joining. this is big tonight. they have long argued this institution is broken, that right wingers broke it and that you can t even pretend to tackle america s tough problems if you won t clean up the system. today newly elected georgia senator raphael warnock used his first floor speech to invoke the pitched battle over americans right to vote arguing senators right to vote should not be vetoed by republican minority abuse of the filibuster tactic. we are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we have ever seen since the jim crowe era. it is a contradiction to say we must protect minority rights in the senate while refusing to protect minority rights in the society. colleagues, those senate rules should overrule the integrity of our democracy. this is jim crowe in new clothes. this was a powerful way to begin his senate career. warnock looking like the rookie and the vet willing to offer new ideas with the experience of a
power, are suspecting some kind of way. that s an impression that s fostered by the fact that we don t have a healthy balance you, or real even given take from both parties. we have in stead one favor that is favored by institutions, and another party, the democratic, that faces low odds. when it does win power, it is then threat in an attack by these accusations. propaganda, with an assist from the mythologized-ing that we do about our institutions. you make the point, the united states senate begins as a stacked deck with voters in the dakotas having much stronger representation, then say, the ones in new york city, and new york state. then you make the point, the super majority requirement
more populous states. you ve got that imbalance created and on top of that, you have rules, backdoor chamber rules that have been exploited by mitch mcconnell better than any other single senator in history in the name of ensuring a super majority requirement to pass legislation and in the name of ensuring minority rule in this country. if you think about who supports all of the democrats agenda, those democratic senators are representing 40 million more americans than are the republicans who are closing for example voting rights legislation which is popular not just in the majority of the united states senate but a clear majority but also in the majority of the united states. but that s always been the fight, right? as elie says so beautifully all the time, it always been the fight. are we going to have a multi racial democracy in this country or not? in my book i argue that fight, that central fight is one that
including for two of the key negotiators, rob portman and kyrsten sinema. sinema is the strong supporter of the super majority requirement. this is her opportunity to show the senate can function with that rule and rob portman an ohio republican retiring, this is a chance for him to live up to this his reputation as a mod to bring his party along and deliver the votes. he s not got many more opportunities left and the clock is ticking. sahil kapur, appreciate that. former president donald trump encouraing more election audits like the controversial quote/unquote so-called in arizona. the effect it has in 2022 and less than 24 hours before the first committee hearing on the capitol insurrection. congressman adam schiff on
particular. how do you articulate the problem with the filibuster which people like cinema and man chin say, it is just a rule, everybody can use the rule in the same way. your argument is that right now it is not a lull. because of things the republicans have done in the electorate, it is a way to prevent progressive legislation from going forward or guaranteeing that conservative legislation does. well, it is a rule, but it is a rule that can be changed. it is not in the constitution. the founders never intended for there to be a super majority requirement in the senate. the senate itself is a countermajorian institution. the issue is that the republicans are changing the voting rules in the state so as to restrict the electorate to be more republican friendly. they are trying to deprive democratic leading constituencies of the franchise. it is a more egregious violation of the rules than simply saying the senate should no longer have a super majority requirement, which is within t