Don’t encourage him...ask yourself if a non-quorum is worst than Trump appointing Victor Sergeyovich and Maxim Todorof to the commission...
When will the House realize they have enough ammunition in their arsenal to impeach Trump? He has failed to fulfill his duties, obstructed Justice, lied to the public, he is breaking the law to protect himself and rendering the House useless. The focus is on his 2020 defeat? He has actively set precedents for a Putin regime for himself or Republicans that may follow. The failure of Congress to use aggression may be worse than the Republican silence.
5
Donald Trump is actively engaged in stealing the 2020 election, right now, before our eyes. It is that simple, and that outrageous.
Impeachment must proceed now, and quickly, especially since we cannot rely on the 2020 election to be fair, due to the multiple ongoing crimes of the sitting president.
We need to take to the streets, now, before the rigged election gets stolen by the Trump/Putin conspiracy by defanging the FEC. This is a national emergency.
7
Perhaps, it is time for the American people to conclude we have a flawed government structure. Maybe, it is time to make the Senate’s authority similar to that of upper house of British parliament: the “House of Lords.” It would recognize the two facts: (1) American has developed its own class of aristocracy, (2) the need to take power away from any one gentleman who can single handedly control the reins of power due to antiquated Senate rules.
26
“As Mr. Potter warned, “Non-action here is an invitation to more foreign interference in elections.”
And you wonder why the Trump-McConnell machine is in no hurry to fill it? Seriously?
44
I'm sure the president's very content without a Federal Elections Commission. He probably doesn't see why we need any more elections. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, he secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants. If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world. In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is important and what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for dirty tricks and destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
Suppose Trump loses the election, even by all 50 states, then contests it on some flimsy pretext. The FEC, without a quorum, can't do anything until its empty seats are filled (and guess whose job it is to fill them). I'm not into conspiracy theories, but even this stinks to high hell.
13
Well that's what 45 wants, non-action on the FEC so he can invite his BFF to interfere in our election like he did in 2016. Fraudulent behavior for all to see.
5
Am I missing something here, or perhaps I'm just dense, but from the Republican Party perspective, wouldn't a hobbled and wholly useless FEC be what they want ??
This editorial while rightly suggesting that the FEC needs fixing immediately, also speaks as if Trump and his Republican partners have some desire to give this watchdog agency legs; sometimes, no, most times these days I feel that I've fallen down that same rabbit hole the editorial board is in.
8
DREAM ON. The Republicans are not for the people but for themselves. Keep me in office and I'll do good for you.
Term limits on all positions are necessary today or not having them will produce nothing for the people, just the 1 %.
When will the people wake up???????????????
3
"Ditch Mitch" should be our priority -- more important than voting Trump out. (Google "ditch Mitch" and see.)
3
As they say, "this is why he can actually win in 2020"
4
Asking McConnell and Trump to take steps to ensure a fair(er) election is not unlike asking burglars to lobby for better home security systems.
12
I dunno, how about NOT encouraging the criminal pretending to be legitimately elected to fill vacancies at the Federal Election Commission?
I mean, what could possibly be worse? His hand-picked co-conspirators watching over his "election"? That's got to be the biggest insult to ever think up. Let them stay vacant. We will be better off, in all that ironic ironic-ness.
Does the NY Times go out of its way to be maddeningly perverse? Do you do it for laughs?
3
Why was the “Watchdog” drugged and muzzled — effectively disabled?
To help Sen. McConnell’s hiding-in-plain-sight efforts to obtain effective overt (money) and covert (cyber-army) Russian help to retain Republican control of the White House and Senate. Just that.
6
Completely unexpected and shocking.
NOT.
2
This article chilled me down to my bones. Here is more from moveon.org:
”Mitch McConnell has effectively shut down the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the agency that oversees and enforces our nation's campaign finance laws. Since McConnell became the Senate majority leader in 2015, he's refused to confirm commissioners to fill vacancies on the FEC.2 As of yesterday, after a commissioner retired from the FEC, the commission no longer has enough members to reach a quorum, meaning it no longer has the power to enforce campaign finance laws ... or even meet to discuss them.”
https://act.moveon.org/go/88951?t=28&akid=243925%2E36350306%2EGSzCI5
3
"(I)n the interest of safeguarding democracy, President Trump needs to...." Are you high? Trump has zero interest in safeguarding democracy.
8
Why would Trump care about the elections committee?
5
American elections compromised. No solution in sight. The GOP and their wealthy donors (including Putin) can tick off another task done in their ongoing effort to undo whatever representative democracy we still have in this country. The GOP has worked hard to choose their voters rather than letting all who could vote have their say. They have gerrymandered, stripped voter rolls, and ignored the will of the people who have voted for independent districting commissions (e.g. Sununu's veto in NH and the effort led by Scott Walker to block voted approved redistricting in Michigan).
Moscow Mitch continues to block legislation that would reinforce election security. It is increasingly clear that the GOP does not work on behalf of Americans.
11
Surprise Surprise! No FEC means one less watchdog. This was by design, I’m sure. Someone thinks they’re king, and someone else thinks they’re Lord Protector. Meanwhile, the country burns
3
Agree it’s important to ask the president and senate to do what is right, but that is not their goal, as we’ve seen with repub gerrymandering, making voting difficult, cheating as we saw in NC and Moscow Mitch’s comment that when many vote, repubs lose. The only goal of either the president or repub senate is control, power and greed...not the people or the country.
4
Trump will personally take on the duties and responsibilities of the election commission. We can be assured that the upcoming election pageant will be handled beautifully.
2
But who is he likely to appoint? An architect of voter suppression efforts? A lawyer who helped make Citizens United the law? Joe Arpaio?
8
Just another example of an impeachable offense by Trump.
He is required to "Take care that the laws are faithfully executed" by the Constitution -- and this is a clear-cut example of Trump's failure to execute the laws faithfully.
Of course campaign law violations are why Trump is president in the first place ("Hello, Russia, if you are listening.") No wonder he has no interest in doing his sworn duty.
5
Given that we already have serious problems with running safe and secure elections that produces results that voters can trust, this adds one more nail to the coffin. Add to that the prospect of Russia once again intervening on Trump's behalf and what we, the people, end up with is just another banana republic.
This Trump era will go down in history as one of our darkest periods.
4
Ya know, I stared voting in '68 and like to think I was paying some attention to current events for a while before that and I have to say I've never seen such a corrupt bunch of people pulling the levels of power in my life. The depth and breadth of it is quite 'amazing', I have to say. You could substitute other words, too, such as alarming, depressing, frightening, enraging, demoralizing ...
I've heard the "this is the most election ever" theme a few times before but I think this one is at the top of the list. And, it most definitely is not just DJT; a lot of the time I think McConnell and the people on his leash are as much or more to be fearful [or any of the above choices| of.
I believe that if the whole country were to vote - consistently - little or none of this would happen. Well, there *is* the Fox propaganda machine issue, but still ...
1
Just like the DRC. The electoral commission there was de funded and subsequently unable to organize voting. US now on par with banana republics.
2
It is laughable that Trump and McConnell would ever lift a finger to assure fair election monitoring.This would not advance their interests which are to have as much controversy and chaos as possible so that ultimately the 2020 elections will end up in the courts-the Supreme Court and a rerun of Bush v Gore anyone???
3
Fat chance anything will happen with McConnell and Trump hoping to be the beneficiaries of any election chicanery and both up for election in 2020.
1
Just another example of how McConnell and the GOP have become the greatest existential threat to what’s left of our democracy; trump merely it’s buffoonish figurehead.
The Republican Party has consistently planned, supported or mandated almost every roadblock to free and fair elections in this country ever since it went from the party of Lincoln to the party of the wealthy.
If Russian interference in our elections is to destroy our democracy they’ve found willing accomplices in the Senate and the WH. I’m afraid the FEC would lack the teeth to do anything about in anyway.
12
I would have thought that a Democrat dominated House would be able to do something in some way to safeguard the integrity the up coming election without having to ask permission of Mitch's Senate or the Trump White House.
If not then they might as well give up and hand the election to the Republican party.
Many presidential elections are close run races and it is obvious that a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression and various other dirty tactics including foreign interference has made all the difference in the past. But this election is absolutely crucial to the future well being of this country and the world we all live in.
We need to be protesting in the streets about the lack of action on safeguarding the 2020 election.
13
It is amazing that anyone can still believe that the systematic failure of Trump and the Republicans to take actions safeguarding the upcoming 2020 elections is the consequence of innocent foolishness or negligence. Either outside election interference by the Russians or internal disenfranchising of minority voters will help Republicans and hurt Democrats. And if Trump appears to have lost a close contest, questions of electoral reliability can be used to challenge the results and, in the extreme instance, justify Trump's refusal to leave office.
10
The FEC has been essentially dysfunctional, even when all its board members (always 3 Dems and 3 Republicans) have been at the table, for more than a decade, if not longer.
When Bush appointed Don McGahn in 2008, the future White House Counsel consolidated his fellow Republican board members to constantly block regulation, oversight, and investigation. FEC fines dropped from about $6 million in 2006 to less than $600,000 in 2016. Mitch McConnell blocked Obama's FEC nominees.
The bitter irony (and perhaps conspiracy) is that, as White House Counsel, Don McGahn and McConnell were working hand-in-hand to fast-track Trump's judicial nominees, including personally hand-holding Kavanaugh through his contentious confirmation. These right-wing judges will likely rule against future cases involving federal oversight of elections. Looks like neither the courts nor the FEC will enforce Citizen United rules against active coordination between corporation-funded PACs and politicians' campaigns.
McGahn is also under House subpoena to testify about Trump's obstruction of justice (the attempt to fire Mueller). Trump's citing executive privilege to prevent McGahn from testifying will be challenged in court and will eventually be a major decision impacting constitutional checks and balances on the executive branch.
Future historians will have to figure out exactly how American democracy crumbled to dust. But the name Don McGahn will certainly be in their indexes.
8
@MB
Thank you for an insightful and informative comment which confirms once again the growing trend in the US to render the results of elections meaningless using every available tool.
Isn’t there another agency like the FBI or even a House sub-committee that can take over the FEC’s watchdog functions? Can the House or someone sue the President and Mitch McConnell to make the necessary appointments?
6
Let's not hold our breath waiting for tRUMP and Moscow Mitch to do what's in the best interest of free, fair and verifiable elections. There is much at stake and stalling is in the best interest of the key players. It is going to take a landslide and epic voter turnout to right the ship.
9
Imagine that the election watchdog is rendered toothless when an unpopular president finds himself in electoral trouble. As shocking as finding gambling going on here.
7
Trump’s reelection plan seem to be shaping up.
11
At first, I was joking but now I’m starting to wonder if the UN will have to step in and monitor our 2020 election.
26
While your bringing the catastrophic neglect upon the FEC is important, we have been aware from the beginning that this regime has had the priority of defunding and unstaffing all agencies of the Federal government because government is a thorn in his bladder, and he will not have it.
He was elected because his red states were able to gerrymand, unchallenged, and by the nature of cantonized incorporated entities, political units were tacitly, and now formally permitted by SCOTUS, to continue unbrided their segregationist antebellum behaviors
The actual influences which people who are trapped in their community structures endure are too sadistic to discuss. It requires the kinds of Federal, impartial arbiters such as the ones who Trump will not hire because they would expose the alien intentions he is committed to employ to disenfranchise everyone except the moneyed elite to do what they want unfettered.
Surely it must be the rotting of the superego in certain inbred genetic groups. What else could explain this failure of our society to progress in tune with the rest of the civilized world and even third world countries.
The behavior is most likely an invasion of the mob mentality, which is also called tribalism. I believe it is too late for the downtrodden to employ any tools except to go one-to-one and show how lives can be changed and bettered by working selflessly.
We all know what needs to be done, the lacking is the will. We must cast off our chains.
5
This all sound as it’s just as Trump (or his handlers) wants it.
7
I sure hope the Democrats have something up their sleeve to try and catch any kind of election tampering. If they don't, they can kiss the next election goodbye.
6
The vacancies are not a bug. They're a Republican feature.
25
In his self-serving and grossly dishonest op-ed that ran in this paper one week ago, McConnell asserted, in essence, that Democrats "started it" when they eliminated the filibuster on judicial nominees up to, but not including the Supreme Court. In response, he claimed disingenuously, Republicans "took the Reid precedent to its logical conclusion, covering all nominations up to and including the Supreme Court."
But here's the thing: when Democrats took that action, it was in no wise a power grab (if it had been, then Democrats would have removed the filibuster from Supreme Court nominees). It was, rather, a response to Republican abuse of the filibuster in blocking ALL of President Obama's nominees to the lower courts, which was itself an attempted power grab. (McConnell said it was Obama's "controversial" nominees; but his judicial nominees were far from controversial, including and especially Merrick Garland, who was confirmed to the federal bench in 1995 by a 76-23 vote in a Republican-controlled Senate. And even the Republicans who voted against him at that time didn't do so because they thought him unqualified or "controversial" -- they did it because they were disputing a need for an eleventh seat on the DC circuit.
14
Perhaps non-action here is intentional, as Trump has already mentioned his intent to allow foreign 'information' to flow through; it probably catapulted him, undeservedly, to the presidency in 2016; and a repeat dream come true?
10
How close together do the dots of corruption need to be before congress can connect them?
Can the leader of the free world be held to any standard of ethics at all? Is that just a wistful remembrance of days gone by? As bad as the bad old days were, they are Capra-esque compared to the debased Pottersville/Trumpville vortex into which are being swept.
We need a "have you no shame" moment for the benefit of the public, even though Trump himself clearly has none. It should be directed at genuine conservatives in the republican party who have let these anti-conservative, anti-human monsters unleash all the monsters of America. At some point party over principle and even practicality becomes immoral. We are far beyond that point.
12
Why is this article written as if there is any expectation that Trump will actually nominate anyone? It could at least be mentioned that this administration has a clear goal of deconstructing our entire government, especially and above all anything regulatory.
17
As long as the FEC is being prevented from investigating the Russian past and ongoing interference by Republicans, it is toothless.
There is a clear and present danger to the nation and to national security with compromised elections.
Of course, Trump will do nothing.
And of course the voiceless Republicans in Congress will do nothing.
Naturally, Moscow Mitch will sit on all election interference legislation.
As a Georgian, I just went through one stolen election, finding myself at one point as one of the 1.5 million purged by mistake. Russia hacked the Georgia system down to the county level. I have zero confidence in Kemp's people.
So all we can do is maintain watchfulness with every aspect of elections, get documentation and report it if we see something wrong and help out any group that is fighting for fair elections. And double check your voter registration (repeatedly) and vote, no matter how long it takes.
Vote D for democracy and decency.
26
From Mitch McConnell's refusal to hold a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland (and indeed, his announced intention to refuse to grant a hearing to ANY Obama nominee for that seat on the court), to his refusal to allow any action to be taken on bills aimed at securing our elections from undue interference both foreign and domestic and Trump's refusal to staff the Federal Elections Commission, to Republican voters' willful blindness to all of this, it seems to me Republicans are being very short-sighted.
Governing like mafiosi may be a quick and easy way to get the upper hand, but if they continue to do this, can they really expect that their opponents won't do many of the same things once electoral fortunes change? (And they WILL change sooner or later, as surely as day follows night.) What works in your favor today may well work in your opponents' favor at a future date.
Once standards of electoral fairness are abandoned, the floor of the ethical universe falls away, and at that point there is really no longer any bottom to that universe . . . for anyone. Republicans seem to think they can continue playing by one set of rules while demanding that Democrats play by another. At a certain point, Democrats will begin demanding that their leaders employ the same thuggish tactics Republicans have been employing. And why shouldn't they?
17
Oh, but we don't have election fraud in the US. We just have treasonous traitors who don't support dictator wannabes.
8
They're making democracy small enough to strangle in a bathtub.
69
All under control, in Russian.
10
“Non-action here is an invitation to more foreign interference in elections.”
Key sentence...exactly what he wants.
In his tweet on a day when Puerto Rico faced yet another potentially devastating hurricane, he said that Puerto Rico one of the most corrupt places on earth.
Look who is talking about corruption...and not even skipping a beat selling his Doral Golf Resort for the next G7 summit (emoluments clause) anyone...
His administration is the most corrupt and rigged in our life time, just listing all "the best people" who left disgraced or got fired under pressure of allegations some are already serving their well deserved prison sentences.
Elizabeth Warren called it for what it is: "Revolving Door Corruption"
Really, having this kind of "Stable Genius" for what seems like an eternity in a Oval Office, don't you think at this point he a grave National Security concern.
"Do what you need to do," he said "I will Pardon you!"
Individual1 tells his aids to break the law.
So many daily lies to digest, I will need much more space for this, plus WAPO never stops counting for us...
President Trump has made 12,019 false or misleading claims over 928 days.
Megalomania is a mental decease as is Grandiose Delusions... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandiose_delusions
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalomania_(disambiguation)
All the president's lies...
Hey GOP are you conveniently afflicted by deafness!
10
There is no role for an FEC in a fascist state.
30
After Ellen Weintraub goes on CNN and MSNBC and excoriates Trump for his nonsensical claim that millions of illegal votes were cast against him (for Hillary) in the 2016 election, does anyone think he'll work to restore the FEC to full strength? Get over it folks, unless we get a Democratic President and Senate in 2020 we're in for at least four more years of this populist anti government foolishness.
19
What Trump has learned so far is that Russian hackers and influence help him. He will only act to fill vacancies as a reaction to a scandals he can’t wiggle out of any other way. Hobbling this agency helps the flow that keeps the swamp alive.
22
Just another government watchdog that the Trump gang has ended useless.
4
This is being done on purpose to undermine our democracy. Trump so badly wants to be a king.
19
Our National Security agencies did conclude that election voting systems were compromised in 2016, by Russian military forces. This was separate from and beyond the social media & facebook influencing/manipulation of voters.
Both the Mueller Report and a 2017 NSA report said that our election systems (electronic voting systems) WERE compromised.
• Mueller Report, page 50: section titled "2. Intrusions Targeting the Administration of U.S. Elections" - 3 paragraphs explain how election systems (software and voting systems/machines) were targeted and infiltrated. The NSA report below describes some of this
• Article describing classified NSA report of May 5, 2017: https://theintercept.com/2017/06/05/top-secret-nsa-report-details-russian-hacking-effort-days-before-2016-election/
With the FEC now crippled, the 2020 election is looking bad.
To counter any election hanky-panky that will likely occur, we must get the vote out, and ensure millions of additional democratic votes are cast.
9
This article is full of the 'both sides' argument in tut tutting saying the GOP and democrats couldn't get on and need to do better. I wonder why? It's been pretty clear for a long time now that one party is dead set against shining a light on elections, and it's been going on since 2000 Gore vs Bush.
16
A fine analysis, but... Why would our illegitimate President want to un-cripple a watchdog that would be obliged to stop the kind of interfere that was necessary to getting him elected?
22
The vile GOP: bad people, bad policy, bad faith.
Offer seats to them, and they torch the table.
6
Great another part of government broken.
I hope all of the republicans who have allowed this die a death of a thousand paper cuts of vote by mail ballots.
7
Re: "...With three of six seats vacant - and the 2020 elections looming - the Federal Election Commission cannot do its job..."
Alphonse Capone MUST, BE rollin', in his syphilitic grave!
How convenient: a Republican F.E.C. member chooses to step, down, just when we're closing, in on Admiral Bonespur's, (serially, alleged...) bank-/-real estate, fraud / tax evasion, sexual assault, and other crimes!
10
Say what? Is it April Fools Day again?
"in the interest of safeguarding democracy, President Trump needs to move a neglected item toward the top of his to-do list: put forward nominees to fill the vacancies at the Federal Election Commission — and push the Senate to confirm them."
Thanks for the laugh NYT - Trump interested in safeguarding democracy? Really? You guys are a real hoot!
12
This is part of the Trump plan to steal the election. In addition to a neutered FEC, the 30 year consent decree prohibiting the RNC from sending poll watchers to the polls has been lifted.
Look for Trump to send his Proud Boys, Klan and storm troopers to key state polling places to create mass chaos.
Then, Trump will scream "voter fraud!" He will find a state with a GOP controlled legislature who will agree and who will send the GOP slate of electors to the electoral college even though the Democrat won the state election.
And a recent court order will allow that legislature to do it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/us/politics/electoral-college-faithless-elector.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
7
This is akin to going to war and you have no generals and no admirals.
44
Congratulations to the US Presidents during 2008 and 2019 for neglecting their democratic duty to their office. Shame on the US Presidents during 2008 (President George W Bush) and 2019 (President Donald J Trump) for neglecting your democratic duty of preserving our democracy.
Editorial Board, thank you. We need the Fourth Estate more than ever. The facts you call our attention to is another reason why.
2
It's obvious that Trump's inaction can be entirely explained by the warning from Mr. Potter in the final paragraph. I'm afraid that democracy itself must surmount the obstacles that you outline before safeguards to democracy can be restored. Irony-cum-tragedy.
1
Just as putin intended.
And DJT and Moscow Mitch remain silent on any foreign election interference measures.
Vote democrat up an down the ticket! It’s the only way to save this democracy.
The GOP has proven year after year (for decades actually) that they are either incapable or unwilling to do the right thing for the US electorate.
7
As a Republican, I'm saddened by the realization that the 2016 election has been shown to be manipulated to the point of illegitimacy
While the admission came months too late, I applaud the Times for admitting to their culpability and hope that they will learn their lesson as 2020 approaches
Unfortunately, their incessant negative coverage of the Democratic front runner gives me reason to worry
2
“Non-action here is an invitation to more foreign interference in elections.”
Well then, join Stacey Abrams and her organization: FAIRFIGHT.COM
She is organizing people to monitor elections all over the country.
That's what you do. That's what I'm doing. Supporting, donating and relying upon true Americans.
3
There is no democratic solution but we will act very soon to dismiss this tyranny of the dull.
1
Why, exactly, would Trump want the F.E.C. to be operating properly?
1
The Republican dream of drowning government, regulation, oversight and the rule of law in a right-wing bathtub has been achieved.
Sham elections, a gutted Voting Rights Act, voter suppression laws and voter file purges gone wild, dark and foreign money and ads polluting American democracy, an underfunded and understaffed government while the Russian-Republican Duma Senate sits on its hands silently enjoying the ritualistic right-wing rigging and dysfunction of government.
It's a corrupt oligarch's dream.
November 3 2020.
D for democracy; R for oligarchic dystopia, Russian-Republican style.
5
The Republican party has no interest in free and fair elections or in democracy at all. America is broken.
2
Of course not, and if and when it's filled they will not be able to read, see or write and trump will claim he's hiring the handicapped and/or vote challenged.
Republicans are good at dismantling government and social services. And that's about it!
1
Don't hold your breath. Vladimir is the last guy that wants open and free elections and what Putin wants, Putin gets.
1
Welcome to the gutting of yet another agency that might restrain DJT.
1
So far you have refused the task, on grounds of "It can't happen here; nobody would do that."
But its time.
Look at the past months: Doors to asylum effectively closed with no input but Miller, McConnell, Trump. Lies all around; plenty of heart-rending. A whisper of concern. Let's move on.
The doors to immigration have been closed. Doors for visits are closing. The doors for students are rapidly closing. Artists and academics? No thanks.
Now we're shipping off people who have been here for years, even if their lives depend on staying.
No serious NYT comment, bland factual accounts/a soupçon of bathos.
No-one's worried. Election's coming. We'll fix this. Except courts (and SCOTUS) support gerrymandering . Even where its a no-no Republicans specialize, as the do here in Ohio, in perfidy and lies aimed at shrinking the vote. Courts are thinking about it.
Now, after a strategic resignation from the Republican side, our elections commission can't even refill the staplers; no prospect of a solution any time (as I was gonna say "soon", but...).
Senate's unable breathe on its own: our Senate leader not interested in national welfare. We have a bureaucracy thoroughly disabled and dispirited. unable to move an inch without Presidential permission or retribution.
Our courts, by design, neutered. Or top law guy a criminal, a grifter, a liar, and a doctrinaire lackey.
How much more, NYT, til you finish the puzzle and, I don't know, express a little concern?
5
@oogada To express concern would be to tell the truth and to tell the truth would frighten the children & the faux brainwashed who don't see any problem;to admit 45 has put democracy in a choke hold, and those of us who see what's happening, hear Democracy calling to us "I can't breathe". There comes a time when an administration is so corrupt, so without morals, so without humanity, so without intelligence, so without competence, it is incumbent upon the people to take back the government from the corrupt, criminal element. That time is now because no one, no one, is coming to save democracy.
A coup by any other name. McConnell, and the Republican party, have hijacked the 2020 election for Trump through Mr. Peterson's resignation.
First it's Boris seeing just how far you can go by studying Trump, and when Boris takes it to a new level, disbanding Parliament, Trump does one better, rendering the FEC impotent.
Wonder what's next for us to be aghast.
1
Trump doesn't want FEC to have any teeth. The dirtier the election, the better his chances.
1
Wasn't there a full complement in the FEC when Hillary was violating campaign finance law by buying opposition research from Steele? Granted, she was submitting fraudulent financial reports to the FEC to conceal the crime of giving campaign funds to foreign agents, but the FBI, Obama and the Justice Department were aware of her crime as well as her fraudulent FEC reporting. Surely, with all of those lawyers and politicians, someone knew she was breaking the law by reporting millions of campaign funding flowing to foreigners as legal expenses to launder the funds.
Trump offered a nominee that would restore a quorum, but no deal, apparently.
1
Is it just me, or should we be out in the streets protesting *before* the elections this time around?
80
As one who has participated in elections in India,which is the largest democracy in the world,we think that elections elsewhere in other democracies are pure and fair.In fact,as the Edit-opinion points out,the appointment of Commissioners seem quite fair,in that the President has to nominate two at a time,one from each party.In India,the Government of the day appoints the 3 Election Commissioners as it pleases and naturally,there are accusations of partisanship.
The Indian system has a problem.Yes,we have democracy, but being such a vast electorate,corrupt practices are galore. Voters don't care about the election supervision,since they feel that there is a broad consensus in governance and their rights will not change & populist giveaways will continue.
The American elections face the risks of foreign interference, since foreign countries would like a favorable government in Washington.Whether Federal Election Commissioners can make a difference is arguable.What is needed is a more vigilant Congress,which arrives at a consensus amongst all parties-that they will not tolerate foreign interference.The problem is that such a consensus does not look as if it is going to happen.
The Opinion points out the problems when a President does not appoint Commissioners.But the Edit Board does not suggest solutions.
Can the Supreme Court order appointment of Commissioners?Can Congress take Suo Moto action to fll up the Federal Election Commission?Have these options been tested?
1
Do you think for one moment that Trump and the GOP care about the predicament of the F.E.C.? Not a chance.
17
@NOTATE REDMOND. After all the judge and cabinet nominees have been voted on, not one day sooner.
"Among the problems: Squabbling between Republican and Democratic commissioners increasingly results in gridlock over enforcing laws"
As if we needed any further indication of both party's disdain for democracy (yeah, the Dems disdain it quite a bit less - if that does it for you, then maybe you should assess your attitude toward democracy).
On issue after issue, neither party shows much interest in listening to the public:
For 35 years there have been polls on 'what do you think taxes ought to be?' Large majorities have held that the corporations and the wealthy should pay higher taxes. They've steadily been going down through this period.
On the issue of minimum wage. The one view is that the minimum wage ought to be indexed to the cost of living and high enough to prevent falling below the poverty line. Eighty percent of the public support that and forty percent of the wealthy. What's the minimum wage? Going down, way below these levels. Liberal Obama proposed a minimum wage of a whopping $10.10 in 2015.
Laws that facilitate union activity? Strongly supported by the public; opposed by the very wealthy - so of course, they are disappearing, replaced by right-to-work laws which in effect outlaw unions. You may argue that the Dems are pro-union.
To which I would respond, they are "pro-union money", graciously accepting the donations from the large (themselves anti-democratic) unions, but they couldn't be bothered to bring the Employee Free Choice Act to a vote in 2009.
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@Ed Watters /agree. For all my harping on the Reps, the Dems have been just as delinquent in doing the job of governance in accordance with the wishes of those who elected them. If they hadn’t been, we wouldn’t be in the predicament we are in.
From campaign finance reform to sensible gun legislation to a livable minimum wage to infrastructure to our failing public school system, none of these issues are new. Some of them go back decades and there isn’t a department or part of any government (and at nearly any level or locale) that hasn’t had to do more with less every passing decade.
And I agree with all here that Trump has no intention of leaving office. My only hope is that there still might be some patriots (to the constitution and to the country) who might intervein. But the good guys are decidedly outnumbered here. I honestly haven’t been this scared in my entire life.
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@Ed Watters
Obama shut down the government because he wanted the Bush tax breaks for the rich to expire. Republicans yielded to the political pressure and Obama was able to impose a tax increase on households with $150,000 and up, the definition of "rich" useful to Democrats The guy supporting his family in an 800 square foot house that he paid $500,000 to buy and has a $10,000 per year tax bill doesn't feel rich. Warren Buffet's tax bill did not increase.
Obama thought the corporate income tax should be reduced, so it's not as if Democrats pay attention to the wishes of their constituents.
If the minimum wage had been indexed to inflation at its inception, today it would be $4.50.
If the American people supported unions, more than 6.4% of private sector workers would be unionized. It doesn't help when the leadership of the UAW gets convicted for lining their own pockets instead of allowing retraining funds to be used for its intended purpose.
The story is different in the public sector, where a third of workers are willing to pay dues to union leadership. Despite having civil service protections in relating to management, they consider it a good use of funds to buy Democrats.
Only a Democrat would think it is good policy for the government to ban the secret ballot when union officials are trying to organize a non-union shop. There are few less democratic policies than allowing union thugs to bully anyone who doesn't conform to their authority.
@SMcStormy
The full complement of the FEC saw fit to silence Citizens United while not enforcing McCain Feingold against ACORN, Media Matters or moveon.org, which were organized exactly the same way but who Hillary did not want silenced despite the fact that they were committing exactly the same offenses as Hillary alleged CU was committing.
The full complement of the FEC also did not take action against Hillary for fraudulent financial reporting. It is illegal to give campaign funds to foreigners, which Hillary knows. It is further illegal to money launder by fraudulently reporting to the FEC that millions in illegal foreign "opposition research" is legal fees.
Why didn't the FBI, Justice Department, or FEC enforce the law with respect to Hillary. Selective enforcement is worse than not having any laws at all.
"... in consultation with congressional leaders...." That is the core reason why nothing will happen here. When was the last time Trump worked in consultation with congressional leaders? If my memory serves me correctly, it was when he met with Pelosi and Schumer to discuss infrastructure spending. He then proceeded to have a temper tantrum and walked out.
And from his perspective, why hire a watchdog in the first place? As we all are well aware he believes he and his team did nothing wrong in the last election. Why mess with the recipe for success? I'm sure Vladimir agrees.
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@Tom
In comparison, when Obama first met with the loyal opposition, his comment was "I won". During his first two years in office, he never allowed the minority party input into legislation, which is how the Democrats managed to construct Obamacare with zero rational provisions.
During the next six years, he never had a discussion with any Republicans, but at least they were able to prevent him from accomplishing anything of lasting duration.
@ebmem -- That's a highly selective and inaccurate view of history you have there, ebmem. When President Obama said that, he was simply explaining that while he was quite willing to work with Republicans, Republicans couldn't reasonably expect him to compromise to the point of enacting THEIR legislative agenda and not his own. And Republicans, in a (then) secret meeting on Inauguration Day 2009 in a Washington D.C. steakhouse, had by that time already resolved to stonewall anything and everything Obama tried to do.
But hey, nice try at omitting critical context!
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"It’s unsurprising that keeping the election panel well staffed is not among Mr. McConnell’s priorities."
This is another prime example of Mitch McConnell subverting democracy in the US by supporting Donald Trump's MO not to fill vacancies. Mitch McConnell enables the President to continue to dismantle protections and render agencies powerless through interim appointments that bypass the Senate confirmation process. The Constitution undermined yet again.
Donald Trump has shown us all that a President can no longer be trusted to follow democracy's norms. Congress must correct this by introducing explicit time limits to make appointments that a President cannot ignore, so that the effectiveness of our agencies and stability of our government are not imperiled.
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@Bob
McConnell learned under Obama to set priorities about confirmations and the dangers of autocracy. Because Obama wasn't able to even get Democrats to pass legislation other than the stimulus and Obamacare, he waited until after the 2014 midterms and ruled with his pen and cellphone.
When Obama became president, Republicans confirmed six of his cabinet appointees on inauguration day and another seven within the week. When Trump became president, Democrats confirmed one appointee on inauguration day and it took over two months for 13 of his appointees to be confirmed. Schumer, as minority leader, demanded his 30 hours of Senate in-session face time for each nominee. It is now driving Democrats insane that Trump prioritizes the confirmation of judges over executive branch positions.
When minority Democrats filibustered Bush appointees, Republicans threatened the nuclear option, the gang of 16 agreed to not exercise the option in exchange for an end to filibustering except in extreme cases.
When minority Republicans filibustered Obama appointees, Reid violated democratic norms with the nuclear option to stack the appellate seats which Reid had blocked in 2007 and 2008 to vacancies from Bush's administration. Little did he realize that his position as majority leader would end a year later and cost a SCOTUS seat.
There is an outstanding nomination to the FEC and Democrats are not trying to get the quorum restored.
@ebmem
This post is a low point.
1. When Trump took office the Democrats had a minority in the Senate -- and you accuse them of taking too long to confirm his appointments.
2. "Democratic norms" (that's democracy with a small d, embem) do not include the current phony "filibuster" that allows one Senator to stop business with no effort.
3. Democrats do not have the power to "get the quorum restored" since your party has control of the Senate and declines to act.
I stop here with only 3 of the most obvious distortions in your post.
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Is anyone really surprised by this? That Trump would gut the Federal Election Commission? Trump has taken several steps to in his march to claim absolute power - and this is one of them.
The reason why he would gut the elections watchdog is obvious - he doesn't plan on recognizing the results of any future presidential election. And with this body now powerless, Trump is free to claim that if he loses the popular vote and electoral college in 2020, that the voting was rigged, millions of people voted illegally, and any number of other tired lies in addition to these. And there will be no functioning federal agency to challenge him.
Trump has already told us he has no plans on leaving in 2020, regardless of any election outcome. He has said that "his army" and "his people" will ensure that he remains in power. These are statements he's made himself - and possibly the only honest statements he has made in the past three years. When he says he has no intent on ever leaving office, he means it.
And the fact is, he doesn't have to leave. He has tens of millions of the most heavily armed citizens who will do literally anything he asks them to do - including fomenting violence against the rest of us.
Trump has every incentive to do this. He faces certain prosecution on state criminal charges otherwise. He will do everything he can to avoid prison. And he has nearly half this country ready to keep him in power indefinitely.
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@Jackson Curtis He will be dragged out by millions of us Jan 20 2021 if necessary, let his people rush to the streets with their weapons guess what they are then unprotected......
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No thinking person believes that the slowness in filling these vacancies is anything but intentional. With the presidential race shaping up to be close, the hampered ability of the commission to monitor campaign finance laws allows Republicans and the President to play fast and loose with the rules. Facing an increasingly tightening race to maintain control of the Senate and a President who daily provides fodder for opponents, Republicans will use money, rule breaking and of course voter suppression tactics to maintain power. Heaven forbid they come forth with better solutions on healthcare, guns, the environment, income inequality, etc. to win elections. Easier to just rig the system.
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How high does the mountain of evidence have to rise before the House acts, publicly and decisively to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump? The rest of our government is doing everything it can to subvert the foundations of our democracy, one institution at a time.
I am outraged as all patriotic Americans should be.
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@A Goldstein:
Impeachment proceedings begin with an impeachment investigation. That has already begun.
The purpose is to first find and document evidence, that will be assessed/used to form the Articles of Impeachment against trump. Mueller's investigation was a precursor that did not provide sufficient evidence; he suggested that Congress needs to continue the investigation. This is occurring.
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@IN
He did provide sufficient evidence of obstruction.
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@A Goldstein
The Democrat House has to find some impeachable offenses on the part of the president. Not being Hillary, and enforcing the law as written even though you don't like it, do not qualify.
If you go through your list of potential impeachable offenses, there is no there there.
Mueller included all of the evidence of Trump's "obstruction of justice" but intentionally omitted all of the exculpatory evidence. The strongest evidence comes from Cohn's convictions, but it is virtually impossible to convict anyone of evidence provided by a convicted perjurer in exchange for his plea bargain. Try reading the Mueller report instead of just the partisan summary he provided but has no memory of. All of the other "damming" evidence is evaluated subjectively, without disclosing that other participants saw the conversations differently.
Patriotic Americans differ in their interpretation of the facts. More patriotic Americans are outraged by the attempt of the Obama administration to interfere in the election than the sore losers who wanted Hillary to win.
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Ain't it great? Republicans can continue to whine about perceived illegal voting by non-citizens, while de-fanging the Commission charged with preventing voter fraud.
Weakening the FEC does make it easier to get away with campaign finance violations.
Unless you're the Party out of power.
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@havnaer
You misunderstand the Republican position on illegal voting. You assume we think legal and illegal aliens are changing the results of elections, which is not what most Republicans believe.
What we think is happening is that Democrats are engaged in fraudulent and duplicative voter registration and then misusing the registrations for extra votes made by political operatives.
A North Carolina Republican hired a consultant who had previously only worked for Democrats. The consultant put together a vote harvesting scheme. When the election results were evaluated, it seemed odd that the mail in ballots were overwhelmingly for the Republican candidate. The election was overturned.
In Arizona, the 2016 race for the Senate was close. On election day, after the in-person votes were tallied along with all of the mail-in ballots that had been received by election day, the Republican was in the lead. The election was not called until a week later after all of the ballots not received by election day were tallied, for the Democrat. What are the odds that virtually all of the ballots that were mailed on Monday and Tuesday were for Democrats absent political operative vote harvesting? How hard would it be to select 200 late received ballots and interview the "voters" to determine if there was illegal vote harvesting? Why didn't it happen?
It is also documented that Hillary is guilty of campaign finance violations. Why didn't the FEC enforce the law?
Trump's, and Republicans' undermining of the FEC by refusing to appoint people to fill the vacancies on it, along with McConnell's refusal to permit a vote on any bills aimed at safeguarding our elections from foreign interference, stand as irrefutable proof that the Republican Party has zero interest in safeguarding elections so long as they are the beneficiaries of any malfeasance. I ask all Republican voters of conscience, how can you continue to support this party?
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@Mark Kessinger
" I ask all Republican voters of conscience, how can you continue to support this party?"
Weary of hearing this on so many posts -- here and elsewhere.
Plainly, it's all about money for those who own the political system.
For the rest of us, it's whatever wedge issue the Republicans are pushing. (Think guns, god, and gays, for example).
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Re: "...I ask all Republican voters of conscience, how can you continue to support this party?" {@Mark Kessinger}
I hate to confess, but...I laughed, (bitterly? sarcastically? BOTH?!), upon reading, 'Republican voters of conscience'...
NO offense was / is intended..Mr. Kessinger!!
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@R.G. Frano -- No offense taken. Indeed, I had a bit of the same sardonic sentiment even as I wrote that line!
9
Maybe if the president and the republicans really believed in fair elections, they would ask the Senate Majority Leader to bring the nominations to a vote.
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@Gary W. Priester. McConnell has had to deal with every stall tactic possible to get judges and cabinet nominees voted on. When all the foot dragging is over, and all the nominees are voted on, the positions will be filled. Not a day sooner. It’s up to Democrats.
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"with foreign and domestic actors eager to make mischief....in the interest of safeguarding democracy, President Trump needs to put forward nominees to fill the vacancies at the Federal Election Commission".
"without four commissioners the agency's regulation and enforcement of campaign finance laws will grind to a halt"
These two statements clearly state why Trump likely has no intentions of appointing a fourth commissioner before the 2020 elections.
What is the point of this editorial? You can't seriously believe Trump cares a twit about preserving our democracy. Are you hoping some Republicans might read it and therefore decide to stop backing our president?
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@Richard Phelps
The point of this editorial is to alert us to the fact that the 2020 presidential election may be influenced enough by Russia to put Trump back in the White House with no Federal Election Commission to stop it (thanks to Trump).
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