Put It To A Vote

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Since they are generally indifferent to the actual work and function of government, Republican elected officials are generally much more adept at holding test votes to put people on record for views out of step with public opinion. That’s a big benefit of holding the majority, even the slenderest of them: you get to schedule the votes. The new Texas abortion law is a case in point. De facto bans on abortion are not popular. Abortion vigilante bills are really, really unpopular. There are any number of ways you could craft votes which force everyone to go on record supporting or opposing them. You could craft actual laws or just sense of Congress resolutions. Whatever. It hardly matters. Good government scolds won’t like it. But who cares. Lets get to this.

Latest Editors' Blog
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: