Elections remain a nationwide focus, in more ways than one

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For anyone who still cares about traditional Republican values and who is concerned about overreach by progressive Democrats, this was a difficult weekend. At an Iowa rally, what did the undisputed leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, say is the "single biggest issue" facing Americans? Not the economy. Not national security. Not the border. Not crime. Certainly not the pandemic or climate. No, none of these issues. He said the biggest issue is "the election fraud of the 2020 presidential election." Why? Because it gets "the biggest cheers" from rally crowds, of course. Sigh. As long as Trump remains the leader of the party, the focus of the GOP won't be on offering innovative solutions to the major challenges facing the nation. It will be on appeasing him. And make no mistake, he is the leader of the party. Longtime Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, who just months ago correctly criticized Trump for refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election, accusing him at the time of "poor
leadership" and "extreme, aggressive, and irresponsible" language, enthusiastically stood beside him on the dais as the ex-president continued to insist that the election was rigged. At this moment, Democrats aren't the biggest threat to the Republican Party, conservatism, or American democracy. Republicans are. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

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** Shredding democracy?
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More trouble for the Fulton County elections office in Georgia. The office announced yesterday that two workers were fired on Friday after other employees witnessed them shredding voter registration forms awaiting processing before the upcoming local election. To be clear, they weren't shredding ballots. But in this hyper-polarized climate, any evidence of mishandling of election materials looks incompetent at best and downright shady at worst. ([link removed])
* — Both the county district attorney and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state's chief elections official, have been asked to conduct inquiries into the matter. County officials did not say how many forms were shredded, but Raffensperger put the total at about 300 in a county with 800,000 voters on the rolls. ([link removed])
*
* — Raffensperger also issued a blistering news release demanding that the Justice Department investigate "incompetence and malfeasance" in the office. "After 20 years of documented failure in Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be," he said. ([link removed])
*
* — The incident is sure to add fuel to a Republican-led investigation of the office. The State Legislature approved legislation that gives it effective control of the State Election Board, and empowers the board to investigate complaints about local election bodies. Fulton County was quickly selected for an inquiry, and some are pushing for yet another review of the 2020 presidential vote in the county, where 73% of voters favored President Biden. The statewide vote has been counted three times with no evidence of fraud. —The New York Times ([link removed])

MORE: Cheney blasts Scalise for refusing to say Biden legitimately won election —The Hill ([link removed])


** 'We must take meaningful action to improve our electoral system from the ground up'
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Ranked-choice voting is receiving renewed support at the federal level. Last week, Rep. Dean Phillips and Sens. Michael Bennet and Angus King re-introduced the Voter Choice Act, which would give state and local governments incentives to switch to the alternative electoral format. The bill would provide $40 million in grant funding to cover part of the cost for state or local governments that move to the voting system. The legislation doesn't require governments to make the shift, however, and wouldn't cover the entire cost of the change. "Our democracy is at a crossroads," Phillips said. "That is why, as cities, states, and even political parties—both red and blue—have recognized, we need ranked-choice voting. RCV is simple, empowers voters, and rewards candidates who broaden support beyond their base." Stay tuned. —Star Tribune ([link removed])

MORE: Ranked-choice voting debate rages while method spreads —Star Tribune ([link removed])


** Twining: It's no time to turn our back on the world
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"The hard truth is that a world that is less free is one that is less secure, stable, and prosperous. The greatest dangers to the American way of life emanate from hostile autocracies. There are no quick fixes, but the best antidotes to the challenges of great-power conflict, terrorism, and mass migration of desperate refugees lie in the building of inclusive democratic institutions—and working with allied democracies to sustain the free and open order that China, in particular, wishes to replace with a world that's safe for autocracy." —Daniel Twining in ([link removed]) The Hill ([link removed])

Daniel Twining is the president of the International Republican Institute.

MORE: U.S. troops have been deployed in Taiwan for at least a year —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** Don't mess with mandates
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In fact, don't even think about mandating the COVID-19 vaccine in the Lone Star State. That's the message Texas Gov. Greg Abbott delivered yesterday, when he issued an executive order banning everyone, including private employers, from enforcing vaccine mandates. The order states that "no entity in Texas" can enforce vaccination on anyone in the state who objects "for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19," according to a news release from the governor's office. "The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced," Abbott added. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Merck asks FDA to authorize promising anti-COVID-19 pill —Associated Press ([link removed])
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** Lipinski: The House is failing us
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"[M]embers of the House now mainly represent their party and its platform rather than their constituents' diverse views. Through changes in the rules, members have relinquished much of their individual power and disempowered committees in order to give their party leaders the ability to shape legislation for the purpose of pursuing the party's goals. In formulating legislation, party leaders cater to interest groups, activists, and donors aligned with the party to build electoral support. These supporters tend to be further toward the ideological extremes. Little to no effort is expended to pick up votes from the other party in the legislative process." —Daniel Lipinski in ([link removed]) The Atlantic ([link removed])

Daniel Lipinski formerly represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives.

MORE: Glenn C. Altschuler: Majority of Americans express dissatisfaction with democracy, and gerrymanderers race to the bottom —The Hill ([link removed])


** Focus on the insurrection
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It's a big week for the DOJ. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon has chosen to buck a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, based on the recommendation of his former boss, Donald Trump. That tees up a big decision for Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department. The committee has said it may refer Bannon for criminal prosecution if he doesn't appear for the deposition, slated for Thursday. In prior cases under the Biden Administration, Garland has taken stances to side with protecting executive power. Whether the DOJ will back up the committee in this case remains to be seen. —The Hill ([link removed])
* — A letter lights it up like dynamite. A former high-ranking Capitol Police official with knowledge of the department's response to the Jan. 6 attack has sent congressional leaders a scathing letter accusing two of its senior leaders of mishandling intelligence and failing to respond properly during the riot. The whistleblower says acting Chief of Uniformed Operations Sean Gallagher and Asst. Chief for Protective and Intelligence Operations Yogananda Pittman deliberately chose not to help officers under attack on Jan. 6 and alleges that Pittman lied to Congress about an intelligence report Capitol Police received before the riot. Without naming specific lawmakers, he also accuses congressional leaders of having "purposefully failed" to tell the truth about the department's failures. Boom. —Politico ([link removed])
*
* — You're yes and you're no. Facebook veep Nick Clegg couldn't give definitive answer on Sunday when he was asked if the social media giant's algorithm played a role in amplifying insurrectionist voices ahead of the insurrection. "We cooperate with law enforcement, of course, to give them content that might have shown up on our platform," Clegg said. "But let's be clear…the responsibility for that is for the people who broke the law and inflicted the violence, who aided and abetted them, who encouraged them both in politics and in the media." —The Hill ([link removed])

1. — Fiona objects. Fiona Hill, the former National Security Council official and Russia expert best known for her testimony at Trump's first impeachment trial, isn't mincing words. Asked by Politico about the Jan. 6 rioters, she excoriated some GOP efforts to "turn the people of Jan. 6 into martyrs and…rewrite the historical record in real time." Then she added, "I feel like we're at a really critical and very dangerous inflection point in our society, and if Trump—this is not on an ideological basis, this is just purely on an observational basis based on the larger international historical context—if he makes a successful return to the presidency in 2024, democracy's done." —Politico ([link removed])

MORE: Chuck Rosenberg: Why Trump's January DOJ election meeting failed to subvert justice —NBC News ([link removed])


** Taylor & Whitman: An alliance to save American democracy
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"[F]or now, the best hope for the rational remnants of the Republican Party is for us to form an alliance with Democrats to defend American institutions, defeat far-right candidates, and elect honorable representatives next year—including a strong contingent of moderate Democrats. … [W]e don't take this position lightly. Many of us have spent years battling the left over government's role in society, and we will continue to have disagreements on fundamental issues like infrastructure spending, taxes, and national security. Similarly, some Democrats will be wary of any pact with the political right. But we agree on something more foundational—democracy. We cannot tolerate the continued hijacking of a major U.S. political party by those who seek to tear down our Republic's guardrails or who are willing to put one man's interests ahead of the country." —Miles Taylor & Christine Todd Whitman in ([link removed]) The New York Times
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Miles Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and is the co-founder of the Renew America Movement. Christine Todd Whitman was the governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and served as EPA administrator under former President George W. Bush.

MORE: Max Boot: I'm no Democrat—but I'm voting exclusively for Democrats to save our democracy —The Washington Post ([link removed])

When President Trump was in power, his flaws, missteps, and political calculations were disappointing and obvious, as is the case when a biased media is hyper-focused on the negative things coming out of a presidency. I was disgusted and disappointed with many of the actions he and the Republicans took. I was shocked at the extremists who overwhelmed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and angry with Trump's passive reaction.

I was truly hoping the Democrats' nominee for the 2020 election would be someone I could feel okay voting for. When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were on the ticket, I honestly struggled at the voting booth. I now know I knew very little about them. Their failures are painful to watch, the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal especially.

I won't say who I voted for, but it doesn't matter, because the Republicans have little power in Washington now. The independents and Democrats got what they wanted (I include myself as an ideological independent).

With the bipartisan $1.5 trillion infrastructure package being held hostage by the progressives in the House, I am even more appalled by the direction in which our country is headed. Media such as NPR and NYT, which I listen to daily, would have it be perceived that Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are the ones "holding up" the infrastructure package. Not so! The Democrats have plenty of votes in the House to pass it now on its own merits! But the progressives are playing typical dirty politics to try to get their radical agenda passed before the election in the fall.

I am vehemently opposed to the new entitlement programs (and the strings that will be attached) that this $3.5 trillion+ package will put in place. Our country was built on the idea of self-reliance, hard work, and industry. Our competitive edge in the world economy is dependent on self-determination and free-market protections.

I am sickened by the dependency that only a few months of universal government checks have created in the American public. Another example: free school lunches to all students have continued and created a wider entitlement that is now having its own problems—more kids eating school lunches and not enough workers and truck drivers to deliver goods, lunch staff to prep and serve, etc. The list goes on!

I don't care what surveys say—people got used to the idea that they "didn't have to work" and now plenty of people are comfortable with NOT contributing to the community and economy. If work isn't required, people take the easy path. It's human nature. This problem will continue and become even deeper if the Democrats get their way with continued stimulus checks, free universal preschool, universal college tuition, and the list of entitlement programs goes on.

Our federal government can barely keep Social Security functioning, which is a necessary safety net for the millions of seniors who have paid their dues to society. My parents and 90-year-old grandmother are in this group. This legislation will fundamentally change our country—for the worse—and require huge tax increases over our lifetimes.

I am a Utah voter, and my vote will matter, so it's incumbent on you to stop focusing on made-up societal problems the progressives have invented. Right-of-center voters don't care about exaggerated "inequality." They don't want critical race theory or any variation of it woven into our school curriculum. They don't want the IRS monitoring their personal bank accounts. They don't want federal overreach of OSHA telling businesses they must vaccinate or test all employees, taking businesses' time and resources away from their job of operating their businesses. Frankly, I believe the Democrats want more people (who do not want a vaccine) to quit their jobs—this will create more demand for government entitlements. Politicians love a problem that can only be solved by them.

In 2018-2020, I felt the Republicans had too much power. Today I feel like the Democrats have too much power. I want a stalemate in Washington because at least that means that the worst extreme policies won't be legislated. Thank goodness for moderates like Sinema and Manchin, or our country would already be sold to the entitled younger generation, who have not earned the wisdom and character that comes from working hard for everything you have and achieve.

Imagine a generation of Americans who have not lived the experience of earning what they get from their own efforts. Who will be the taxpayers—business owners, entrepreneurs, and blue-collar workers—paying for these huge entitlement programs in the years to come if our children are conditioned to believe the government should pay for everything from cradle to grave?

At some point, the scale will tip, and our country will be at the mercy of China. It is already on that path, and with Democrats in power, it's happening faster than ever before. —Roxanne R., Utah
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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