This week is a big week for saving democracy. Our Members of Congress need to stand strong and eliminate the filibuster, or at least exempt pro-democracy legislation from it -- so Republicans can't stall S.1's passage past redistricting deadlines. We can help by committing to call our MoCs today and tomorrow.

The Constitution is based on the principle of majority rule. Whenever the Framers required a supermajority, they said so. Thus, no such requirement for the passage of general legislation exists. We ask our Senators to request a ruling from Vice-President Harris that the silent filibuster, which effectively prevents popular legislation from ever receiving a Senate vote, is unconstitutional. This will force the Senate to determine how to protect both the principle of majority rule and the minority’s right to be heard.

On January 8, Republican operatives learned that trying to stop the For the People Act would be a waste of money. That’s because it was extremely popular, even among conservative voters because it would: “Stop billionaires from buying elections.” So the GOP disguised their opposition with a billionaire-funded nationwide campaign of voter suppression. It diverted attention and gave cover to Joe Manchin and his Republican and Democratic colleagues alike, all dependent on dark money.

Abolish the Filibuster. Pass S1. Save Democracy. It took months to defeat the filibuster to pass the 1960s Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. Next week the Senate votes on the For the People Act. Just as we turned out in record numbers in the middle of a pandemic, we come together now to abolish the filibuster and pass the For the People Act. Join us. Save democracy.

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both.

—Louis D. Brandeis

The Senate will be in recess for all but 35 days over the next three months. We must insist that our MoCs forcefully inform Majority Leader Schumer and President Biden that the only way to demonstrate that Republicans’ real agenda is delay and obstruction is for Schumer to force them to employ talking filibusters. Simultaneously, Biden must use his bully pulpit to call for the filibuster’s elimination. Only then will we have any chance of preserving our democracy.

Our democracy is in mortal danger from the GOP’s rigging of elections. We need our Members of Congress to understand the urgency, raise their voices and strengthen their spines. We must keep Lincoln’s promise that democracy “ . . . shall not perish from the earth.”

Corporations and the politicians they buy have kept us from realizing our future by pitting us against each other by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. The center of our power is the right to vote, which is why the forces against voting are so loud. They can only take away our power if we let them. Commit to calling Congress and taking action to keep our right to vote. We must harness our power for our future.

The insurrection did not end on January 6. It continues to be stoked by the “Big Lie” that Trump actually won. To neutralize the insurrection, we need the findings from a January 6 Commission and passage of S.1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Biden’s budget tells us what he values: reducing poverty and inequality, and ending the climate crisis. McConnell said that he is “100%” focused on “stopping” Biden. The clock is ticking. Democrats must pass spending bills that reflect Biden’s -- and our -- values before it’s too late.

Biden warned yesterday that “democracy is in peril.” We can fight for and strengthen our democracy by pulling down the barriers that subvert the freedom to vote for People of Color.