The House Democrats

The House of Representatives of the 117th Congress has passed nine major pieces of legislation that awaits the Senate. Most every one of these bills has passed along party lines in the House.

HR1, or otherwise comically referred to as the “For the People Act of 2021.” It would invalidate the requirement, nationally, for photo ID for voting. It would allow ballot harvesting, where political operatives could collect and return ballots. It also restricts states from cleaning up voter rolls, including those who have died or moved to another state. Yes, you read that correctly—the Democrats want it to be difficult for the states to remove dead voters from the voting rolls. It is my opinion that this bill, highly unlikely to pass the Senate, would be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court—even if it passed the Senate. It is an attempt by the Democrats to hold on to power in perpetuity. All 220 Democratic members of the House voted “yes” on this bill.

HR5, or the “Equality Act” as it is commonly referred, gives the government free rein to restrict the fundamental right of practicing religion by gutting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed in 1993. Many agnostics, Orthodox Jews, Evangelicals and Catholics have coalesced to oppose this piece of legislation. It is presented as a bill to stand against the mistreatment of the LGBTQ community. There are, very thankfully, a plethora of laws on the books that stand against mistreatment of all human beings. This bill would force a set of mandates with no religious exemptions for churches and other religious organizations. The Constitution is clear about the unrestricted rights given to Americans for freedom of religion, and I believe this law, as it currently stands, violates the Constitution and would be struck-down by the Supreme Court.

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act (HR8), passed 227-203, with eight GOP members voting for the bill. The purpose is to enact background checks for all gun sales, including private sales between neighbors. It also extends the waiting period if the background check is not completed in a timely fashion. Once again, this is another bill attempting to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. It would not stop the mass shootings that we have seen, as most of these have involved illegal guns. Rep. Thomas Massie made an impassioned plea on the floor of the House regarding this bill when he spoke about a hypothetical situation in which a person in an abusive situation needed a gun for personal protection. This person goes to the gun store to make a purchase, and their information is entered into the computer and sent to the government agency. It comes back “denied.” Under this bill, there would be no recourse. Why does this concern me? Several years ago, I walked into Chuck’s Bait and Tackle in order to purchase a 22-caliber rifle. Although I held a U.S. Government Security Clearance at the time, my instantaneous gun permit check came back “denied.” I was forced to wait a few days before I could get my rifle. Under HR8, you would have little recourse if you were denied.

There is one small problem for the Democrats to get these bills through the Senate: Under current Senate Filibuster rules, 60 votes are required for passage of these bills. The Democrats simply don’t have the votes. But wait! There is a gargantuan attempt to do away with the Filibuster—for the exclusive reason of ramrodding their radical legislation through the Senate. Will they be successful? Last week, the White House nominated the wife of the most centrist Democrat in the Senate, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, for a high-paying federal commission post. Are we shocked about this? Never forget, the fish rots from the head down, and currently, there is no greater stench in this country than the one emanating from that cesspool on Capitol Hill.

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