Sen. Joe Manchin
Reprinted with permission from Alternet
Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) opposition to Democrats' push to expand voting rights has been a deep point of contention that has left the lawmaker on the outs with his political party. However, Democratic lawmakers may want to take a hard look at his latest counteroffer, according to election law scholar Richard Hasen.
In a piece published by Slate, Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, laid out the details of Manchin's counteroffer to the "For the People" bill, HR-1. The lawmaker's proposal addresses a number of the original bill's highest priorities where voting rights and campaign finance are concerned.
According to Hasen, Manchin's proposal includes "a requirement of 15 days of early voting in federal elections, automatic voter registration, limits on partisan gerrymandering, and improved campaign finance disclosure."
The lawmaker is also in agreement on "extending campaign finance provisions to communications on the internet and to currently non-disclosing 'dark money' groups, prohibiting false information about when, where, and how people vote, and an updated pre-clearance process."
While it is clear that the West Virginia Senator's proposal isn't exactly what Democratic lawmakers are advocating, Hasen suggests Democrats should at least consider the offer. He acknowledged that while many of the line items Democrats initially proposed are not included, most of those items are far less pressing.
Hasen explained why:
"Democrats should jump at the opportunity to pass such a bill, but it is also fair to acknowledge it is far from perfect, Many of the darlings in the For the People Act are not on Manchin's list, such as felon re-enfranchisement, public financing of congressional elections, restructuring the often-deadlocked Federal Election Commission, and limiting state voter purges. Not only would the Manchin proposal continue to allow states to engage in voter purges, it also will require some form of voter identification for voting in federal elections, though in a more relaxed form than some of the strict rules some states have enacted."
Hasen also noted that voter identification could actually prove to be beneficial if implemented in a fair manner. Moving forward with Manchin's proposal could also open the door for bipartisan discussions instead of the bill just dying in the Senate.
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Anna Paulina Luna, who was threatened by William Braddock.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet
In a Politico bombshell report William Braddock, a Florida Republican congressional candidate can be heard saying he has access to Russian and Ukrainian hit squads, "billions of dollars" in offshore cash, and would "end" the life of one of his Republican political opponents, a Trump-endorsed candidate named Anna Paulina Luna, "if it needs to be done."
"I really don't want to have to end anybody's life for the good of the people of the United States of America," Republican William Braddock can be heard saying in the clip (below). "That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f—ing speed bump in the road. She's a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood."
Braddock on Monday filed to run for the seat of U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), who is not seeking re-election next year so he can run for governor. Luna (photo, top) is also running for that seat, and lost to Crist in 2020 but managed to get 47 percent of the vote.
"During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins," Politico reports.
"In the recording, Braddock early in the call brought up the alleged assassins. He also made rambling statements about getting financial help from fellow Freemasons or by somehow importing millions of dollars from Malta and Gibraltar."
"I have access to a hit squad, too, Ukrainians and Russians," he said about three minutes into the call, adding "don't get caught out in public supporting Luna. … Luna's gonna go down and I hope it's by herself."
"She's gonna be gone. Period. That's the end of the discussion," Braddock can be heard saying.
Asked how that will happen, he replies: "I call up my Russian — Ukrainian hit squad, and within 24 hours, they're sending me pictures of her disappearing."
"No, I'm not joking," he adds. "Like, this is beyond my control this point."
"Russian mafia. Close-battle combat, TEC-9s, MAC-10s, silencers kind of thing. No snipers. Up close and personal. So they know the person – they know that the target has gone."
He goes on to say, "I know what I'm doing is noble, and I'm just trying to remain a humble servant of God."
The recording was made "just after midnight last Wednesday," Politico says, and the activist who made it "promptly turned it over to St. Petersburg, Florida, police and gave a heads-up to her friend Luna, who filed a petition for an injunction against Braddock."
Below is the audio published by Politico. The activist who recorded it says it was not altered. Braddock told Politico "there is no proof" it is his voice in the recording and called it "a dirty political tactic that has caused a lot of people a lot of stress and is completely unnecessary."
(The captions on the audio appear to be auto-generated and are a poor representation of what is clearly audible, including graphic, offensive, and vile language.)
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