The SAVE act is a Republican attempt of suppress the vote. Those states that don't require ID when you vote have no voter fraud. Republicans lie, don't you know!
David, my home state of NH (100% blue federal representation, red state house and governor) has implemented Voter ID, despite the fact that only a small handful of votes have been shown to be fraudulent over the past several cycles, and most of those acts committed by, you guessed it, Republicans.
Maybe Dr. what we need it's a new Constitution since the current one failed to prevent a corrupt dictator take over the country, apparently always within the current laws and procedures.
What Karen and Jen miss is that laws are only followed if the citizenry comply. If the citizenry are corrupt then chaos follows.
Here is how bad things are in america with corrupt morally bankrupt americans: I posted in yesterdays wall street journal in the comments section about the Save act which had hundreds of reader comments with some comments getting likes 100 times, except mine which got zero likes! My comment:
"Donald Trumps 2020 absentee ballot vote was a faudulent act which should be prosecuted since he was not a resident of florida (maralago was always a club not residence since purchase) at the time and did not live in Florida more than half a year as required to vote in that state.
Have fun with your denials .
That nobody on this comments board has even suggested impeachment means you want other people to follow laws and not you! You really think america will function well without law abiding citizens?"
So the elite and financial elite in the comments section of the wall street journal did not like my comment about impeaching trump and could care less about his voting fraud. That explains why america is such a mess now and why the Epstein files case is really a metaphor for americans not in the ruling class: rules for thee and not for me.
We need to work hard , vote and keep voting and stay vigilant to get our democracy back as at least 20% of americans are at least morally bankrupt and complicit in this mess.
I volunteered as a poll worker in a small town several elections, we didn't ever see non citizens attempting to vote. Kudos to Utah's Lt. Governor Henderson who conducted a study to verify it is NOT a problem but was never consulted by Utah Senator Mike Lee who sponsored it
Same for me, PJ. I've worked as a depict voter registrar here in NH, which has implemented Voter ID laws. (And, the number of people who were attempting to re-register (due to in-state moves) and who found out that a Real ID was not sufficient to prove citizenship was surprising.)
One thing Republicans are pretty good at: Naming their bills in an attempt to confuse the public. Gee, like the "SAVE" act, an attempt to save their sorry behinds.
A surgical blade in the hands of a competent surgeon can perform miracles. In the hands of a street thug, it can cause enormous harm. It's not the tool's fault who wields it. Reshape and sharpen the blade but carefully craft its use.
In whose hands the sharp blade ends up SC, depends upon the voters, and seems to me that we failed horrendously. By paying the consequences of our mistakes, I hope we learned the lesson and don't forget during the next election cycle. If we have one at all.
The inaccuracy of the naming of the Republican supported legislation is another ‘con job’, on the American people. Starting with the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and now w/the ‘Save Act’. Neither of which supports a democracy. This is especially important at this juncture as more, and more Americans are waking up and realizing they have been duped!
In the strange, hate-filled world of Donald J Trump, he has a special meaning for the world "WE". You might think that our fake POTUS means "my fellow Americans". Nope. You'd be wrong. When he says "WE" it's limited to his supporters or allies or corrupt collaborators. He NEVER means "We the People". His WE is referring to those who will become richer because of higher oil prices while 95% of Americans will become poorer. The "WE" of "SO MUCH WINNING" from tariffs are the Trump family and the upper 5% of taxpayers, NOT the People and so it goes into a war with Iran. WE the PEOPLE must do whatever it takes to save ourselves and the nation
I found this post confusing and worrisome. The filibuster is exactly a way to oppose this SAVE Act if it can muster a majority. This is my first push back on what I believe to be your position.
I agree. I have been an admirer of Jennifer’s for some time, but I have grown weary of her lecturing Democrats. They are supposed to oppose the SAVE Act but somehow tie themselves in knots to handle the filibuster just right according to Jennifer’s standards. As a former Senate staffer of 9 years I think that the stupidest thing the Dems could do is signal their intention to get rid of the filibuster when they win the majority. That is an open invitation for the GOP to go ahead and pull the trigger to get the SAVE Act through. We need to deal with the filibuster when we actually have to power to do away with it. Right now let’s focus on the job at hand - defeating the SAVE Act.
Thanks for your comment: I would just say that this situation is evidence that the filibuster can be of value to either side of the aisle and pluralist democracies need to protect intense minorities - as we will be if Republican try to get a voter suppression bill passed.
I couldn’t agree more. The filibuster cuts both ways. When we do get the majority, the decision to eliminate it will require careful consideration. It may need to go, but eliminating it is not without risk.
In my opinion, any tool at the Democrats disposal to defeat the SAVE Act is justified, including the filibuster. That might be a short-sighted point of view, but as a woman who took her husband's last name when she married, I am one of those who would be required to submit additional paperwork to continue to be able to vote. I certainly didn't anticipate when I got married back in 1967 that taking my husband's name would ever be a stumbling block to voting.
Democrats need to take a page out of the Republican handbook. Fiscal responsibility is a key plank of the Republican agenda, but only during a Democratic administration. As long as Republicans control the government Democrats need to fully embrace the filibuster. Doing away with it should be a priority after they regain power, but if Republicans thought that was a foregone conclusion, then they would have no incentive not to do it themselves.
The SAVE act is a Republican attempt of suppress the vote. Those states that don't require ID when you vote have no voter fraud. Republicans lie, don't you know!
David, my home state of NH (100% blue federal representation, red state house and governor) has implemented Voter ID, despite the fact that only a small handful of votes have been shown to be fraudulent over the past several cycles, and most of those acts committed by, you guessed it, Republicans.
All a nice set-up for Trump to claim every election in every state that he doesn't like was stolen.
If we ever get to the point where there is another Constitutional Convention, the number of reforms needed will be staggering.
Maybe Dr. what we need it's a new Constitution since the current one failed to prevent a corrupt dictator take over the country, apparently always within the current laws and procedures.
Exactly.
What Karen and Jen miss is that laws are only followed if the citizenry comply. If the citizenry are corrupt then chaos follows.
Here is how bad things are in america with corrupt morally bankrupt americans: I posted in yesterdays wall street journal in the comments section about the Save act which had hundreds of reader comments with some comments getting likes 100 times, except mine which got zero likes! My comment:
"Donald Trumps 2020 absentee ballot vote was a faudulent act which should be prosecuted since he was not a resident of florida (maralago was always a club not residence since purchase) at the time and did not live in Florida more than half a year as required to vote in that state.
Have fun with your denials .
That nobody on this comments board has even suggested impeachment means you want other people to follow laws and not you! You really think america will function well without law abiding citizens?"
So the elite and financial elite in the comments section of the wall street journal did not like my comment about impeaching trump and could care less about his voting fraud. That explains why america is such a mess now and why the Epstein files case is really a metaphor for americans not in the ruling class: rules for thee and not for me.
We need to work hard , vote and keep voting and stay vigilant to get our democracy back as at least 20% of americans are at least morally bankrupt and complicit in this mess.
I volunteered as a poll worker in a small town several elections, we didn't ever see non citizens attempting to vote. Kudos to Utah's Lt. Governor Henderson who conducted a study to verify it is NOT a problem but was never consulted by Utah Senator Mike Lee who sponsored it
Same for me, PJ. I've worked as a depict voter registrar here in NH, which has implemented Voter ID laws. (And, the number of people who were attempting to re-register (due to in-state moves) and who found out that a Real ID was not sufficient to prove citizenship was surprising.)
One thing Republicans are pretty good at: Naming their bills in an attempt to confuse the public. Gee, like the "SAVE" act, an attempt to save their sorry behinds.
Exactly right Mary. 👌
The SAVE Act is about voter suppression. Pure and simple. The Jim Crow laws of the Republican Party.
A surgical blade in the hands of a competent surgeon can perform miracles. In the hands of a street thug, it can cause enormous harm. It's not the tool's fault who wields it. Reshape and sharpen the blade but carefully craft its use.
In whose hands the sharp blade ends up SC, depends upon the voters, and seems to me that we failed horrendously. By paying the consequences of our mistakes, I hope we learned the lesson and don't forget during the next election cycle. If we have one at all.
In a more just world, we would restore proportional representation by letting D.C. and Puerto Rico become states.
Would also love to recombine the Dakotas and split California into two states.
Why do not split California into four states? Even by doing so, each new state would have more population than many "red" states.
Thank you for this strong and convincing essay, urgently needed!
The inaccuracy of the naming of the Republican supported legislation is another ‘con job’, on the American people. Starting with the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and now w/the ‘Save Act’. Neither of which supports a democracy. This is especially important at this juncture as more, and more Americans are waking up and realizing they have been duped!
I hope that most of those duped bother to vote in this coming (maybe) midterm election. Thanks for your comment Kathleen 👍
Clear explanation on how the filibuster works. We aren't in "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" era anymore.
For about half of the population, decency it's a thing from the past, if they have a concept of it al all . Thanks for your comment noreenk. 👍
In the strange, hate-filled world of Donald J Trump, he has a special meaning for the world "WE". You might think that our fake POTUS means "my fellow Americans". Nope. You'd be wrong. When he says "WE" it's limited to his supporters or allies or corrupt collaborators. He NEVER means "We the People". His WE is referring to those who will become richer because of higher oil prices while 95% of Americans will become poorer. The "WE" of "SO MUCH WINNING" from tariffs are the Trump family and the upper 5% of taxpayers, NOT the People and so it goes into a war with Iran. WE the PEOPLE must do whatever it takes to save ourselves and the nation
I found this post confusing and worrisome. The filibuster is exactly a way to oppose this SAVE Act if it can muster a majority. This is my first push back on what I believe to be your position.
I agree. I have been an admirer of Jennifer’s for some time, but I have grown weary of her lecturing Democrats. They are supposed to oppose the SAVE Act but somehow tie themselves in knots to handle the filibuster just right according to Jennifer’s standards. As a former Senate staffer of 9 years I think that the stupidest thing the Dems could do is signal their intention to get rid of the filibuster when they win the majority. That is an open invitation for the GOP to go ahead and pull the trigger to get the SAVE Act through. We need to deal with the filibuster when we actually have to power to do away with it. Right now let’s focus on the job at hand - defeating the SAVE Act.
Thanks for your comment: I would just say that this situation is evidence that the filibuster can be of value to either side of the aisle and pluralist democracies need to protect intense minorities - as we will be if Republican try to get a voter suppression bill passed.
I couldn’t agree more. The filibuster cuts both ways. When we do get the majority, the decision to eliminate it will require careful consideration. It may need to go, but eliminating it is not without risk.
An excellent essay Jen, thank you. Get rid of the Electoral College while we are cleaning the Augean Stable.
In my opinion, any tool at the Democrats disposal to defeat the SAVE Act is justified, including the filibuster. That might be a short-sighted point of view, but as a woman who took her husband's last name when she married, I am one of those who would be required to submit additional paperwork to continue to be able to vote. I certainly didn't anticipate when I got married back in 1967 that taking my husband's name would ever be a stumbling block to voting.
@Sandy
Taking a husband may become a stumbling block for women if MAGA Republicans have their way.
Democrats need to take a page out of the Republican handbook. Fiscal responsibility is a key plank of the Republican agenda, but only during a Democratic administration. As long as Republicans control the government Democrats need to fully embrace the filibuster. Doing away with it should be a priority after they regain power, but if Republicans thought that was a foregone conclusion, then they would have no incentive not to do it themselves.