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A measure that would restore the right to vote to nearly 90,000 American citizens in New Jersey could soon become law, after the state approved the measure in a party-line vote.

The bill, which Democrats managed to pass, is the latest effort across the United States to ensure that former felons are able to vote once theyve left prison and illustrates the power of local elections after a blue wave swept through the state in 2018.

The measure which would extend voting rights to convicted felons who have been released from prison or jail, but are still on probation or parole now goes to the Democrat-controlled state senate, where it must be approved before it can be passed along to Democratic governor Phil Murphys desk.

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All told, around 79,000 adults in the state would be allowed to vote under the law, including 64,000 people on probation, and 15,000 on parole.

We commend the New Jersey Assembly for taking this huge step forward toward restoring voting rights to people with criminal convictions in New Jersey, said Ryan Haygood, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, in a statement.

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Mr Haygood said that around half of the people denied the right to vote after leaving prison or jail are black, even though African Americans account for just 15 per cent of the states population.

Currently, the racism of the criminal justice system is directly imported into the franchise by an insidious form of voter suppression that creates voiceless ghosts of democracy in New Jersey, Mr Haygood continued. As we mark 400 years since slavery arrived in America, the time has come to end that practice. We look forward to the bills passage in the senate, and to the governor signing it into law, he said.

If the bill passes, the voting restoration would make it the latest state to expand voting access after Florida approved the largest such measure in 2018 to restore voting rights to some 1.4 million people.

That measure, which was passed by voters directly with more than 60 per cent of the vote, has been challenged by the Republican-controlled state legislature, which immediately took measures to require former inmates to pay court fees before being allowed to vote. Critics have claimed the requirement amounts to a modern day poll tax.

Other states, like Vermont, allow individuals still in prison to vote.

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'Voiceless ghosts of democracy': 90,000 US citizens with criminal records set to have voting rights restored in New Jersey - The Independent

Cleveland City Council Ceremoniously Votes for Continued Undermining of Democracy in Cleveland This Evening Posted By Vince Grzegorek vgrzegorek@clevescene.com> on Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 4:10 PM Another way to put that: Cleveland city council is expected this evening to vote to accept the resignation of Marty Keane and the approval of Charles Slife as his replacement. In keeping with city council's most treasured and dear assault on local democracy, Keane announced his resignation exactly two years into his term, which, by city charter, means that his selected replacement, pending obligatory approval, will serve the next two years and not have to run in a special election.

Charles has the heart of service and has my full faith and support, Councilman Keane said in a press release. I know the people of Ward 17 will be excited to work with him. He knows this, of course, because the people of Ward 17 will have no other choice in the matter.

Tags: City Council, This Continues to Suck, Image

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Cleveland City Council Ceremoniously Votes for Continued Undermining of Democracy in Cleveland This Evening - Cleveland Scene

Social democracy has been the most powerful political force in Europe since the second World War. Its politics built the welfare state and healthcare systems in west European countries, Along with conservatism it was one of the twin pillars of European politics. Yet conservatism is fracturing in Europe, and trade unions and social democracy are in decline.

The dominance of neo-liberal or rational market economics reversed many of the post-war gains in living standards, and inequality has been growing in recent decades. The share of all income in many western economies going to labour (employees and self-employed) has fallen from 75 per cent to 60 per cent.

The reasons for this reverse cannot be simplistically attributed to weak unions and social democratic parties without recognising the rebalancing of the power against them.

Unions in Ireland, for example, have no right to collective bargaining. The reasons for this power shift are externally driven. The main reason given is the decline of core working-class bases in manufacturing and mining, and the fragmentation of workplaces as jobs were shipped abroad.

In the past the worlds top firms employed hundreds of thousands who were paid well and unionised. Todays top firms [by value] employ far fewer, with many on insecure contracts. They usually dont manufacture but outsource, too often to nasty sub-contractors of scale.

The top tech and service firms fight against the right of workers to organise for better pay and conditions while avoiding taxes as part of their obsession with increasing shareholder value. Ironically, this has been compounded by privatisation and outsourcing of many formerly decent public service jobs into anti-union firms.

Another reason has been the rise of financialisation. The financial sector used to be a sound, prudent source of finance which oiled the wheels of commerce and industry. It has become a vast, dominant beast sucking the life blood out of productive firms and eventually the State itself. Financial deregulation was and remains a major mistake by all politicians, but particularly social democratic parties.

The neo-liberal economic policies which led to the crash of 2008 are only being marginally reformed. Banks, too big to fail, are already bigger now than they were then.

A further reason for the rise of capital has been the extraordinary rapid technological change which also boosted globalisation. The rewards of globalisation have been very unevenly distributed. Most of the rewards have been taken by the tech giants, and they have immense power over personal and corporate data and the media. They make vast and often untaxed profits. They now appear to be out of control because regulation has fallen so far behind technological change.

Globalisation has also boosted migration, and many social democratic parties (though not all) have tended to avoid confronting the issues that arise. Ironically, social democrats appeared to take a free-market approach to immigration. They neglected the kind of regulation and intervention they would normally seek in the labour market.

Social democrat parties had built their reputations on establishing broad protective safety nets for all equally. However, increasingly fractured politics has allowed this purpose to be diluted into many single-issue agendas, impacting on the overarching collective identity of equal protection for all. Thus identity politics has weakened the collective appeal of broad left parties.

Social democrats also neglected climate change. They ceded their belief in the strong state overseeing the market. They began to believe instead that the market was dominant, and sought to service it, neglecting their support amongthe working and middle classes.

The state sets the rule in which markets operate. When markets failed in banking, insurance and auto industry, it was the state that rose to the rescue in many countries.

Ireland now has the greatest market inequality in the EU, but thanks to our welfare and taxation system overall inequality is reduced to the average.

The most effective way to reduce Irelands high-market inequality is not more welfare but for the State to legitimise trade unions give them and workers the human right to collective bargaining with all firms.

Unionised firms have higher wages and are more efficient and innovative in areas of competition. Within a decade such market inequality would be reduced and our public services, welfare and tax system would be enhanced.

Inequality is not just a moral issue, but with the top 5 per cent or 10 per cent taking more and more national income from those below, money is ceasing to circulate, to be invested or to create demand. This is reflected in negative interest rates, with too much money chasing fewer investment opportunities.

Recently, the conservative Financial Times called for a Reset of Capitalism in a banner headline. The model has come under strain, particularly the focus on maximising profits and shareholder value. These principles of good business are necessary but not sufficient. Its time for a reset.

With climate change and the possible destruction of our planet within a generation, it is time for a radical change, not a reset.

Paul Sweeney is former chief economist with Ictu, and a former member of the Labour Party

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Why we are turning our backs on social democracy - The Irish Times

As the country confronts its third impeachment procedure in fewer than 50 years, and in the midst of a presidential campaign as acrimonious as any in U.S. history, Americas democracy is undermined by extreme partisanship. In the Trump era and beyond, Americans should change Washingtonby drawing inspiration from the man who lent his name to the federal capital.

In hisfarewell addressin 1796, George Washington called on his people to exercise vigilance for the dangers of parties and the baneful effects of the spirit of party on national unity and the honesty of public debates. It isthe interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain the spirit of party,wrote the first president of the United States.

While Washingtons letter is read in the U.S. Senate each year on his birthday, Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on only one thing: locking the political system so as to alternate power to each other by preventing independent or third-party candidates from winning elections or even participating in the public discourse.

One stratagem of the two parties that best illustrates their objective connivance is the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPB), aprivate organization founded by the Republican and Democratic parties in 1987 with a name suggesting a public and independent entity. The CPB governs presidential and vice-presidential televised debates down to their most minute details, effectively reserving access to dozens of millions of voters to their candidates.

Today, as in 2016, Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump puts Kushner in charge of overseeing border wall construction: report Trump 2020 national spokesperson gives birth to daughter New McCarthy ad praising Trump includes Russian stock footage MORE and Bernie SandersBernie SandersSaagar Enjeti: Bloomberg exposes 'true danger' of 'corporate media' Doctor calls for standardizing mental fitness tests for elected officials Warren: Bloomberg is betting he 'only needs bags and bags of money' to win election MORE, two antisystem independents, are seeking the Republican nomination and the Democratic nomination, respectively, because that is the only path to get elected in the current political and electoral system.

Both men are supported by many among Americans who can no longer abide the established political class. A political elite whose supposed expertise has produced globalization with growing inequalities and outsourced jobs, ultra-economic liberalism with the undoing of safety nets and increasing private money in elections, the war in Iraq and the Great Recession of 2008. A political elite that did not see coming the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the so-called Islamic State.

Sick for decades, in a fevered confusion of party interests and the national interest, the American democracy is now in peril. Its revival is crucial, not only to the future of the American people but also to the quality of relations of the United States with other countries.

Any reform must loosen the death grip of power held by the two major parties, at both the local and federal levels.

Ideally, a fundamental reform would include, at minimum, a nonpartisan commission with the mission to end gerrymandering and draw electoral districts, such as has existed inCanadasince 1964; a dose of proportional representation in elections to state legislatures and Congress; and the abolishment of the Electoral College through the establishment of universal direct suffrage in presidential elections.

Realistically, the entrenched party duopoly as well as constitutional amendment rules make fundamental reform unlikely.

Yet, changes are feasible notably, adding a none of the aboveoption on all ballots and requiring a minimum 60 percent turnout, in the absence of which a runoff election would take place. Other options include increasing public financing for independent and third-party candidates and shortening presidential campaigns, as well as eliminating the Commission on Presidential Debates, with TV networks reclaiming their independence from the two major parties and opening presidential and vice-presidential debates to independent and third-party candidates.

In order to cultivate a more representative democracy, each American owes it to her/himself to reject the ambient frenetic cacophony, to mobilize by placing national interests above party interests, and to take counsel and hope from the prime infancy of the republic.

Indeed, the spirit of independence that provided the impetus for the birth of the United States also brought the first Founding Father to run without a party label and be elected the first president as an independent.

In his farewell address, Washington had this premonitory warning for his fellow Americans. Partisanship, he wrote, serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, and foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.

French journalist and political commentator Marie-Christine Bonzom worked in Washington for 26 years as a reporter for the Voice of America and as a correspondent for the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other foreign media.

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Our political parties are wrecking our democracy here's what we can do about it | TheHill - The Hill

First lady Melania Trump was booed at Baltimore Tuesday while addressing a youth summit organized for raising awareness about the opioid crisis. But the first lady took the incident in stride and defended the protest as a part of democracy.

Reacting to the booing, the first lady told CNN: We live in a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the fact is we have a serious crisis in our country and I remain committed to educating children on the dangers and deadly consequences of drug abuse.

According to reports, the heckling lasted for about a minute and the audience continued to be boisterous throughout her speech. However, Melania pressed on, undeterred.

Melania was also booed and cheered by the participants when she left the stage after concluding the speech at the auditorium of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

In the speech, Melania Trump reached out to the students amidst the chorus and said: I am so proud of you for the bravery it takes to share that you have been strongly affected by the opioid epidemic in some way,

The first lady also sought to showcase her work with Be Best focused on children's well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse.

Noting that promoting awareness on these issues was one of the top priorities, Melania assured. I am with you in this fight and encourage you if you are struggling with addiction right now, reach out for support. It is never too late to ask for help.

It is also no secret that the Trump administration had strained relations with the city of Baltimore. In a controversial July tweet, Trump had stoked a controversy by calling Baltimore a rat and rodent-infested mess, that provoked Democrats. In Trumps words, the place is where no human being would want to live.

Trump donates salary to tackle the opioid crisis

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump donated his third-quarter salary to tackle the opioid epidemic in the country.

According to White House, Trump gave $100,000 to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health looking after the federal public health offices, per CBS news. First Lady Melania Trump speaks with children during a Toys for Tots event at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2018. Photo: Getty Images/ Nicholas Kamm

The Trump administration has made tackling the misuse of opioids a national priority. Estimates suggest that more than 70,000 Americans died in 2017 from drug overdoses and the bulk of them were related to opioids. The opioid crisis is also curbing the nations life expectancy and is a national emergency, the Time reported.

The Presidents second-quarter salary was donated to the surgeon generals office.

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Melania Trump Booed At Youth Summit, Says It's 'A Democracy, They're Entitled To Boo' - International Business Times