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The odds are long. A Hail Mary pass or two is needed. The opponent is badly bruised from a whoopin’ they took on November 8th. They are left with what will be an anemic majority in the House. But that’s not til January 3rd. Until then, we have 40+ days where we hold the lead and possess the power. If we choose to use it strongly, wisely and with a touch of cooperation from a teeny-weeny group of Republicans who are fed up with being the villains, we have a chance to do some good.
In an amazing turn of events, a bill passed by the House last year to codify the 2015 Supreme Court decision to make same-sex marriage legal, has been shepherded by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer through the Senate where he convinced 12 Republicans to pass the House bill to make same-sex marriage the law of the land.
So I got to thinking — how many other House bills have been passed in this session of Congress and are just sitting in the Senate gathering dust waiting for a vote? Turns out a lot! Many will need 60 votes for them to pass thanks to the anti-Democracy Republicans who keep the filibuster going.
But some can pass with the 51 votes the Dems already have. Why not spend these 40 days and either convince a few Republicans to come along like they did with the same-sex marriage act or we just go ahead and pass the ones we can pass with 51 votes.
Even if we only get one of these enacted as law, it’ll be worth it. And yes, there’s so much more we needed this Democratic majority to pass. Like codifying Roe and making abortion permanently legal. The Dems in the House have had the votes to do that since the day the Supreme Court made it illegal back in June. In fact, they’ve had numerous chances to do it for 49 years. Just never got around to it. So there’s nothing the Democratic Senate has from the House that they can attempt to pass. Same for many other issues that the American people support.
In case you missed it, on Sunday’s podcast of “Rumble with Michael Moore,” I threw a few of those Hail Mary passes to see if we can squeeze a few more victories out of this Congress (until we get it back 10 months from now after two scandals, three resignations, four indictments and an untimely death during an “all you can eat” desert at an Applebee’s in suburban Virginia).
Six weeks during the holiday season makes this a difficult endeavor. But we just took Pennsylvania! Michigan is all Blue — Deep Blue! Crazy Red Nebraska passed a ballot proposal raising the minimum wage by 40%! Marijuana is now legal in Maryland and Missouri!
So how ‘bout continuing the Child Tax Credit? Extending the Civil Rights Act to the LGBTQ+ community? Passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act?
So please, if you haven’t already, have a listen to the podcast episode, it's only 40 minutes long. Just see it as me laying out my next crazy idea like, “hey, did you hear the one where we're going to have a Democratic woman of color represent Alaska in Congress? Or how ‘bout the one where Kansas would protect the right to abortion in their state constitution? Or the one where there would be no red wave on Roevember?” Crazy, huh?!
Pundits and bloviators will say it can never happen, but they should know by now whenever we hear that, that’s our catnip.
Are you with me Arizona and Nevada? Of course you are. You never left us.
Here’s a list of the bills and legislation ideas discussed in this podcast:
To expand civil rights to the LGBTQ+ Community:
H.R.5: Equality Act — Passed House
S.393: Equality Act — Introduced
To end gerrymandering and protect voting rights: There are currently two bills that have passed the House and are sitting in the Senate.
H.R.1: For the People Act of 2021 — Passed House
S.1: For The People Act 2021 — Introduced
— Expands voter registration (e.g., automatic and same-day registration) and voting access (e.g., vote-by-mail and early voting). It also limits removing voters from voter rolls.
— Requires states to establish independent redistricting commissions to carry out congressional redistricting.
— Sets forth provisions related to election security
— Expands the prohibition on campaign spending by foreign nationals, requires additional disclosures of campaign-related fundraising and spending, disclaimers regarding certain political advertising, and establishes an alt. campaign funding system for certain federal offices.
— Requires a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, prohibits House Members from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, establishes conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.
— Requires President, Vice President, and certain candidates for those offices to disclose 10 years of tax returns
H.R.4: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 2021 — Passed House
S.4: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act 2021 — Introduced
— Sets guidelines to determine when states must receive preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights.
— Requires states to notify the public of changes to voting practices.
…and more.
To cap insulin prices for all:
H.R.6833: Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2023, and for other purposes — Became law
S.3700 - Affordable Insulin Now Act — Introduced
To protect DACA kids:
H.R.6 - American DREAM and Promise Act (no Senate bill)
To give pensions back to GM employees:
H.R.6929: Susan Muffley Act of 2022 — Passed House
S.3766: Susan Muffley Act of 2022 — Introduced
Extend the Child Tax Credit (CTC): A group of House Democrats wrote a letter to Dem leadership regarding CTC on Nov 10th. Here’s an excerpt:
“At a time when the price of essential goods and services like food, child care, and housing are near record highs and many Americans are struggling to make ends meet, we write to urge you to oppose the inclusion of corporate tax breaks in any must-pass or tax extenders bill that is brought to the floor for a vote unless workers and families are provided with commensurate support and relief. These include extending the expanded monthly refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) and expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as soon as possible, and no later than the end of the year.”
To provide relief to those whose jobs were outsourced overseas:
H.R.3974: Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act of 2021 — Introduced
S.2218 - Trade Adjustment Assistance Modernization Act of 2021 — Introduced
Expand Medicare coverage to include dental, vision and hearing benefits for everyone.
End the filibuster.
ICYMI:
Mike’s Midterm Tsunami of Truths:
Truth #1: The Campaign
Truth #2: Even a kid from 4th hour Trig class can beat this crowd
Truth #3: The Haters, the Bigots and the Supremacists Always Lose in the End
Truth #4: Introducing The Whackadoodle 10
Truth #5: Trump is not the Big Bad Wolf. But he is very afraid of You.
Truth #6: The Easy-to-Digest Republican Party Platform
Truth #7: Biden, Don’t F**k with Me
Truth #8: If you’re not registered, you can’t Roe, Roe, Roe the Vote!
Truth #9: Why will we win? Because the American people hate fascism.
Truth #10: Meet Blake Masters, Whackadoodle No. 9
Truth #11: 147 Reasons We Will Win on November 8th
Truth #12: Biden just gave us a boost and a toke.
Truth #13: Women. That’s it.
Truth #14: If the Mainstream Media Thinks There’s a Chance We May Be Right about Roevember, Watch Out.
Truth #15: Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, Whackadoodle No. 8
Truth #16: As Alex Jones has now been fined a billion dollars for his lies, that is nothing compared to the punishment other Republicans are going to get on November 8th.
Truth #17: Early Voting, Mail-in Voting, Dropbox Voting — These Were Made for Libs, Hard Workers, Book Readers, Artists, Busy Parents, Slackers, and Progressives like us! In other words, The Majority!
Truth #18: The Good Queen vs. The Mad King
Truth #19: A Workers' Revolt Extends to the Voting Booth
Truth #20: We Are in Charge
Truth #21: Don’t believe it.
Truth #22: If the election is about inflation and the economy, THANK GOD — We Win
Truth #23: We Believe in Science. And that’s why we will win.
Truth #24: Vote Local, Win National
Truth #25: The side with the best nursery rhymes wins.
Truth #26: We Will Win Because Americans Don’t Want to See This Happen...
Truth #27: We are going to win because our side has millions of good souls like this…
Truth #28: Whackadoodle No More
Truth #29: They’ve Got Big Plans That We’ve Gotta Stop
Truth #30: Turn Off the News! Stop Reading the Paper! They’re Filling Your Head with Mush.
Truth #31: If I Had a Hammer
Truth #32: This Is All You Need to Know
Truth #33: Let Me Call Your Non-voting Brother-in-Law!
Truth #34: Deep Down, You Know You’re Being Played
Truth #35: The kids are all right.
Truth #36: Dem Insiders Quietly Confide to Me What We’ve Known All Along
Truth #37: It Can’t Happen Here
Truth #38: The Day After the Blue Tsunami
Truth #39: Roevember Election Day Mixtape
Truth #40: We Win Either Way
Truth #41: We Killed the Red Wave
Truth #42: Can you bring yourself to say we will win the House?
Truth #43: Even the Losers Get a Trophy.
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