Once again, the Democrats are poised to pound another nail in freedom’s coffin. The “For the People Act” (aka HR 1) purportedly ends GOP led racism for all time! We all know the Republicans despise minorities and will do anything to prevent them from voting, right? As absurd as that statement seems, there are millions of Americans who have been brainwashed into thinking it is true. So let’s set the record straight. Republicans want fair, honest elections. Full stop. They want to know that each ballot cast has been cast by an American citizen. Full stop. They want to ensure that each American citizen makes an effort to cast one ( and only one) ballot. Full stop.

Where to start? HR 1 is a nearly 800 page Act that at its core attempts to usurp states rights and federalize Congressional and Presidential elections. Article 1, Section 4 makes it clear that the states are responsible for ensuring the integrity of their elections. In fact, at least two SCOTUS judges have opined on this issue. Neil Gorsuch said, “The Constitution provides that state legislatures—not federal judges, not state judges, not state governors, not other state officials—bear primary responsibility for setting election rules.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh separately noted that the state legislative judgments about election rules “reflect[] our constitutional system of federalism.” (Read entire article here.) To be completely transparent, (a word President Biden is using rather sparingly about the crisis on our southern border) Article 1, Section 4 has a provision granting Congress the ability to “make or alter such (state) regulations.” However, this applies only to Congressional elections. Congress has no authority (implicit or explicit) over Presidential elections.

The Bill is alleged by Democrats to “expand Americans access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy…” (if you are extremely bored, you can read the bill here.) Fine. Beautiful. I mean, to have Nancy Pelosi to stand up and say that we will end up with “cleaner government” by reducing “the role of big, dark special interest money” is rather precious, is it not? Does everyone recall the role the California tech billionaires played in helping Joe Biden get elected? So for the purposes of today’s article, let’s put all the hyperbole about “big money” aside. We could dwell on the bill’s effort to end state legislature driven gerrymandering. There is legitimate room for some good old fashioned “to and fro” on that topic. But given the protection the Constitution provides the states, if HR 1 were to pass, it is most likely SCOTUS would throw their particular federal power grab out on its rear end.

I choose to focus on the pernicious, evil, cynical claim that Republicans are racist because they insist on the notion that a voter must prove he or she is who he or she says he or she is. You know…..voter ID!…there, I said it. I defy any rational person to look me straight in the eyes and say that a voter ID requirement disenfranchises more Americans than the idea of allowing anyone to vote, anywhere, anytime, with no proof of citizenship! The right to vote is a cherished right of being a US citizen. To tarnish that right by removing the integrity from the process is to disenfranchise millions of law abiding Americans.

C. Boyden Grey, former White House Counsel to George H. W. Bush writes “There are other constitutional defects in H.R. 1. Universal mail-in balloting of the sort contemplated by Speaker Pelosi’s bill might violate equal protection principles, giving voters who exercise the franchise by mail advantages over in-person voters who must wait in line and meet a firm election day deadline, in violation of Bush v. Gore‘s holding that government “may not…value one person’s vote over that of another.” H.R. 1 invites unequal treatment of lawful votes by dictating that states “may not require an individual to provide any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot” besides a signature, and mandating that election officials accept even on-the-spot sworn written statements as “workaround[s]” to traditional forms of identification for in-person voters.” (This excerpt is in the article provided in link above.)

HR 1 says “A State may not require an individual to provide any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot.” It goes on to stipulate that a State “may not require notarization or witness signature or other formal authentication (other than voter attestation) as a condition of obtaining or casting an absentee ballot.” The Bill also allows for “harvesting” of ballots.

Proponents of the bill say “Prove where there was fraud in the last election!” Ummmm, do you see the perverse logic? I could list a number of analogies but even stooping to do so is too irritating. Why do we even have to debate this?!

Among myriad other things, the bill will:

— stop state officials from verifying the eligibility and qualification of voters, and open the door to prosecuting those who questions a voter’s eligibility,

— ban voter ID laws,

— restore felons’ rights to vote,

— require names of all Americans who donate to non-profit organizations, and ban those non-profit organizations from contacting any member of Congress about pending legislation,

— and, are you ready for it (?), make a declaration that statehood for Washington DC is Constitutional.

I repeat, at the heart of all this blatant power grab remains the populist premise that Republicans are racist and if the federal government doesn’t make remove various states’ voter ID requirements, minorities will not be able to vote. President Biden said voter ID rules are so bad they are like “Jim Eagle” when compared to the good ole “Jim Crow” days. What? Seriously? How does a statement like that go down without so much as a peep? The Jim Crow era is a blemish on our history. The voter ID discussion is not worse than Jim Crow!

In today’s world, an ID is required to travel on trains, planes, and boats. One needs one to own and drive a car, go to a doctor, get prescriptions, have a bank account, stay in a hotel or motel, get a mortgage, collect welfare or food stamps, or get a job. Get the picture? The voter ID farce is a Democrat canard.

This whole Bill may not get past Mr. Manchin of West Virginia. But if it does, get ready for it to become part of the larger issue of whether or not the filibuster survives the Democrat juggernaut. Yes, the filibuster. The same one virtually all Democrat leaders are on record as saying must always remain in place. Ah, politics. Are we having fun yet?

More to follow-