Georgia gets cancelled

gwb-trading said:
Stacey Abrams has set the record straight: she was not offered a position in the Biden White House, nor has she made a decision about her next political campaign.

“I know there’s a governor’s race coming up, but I’m working on making sure we have democracy in Georgia,” she said Friday during “Women in Focus: Women, Big Tech and the Future of Hollywood,” a panel hosted by Chapman’s Dodge College and Glamour magazine.

Abrams emphasized her belief that boycotts over the Peach State’s recent voter legislation laws will hurt more than help marginalized communities. “My deep concern that is if we call for a boycott, the very people who are helping change the nature of economic opportunity and political opportunity will leave us behind,” she said. “So my message is stay and fight. Come and lift up your voices and join us.”

Featured alongside Abrams were Eva Longoria, Samantha Bee, Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke and Walt Disney Television chairman of entertainment Dana Walden. Time magazine’s Janice Min moderated.

“I do think big tech has the ability to democratize access and creation and distribution, but it’s not going to do it of its own volition,” Abrams said, noting the connection between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. “There’s going to have to be intentionality, management and accountability to make it so.”

Part of that democratization includes diversifying creators along the production pipeline, all the way up to the most powerful gatekeepers.

“[Diversity] programs have to lead to jobs… it has to lead to ‘now I’m on a show and I’m writing now,’” Longoria explained. “There’s a hierarchy in Hollywood. You have to come through the rungs of the ladder, not only for yourself, but for union stuff. You can’t be a first AD until you’ve been a PA, so we have to teach that infrastructure to communities of color.”

Given the conversation around power and hierarchy, the panelists discussed so-called “cancel culture” and agreed on the needed emphasis on humanity and forgiveness (which does not apply to Rep. Matt Gaetz, Bee said). Abrams laid out an essential list of steps: remorse, restitution, redemption.

“You’ve got to give people a way to come back because often when they come back, they are better people for it and they do even more because they’re constantly in the process of restitution,” Abrams said.
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I can hear big business now: "Hey, let's just cut these individual, clown politicians off completely!"

We'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. When it comes to their personal piggy bank, clowns aren't really as dumb as this dog.

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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adeonibada/will-smith-antoine-fuqua-movie-georgia-voting-law
Will Smith And Antoine Fuqua Won't Shoot Their Slavery Movie In Georgia Due To Its New Voting Law

“At this moment in time, the Nation is coming to terms with its history and is attempting to eliminate vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true racial justice," they said in a joint statement first published in Deadline. "We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access.

"The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting. Regrettably, we feel compelled to move our film production work from Georgia to another state."
In the 2017 fiscal year, the film industry generated more than $9.5 billion in economic impact in the state, which has led others including Bernice King, the youngest daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., to question who would be worse off in the case of major protests.



 
There are two sides, or more, to every issue. Sometimes the right and wrong side are unclear. To this issue,i.e., whether peoples' access to voting should be suppressed if you don't like the way they vote, there is a clear right side. In this instance the right side is that of the political left.

Let's recognize it and move on. Which means practically speaking everyone, that can possibly do so, needs to move their business out of Georgia until those jackasses in the Georgia legislature cut this crap out. Sorry Stacey, everyone with a brain larger than a walnut is on your side, but the sad truth is that in America, dollars speak louder than words.
 
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Here4money said:
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/01/texas-voting-restrictions-legislature/
Texas Senate advances bill limiting how and when voters can cast ballots, receive mail-in voting applications
Senate Bill 7 is at the forefront of Texas Republicans’ crusade to further restrict voting in the state after last year’s election.

Senate Republicans cleared the way Thursday for new, sweeping restrictions to voting in Texas that take particular aim at forbidding local efforts meant to widen access.

In an overnight vote after more than seven hours of debate, the Texas Senate signed off on Senate Bill 7, which would limit extended early voting hours, prohibit drive-thru voting and make it illegal for local election officials to proactively send applications to vote by mail to voters, even if they qualify.

The legislation is at the forefront of Texas Republicans’ crusade to further restrict voting in the state after last year’s election. Although Republicans remain in full control of state government, Texas saw the highest turnout in decades in 2020, with Democrats continuing to drive up their vote counts in the state’s urban centers and diversifying suburban communities.

Like other proposals under consideration at the Texas Capitol, many of the restrictions in SB 7 would target initiatives championed in those areas to make it easier for more voters to participate in elections.

The bill — deemed a priority by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — now heads to the House for consideration after moving rapidly through the Senate. Just two weeks after it was filed, a Senate committee advanced it Friday. That approval followed more than five hours of public testimony, largely in opposition over concerns it would be detrimental to voters who already struggle to vote under the state’s strict rules for elections.

While presenting the bill to the Senate, Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes said the legislation “standardizes and clarifies” voting rules so that “every Texan has a fair and equal opportunity to vote, regardless of where they live in the state.”

“Overall, this bill is designed to address areas throughout the process where bad actors can take advantage, so Texans can feel confident that their elections are fair, honest and open,” Hughes said.

In Texas and nationally, the Republican campaign to change voting rules in the name of “election integrity” has been largely built on concerns over widespread voter fraud for which there is little to no evidence. More recently, Texas Republican lawmakers have attempted to reframe their legislative proposals by offering that even one instance of fraud undermines the voice of a legitimate voter.

But Hughes was met by fierce opposition from Senate Democrats who took turns arguing the legislation would make wholesale changes to address isolated — and rare — incidents of fraud at the expense of voting initiatives that were particularly successful in reaching voters of color.

“As I see this bill, it’s a pure case of suppression. There are some things in here that are really offensive,” said state Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston. “This hurts to the core.”

The bill originally limited early voting hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., curtailing the extended hours offered last year in Harris County and other large counties where voting ran until 10 p.m. for several days to accommodate people, like shift workers, for whom regular hours don’t work. The bill was rewritten before it reached the Senate floor to allow for voting only between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

But those hours will still prohibit the day of 24-hour voting Harris County offered last November. The legislation would also outlaw the drive-thru voting set up at 10 polling places in the county for the general election.

While questioning Hughes, Democratic state Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston referenced an analysis by Harris County’s election office that estimated that Black and Hispanic voters cast more than half of the votes counted both at drive-thru sites and during extended hours.

“Knowing that, who are you really targeting?” Alvarado asked.

“There’s nothing in this bill that has to do with targeting specific groups. The rules apply across the board,” Hughes replied.

In defending the portions of the bill that target Harris County’s initiatives, Hughes in part pointed to the limitations he claimed drive-thru and overnight voting presented for poll watchers’ oversight, characterizing them as the “eyes and ears of the public.” Poll watchers are not public watchdogs but instead inherently partisan figures, appointed by candidates and political parties to serve at polling places. And poll watchers did have access to observe drive-thru and 24-hour voting last year.

If passed into law, the legislation would broaden poll watchers’ access at polling places, even giving them power to video record voters receiving assistance in filling out their ballots if the poll watcher “reasonably believes” the help is unlawful. That provision has drawn particular concerns about possible intimidation of voters who speak languages other than English, as well as voters with intellectual or developmental disabilities who may require assistance through prompting or questioning that could be misconstrued as coercion.

The collection of civil rights organizations that have warned the bill could lead to disenfranchisement of voters of color and voters with disabilities did see one of their most prominent concerns addressed in the version of the bill passed by the Senate.

Texas allows people looking to vote by mail based on a disability to request a ballot for an individual election or apply once for ballots in every election in a calendar year. Originally, the bill would have required voters citing a disability to provide proof of their condition or illness, including written documentation from the Social Security Administration or a doctor’s note, to qualify for the latter. Hughes endorsed an amendment by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, to nix that requirement, citing the “confusion” it had created and feedback from advocates for people with disabilities.

But Republicans rejected more than a dozen amendments offered by Democrats to strike other portions of the bill and to clarify language on how local elections officials could make vote-by-mail applications available to voters seeking them. They also rejected an amendment that appeared to affirm the right to vote.

Just before the Senate’s vote to advance the bill, state Sen. Royce West of Dallas criticized Republicans for not listening to Democrats’ concerns about how the bill would harm communities of color represented by senators of color — all of whom are Democrats — who have faced a legacy of suppression when it comes to voting.

“I hope that one day you hear us — not only hear us but listen to us,” West said. “Passage of this bill tonight makes clear that on these issues you have not understood our plight in this country.”

SB 7’s prohibition on sending vote-by-mail applications to voters who haven’t requested them comes after a pandemic-era election that saw a significant increase in votes cast by mail as voters tried to keep safe from a deadly virus. Other Texas counties proactively sent applications to voters 65 and older, who automatically qualify to vote by mail, but Harris County came under Republicans’ scrutiny for attempting to send applications to all 2.4 million registered voters in the county with specific instructions on how to determine if they were eligible. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately blocked that effort.

Texas Republicans’ attempt to prevent a repeated of that echoes efforts in other states, including Georgia, where Republican lawmakers recently passed a similar prohibition. After voters of color helped flip key states into the Democrats’ column during the presidential election, Republicans have channeled their myth that the election was stolen into legislative pushback in state capitols across the U.S.

Hughes rejected Texas Democrats’ inferences throughout the debate that his bill is part of a national push from his party. He noted that aspects of SB 7 carried over from failed legislation proposed during the 2019 legislative session.

“If we focus on the provisions of this bill — not what the feds are doing but what’s in this bill and Texas elections — we’ll have to agree these are provisions that will apply across the board, they’re consistent, they’re fair,” Hughes said.

But Democrats pointed to the focus on increased voting regulations in diverse, urban areas. Beyond the restrictions targeting Harris County, the legislation would also set specific rules for the distribution of polling places in only the handful of counties with a population of at least 1 million — most of which are either under Democratic control or won by Democrats in recent national and statewide elections.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/ceos-p...=tt8vs4ss5hb9mh8&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
CEOs Plan New Push on Voting Legislation
Companies from PayPal to AMC have signaled they will support joining effort for voter access, people say


Dozens of chief executives and other senior leaders gathered on Zoom this weekend to plot what several said big businesses should do next about new voting laws under way in Texas and other states.

Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express Co. , and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., urged the leaders to collectively call for greater voting access, according to several people who attended. Messrs. Chenault and Frazier cautioned businesses against dropping the issue and asked CEOs to sign a statement opposing what they view as discriminatory legislation on voting, the people said.

A statement could come early this week, the people said, and would build on one that 72 Black executives signed last month in the wake of changes to Georgia’s voting laws. Mr. Chenault told executives on the call that several leaders had signaled they would sign on, including executives at PepsiCo Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Hess Corp. , among others, according to the people. PayPal confirmed it has signed the statement. PepsiCo, T. Rowe Price and Hess didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

As more companies and their leaders have spoken out on the issue in recent weeks, their stands have drawn the ire of Republican state and federal legislators who say companies are miscasting the matter and shouldn’t act as shadow lawmakers. Meanwhile, progressive activists and others who oppose the laws have said that the actions leaders are taking aren’t strong enough. Many CEOs now feel a duty, or pressure, to make their views explicitly known to employees and others, executive advisers said.

Plenty of companies remain wary of wading into politically charged areas. One executive from a Fortune 100 consumer-products company said board members, employees and vendors are pressing leaders to speak out, but doing so could put a bull’s-eye on the company.

“It’s really a no-win situation from a corporate standpoint,” the executive said.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who also owns the Atlanta United soccer team and PGA Tour Superstore, said on the call he believes a large share of fans of the National Football League, Major League Soccer and Professional Golfers’ Association want the groups to make their positions known on voting rights, people on the call said.

Mr. Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot Inc., also said some fans are expecting the NFL to say more now compared with five years ago when NFL player Colin Kaepernick first spoke out on racial justice, the people said.

Mellody Hobson, the chairwoman of Starbucks Corp.’s board, said on the call that political unrest is bad for business and executives should work together on voting issues as states consider legislation and as the trial over George Floyd’s killing continues, the people said. Ms. Hobson declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Some leaders spoke out in favor of signing on to the new statement, including AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. CEO Adam Aron and CyberCore Technologies CEO Tina Kuhn, according to people familiar with the call. Another who spoke out in favor was Estée Lauder Cos. director Lynn Forester de Rothschild, who founded the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, a group that focuses on bridging the wealth divide, the people said. Others didn’t speak out.

Mr. Aron and an AMC spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment. Ms. Kuhn and Ms. Forester de Rothschild said they were proud to support the statement.

The issue is unlikely to dissipate soon. More than 350 different voting bills are under consideration in dozens of states, according to a tally from the Brennan Center for Justice, a public-policy think tank. Some executives on the call described some bills as either racist or restrictive, and several participants described their efforts as critical to democracy, rather than partisan.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale School of Management professor, helped convene the gathering; more than 100 CEOs and other senior business leaders were on the call. Other groups involved were the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism and the Leadership Now Project, a group started by Harvard Business School alumni whose principles include that democracy must be renewed, diversity is an asset and the economy must work for all. Mr. Sonnenfeld said many corporate leaders are concerned that voting legislation could affect employees or other stakeholders.

“They don’t want wedge issues,” he said. “They just don’t want angry constituencies. It’s not in the interest of business.”

Brad Karp, chairman of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, has organized dozens of large-law-firm leaders to put out a separate statement that would call on government officials to make voting easier and challenge bills that impose unnecessary obstacles, according to people on the call and people familiar with the efforts.

Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, who plans to sign the new statement, said that in his conversations with CEOs, including Republican chief executives, most have said they don’t see the need for laws to tighten voter access, though many are fearful of speaking out.

“There is no more difficult job in America today than leading a public company,” Mr. Walker said. “There are so many stakeholders who have a point of view about what ought to be the priority of your company, and have views that are sometimes diametrically opposed.”
 
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