Schumer V The Filibuster: Is The End Nigh?

Some congressional Democrats have toyed with killing off the filibuster so they can finally take advantage of that trifecta of control they currently hold over the Swamp and the nation – but others have been hesitant. Now that the GOP has finally used the filibuster by rejecting the creation of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6, progressives have ramped up their efforts to persuade Congress to pull the rug out from under Republicans. Will the final holdouts keep their eye to the future and their wits about them – or will they cave to the progressive pressure?

Article by James Fite from Liberty Nation.

Under Pressure

“In the face of Republicans’ inability and unwillingness to defend our democracy, it is clearer than ever that the filibuster needs to be eliminated,” read a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Thursday, June 3. Co-signed by more than 100 progressive groups – including Fix the Senate Now, Indivisible, March for Our Lives, and the Sierra Club – the missive was addressed to Schumer but aimed at the two leading pro-filibuster Democrats remaining in the Senate, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

With the 2022 midterm elections just around the corner, many of these Democrats and the voters and special interest groups who put them in power are feeling another pressure all together – the need to get some meaningful progressive legislation on Biden’s desk to be signed into law before Republicans have the chance to take back one or both chambers of Congress.

Will Schumer lend his weight behind the progressive push? He hasn’t come out one way or the other on the issue, but he has hinted that he may be ready to move if the opportunity arises. “Everything is on the table,” he has said, when it comes to enacting a “bold” agenda.

Pushing Back

Not long ago, Liberty Nation’s Tim Donner asked: “Could it be that the man who will save this constitutional republic from the slings and arrows of the ascendant collectivists intent on mangling the U.S. Constitution is – gasp – a Democrat?” As Tim went on to explain, despite the overwhelming drive by Democrats to end the filibuster now that they hold an effective majority in both chambers of Congress and have their man in the White House, Sen. Manchin has not given any ground on his beliefs. A pro-life, pro-Second Amendment Democrat who prefers the Republicans’ budgetary counteroffer to Biden’s bill and refuses to support nuking the filibuster … why, he’s practically a Republican, himself – or so his fellow Democrats must believe.

After the GOP killed the measure to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, Manchin showed no indication that he would support an end to the filibuster. He isn’t alone in his defense, however. Sen. Sinema specifically said that she would still defend the filibuster, even after Republicans finally used it for the first time this legislative session.

“Some people are saying that you have a choice between the filibuster and democracy,” a reporter said during a press conference on Wednesday, June 2. Sinema countered that the filibuster “is a tool that protects the democracy of our nation, rather than allowing our country to ricochet wildly every two to four years back and forth between policies.”

Good Luck, Chuck

In the end, it hardly matters what Sen. Schumer or any other Democrat wants, so long as they can’t muster 50 votes in the Senate to enable Vice President Kamala Harris to break the tie and nuke the filibuster. Manchin and Sinema don’t seem to be budging, and it seems highly unlikely that any Republicans would vote to silence their own voices moving forward.

Neither Manchin nor Sinema are up for re-election until 2024, and they both hail from somewhat pro-Trump areas, meaning they’re safe through the coming midterms, and likely don’t feel the fear of progressive primary challengers. For that matter, Manchin himself suggested he might have voted for Trump if the 2020 Democrat nominee had been Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Each time the Biden agenda is thwarted by a GOP filibuster, there’s more pressure to end the procedure. Manchin and Sinema are the ones who will have to weigh that burden against the desire to keep a filibuster they can use in the event that Republicans take control once again.

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Read more from James Fite.

‘The Purge’ by Big Tech targets conservatives, including us

Just when we thought the Covid-19 lockdowns were ending and our ability to stay afloat was improving, censorship reared its ugly head.

For the last few months, NOQ Report, Conservative Playbook, and the American Conservative Movement have appealed to our readers for assistance in staying afloat through Covid-19 lockdowns. The downturn in the economy has limited our ability to generate proper ad revenue just as our traffic was skyrocketing. We had our first sustained stretch of three months with over a million visitors in November, December, and January, but February saw a dip.

It wasn’t just the shortened month. We expected that. We also expected the continuation of dropping traffic from “woke” Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but it has actually been much worse than anticipated. Our Twitter account was banned. Both of our YouTube accounts were banned. Facebook “fact-checks” everything we post. Spotify canceled us. Medium canceled us. Apple canceled us. Why? Because we believe in the truth prevailing, and that means we will continue to discuss “taboo” topics.

The 2020 presidential election was stolen. You can’t say that on Big Tech platforms without risking cancellation, but we’d rather get cancelled for telling the truth rather than staying around to repeat mainstream media’s lies. They have been covering it up since before the election and they’ve convinced the vast majority of conservative news outlets that they will be harmed if they continue to discuss voter fraud. We refuse to back down. The truth is the truth.

The lies associated with Covid-19 are only slightly more prevalent than the suppression of valid scientific information that runs counter to the prescribed narrative. We should be allowed to ask questions about the vaccines, for example, as there is ample evidence for concern. One does not have to be an “anti-vaxxer” in order to want answers about vaccines that are still considered experimental and that have a track record in a short period of time of having side-effects, including death. One of our stories about the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” causing blood clots was “fact-checked” and removed one day before the government hit the brakes on it. These questions and news items are not allowed on Big Tech which is just another reason we are getting canceled.

There are more topics that they refuse to allow. In turn, we refuse to stop discussing them. This is why we desperately need your help. The best way NOQ, CP, and ACM readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We are pacing to be short by about $3700 per month in order to maintain operations.

The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. We had 5,657,724 sessions on our website from November, 2020, through February, 2021. Our intention is to elevate that to higher levels this year by focusing on a strategy that relies on free speech rather than being beholden to progressive Big Tech companies.

During that four-month stretch, Twitter and Facebook accounted for about 20% of our traffic. We are actively working on operating as if that traffic is zero, replacing it with platforms that operate more freely such as Gab, Parler, and others. While we were never as dependent on Big Tech as most conservative sites, we’d like to be completely free from them. That doesn’t mean we will block them, but we refuse to be beholden to companies that absolutely despise us simply because of our political ideology.

We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.

As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.

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