Revise filibuster to protect fair elections, voting rights
Today we have columns on protecting voting rights, mandating a COVID vaccine and a list of items from the weekend that are worth your time. Thanks for stopping by.
Revise Senate filibuster to protect elections and voting rights
By The Editorial Board
Paste BN's Editorial Board has never favored setting aside the Senate filibuster.
It is not that the parliamentary rule requiring 60 votes to advance legislation is somehow sacrosanct. After all, it's not in the Constitution. But it engenders the kind of consensus Americans yearn for in republican government and, as a result, can restore a measure of sorely lacking trust. (The bipartisan infrastructure bill is an example.)
For a slim Senate majority to alter or abolish the rule is a selfish and shortsighted move conceivable only under extreme circumstances.
Our nation now faces such a circumstance with democracy itself in the balance and a law to protect it possible only if something is done about the filibuster.
How did it come to this?
Democrats try to grab power through election 'reform' legislation
By Jason Snead
Democratic election "reform" efforts are framed as an urgent priority to save America from devious state lawmakers, but, in reality, they are part of a political power grab to federalize elections.
Democratic leaders deride state election integrity efforts while ignoring the 65% of Americans who want to strengthen election safeguards. These state laws don't decrease minority turnout, which has been surging in recent years, and overall voter turnout reached record levels in 2020.
Bills passed in Texas, Georgia and other states are designed to improve elections by expanding early voting and streamlining procedures around absentee ballots and drop boxes, while ensuring that every vote is legal and that results are reliable and delivered in a timely manner. That builds confidence in democracy and encourages citizens to vote. Criticism of these laws is heavy on hyperbole and light on substance.
Today's editorial cartoon
I won't make my company enforce vaccine mandates
By Peter Rex
My company won’t institute or enforce a vaccine mandate, no matter what form it takes.
Maybe cities will demand that businesses require the jab, like New York City did on Monday. Maybe the Biden administration will somehow rescue its own nationwide mandate, which a federal court has blocked. Maybe other businesses will pressure their peers to join them in forcing vaccines on workers. Regardless, I can’t justify such a big intrusion into my team’s private lives. And I’m convinced that respecting the rights of my 300-plus employees is best for everyone involved.
Am I taking sides in a “war on science?” Hardly.
The weekend columns you should read
- I study tornadoes. We need more about how they're affected by climate change.
- Emmett Till's cousin: Accuser in case is still alive and must be brought to justice
- Guns aren't the problem. People like Rep. Lauren Boebert and the NRA are.
- Should race be an issue in the abortion debate? Activists are making it one.
- How America achieved the 'impossible' with COVID vaccines
Columns on qualified immunity
We are doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here.
- Roadside assistance caught the cop who killed my cousin. Justice shouldn't be so rare.
- Police case gave Supreme Court a chance to protect your rights to record cops. It whiffed.
- He was asleep in his car. Police woke him up and created a reason to kill him.
- University officials flagrantly violate student speech rights. Courts let them off the hook.
- Hold rogue police accountable: Supreme Court needs to be clear about qualified immunity