HR 1: McConnell calls House Democrats anti-corruption bill "takeover"

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out in favor of the Anti-Corruption and Voting Rights Bill that Democrats in the House push for first time of the year. Published in the Washington Post on Thursday qualifying the bill as a democratic attempt to "strengthen the federal government's power over the political discourse and elections of the Americans".

"It should be called the law on the protection of democrats", he

The legislative package, known as HR 1, is based on three main ideas: reforming the financing of electoral campaigns, strengthening government ethics laws and expand voting rights. The goal is to get more information on how lobbyists and Super PACs spend their money, facilitate voting and restructure the current campaign funding system to allow for public funding of elections.

The ideas behind the bill are extremely popular. A vast majority of Americans want the influence of money to be removed from politics and Congress passes laws to that effect. A recent survey of the PAC End Citizens United revealed that 82% of voters and 84% of independents said they support a bill to fight against corruption.

But McConnell painted a very different picture, characterizing human resources. 1 as a harmful attempt to silence the freedom of expression and turn American democracy into a one-party rule.

"House Democrats will not come to the table and negotiate to reopen the government, but they have worked hard to get more control. what you can say about them and how they are re-elected, "he wrote. "They are trying to cloak this clichéd takeover of the" restoration of democracy "… but their proposal is simply a naked attempt to change the rules of American politics to the benefit of a party." [19659008] Read in another way: McConnell might be nervous Americans for both parties have been clamoring for years to withdraw money from politics Donald Trump has sent a message on the message "d & # 39; drying out of the swamp "in 2016, and Democrats in the House have gone ahead with a wave of election in 2018.

The Democrats wanted to follow through on this victory by taking concrete steps to reform the elections, especially after multiple allegations of deletion of voters in states like Florida, Georgia and North Dakota.

"I'm not surprised that he's attacking to the bill and its various elements because I think it presents a threat to the genre. system, it's built, "said Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), who heads the legislation. "The fact that McConnell is writing something like that confirms that we are doing the right thing."

HR 1

HR 1 contains a lot of elements, but here are some of the key points ( for more information, read the bill exploder ):

• The bill would require Super PACs and black money-type political organizations to make their donors public.
• It would create a voluntary option to finance campaigns, fueled by small donations. The federal government would offer a volunteer 6-1 match to presidential and congressional candidates, which means that for every dollar raised by a candidate from small donations, the federal government would double it six times. The small maximum donation that could be matched would be capped at $ 200.
• The president and vice-presidents and presidential / vice-presidential candidates would be required to disclose 10 years of their tax returns.
• It would create a stricter lobbying registration. stricter requirements, with increased surveillance of foreign agents.
• He would create non-partisan redistricting commissions to end partisan gerrymandering and create a new national automatic registration of voters asking voters to withdraw rather than participate.
• holidays for federal employees and encourage private sector companies to do the same.

McConnell's main criticism of HR 1, described in his op-ed, is as follows:

• He opposes the bill's objective of creating the Federal Electoral Commission. be governed by five commissioners instead of six, which would make the commission partisan. Democrats say their intention to make an odd figure would be to reduce traffic jams (a complaint that was raised by former ECF commissioners of both sides).
• McConnell writes that revealing who spends money in elections and a stunning constitutional amendment Citizens United would be a blow to freedom of expression and to free association. The 2010 Supreme Court decision on Citizens United was actually a decision granting corporations the same powers as citizens over political spending. "Under this bill, you would keep your right of free association as long as your private associations are broadcast to everyone," McConnell said.
• Unsurprisingly, he vigorously opposes the idea of ​​federal involvement in public activities. reform of campaign financing. "They would rather use your money to enrich the campaign consultants," he writes.
• He is not a fan of proposed reforms to prevent states from purging voters of the lists. The bill would prevent the use of non-transferable mail as a means of removing voters from lists. According to McConnell, this makes "more difficult for states to correct inaccurate data in their electoral lists."

"From the first amendment to your ballot, the Democrats want to rewrite the rules to favor and favor their friends," McConnell concluded. "Increasing the FEC, compelling taxpayers, undermining privacy and compromising our elections are a price that they will gladly pay for this partisan grab." bill in the Senate. But this editorial describes conservative thinking about the reforms proposed by the Democrats.

"I think what struck me was that he thought he had to go through the whole menu," Sarbanes said. "The fact that he's attacking all the package and every element shows that he has absolutely no interest in any reform." This is not the type you would like to see eloquent in the pages of a newspaper as to the importance it attaches to democracy. in America.

The Democrats took a big step in making HR 1 their first bill of the year; they give priority to this issue and want to adopt it if they manage to win back the Senate or the White House by 2020.

But Democrats also interpret McConnell's expressing against the HR 1 so publicly and energetically as a sign that they win the public debate.

"I think he and others realize that if we pass this law in the House and we make this strong statement to the public … it starts to create momentum and pressure on him, "said Sarbanes.