Democracy Happy Hour — December 14, 2022

Democracy Happy Hour, December 14, 2022 - Meeting Recordings & Chat File:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/lpOYdItMl3Zl2aae3mHle_XKzahD3WDiqp62qv2us4yhb9KKO9ljy3MTT8Pa5oalOOig647GdS5r3ZWv.gFf7ClyOzIanPl5U

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/ZkJE_WaEz7OISAzMIHOOfL79RZ-FCPbgylhRnGZwNhXzhvOpDx5SN9Jq8-mrhSztz026BaLaA6rHVKVe.2u1UKX3pWIkG_D7-

• Chat (Link will download a text file to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/EAVAo4hJXFhCen4C8m0TNk2wvww29gT_kSxpCDxgKzu1MlKswy6OgmQBfE7dK4p7wVcHou3yka8fOp8f.rbCA31lvc5hlc0Rq

Fix Democracy First Links:

• Fix Democracy First 2022 End-of-Year Fundraiser – Gifts available at various donation levels - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• Dec 21 – NO Democracy Happy Hour this week - Holiday Break
• Dec 28 – NO Democracy Happy Hour this week - Holiday Break
• Jan 4 – January 6th: Two Years Later
• Jan 11 – Democracy Legislation in 2023: What Can We Expect?
• Jan 18 – The Influence of Fossil Fuel Lobbyists w/ James Browning from Global Energy Monitor

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

Local Links:

• FDF & LWVWA - Democracy Lobby Week 2023 - https://lwvwa.org/event-4701721?CalendarViewType=1&SelectedDate=2/12/2023

National Links:

• Congress must reform the outdated Electoral Count Act - https://brennan.gospringboard.com/secure/congress-must-reform-outdated-electoral-count-act

• Citizen Connect - https://citizenconnect.us/

Is the US a Republic, Democracy or Both? Links:

• Is America a democracy or a republic? Yes, it is - https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1122089076/is-america-a-democracy-or-a-republic-yes-it-is
• Republic vs. Democracy: What Is the Difference? - https://www.thoughtco.com/republic-vs-democracy-4169936
• A Democratic Republic: What is That??? - https://www.democracyandme.org/a-democratic-republic-what-is-that/
• America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy - https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/america-republic-not-democracy
• Why the Right Keeps Saying That the United States Isn’t a Democracy - https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-republicans-keep-saying-that-the-united-states-isnt-a-democracy
• ‘America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ Is a Dangerous—And Wrong—Argument - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/yes-constitution-democracy/616949/

Democracy in the News Links:

House passes landmark legislation to protect same-sex, interracial marriages - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/08/respect-for-marriage-act-house-vote/

Biden Signs Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/us/politics/biden-same-sex-marriage-bill.html

What the Jan. 6 select committee’s final report will look like - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/jan-6-select-committee-final-report-00073402?s=03

Breaking down the Jan. 6 committee’s possible referrals — criminal and beyond - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/13/jan-6-committee-referrals-donald-trump-00073776

Jan. 6 select committee announces final public meeting Monday - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jan-6-select-committee-announces-final-public-meeting/story?id=95179866

Trump among five targets as Jan. 6 panel weighs criminal referrals - https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-among-five-targets-as-jan-6-panel-weighs-criminal-referrals/

January 6 committee considers criminal referrals for at least 4 others besides Trump - https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/politics/january-6-committee-criminal-referrals/index.html

Obstruction Charge Takes Center Stage at Jan. 6 Court Hearing - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/us/politics/obstruction-charge-jan-6.html

Mark Meadows Exchanged Texts With 34 Members Of Congress About Plans To Overturn The 2020 Election - https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/mark-meadows-exchanged-texts-with-34-members-of-congress-about-plans-to-overturn-the-2020-election

Leaked List Shows Over 300 Oath Keepers Have Worked for Homeland Security - https://truthout.org/articles/leaked-list-shows-over-300-oath-keepers-have-worked-for-homeland-security/

Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/08/trump-contempt-mar-a-lago-records/

Lawmakers said to be on verge of a bipartisan omnibus agreement - https://rollcall.com/2022/12/12/democrats-ready-one-week-stopgap-funding-extension/

Schumer: Omnibus expected to include Electoral Count Act, Ukraine funding - https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3773317-schumer-omnibus-expected-to-include-electoral-count-act-ukraine-funding/

Reforming the Electoral Count Act remains critical to ensuring free and fair presidential elections - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/Threats-to-democracy/electoral-count-act-23789065

Congress has so much to do before Christmas - https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/politics/congress-deadlines-funding-what-matters/index.html

Kyrsten Sinema Says She Will Leave the Democratic Party - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/us/politics/kyrsten-sinema-democrats.html

Republicans have a post-election epiphany on mail voting - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/08/republicans-have-a-post-election-epiphany-on-mail-voting-00072956

Texas Republicans propose a Florida-style election police force as it tees up more changes to voting laws - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/texas-republicans-propose-florida-style-election-police-force-tees-cha-rcna60862

Onslaught of new abortion restrictions looms in reddest of states - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/13/abortion-restrictions-us-state-legislatures

Legislative Assaults on State Courts — December 2022 Update - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/legislative-assaults-state-courts-december-2022-update

Supreme Court majority questions massive shift of election authority - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/07/election-oversight-supreme-court-north-carolina/

Supreme Court seems poised to reject robust reading of ‘independent state legislature’ theory - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/07/supreme-court-independent-state-legislature-theory-00072713

Court seems unwilling to embrace broad version of “independent state legislature” theory - https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/12/court-seems-unwilling-to-embrace-broad-version-of-independent-state-legislature-theory/

Majority of Supreme Court appears opposed to fully embracing ‘independent state legislature theory’ - https://thefulcrum.us/Government/Balance-of-Power/independent-state-legislature-doctrine

Supreme Court leans toward limiting judicial scrutiny of U.S. elections - https://www.reuters.com/legal/republicans-target-judicial-scrutiny-elections-us-supreme-court-2022-12-07/

House hearing airs ethics allegations against Supreme Court - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/08/house-hearing-ethics-supreme-court-00073095

Advocate tells lawmakers of ‘stealth’ efforts to influence Supreme Court - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/08/schenck-supreme-court-influence-judiciary-committee/

Ad spending reached $7.8 billion for midterms - https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/ad-spending-reached-78-billion-midterms-rcna60578

State ballot measures attracted $945 million during 2022 midterm elections - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/12/state-ballot-measures-attracted-945-million-during-2022-midterm-elections/

Leonard Leo’s mysterious $200 million dark money war chest - https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/leonard-leos-mysterious-200-million-dark-money-war-chest/

Inside the secret $32M effort to stop ‘Stop the Steal’ - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/12/midterm-election-trump-maga-00073354

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on campaign finance violations as House Financial Services Committee probes new CEO - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/12/former-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-indicted-on-campaign-finance-violations-as-house-financial-services-committee-probes-new-ceo/

Democrats Urge Biden to Make Federal Contractors Disclose Dark Money Spending - https://truthout.org/articles/democrats-urge-biden-to-make-federal-contractors-disclose-dark-money-spending/

‘Dark money in politics an even darker place’ now, judges warn - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/15/fec-challenges-prosecutorial-discretion/

Georgia secretary of state calls for end to runoff elections - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/14/georgia-runoff-election/

Ranking Presidents: How Ranked-Choice Voting Can Improve Presidential Primaries - https://www.rstreet.org/2022/12/07/ranking-presidents-how-ranked-choice-voting-can-improve-presidential-primaries/