Biden backs controversial maneuver to push voting reforms past Republicans

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
11 Jan 2022 15:26

Amid a split between Democrats and Republicans, President Joe Biden aims to endorse a controversial change in Senate rules that will allow voting reforms to be pushed past the Republicans.

Biden supports "changing the Senate rules"

According to a White House official, US President Joe Biden will use a major speech on Tuesday to endorse a controversial change in Senate rules that will allow sweeping voting law reform to be pushed past the Republicans.

The official said on condition of anonymity that Biden, who is giving the speech in Atlanta, Georgia, supports "changing the Senate rules" to require a simple majority for most votes, so that "this basic right is defended."

Republicans are unanimously opposed to the reforms, which Biden describes as "critical to US democracy," and would normally be able to thwart a Democratic supermajority. Biden now supports suspending the filibuster rule, which would allow Democrats to pass bills with a simple majority.

American civil war on the horizon

According to Stephen Marche, the political problems of the US today are both "structural and immediate."

Marche recalls how, at the start of the first civil war, the most brilliant citizens of the United States failed to expect it and believed it was not imminent enough until Confederate forces bombarded Fort Sumter, quoting Henry Adams as saying, "not one man in America wanted, expected, or intended the civil war."

The author contends that the United States is once again on the verge of civil war, citing how its political system has become engulfed in rage, the legal system has become increasingly untrustworthy, and Congress approval rates are at 20%. He observes that militias within the country are training and arming themselves for the nation's demise.

Capitol police have reported an increase in threats by 107%.

One-third of Americans believe violence against the government is justified.

According to former FBI agent Micheal German, "the 2015 FBI counter-terrorism guide instructs FBI agents, on white supremacist cases, not to put them on the terrorist watch list as agents normally would do," because "the police could then look at the watchlist and determine that they are their friends."

The former agent claims that authoritarian regimes gain power by authorizing a group of political "thugs" to use violence against their political opponents.