Democracy Happy Hour – Dec. 23, 2020

Theme: Citizen Initiative Review.

Fix Democracy First hosts a weekly Democracy Happy Hour on Wednesdays @ 5-6pm PT. Grab a drink and join us and  learn about the latest democracy efforts, challenges, solutions, as well upcoming events and actions.

Democracy Happy Hour - Citizen Initiative Review - December 23, 2020 Meeting Recording Links:

• Gallery view: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/h2rJ3f3_MavUPGWQKUAjiBBRlFhtOf4EutUpxfPvmMyCfx3drKLrtcSzNsTwbBHi_MYXId0ynSEerXFh.vLsuzjaqf2ou2EtL

• Speaker view: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/csFVeV1YiYAEgCyUTqu-avimrUdpC-fQ8e2smNZy9GTRNRKeRpSw28bkqVaJHFRTDmero99xj1JBDJnd.ufpUkacbO4qyRkXh

• Chat file: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/yZESqQkoHeUdYYVXeCEE9FGkYJ7dA0T1ZTYN1guMKZ7TtsdrOXsbxO-doUSxhDyb3AALXRaHXMRb-y0c.srICEtcrHZJyBzGK
  

Democracy Happy Hour – December 23, 2020 Shared Article Links:

In the News & Protect the Results Updates:

• Interactive Map - Reveals which Indigenous Lands you’re living on - https://mymodernmet.com/interactive-map-indigenous-lands/ - Native Land - https://native-land.ca/

• Trump orchestrates final loyalty test in dying bid to subvert election - https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/22/trump-final-loyalty-test-election-450183

• Republicans plunge into open battle over attempts to overturn Trump’s loss to Biden - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-republicans-election-fight/2020/12/22/fa0c2744-446b-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html

• Karl Rove Rips Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn Over 'Idiotic' Election Claims - https://www.newsweek.com/karl-rove-rips-sidney-powell-michael-flynn-over-idiotic-election-claims-1556815

• Despite Trump’s intense hunt for voter fraud, officials in key states have so far identified just a small number of possible cases - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voter-fraud-investigations-2020/2020/12/22/bdbe541c-42de-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html

• Pa. election officials are burnt out and leaving their jobs after 2020 ‘nightmare’ - https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/spl/pennsylvania-election-2020-officials-retiring-nightmare-20201221.html

• Congress' Role In Election Results: Here's What Happens Jan. 6 - https://www.npr.org/2020/12/22/949134479/congress-role-in-election-results-heres-what-happens-jan-6

• Best electoral advantage is party, not incumbency, new study underscores - https://thefulcrum.us/voting/party-loyalty

• How voting for people in '20 made it harder to vote for ideas in '22 - https://thefulcrum.us/2020-ballot-measures-239087234

• Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/george-papadopoulos-trump-pardon/2020/12/22/822f038e-30f4-11eb-96c2-aac3f162215d_story.html

• A Trump pardoning spree could actually be good for democracy - https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/22/trump-pardons-congress-investigations-self/

• New year, time for new thinking about the undemocratic nature of the high court - https://thefulcrum.us/balance-of-power/supreme-court-justices

• Why the 'Fix Congress' committee should be allowed to keep at it - https://thefulcrum.us/congress/committee-on-modernization-congress-2649565565

• Georgia Senate Runoffs: More Than 1.3 Million Have Already Voted, Nearing General Election Turnout - https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/12/21/georgia-senate-runoffs-more-than-13-million-have-already-voted-nearing-general-election-turnout/?sh=1b09e99d4e0b

• Conservatives' hard choice: National security vs. political corruption - https://thefulcrum.us/campaign-finance/corruption-and-national-security

• Politicians continue spending donors’ money after their political careers are over - https://www.kcrg.com/2020/12/22/politicians-continue-spending-donors-money-after-their-political-careers-are-over/

• How the Biden Administration Can Reduce the Political Spending of Foreign-Influenced U.S. Corporations - https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/news/2020/12/22/494038/biden-administration-can-reduce-political-spending-foreign-influenced-u-s-corporations/

• America’s democracy is in crisis – how can Joe Biden fix voting rights? - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/20/joe-biden-voting-rights

• Oxymoronic but essential: Why Biden needs to name a democracy czar - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/biden-democracy-czar

• Transparency for Democracy’s Sake - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/transparency-democracys-sake

Citizen Initiative Review:

• CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE REVIEW – Healthy Democracy - https://healthydemocracy.org/cir/

• What is the Citizens Initiative Review Commission? – Oregon - https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/173979

• Oregon Citizens' Initiative Review - https://participedia.net/method/592

• Evidence from Oregon shows that Citizens’ Initiative Reviews can improve voters’ decision-making about ballot measures - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2017/12/13/evidence-from-oregon-shows-that-citizens-initiative-reviews-can-improve-voters-decision-making-about-ballot-measures/

• Arizona's Pilot Citizen Initiative Review - https://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/node/180

• Hope for Democracy - How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hope-for-democracy-9780190084523?cc=us&lang=en&

• Kathy Sakahara – LWV of WA – ksakahara@lwvwa.org

Supporting Georgia Senate Runoff Efforts:

• Call with the Stars – Phone banking for Georgia - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHUP4NlTugN9uQDMqdHwIR4G1LIvZkaRoB1iZX61-MDfzU5g/viewform

• New Georgia Project - https://newgeorgiaproject.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer/

• Fair Fight - https://fairfight.com/

• Common Power - https://commonpower.org/
  

Actions, Events & Links:

• Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics:

• 12/30 - CANCELED for the Holidays
• 01/06 - Democracy Legislation in 2021

• Democracy Day 1 For the People - Take Action - https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/takeaction

• FDF Donation Page - http://fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

• Donation $35 or more to FDF and receive a FREE copy of Becoming a Democracy by Kristin Eberhard - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate-book-fundraiser

• FDF Events Page - Past Events- https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/events#past-events