Afflicted With TDS, Four Senators Kill Election Integrity
by David Catron
Last Thursday, even as California’s chaotic primaries demonstrated the need for a nationwide election integrity law, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) voted to kill the SAVE America Act. This would be understandable if the bill were unpopular with the electorate. But its requirement that voters in every state must provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote and produce a photo ID when casting a ballot are wildly popular among Republicans and Democrats. Yet, because its passage is one of President Trump’s top priorities, TDS forced them to ignore his agenda and that of the voters.
In reality, not one of this querulous quartet of Senators voted against the SAVE America Act based on genuine principles or the will of the people.
The only member of this cadre of recalcitrant Republicans with a rational excuse, other than TDS, to vote against the SAVE America Act is Maine Sen. Susan Collins. She is involved in a tough reelection campaign and had she voted for the bill her depraved Democrat opponent, “oysterman” Graham Platner, would no doubt use that vote to bolster the ridiculous claim that she is a rubber stamp for Trump. According to a bulletin published by the Maine Democratic Party, “FiveThirtyEight found that she voted with Trump 67 percent of the time during his first term.” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis has no rational excuse for his vote against the SAVE America Act. In a statement issued after the first of his two votes against the bill he said,
All of my Democratic colleagues currently serving supported nuking the filibuster to try to pass their own partisan election reform bill. Democrats were dead wrong to try to change the filibuster when they controlled the Senate, and Republicans would be dead wrong to try to change the filibuster now that we control the Senate. The only real path to address the American people’s declining confidence in our elections is for both parties to find common ground on legislation that supports universal adoption of voter ID, proof of citizenship, and other vital election integrity measures.
This alleged concern for the “sacred” filibuster is frequently offered by Republican Senators who dislike President Trump and know he wants to get rid of it. Their lofty rhetoric is nothing more than hot air. Sen. Tillis is retiring at the end of his current term because he is very unpopular in North Carolina and would probably lose against any credible primary challenger. In fact, at least one poll found that his approval rating in his home state was a mere 25 percent. So, all his balderdash about both parties finding common ground on legislation that supports universal adoption of vital election integrity measures means nothing. He knows the Democrats have no intention of working with Republicans on genuine election integrity.
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https://spectator.org/afflicted-with-tds-four-senators-kill-election-integrity/
