Democracy Happy Hour – March 15, 2023

Democracy Happy Hour, March 15, 2023 - Meeting Recordings & Chat File:

• Speaker View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/JjUIHJAfXIDqakcGpt5bo5cSGACC1u_-3e9PqGunK3bjUmi1O43XoDdJuLpIsmb4qaWRJrUC8U2qGnT4.Dlb_VAj1B5Wyky5Z
• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/YLiZ_Zn4avlINX-JgeldGFqmwD3MNNY6dexkwXd71oBzskxTCyv6-ddii_JI4tRnYJAxlK-mGhDQcpWg.Guii83c1u1qtcQrJ

Fix Democracy First Links:

• Fix Democracy First – Legislation Page - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/legislation

• Website & past event recordings: fixdemocracyfirst.org

• Donate @ fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• Mar 22nd - Walking Ancient Paths to Peace: Learning from Lived Experience to Strengthen Democracy with Stephanie Nestlerode of 7th Generation Labs
• Mar 29th - Electronic Registration Information Center or ERIC: What is it and do we need it?
• Apr 5th - Local Intersections: Working Together to Strengthen Democracy

ACTIONS:

• ACTION ALERT: SB 5284 - Campaign Finance Disclosure & Address Foreign Influenced Corporations - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5284&Year=2023
• Contact members of House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee to support the bill and vote it out of committee: https://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/SGOV/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx
• Multi-Member Districts Using RCV Affinity Group - https://forms.gle/GqiSG42neBYJ4ppG9
  
• People Powered Elections Washington - https://www.peoplepoweredelections.org
• Email Sign Up - https://secure.everyaction.com/Kvt4e-0DY0yyLf_1C7y-og2
• 14Point3 Campaign - https://freespeechforpeople.org/the-14point3-campaign/
• TRUMP IS DISQUALIFIED FROM THE BALLOT - https://freespeechforpeople.org/trump-is-disqualified-from-the-ballot/

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

Democracy by Lottery: Letting Everyday People Decide Links:

• The Case Against Elections in Boston Review - basic theory, history, and practice of sortition - Contains links to other resources.
• The Similitude - https://nickcoccoma.substack.com
  
• Podcast with Terry Bouricius - politician turned sortition advocate
• Videos:
• 10 Best Videos on sortition
• Citizens’ Reference Panel for the Regional Transportation Review - profiles three selected members of a Citizens' Assembly
• Introducing the Toronto Planning Review Panel - introduces members of the city's planning review assembly.
• Ireland's national Citizens' Assembly of 2016-2018 - The Assembly's main webpage is here.
• To Save America, We Need Democracy by Lottery in The Similitude. Includes several resource links at the bottom for articles, books, podcasts, etc.
• Lotteries and the Supreme Court - using lotteries to reform the judiciary

Democracy in the News Links:

Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, former Ohio GOP leader Matt Borges found guilty - https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/09/jury-verdict-larry-householder-matt-borges-ohio-corruption-racketeering/69955618007/

‘Dark Money’ Ohio Bribe Verdict Shows Citizens United Limit - https://news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar-and-criminal-law/firstenergy-bribery-scheme-nets-landmark-guilty-verdict-in-ohio

Prosecutors Signal Criminal Charges for Trump Are Likely - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/nyregion/trump-potential-criminal-charges-bragg.html

Trump in growing legal and political peril ahead of 2024 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/10/trump-peril-legal-political/

Trump claims violence he inspired on Jan. 6 was Pence’s fault - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/13/trump-pence-iowa/

‘History Will Hold Donald Trump Accountable’ for Jan. 6, Pence Says - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/12/us/politics/mike-pence-donald-trump-gridiron.html

Ga. Republicans push for prosecutorial oversight amid Trump election probe - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/07/ga-republicans-push-prosecutorial-oversight-amid-trump-election-probe/

GOP state officials at U.S. House hearing push back against federal election oversight - https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/03/11/gop-state-officials-at-u-s-house-hearing-push-back-against-federal-election-oversight/

DOJ takes on the Jan. 6 Tucker Carlson tapes - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/07/justice-department-tucker-carlson-trials-evidence-00086031

House GOP plots new January 6 probes despite internal backlash over McCarthy giving Carlson footage - https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/politics/house-republican-carlson-footage-backlash/index.html

How a civil war erupted at Fox News after the 2020 election - https://www.npr.org/2023/03/08/1161694400/fox-news-lawsuit-civil-war-ingraham-hannity

Some Election Officials Refused to Certify Results. Few Were Held Accountable. - https://www.propublica.org/article/election-officials-refused-certify-results-few-held-accountable

G.O.P. States Abandon Bipartisan Voting Integrity Group, Yielding to Conspiracy Theories - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/gop-voter-registration-fraud-eric.html

Breaking Up With ERIC: Why Are These 3 States Leaving? - https://www.govtech.com/elections/breaking-up-with-eric-why-are-these-3-states-leaving

Withdrawals from ERIC are the result of politics that hurt the integrity and security of U.S. elections, say current and former election officials - https://issueone.org/press/eric-withdrawals-current-and-former-election-officials/

Conspiracy theory whirlwind threatens to blow Texas out of national program that keeps voter rolls updated - https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/09/texas-voting-eric/

House panel endorses bill that would create state ‘election integrity unit’ - https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/mar/09/house-panel-endorses-bill-that-would-create-state/

Arizona Sues After County Puts an Election Skeptic in Charge of Voting - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/us/politics/arizona-sues-cochise-county.html

California Considers Giving the Incarcerated a Right to Vote - https://capitalandmain.com/california-considers-giving-the-incarcerated-a-right-to-vote

Florida Republicans are prepping changes to local election laws and school board races - https://news.wgcu.org/government-politics/2023-03-13/florida-republicans-are-prepping-changes-to-local-election-laws-and-school-board-races

A Florida-Sized Roadblock for the League of Women Voters - https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-roadblocks-league-of-women-voters

DeSantis crackdown on free speech and civil rights blasted by beloved voting rights group - https://www.rawstory.com/amp/league-of-women-voters-2659587268

Trump ‘White House in waiting’ helped develop Ohio voting bill touted as model for states - https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/03/08/trump-white-house-in-waiting-helped-develop-ohio-voting-bill-touted-as-model-for-states/

Voting rights expansion bill heads to governor’s desk - https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2023/03/13/voting-rights-expansion-bill-heads-to-governors-desk/

Oregon takes step toward letting people in prison vote - https://philomathnews.com/oregon-takes-step-toward-letting-people-in-prison-vote/

Wyden, Blumenauer try again to export Oregon mail voting, automatic registration to rest of US - https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023/03/08/wyden-blumenauer-try-again-to-export-oregon-mail-voting-automatic-registration-to-rest-of-us/

GOP showcases states with added voter ID laws as model for country - https://rollcall.com/2023/03/10/gop-showcases-states-with-added-voter-id-laws-as-model-for-country/

Federal Homeland Security Grant Funds Directed to Election Security - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/federal-homeland-security-grant-funds-directed-election-security

North Carolina Supreme Court To Rehear State-Level Redistricting Case Underlying Moore v. Harper - https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/north-carolina-supreme-court-to-rehear-state-level-redistricting-case-underlying-moore-v-harper/

Voting rights case in North Carolina Supreme Court: The issues, arguments and potential outcomes - https://myfox8.com/news/politics/your-local-election-hq/redistricting/voting-rights-case-in-north-carolina-supreme-court-the-issues-arguments-and-potential-outcomes/

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Latest Order Could Throw a Wrench in a Major Election Case - https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/the-u-s-supreme-courts-latest-order-could-throw-a-wrench-in-a-major-election-case/

Outside groups take a first stab at a Supreme Court ethics code - https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1162324746/outside-groups-take-a-first-stab-at-a-supreme-court-ethics-code

Election-denying donors pour millions into key Wisconsin supreme court race - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/14/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-funding-donors-election-deniers

Back-to-Back Bank Collapses Came After Deregulatory Push - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/business/signature-silicon-valley-bank-dodd-frank-regulation.html

SILICON VALLEY BANK USED FORMER MCCARTHY STAFFERS TO WEAKEN REGULATIONS, LOBBY FDIC - https://theintercept.com/2023/03/11/silicon-valley-bank-used-former-mccarthy-staffers-to-weaken-regulations-lobby-fdic/

SVB’s Lobby Groups Fought Proposal To Bolster Deposit Insurance - https://www.levernews.com/svbs-lobby-groups-fought-proposal-to-bolster-deposit-insurance/

Collapsed Silicon Valley Bank enlisted ‘revolving door’ lobbyists to push its policy agenda in Washington - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/03/collapsed-silicon-valley-bank-enlisted-revolving-door-lobbyists-to-push-its-policy-agenda-in-washington/

SVB CEO Greg Becker lobbied the government to relax some Dodd-Frank provisions on regional lenders in 2015. Trump did in 2018. - https://fortune.com/2023/03/11/silicon-valley-bank-svb-ceo-greg-becker-dodd-frank-trump-rollback-systemically-important-fdic/

Cryptocurrency industry lobbying and political contributions skyrocketed in 2022 - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/03/cryptocurrency-industry-lobbying-and-political-contributions-skyrocketed-in-2022

Elizabeth Warren: Silicon Valley Bank Is Gone. We Know Who Is Responsible. - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/opinion/elizabeth-warren-silicon-valley-bank.html

Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group That Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance” - https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents

Democracy dies without trust and truth: Shore up civics in schools - https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/democracy-dies-without-trust-and-truth-shore-up-civics-in-schools/

RANKED CHOICE VOTING WINS IN 2 MORE CITIES - https://fairvote.org/press/ranked-choice-voting-wins-in-2-more-cities/

Proportional #rankedchoicevoting Explained - Proportional #rankedchoicevoting Explained