FOR THE PEOPLE ACT – That’s the public relations title the crafty progressives on the left have assigned to HR 1, a bill that would change our election process on a massive scale never before attempted. It’s also referred to as the “voting rights” bill; who wouldn’t support that?
I had intended comment on HR 1 for days, but it was an ad in the leftist Arizona Republic newspaper this morning that triggered this commentary. “PROTECT OUR FREEDOM TO VOTE, it reads boldly. “Keep access to early voting by mail,” it states as it directs legislators and Governor Ducey to “Do the right thing for Arizonans.” But they want you to support it, too.
It was a half-page ad in full color with the obligatory representation of a young attractive Hispanic woman, white male and female, a black couple holding a small American flag, a senior citizen, and a bearded gentleman wearing a ‘Vietnam Veteran” cap. How American, how patriotic, right?
Early voting is but one provision of HR 1. However, as I am opposed to early voting, I decided to look into opportunityarizona.org, the group that paid for the ad. “Your connection is not private,” I was warned on the Internet. “Attackers might be trying to steal your information – passwords, messages or credit cards.”
I quickly went to influencewatch.org to do a bit of research, where I found, not to my surprise, that Opportunity Arizona is a left-of-center advocacy nonprofit. It is supported by the Hopewell Fund, a pass-through funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by Arbella Advisors, a privately-held consultancy.
A special report on the “dark money” network on the left, published in April 2019 by Capital Research, revealed the half-billion-dollar operation of Arbella Advisors, which dispels the myth that the left doesn’t use “dark money.”
That ad in the Republic was, no doubt, directed to other governors and published in their states. Capital Research noted that Arbella also supports television commercials that attempt to shape elections and policy.
In 2019, the Hopewell Fund received five anonymous donations averaging $13 million. According to tax returns, Hopewell received a grant of $3,120,070 from the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation.
The flow of funding from Hopewell and the three other nonprofit entities managed by Arbella to leftist organizations is incredible.
HR 1 would make fraud easier by forcing states to implement early voting, automatic voter registration, same-day registration, online voter registration and no-fault absentee balloting. But there’s more. Much more.
Space does not permit me to detail the provisions of this sweeping bill. I will attempt to highlight the drastic provisions of this bill in the days ahead. The first of which appears below under HR 1 INSIDER ALERT. In the meantime, I urge you to become familiar with HR 1 and make your feelings known to your Senator.
“Democracies die when one party seizes control of the elections process, eliminates the safeguards that have protected the integrity of the ballot, places restrictions on free speech, and seizes the earnings of individual citizens to promote candidates they may abhor. Democracies die by suicide, and we are now face to face with such an instrument.” – Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.)
HR 1 is one of those “you have to pass it to find out what’s in it” bills popularized by Nancy Pelosi. This 791-page bill has the highest of priorities in Washington. Given the slim majority Democrats have in the House, it will pass there with everyone on the left voting in lockstep. It must be stopped in the Senate, where 60 votes will be needed to pass.
Democrats see HR 1 as a bill to stop efforts by Republicans from enacting laws that allegedly suppress the vote, particularly in low-income and minority communities. One provision calls for shielding non-citizens from prosecution if they declined to affirm citizenship when registering to vote. They want to make it easier to vote without proper verification.
HR 1 has been called, “Pelosi’s Election Junkyard,” which, like her so-called Covid-19 “Relief” bill, is a collection of everything the left has wanted to pass in the past, but was unable to accomplish.
Republicans see it as a federal takeover of elections intended to be made by the states, with provisions highly vulnerable to election fraud. Provisions like the state ban on voter-IDs, allowing registration on Election Day, which doesn’t allow for eligibility vetting; varied voting deadlines, allowing votes to be counted 10 days after Election Day; mail-in voting that affects the integrity of the vote and enables ballot harvesting, and voting by 16-year-olds, to name a few.
HR 1 INSIDER ALERT – Small donor public financing of political campaigns is one of the signature provisions of HR 1, designed to be an antidote to big money politics. This provision, which would match donations up to $200 to participating candidates at a 6 to 1 ratio would, for instance, allow $1,200 in matching public funds for a total of $1,400. It would be funded by a new fund from surcharges on government fines against corporations.
“Small-dollar matches would disproportionately help Democrat candidates,” according to John York at the Heritage Foundation, “a fact that is probably not lost on the bill’s Democrat sponsors. Historically, Democrat candidates tend to do far better among small-dollar donors.”
In the 2018 midterms, Democrat House candidates raised more than $62 million from donors of $200 or less, while Republicans raised barely $27 million from small donors.
Supposedly, candidates will be free to use campaign funds for personal use under a provision call the “Help American Run Again Act,” which legalizes the use of donations for personal expenses like child care. It is claimed that small donor financing would free members of Congress to spend less time connecting with voters.
Now, more than ever, may God continue to bless the United States of America.
