 So last week Texas effectively banned abortion this week Governor Greg Abbott signed the law one of the most draconian voter suppression bills we've seen yet and It's like Texas is trying to go out of its way to be like the worst state in the country But it does have a lot of competition But you know even if you dislike Texas you can't write off what Texas does because what they do has a domino effect other states Obviously want to replicate the bad things that Texas is doing Florida already said that they're going to propose a bill similar to Texas's abortion ban and many states are going to try to replicate what they did here when it comes to suppressing the votes of Mostly black and brown communities in Texas. In fact many states have already passed bills Like this one Georgia being one of them Florida being another But let's take a look at what Texas did here because immediately after Governor Greg Abbott signed this bill into law There was lots of legal challenges by various groups and that's really really good to see So as Sarah Ruiz grows men of huffposts reports Lawsuits are pouring in to challenge a new law in Texas that voting rights advocates have slammed as anti-voter Undemocratic and a dangerous voter suppression bill Senate bill one which was signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday Bans 24-hour drive-through voting Creates harsher voter ID requirements for mail-in voting and stops election officials from sending voters unsolicited applications for mail-in ballots Within hours of Abbott signing the bill the NAACP legal defense fund filed the federal lawsuit Challenging the law the group said it intentionally targets voting methods disproportionately used by voters of color Latino civil rights groups Lulac voter Latino and others also sued they allege that the provisions in the new law impose an undue burden on the right to vote including purposely Intending to limit access for voters of color and disproportionately impacting disabled voters and those with limited English Proficiency the American Civil Liberties Union brought its own lawsuit last week after Republican lawmakers in Texas passed the bill Despite Democrats repeated efforts to block it the group said the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act the Voting Rights Act and the US Constitution Republicans and state legislatures across the country have been pushing hundreds of bills that would restrict voting Such efforts have already become law in several states other than Texas including Georgia, Arkansas and Arizona Voting rights groups have been urging Congress to pass legislation to protect voting rights But two federal bills the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act Which have passed in the Democratic-led US House faced tough odds in the Senate where Democrats have only a slim majority Republicans opposed the bills and key Senate Democrats have refused to back filibuster reform that would allow legislation to advance without meeting a 60-vote threshold So this is bad Obviously and you know all of the efforts of state Democratic lawmakers to block this That was all commendable, but I think that this result was inevitable This bill passed and it's going to continue to be something that we see in the United States Voting rights is an issue that isn't going to go away anytime soon And the worst part about this becoming an issue again Is that Democrats just aren't capable of taking it as seriously as they need to be if Joe Biden was as concerned with voting rights As he claims he is he would be advocating right now for the abolition of the filibuster, but he's not doing that He's allowing individuals like Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to basically be the scapegoat here Basically you're rotating villain when in actuality the buck stops with him. He has his bully pulpit He is the president of the United States So the fact that he's done virtually nothing to actually move this issue forward and get the Senate to pass the for the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which just passed a couple of weeks ago You know, it's it speaks to the failure of his presidency if nothing is accomplished and it's not just that you know This is needed because Republicans and state legislatures across the country are suppressing the rights of people of color But on top of that they're going to gerrymander their way back to victory in 2022 and this power grab is gonna last for a decade They're using the US Census Bureau data to redraw district lines And they are already broadcasting the fact that they're gonna redraw these districts to their advantage They don't have to do much. They just have the gerrymander a couple of seats and they have an easy path back to victory so This is such a huge issue But it doesn't get won the coverage in media that it needs and to Democrats just aren't up to the challenge House Democrats are passing this right and that's good, but Senate Democrats are just woefully Incompetent and I don't necessarily think it's only incompetence I think that many of them don't want to pass this legislation even if they vocalize support for it Because I mean being out of power might be easier. It's less pressure. It's easier to fundraise perhaps so all around I mean, I'm merely speculating here, right, but something has to be done and if it's not done quickly Then we lose our democracy further we risk this Authoritarian fall right fascistic extremist reactionary party taking control Not just of Congress, but many state governments across the country if we don't have a new voting rights bill That takes effect nationally at the federal level so Democrats know what they need to do They know what the conclusion is after seeing the headlines Resolve, you know around this this new law. It's just a matter of will they actually do what they need to do to get stuff done The answer I think is probably no