🇺🇸 For Faithless Electors

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Good morning, and happy Monday! Last week we told you about the immune system and cancer – now this common virus is offering promise…

Plus, this government agency is hoping to “demystify” its reputation and boost recruitment…

Also, there’s no capping our reader’s patriotic pride – which is why you’ll love this Flag Find…

FLAG POLLS

📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 49 (Emerson)

🐎 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats 45, Republicans 45 (Emerson)

🐎 Maine: Trump v. Biden: Trump 51, Biden 40 (Emerson)

🐎 General Election: Trump v. Biden: Trump 44, Biden 45 (Emerson)

TRENDING

Left: Rep. Kevin McCarthy May Face Big Problems If GOP Wins Narrow Majority In House (Huffington Post)

Left: How the polls might be wrong (again) this year (Vox)

Left: Trump-backed candidates are mainstreaming white nationalism and racist conspiracy theories (Salon)

Right: Pelosi extends proxy voting in the House until November due to coronavirus pandemic which Biden said 'is over' (Fox News)

Right: Florida Democrat ruffles feathers with surprise endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis (The Blaze)

Right: Midterm elections 2022: Here are the issues Texas voters care about the most (Washington Examiner)

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QUICK CLICKS

More Shootings in Chicago, Italy's PM, Psaki on Midterms

US: 4 dead, 24 wounded in weekend shootings across Chicago (CBS News)

World: Europe holds its breath as Italy expected to vote in far-right leader (The Guardian)

US: Psaki : If midterms are a ‘referendum’ on Biden, Democrats are doomed (NY Post)

Sports: Albert Pujols Becomes Fourth Player in MLB History to Reach 700 Home Runs (SI)

World: Former surfing champ dies after alleged one-punch assault (Sydney Morning Herald)

US: Costco Promises The Favorite Hot Dog and Soda Combo Will Stay at $1.50 (People)

Entertainment: Rihanna confirms she's headlining the Super Bowl LVII halftime show (Yahoo)

US: 4 bears break into Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania home, ransack fridge (ABC)

US: Hillary Clinton Compares Trump to Hitler, Suggests His Fans Use Nazi Salute (Newsweek)

Weather: Storm Fiona: Woman swept out to sea missing and homes washed away as storm batters Canada (ITV)

US: MSNBC Uproariously Mocks Lindsey Graham’s Sexuality as Ruhle’s Show Goes Off Rails (Mediate)

US: Nancy Pelosi booed during surprise appearance at NYC music festival, videos appear to show (Fox News)

World: Neptune's rings and moons shine in new JWST photos (Axios)

CONGRESS

For Faithless Electors

Last week the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would reform the Electoral Count Act. January 6 panel members Reps. Liz Cheney and Zoe Lofgren introduced the legislation.

Reporting from the Left: House passes bill aimed at preventing another January 6 by changing the Electoral Count Act (CNN)

Reporting from the Right: Cheney-backed election reform bill strips VP of all authority when counting presidential votes (Fox News)

From The Flag: The House’s bill would raise the so-called objection threshold, which under current law only requires that one member object in each chamber of Congress. Under this legislation, one-third of each chamber’s members would need to object before an election’s results could be challenged. The Senate is also working to advance its own version of the bill. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Electoral College Reform Is Necessary to Protect Future Elections

• The important aspect of this legislation is that it has bipartisan involvement, as that’s required in order to give the bill legitimacy.

• While people will attempt to tie this legislation to January 6 and the 2020 election, it’s true importance lies in protecting future elections.

• In order to protect the decentralized presidential election process, and the electoral college, Republicans should support this bill.

“The Electoral Count Act won't restore confidence in democracy if it's partisan” Dennis Ross and Erik Paulsen, Washington Examiner Op-ed: “In this political climate, it’s a rare occasion for a bipartisan group of lawmakers to come together on something as sensitive as election reform and reach a consensus. … A group of nine Senate Republicans and several key Democratic centrists, however, were able to set forth legislation to establish clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for the president and vice president. … Notably, it would establish clear procedures that clarify the state and federal roles in selecting the president and vice president. … It affirms that the vice president’s constitutional role presiding over the counting is solely ministerial and allows for expedited federal judicial review of any challenges raised by a presidential candidate. These particular provisions are rooted in conservative governance. …at a time when liberals want to repeal the Electoral College.”

“ECA Update Is Not About the Last Election. It’s About Future Elections.” By Chris Crawford, Real Clear Politics: “Not everything about elections is a partisan scrum. Even as the 2022 campaigns heat up, a bipartisan group of senators has been at work trying to make sure our democracy is in good working order when it’s time to pick our next president. These senators are working to update the confusing Electoral Count Act of 1887 – an old, vaguely-worded law that governs the casting and counting of electoral votes for president and vice president. While the ECA has received greater attention during the Jan. 6 select committee hearings, framing reform efforts merely as a response to the last election is short-sighted. Fixing the ECA should be about preventing abuses in 2024 and beyond, because the gaps in the current law could provide misunderstandings and mischief. These potential abuses are not likely to be limited to one political party.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Time to Pass Electoral Count Act Reform The Editors, National Review

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Pass This Bill To Prevent Another January 6

• This legislation lays the groundwork to challenge former President Trump’s ability to hold office, given he engaged in insurrection.

• The bill is extremely important in that it establishes the vice president’s role in certifying the election is merely ceremonial.

• Republicans will only oppose this legislation because they want to retain the ability to call for an election to be overturned.

“A new and improved version of Electoral Count Act reform” Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post Opinion: “The compromise proposal that Senate negotiators cobbled together earlier this year to reform the 1887 Electoral Count Act was a good start to prevent a repeat of the 2020 coup attempt. But the bill was far from perfect… Fortunately, two members of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) put forth their own improved version on Monday… It confirms that the vice president has only a ceremonial role. … Interestingly, the proposal makes clear that one objection might be that the candidate is ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars from federal office anyone who ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion…’ In other words, it would serve as a trip wire for challenging former president Donald Trump on the basis that he instigated an ‘insurrection.’ … We will soon find out whether there are 10 Republicans who sincerely want to block future coup attempts.”

“This expert says the lies about 2020 are a threat to democracy” David Becker, CNN: “I think the bipartisan group of senators working on revising the Electoral Count Act have done a remarkably good job of clarifying and refining the Act. It makes clear that the vice president does not have the right to reject the will of the voters in the states and choose the next president. It strengthens the process to make clear that the joint session of Congress on January 6th is ceremonial – that the electoral vote is set in December, when the states send their certified slates of electors to the National Archives. And to prevent a small number of members of Congress from subverting the will of the voters in the states, it raises the threshold for objection, requiring a critical mass of members of Congress to agree to object.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Republicans want the door open for Trump's chaos in 2024 Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion

FLAG THIS

How Stringent Should the Objection Threshold Be?

An informed opinion poll conducted over the summer asked respondents about proposed election reform, and whether they preferred the House or Senate version. This is different from traditional polling in that participants read detailed policy briefs ahead of time.

A key aspect of the legislation is changing the so-called objection threshold. Currently, it only takes one member of the House and one member of the Senate to cast doubt on an elector or slate of electors, before the electoral college is certified.

The two bills differ in that the Senate version would raise the objection threshold to one-fifth of each chamber. The House version would raise it to one-third.

The majority of the informed opinion poll’s respondents backed the one-fifth option (75%) including 93% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans (University of Arizona’s National Institute for Civic Discourse).

FLAG FINDS

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Kennedy-Nixon Debate, Solar System's End, Sweet Music

On September 26, 1960, for the first time in US history, a debate between major party presidential candidates was shown on television. The presidential hopefuls, John F. Kennedy, a Democratic US senator representing Massachusetts, and Richard M. Nixon, vice president of the United States, met in a Chicago studio to discuss domestic matters. Above is a photograph of the two candidates taken before the debate.

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