Is the Bill for the People or to keep Corrupt Politicians in Office?

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that every eligible American citizen has a right to vote – one person equals one vote. Democrats do not seem to like this principle because they use every tactic in their power to give non-citizens, dead people, felons, etc. the right to vote. Their latest scheme is to take the constitutional control of elections from the states and give it to Washington, D.C.

The first hearing on the Democrat’s legislation to nationalize elections was held on Wednesday. Part of the legislation calls for eliminating voter identification and most other state election safeguards. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) denounced the legislation and said that it should be called the Corrupt Politicians Act because its main purpose is to keep corrupt politicians in office.

Democrats claim that Republicans are “afraid of democracy” and that voter fraud “simply doesn’t exist.” Democrats know that both statements are false. The proposed bill would legalize ballot harvesting nationwide, establish same-day voter registration, transfer the authority to draw congressional districts from state legislatures to unelected bureaucrats, and more. Fred Lucas wrote about nine highlights from the hearing on the federal takeover of elections. 

1. Mao and Maduro

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., compared congressional Democrats’ bill to the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela and Mao Zedong in China, saying they would change the rules to cling to power….

2. Eric Holder: Voter Fraud “Simply Doesn’t Exist.”

… “There is a large and powerful faction in this country intent on retaining power, and who will bend or break the rules of our democracy in order to do so,” Holder testified, adding:

“The attack on our system of government did not begin nor end with the insurrection at our Capitol on Jan. 6. For years now, politicians have spread the same lies about voter fraud and expressed falsehoods about the integrity of our electoral system. The fact is, there is no evidence of widespread or systemic fraud during the 2020 election or at any other time.”

Hold identified an “undemocratic trinity” of issues as “gerrymandering, voter suppression, [and] dark money.” He said Democrats’ bill would “get rid of all of them at once.” …

3. Schumer, McConnell, and “Shame”

Demonstrating the significance of the legislation, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., each dropped by the opening of the hearing to deliver their own remarks….

[Schumer said] “Republican state legislatures have seized on the former president’s big lie that the election was stolen and introduced more than 26 bills in 43 states aimed at tightening voting rules under the guise of election integrity.” …

The New York Democrat cited proposals in Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia that he characterized as voter suppression.

“This is one of the most despicable things I’ve seen in all my years. Shame, shame, shame,” the majority leader said…

McConnell dismissed Schumer’s claim of a vast voter suppression effort….

McConnell said Democrats’ legislation would create an “implementation nightmare” for local election officials.

“This legislation would forcibly rewrite election laws in all 50 states from here in Washington,” McConnell said, adding:

“Popular policies like voter ID would be banned unless states neutered with loopholes. Meanwhile, unpopular, and absurd practices like ballot harvesting – where paid political operatives can show up carrying stacks of other people’s ballots – would not just be allowed, it would be mandatory….

4. Ted Cruz: “Keep Corrupt Politicians in Office.”

Cruz called the legislation a “brazen and shameless power grab by Democrats.” He referred to it as the “Corrupt Politicians Act,” a phrase also popular on Twitter.

“Under this bill [called For the People Act], there is automatic registration of anybody, if you get a driver’s license, if you get a welfare payment, if you get an unemployment payment, if you attend a public university,” Cruz said. “Everyone knows there are millions of illegal aliens who have driver’s licenses, who are getting welfare benefits, who attend public universities. This bill is designed to register everyone of those illegal aliens.” …

5. Opposition to Voter ID Is “Racist.”

During [an] exchange with Cruz, [Indiana Attorney General Todd] Rokita noted the effectiveness of Indiana’s voter ID law and said Indiana is a national model.

“In Indiana, we had the country’s first phot ID law; voter turnout went up, and it went up because more people had confidence in the process,” Rokita said. “In fact, when others on this panel and other places say that a certain subset of our country or our electorate can’t vote with photo ID, that’s really a racist statement.” … 

6. Taxpayer Funding for Politicians?

Although the public campaign financing portion of the bill, numbered as S1, provides $6 in government funds to federal candidates for every $1 raised in private donations, some supporters insist that money wouldn’t be taxpayer money….

7. “Absolutely Eliminate.”

Although the legislation would expand same-day voter registration and allow felon voting and other procedures that Democrats contend enfranchise more voters, some voters would lose access, [Marc] Warner, West Virginia’s secretary of state, told the Senate panel. [Voters who would lose access are members of the military stationed overseas and voters with certain disabilities.]

8. Cleaning Voter Rolls and Suppression

Early in the hearing, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the ranking member of the Rules and Administration Committee, asked Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice, whether state laws using Social Security information to identify dead people would be considered voter suppression….

Blunt followed up: “Just on the question I asked, why would that bill, removing dead people from the voter rolls based on Social Security information, be voter suppression?” …

But Blunt noted a contradiction in Waldman’s support of Democrats’ legislation. So, your view would be, the federal government is not capable of telling the state which Social Security recipients died and no longer get a check,” Blunt said. “So, we should turn the entire election over to a federal structure? I just don’t agree.” …

9. “Remember the Sabbath.”

During Schumer’s remarks, he sharply criticized the Georgia Legislature for eliminating early voting on Sunday.

“The most reprehensible effort of all might be found in Georgia, where Republicans recently passed a bill to eliminate early voting on Sunday – on Sunday – the day when many church-going African Americans participate in voter drives known as Souls to the Polls,” the Senate majority leader said.

“What an astonishing coincidence. I’d like one of the Republican members on this committee to give us a plain sense justification for that restriction,” Schumer said, adding: “Monday through Saturday, legitimate voters show up, but Sunday is voter fraud day. Give me a break.”

Later in the hearing, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., offered a justification for not allowing voting on Sunday.

“I cannot speak for Georgia, but I can speak for Mississippi on why we would never do that on a Sunday or hold an election on a Sunday,” Hyde-Smith said, before holding up a dollar bill.

She said, referring to the national motto:

“This is a dollar bill. This says, ‘The United States of America … In God We Trust.’ Etched in stone in the U.S. Senate chamber is ‘In God We Trust.’

“When you swore in all of these witnesses, the last thing you said to them, your instructions, was ‘so help you God.’ In God’s word, in Exodus 20:18, it says: ‘Remember the sabbath and keep it holy.’ That is my response to Sen. Schumer.”