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In the event you’re studying this, you’ve undoubtedly heard concerning the “MAGA” motion.
However how concerning the "RAGA" motion?
Whereas it isn't as properly generally known as Donald Trump, the Republican Attorneys General Association is true there with him in its assaults on decency, widespread sense and, these days, the democratic course of. For example, final month, the group despatched a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration suggesting that range, fairness and inclusion measures have been placing American passengers in danger. And in January, a number of members of the group additionally despatched the Biden administration a letter accusing him of enabling a migrant-led "invasion" by the U.S.-Mexico border.
However Bolts Journal has a new report on a troubling pattern, because the ultraconservative attorneys basic have been placing their thumbs on the size to impose a conservative agenda on their states. Particularly, the report notes how right-wing AGs have stalled or stifled liberal poll measures, stopping voters from having their say on a lot of proposals.
From the report:
Ostensibly, these proposals are being rejected over technicalities; an issue with a poll title, or unclear language within the proposal. However in apply, advocates argue, the state officers reviewing these proposals are blurring the strains between procedural and political. They declare these officers are overstepping the bounds of their discretion to reject poll initiatives primarily based on their opposition to the underlying subject and never the standard of the petition.
The necessary context right here is that liberals have seen main success in shoring up various rights, notably reproductive rights, by way of poll initiatives lately. And, in response, Republicans, just as experts predicted, seem like attempting to make it tougher to position comparable proposals earlier than the individuals.
As examples, the Bolts article famous Arkansas Republican Lawyer Common Tim Griffin's efforts to undercut a poll initiative that might require extra transparency from authorities officers by guaranteeing Arkansans a proper to public data.
The journal additionally talked about Missouri AG Andrew Bailey and Montana AG Austin Knudsen, who’ve each tried to dam poll measures that would doubtlessly shore up abortion rights in these two states. Each AGs have succeeded of their delays thus far, though activists in each states are hoping to beat the clock and garner sufficient signatures in time to position abortion rights initiatives on the poll this November.
The "RAGA" motion's poll blockade appears to stem from the Republicans' realization that lots of their priorities are deeply unpopular and prone to fail if put to a public vote. The obstinate Republican AGs are a part of a broader Republican Social gathering that’s sought to insulate its officers from accountability or oversight — whether or not meaning ignoring federal court rulings, attempting to prevent state legislators from having to listen to state courts or stopping voters from having their say on key points.
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