With 270 votes needed to win in the Electoral College, Bitecofer forecasts the map as starting at 279 votes for the Democrats and 197 for the Republicans, with an additional 62 a tossup.
This forecast has been added to the interactive, consensus Electoral Vote Map.
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Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 171,081
