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Dear Friend,
The filibuster has a powerful new ally: Charles Koch.
In a leaked call between an advisor to Mitch McConnell and a group run by the powerful billionaire, the Koch group admitted that there was no winning a fair fight on H.R. 1, the landmark voting rights bill, because it’s popular with both Democratic and Republican voters.
So Koch instructed McConnell to use the filibuster to kill the bill before it comes up for a vote.1
McConnell may have the oligarchic billionaires on his side, but we have grassroots power, and now we know even the Kochs are running scared. We have already pulled more Democrats to our side to end the filibuster, and we’re going to get all 50 on board to finish off the slavery-era rule and pass H.R. 1.
Will you donate to stand up to the Koch billions and demand an end to the filibuster?
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The Koch organization isn’t the only one pressuring McConnell to maintain the filibuster to defeat H.R. 1, the For the People Act.
Also on the call with McConnell’s policy advisor were notorious dark money pushers Grover Norquist, Heather Lauer, and other representatives of the conservative State Policy Network.2 All are advocating against H.R. 1 because they rely on being able to pour millions of dollars in dark money into campaigns, and the bill would bring these donors into a blinding spotlight.
The reason these party operatives are fighting so hard to keep the filibuster is it allows McConnell and the rest of the Republican caucus to put a stop to bills like H.R. 1 without having to go on record as voting against them.
Sixty-eight percent of voters support H.R. 1, including a majority of conservative voters—so the ultra wealthy who benefit the most from the dark money and the voter suppression the that bill addresses need to hide their opposition. McConnell is happy to do their dirty work and support horrible laws like the one that just passed in Georgia.3
Ending the filibuster is critical for stopping this oligarchic stranglehold on legislation we sorely need—not just H.R. 1, but also gun safety legislation, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal. But not only are Republicans fighting to keep the filibuster in place, but Democrats, including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, are as well.4
Since our campaign began, tens of thousands of Demand Progress members have contacted their senators to ask that they end the filibuster to free up legislation like H.R. 1. And since we started, several senators, including Dianne Feinstein, have flipped their position on the rule. We are ramping up our campaign to bring the last remaining holdouts to our side. Will you donate to help make it happen?
Yes, I’ll donate to Demand Progress today.
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. The New Yorker, "Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century," March 29, 2021
2. Ibid.
3. Newsweek, "As GOP Opposes H.R. 1, Poll Finds Majority of Republicans Support Election Reform Bill," February 25, 2021
4. Reuters, "What is the U.S. Senate filibuster and why is everyone talking about it?" March 17, 2021
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