Democracy Happy Hour – October 13, 2021

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Event Details

Democracy Happy Hour, October 13, 2021 - Meeting Recordings & Chat:

Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

DONATE:

Upcoming DHH topics:

  • Oct 20th  - Updating the U.S. Constitution: Is it time?
  • Oct 27th  - Redistricting Update: Review of the Maps

WA Redistricting:

  • Commissioners’ Proposed Maps:
  • Important dates to note:
  • Friday, October 22 – Deadline to ensure full consideration of third-party map submissions by the Commission.
  • Monday, November 15 (11:59 p.m.) – Deadline for Commission to submit final maps to the Legislature.

TAKE ACTION for VOTING RIGHTS BILLS – Freedom to Vote Act & John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – Please do one or more of these actions:

  • Call the U.S. Senate @ 1.888.453.3211 - Tell them to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, as well as address the filibuster so these bills can pass.
  • Call the White House @ 1.888.724.8746 - Tell the President to use his power to push the Senate to pass these bills and support reforming the filibuster. (The comment line is open Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 8am-noon PT.)
  • Volunteer Phonebanks: Common Cause Phone Banks & RepresentUs Phone Banks
  • Write a Letter to the Editor: Use the Letter To the Editor Tool to submit a letter to your local newspaper
  • Sign These Petitions:

Democracy in the News Links:

Politicians and tax authorities across several continents launch fresh investigations after Pandora Papers - https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/politicians-and-tax-authorities-across-several-continents-launch-fresh-investigations-after-pandora-papers

US lawmakers call for crackdown on financial ‘enablers’ after Pandora Papers - https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-lawmakers-call-for-crackdown-on-financial-enablers-after-pandora-papers/

Global Deal to End Tax Havens Moves Ahead as Nations Back 15% Rate - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/business/oecd-global-minimum-tax.html

Pandora Papers: Tell us something we didn’t know and focus on U.S. corruption - https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/pandora-papers-tell-us-something-we-didnt-know-and-focus-on-u-s-corruption/

Top 1% of U.S. earners now hold more wealth than all of the middle class - https://www.seattletimes.com/business/top-1-of-u-s-earners-now-hold-more-wealth-than-all-of-the-middle-class/

Takeaways from the Senate Judiciary Committee report on Trump's attempted coup - https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/07/politics/senate-judiciary-report-trump-doj-takeaways/index.html

Trump holds fast to his election lies as the GOP establishment hugs him tighter - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/09/trump-holds-fast-to-his-election-lies-as-the-gop-establishment-hugs-him-tighter-515752

Trump won Hood County in a landslide. His supporters still hounded the elections administrator until she resigned. - https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/12/hood-county-elections-administrator-trump/

How false fraud claims are eroding integrity of American election system - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-false-fraud-claims-are-eroding-integrity-of-american-election-system

We Are Republicans. There’s Only One Way to Save Our Party From Pro-Trump Extremists. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/opinion/2022-house-senate-trump.html

Senate Judiciary squares off over John Lewis voting rights bill - https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/575643-senate-judiciary-squares-off-over-john-lewis-voting-rights-bill?rl=1

The top DOJ civil rights official urged senators to restore the Voting Rights Act - https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043467456/senate-democrats-are-making-a-fresh-push-to-strengthen-the-voting-rights-act

Republicans say new voting rights bill a ‘federal takeover of election law’ - https://www.wavy.com/washington-dc/republicans-say-new-voting-rights-bill-a-federal-takeover-of-election-law/

Why the Senate Must Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/why-senate-must-pass-john-lewis-voting-rights-act

Frustrated voting-rights advocates claw for opening on Senate filibuster - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/07/voting-rights-advocates-senate-filibuster-515630

A Supermajority of Voters Support the Freedom to Vote Act - https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2021/9/24/a-supermajority-of-voters-support-the-freedom-to-vote-act

Manchin Elections Bill Could Get Vote in Senate This Month - https://www.theintelligencer.net/news/top-headlines/2021/10/manchin-elections-bill-could-get-vote-in-senate-this-month/

'Cannot wait for Washington:' How voting rights activists are navigating new restrictions ahead of November elections - https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/11/politics/voting-restrictions-november-elections/index.html

DeJoy’s 10-Year Postal Plan Threatens Mail-In Ballots, States Say - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-08/dejoy-s-10-year-postal-plan-will-slow-ballots-again-states-say

Democrats edge toward dumping Iowa’s caucuses as the first presidential vote - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/iowa-caucuses-democrats/2021/10/08/1402aafa-2770-11ec-8d53-67cfb452aa60_story.html

The Gerrymandering Is Getting Hog Wild in Texas - https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a37898699/texas-gerrymandering-more-safe-republican-seats/

Texas House passes proposed new map for chamber’s 150 districts, aiming to protect Republicans’ majority for the next decade - https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/13/texas-house-redistricting/

Federal judges freeze Wisconsin redistricting lawsuit, will step in if needed - https://madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-matters/federal-judges-freeze-wisconsin-redistricting-lawsuit-will-step-in-if-needed/article_aecfe9ab-2bf9-5981-ad84-06b9d6e9c05c.html

Court rules Ohio's GOP governor can be questioned under oath in gerrymandering case - https://www.salon.com/2021/10/10/rules-ohios-governor-can-be-questioned-under-oath-in-gerrymandering-case_partner/

Michigan's draft redistricting maps approved, will be taken to the public next - https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/11/michigan-redistricting-2021-map/5934136001/

Michigan's redistricting maps raising concerns for black voters - https://www.wxyz.com/news/political/michigans-redistricting-maps-raising-concerns-for-black-voters

The imminent impact of redistricting: sharper partisan elbows, less compromise by both sides in the House - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/redistricting-partisanship-fighting/2021/10/08/e765d50c-2522-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html

Redistricting and Changing Demographics in Key States - https://www.brennancenter.org/series/redistricting-and-changing-demographics-key-states

Moderate Democrats and the entire GOP are unwilling to admit how endangered democracy is - https://www.independent.co.uk/us/voices/trump-democracy-cliff-iowa-republicans-b1936398.html

Rift widens between business groups and House GOP - https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/575671-rift-widens-between-business-groups-and-house-gop?rl=1

Americans Want The Government To Act On Climate Change. What’s The Hold-Up? - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-want-the-government-to-act-on-climate-change-whats-the-hold-up/

AT&T quietly becomes powerhouse in conservative politics - https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2021/10/07/att-criticized-funding-conservative-lawmakers-texas-abortion-law

How AT&T helped build far-right One America News - https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-oneamerica-att/

Pro-Trump PAC fined over foreign money offer - https://www.axios.com/trump-pac-fined-foreign-money-1ff40d1b-bcbc-4d87-9dd4-d5d86d0863e7.html

Campaign Finance Reform? Maybe Next Cycle. This One’s Too Important - https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2021-10-07/campaign-finance-reform-maybe-next-cycle-this-ones-too-important

Study shows how corporations influence policy through nonprofit donations - https://phys.org/news/2021-10-corporations-policy-nonprofit-donations.html

We need a constitutional amendment on money in politics - https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/we-need-a-constitutional-amendment-on-money-in-politics/

Appeals court reinstates Texas’s six-week abortion ban, two days after it was lifted - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/texas-appeals-abortion-ruling/2021/10/08/56b9fe9e-2774-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html

Divided Supreme Court considers who can defend abortion restrictions - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/12/supreme-court-abortion-restrictions-515805

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case for D.C. Statehood - https://www.washingtoninformer.com/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-case-for-d-c-statehood/

The Whole Judiciary Branch Has a Credibility Crisis - https://prospect.org/justice/whole-judiciary-branch-has-a-credibility-crisis/

Stocks owned by Supreme Court justices tilt the scales of justice - https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/stocks-owned-supreme-court-justices-tilt-scales-justice-n1280712

If the Supreme Court doesn’t want to be seen as partisan, it should show us the money - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/07/opinion/if-supreme-court-doesnt-want-be-seen-partisan-it-should-show-us-money/

John Roberts is no longer the leader of his own court. Who, then, controls it? - https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/oct/11/us-supreme-court-john-roberts-politics

Voter Choice Act reintroduced in Congress - https://www.fairvote.org/voter_choice_act_reintroduced_in_congress

Is ranked-choice voting too complicated? Utah lawmakers may let cities experiment with approval voting, too - https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2021-10-12/is-ranked-choice-voting-too-complicated-utah-lawmakers-may-let-cities-experiment-with-approval-voting-too

HOW PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION GAVE AMERICAN VOTERS MEANINGFUL REPRESENTATION IN THE 1900S - https://www.sightline.org/2021/10/05/how-proportional-representation-gave-american-voters-meaningful-representation-in-the-1900s/

The American Public Views the Spread of Misinformation as a Major Problem - https://apnorc.org/projects/the-american-public-views-the-spread-of-misinformation-as-a-major-problem/

A Surprising Share of Americans Wants to Break Up the Country. Here’s Why They’re Wrong. - https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/06/americans-national-divorse-theyre-wrong-515443

Democracy reformers lean in to collaborative initiatives - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/democracy-reform-collaboration

Can entertainment help save a fracturing America? - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/Leveraging-big-ideas/entertainment-industry

The Center for Entertainment and Civic Health - https://cfech.org/

The Civic Voice: Why democracy needs good news - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/Leveraging-big-ideas/good-news-for-democracy

Gender & Racial Parity in Political Participation – Why does it matter? Links

Parity Definition - https://www.dictionary.com/browse/parity

Represent Women – U.S. Overview - https://www.representwomen.org/current-women-representation#us_overview

2020 Census Ethnicity Data - http://dailyorange.com/2020/09/su-fall-census-data-shows-slight-drop-international-students-enrollment/

2020 Census may have undercounted Black Americans, new analyses say - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/10/13/2020-census-black-undercount/

How Diverse is Congress - https://www.statista.com/chart/18905/us-congress-by-race-ethnicity/

Gender Parity Index - https://www.representwomen.org/gender_parity_index

New study finds white male minority rule dominates US - https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/555503-new-study-finds-white-male-minority-rule

Racial, ethnic diversity increases yet again with the 117th Congress - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/28/racial-ethnic-diversity-increases-yet-again-with-the-117th-congress/

Black Americans have made gains in U.S. political leadership, but gaps remain - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/22/black-americans-have-made-gains-in-u-s-political-leadership-but-gaps-remain/

Around the World, the Greatest Gender Disparities Are in Politics - https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/the-greatest-gender-inequality-in-the-world-is-in-politics

Women may be encouraged to run for office when structural rather than personal challenges are emphasized to explain the gender gap, but effects vary by race and ethnicity. - https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/gender-race-and-political-ambition-how-intersectionality-and-frames-influence-interest-political

Democracy, gender equality, and gender security - https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/fp_20170905_democracy_gender_security.pdf

Women’s Underrepresentation in the U.S. Congress - https://www.amacad.org/publication/womens-underrepresentation-us-congress

Fact Sheet: U.S. Efforts to Combat Systemic Racism - https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/21/fact-sheet-u-s-efforts-to-combat-systemic-racism/

Small Donor Public Financing Could Advance Race and Gender Equity in Congress - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/small-donor-public-financing-could-advance-race-and-gender-equity

To Reflect all of its People, America Must Become A Proportional Democracy - https://www.fairvote.org/to_reflect_all_of_its_people_america_must_become_a_proportional_democracy

Dial-In Details
When
10/13/2021
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5:00 pm
-
Where
Contact
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