Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Check with Chip, brought to you by Operation
Blue Dot Red. The filibuster is in the news. Abolishing
the filibuster may be necessary to enact perhaps the most
important legislation of this century. I'm talking about the SAVE
Act s a VE. SAVE stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility.
(00:25):
The heart of it is requiring a valid photo ID
to vote. The goal is to eliminate voter fraud and
secure the integrity of elections. This may not be a
turn blue to red issue because polling shows that every
demographic category of voters, by party, by race, by virtually
(00:46):
every category, supports voter ID. The Pew Research Center says
eighty three percent of Americans want voter ID, including seventy
one percent of Democrats. The only people opposed are elite
political class Democrats, who know their candidates and policies frequently
(01:07):
are not embraced by most Americans, so they want to
be able to use voter fraud to win elections. I'm
sure most Democrats in the second district who plant that
blue dot sign in their yards do so because they
genuinely believe they are supporting the more virtuous agenda. Blue
dotters I ask you to consider why your party leadership
(01:32):
is so ferociously opposed to voter ID. The main argument
is that voter ID is an effort to suppress the
minority vote, but that has been debunked, often by minorities
insulted by the presumption of white saviors that minorities are
too dumb and helpless to obtain the kind of license
(01:53):
necessary to function in society. In addition, every version of
voter ID i've seen includes a per vision saying the
government will provide a valid voto ID for voting if
a person does not have a driver's license or other
form of required ID. That's why voter ID generates such
(02:13):
favorable polling results. That and the realization that valid ID
is required to do things much less important than voting.
Yet Senate Democrats are using the filibuster to block advancement
of the Save Act. The filibuster is a delaying tactic
that requires a bill to get a supermajority of sixty
(02:36):
votes to advance, rather than a simple majority of fifty one.
Neither party has a filibuster proof sixty vote majority, so
the filibuster is a virtually unbeatable blocking maneuver unless the
other side has the guts to set aside or abolish
the filibuster. The filibuster is not in the Constitution. It's
(02:59):
a rule for floor debate adopted by the Senate. It
can be changed or abolished. In this case, I'm focused
as much on my red side of the aisle as
I am on the blue. I may have a hard
time convincing some on the right to abandon their embrace
of the filibuster. Former and current Senate Republicans are warbling
(03:23):
about the sanctity of the filibuster. There are basically two arguments.
One is that it sure comes in handy when we
want to stop something we don't like. That is the defensive,
negative loser mentality typical of establishment Republicans. Republicans go on offense.
(03:45):
We have the best arguments and policies, stop letting fear
determine the way we operate. The other argument is that
if we push aside the filibuster and operate by majority
rule now, the Democrats may do it the next time
they have the chance. If we restrain ourselves now, they
(04:07):
are more likely to restrain themselves later. Scott Vorhees is
among those I have heard obliterate this argument, Democrats will
not forego a future chance to exploit a political advantage
by eliminating the filibuster because Republicans previously did not exploit
(04:29):
a similar opportunity. Democrats won't hesitate for a second, especially
the current extremist, scorched earth version of the Democratic Party.
I can just see the current crop of Republicans' squishes
in the future, raising their voices in thoughtful and righteous argument,
reminding Democrats that they the virtuous Republicans, preserve the filibuster
(04:54):
when they could have abolished it. They will be flattened
by the Democratic steam roller to eliminate the filibuster and
apply simple majority rule. Republican Senator John Cornan of Texas,
formerly a defender of the filibuster, now says he's ready
to abolish the filibuster to prevent election fraud and also
(05:15):
resume funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is being
starved of funding by the filibuster. That's why you see
canceled flights and log jammed chaos for frustrated crowds of
air travelers. Cornan pointed out that Democrats came very close
to abolishing the filibuster to ram through a left wing
(05:35):
legislative agenda in twenty twenty two and vowed to go
all the way and succeed the next time they have
the chance. If you want the full historical and philosophical
explanation of why the filibuster is anti American, anti democratic,
anti freedom poison, I have a section on it in
(05:56):
my book with the Constitution on the cover, which reminds
me ignore or better yet verbally slammed dunk people who
say abolishing the filibuster is the nuclear option. It's not
the nuclear option. It's the constitutional option. It would allow
our democratic republic to operate by simple majority rule as
(06:20):
the founders designed it in the Constitution and explained it
in the Federalist papers. The Senate already allows suspension of
the filibuster for simple majority votes on fiscal legislation and
sets aside the filibuster for judicial appointments. Make it comprehensive,
go back to the procedure in place before the filibuster
(06:43):
was created in eighteen o six. When a majority is
ready to vote on a policy decision, do so and
move on with the business of governing the nation. I
agree with those who call the Save Act perhaps the
most important legislation of the century. Because the future of
free and fair elections is at stake, hold out filibuster
(07:06):
friendly Republicans had better get over their heartburn from misplaced
loyalty to the filibuster. The GOP may never win another
election if the integrity of the vote is not secured
while we still have a chance to secure it. That's
check with Chip. I'm Chip Maxwell. Thank you for listening.
Welcome to Check with Chip, brought to you by Operation
Blue Dot Red. The filibuster is in the news. Abolishing
the filibuster may be necessary to enact perhaps the most
important legislation of this century. I'm talking about the SAVE
Act s a VE. SAVE stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility.
(00:25):
The heart of it is requiring a valid photo ID
to vote. The goal is to eliminate voter fraud and
secure the integrity of elections. This may not be a
turn blue to red issue because polling shows that every
demographic category of voters, by party, by race, by virtually
(00:46):
every category, supports voter ID. The Pew Research Center says
eighty three percent of Americans want voter ID, including seventy
one percent of Democrats. The only people opposed are elite
political class Democrats, who know their candidates and policies frequently
(01:07):
are not embraced by most Americans, so they want to
be able to use voter fraud to win elections. I'm
sure most Democrats in the second district who plant that
blue dot sign in their yards do so because they
genuinely believe they are supporting the more virtuous agenda. Blue
dotters I ask you to consider why your party leadership
(01:32):
is so ferociously opposed to voter ID. The main argument
is that voter ID is an effort to suppress the
minority vote, but that has been debunked, often by minorities
insulted by the presumption of white saviors that minorities are
too dumb and helpless to obtain the kind of license
(01:53):
necessary to function in society. In addition, every version of
voter ID i've seen includes a per vision saying the
government will provide a valid voto ID for voting if
a person does not have a driver's license or other
form of required ID. That's why voter ID generates such
(02:13):
favorable polling results. That and the realization that valid ID
is required to do things much less important than voting.
Yet Senate Democrats are using the filibuster to block advancement
of the Save Act. The filibuster is a delaying tactic
that requires a bill to get a supermajority of sixty
(02:36):
votes to advance, rather than a simple majority of fifty one.
Neither party has a filibuster proof sixty vote majority, so
the filibuster is a virtually unbeatable blocking maneuver unless the
other side has the guts to set aside or abolish
the filibuster. The filibuster is not in the Constitution. It's
(02:59):
a rule for floor debate adopted by the Senate. It
can be changed or abolished. In this case, I'm focused
as much on my red side of the aisle as
I am on the blue. I may have a hard
time convincing some on the right to abandon their embrace
of the filibuster. Former and current Senate Republicans are warbling
(03:23):
about the sanctity of the filibuster. There are basically two arguments.
One is that it sure comes in handy when we
want to stop something we don't like. That is the defensive,
negative loser mentality typical of establishment Republicans. Republicans go on offense.
(03:45):
We have the best arguments and policies, stop letting fear
determine the way we operate. The other argument is that
if we push aside the filibuster and operate by majority
rule now, the Democrats may do it the next time
they have the chance. If we restrain ourselves now, they
(04:07):
are more likely to restrain themselves later. Scott Vorhees is
among those I have heard obliterate this argument, Democrats will
not forego a future chance to exploit a political advantage
by eliminating the filibuster because Republicans previously did not exploit
(04:29):
a similar opportunity. Democrats won't hesitate for a second, especially
the current extremist, scorched earth version of the Democratic Party.
I can just see the current crop of Republicans' squishes
in the future, raising their voices in thoughtful and righteous argument,
reminding Democrats that they the virtuous Republicans, preserve the filibuster
(04:54):
when they could have abolished it. They will be flattened
by the Democratic steam roller to eliminate the filibuster and
apply simple majority rule. Republican Senator John Cornan of Texas,
formerly a defender of the filibuster, now says he's ready
to abolish the filibuster to prevent election fraud and also
(05:15):
resume funding the Department of Homeland Security, which is being
starved of funding by the filibuster. That's why you see
canceled flights and log jammed chaos for frustrated crowds of
air travelers. Cornan pointed out that Democrats came very close
to abolishing the filibuster to ram through a left wing
(05:35):
legislative agenda in twenty twenty two and vowed to go
all the way and succeed the next time they have
the chance. If you want the full historical and philosophical
explanation of why the filibuster is anti American, anti democratic,
anti freedom poison, I have a section on it in
(05:56):
my book with the Constitution on the cover, which reminds
me ignore or better yet verbally slammed dunk people who
say abolishing the filibuster is the nuclear option. It's not
the nuclear option. It's the constitutional option. It would allow
our democratic republic to operate by simple majority rule as
(06:20):
the founders designed it in the Constitution and explained it
in the Federalist papers. The Senate already allows suspension of
the filibuster for simple majority votes on fiscal legislation and
sets aside the filibuster for judicial appointments. Make it comprehensive,
go back to the procedure in place before the filibuster
(06:43):
was created in eighteen o six. When a majority is
ready to vote on a policy decision, do so and
move on with the business of governing the nation. I
agree with those who call the Save Act perhaps the
most important legislation of the century. Because the future of
free and fair elections is at stake, hold out filibuster
(07:06):
friendly Republicans had better get over their heartburn from misplaced
loyalty to the filibuster. The GOP may never win another
election if the integrity of the vote is not secured
while we still have a chance to secure it. That's
check with Chip. I'm Chip Maxwell. Thank you for listening.
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