#Non-fiction Kill Switch

• Author:  Adam Jentleson
  
• Title:   Kill Switch
  
• Published: 2021 (326 pg)
  
• List of Challenges 2021
• Monthly plan

1. Why it matters: Kill Switch
2. This book makes clear that unless the USA  immediately and drastically reforms the Senate’s rules and practices―starting with reforming the filibuster―we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America

1. The big picture:
2. For much of its history, the filibuster was used primarily to prevent civil rights legislation from becoming law. But more recently, Republicans have refined it into a tool for imposing their will on all issues to oppose a progressive American majority.
3. Democrats could unilaterally change the rule to require only a simple majority for legislation to advance, if all 50 Democrats plus Harris agreed to do so, a gambit sometimes called the “nuclear option.”

1. Details:  Superminoirty:
2. Senators representing as little as 11% of the population can deliver the obstructionist agenda white conservative voters desire. They block progress across most issues.

1. What we are watching:  Majority Leader Schumer vs Minority Leader McConnell
2. Schumer is resisting McConnell’s demand for a promise to protect the long-standing Senate rule requiring a supermajority of 60 votes to advance most legislation, known as the legislative filibuster.

1. Between the lines:  Threat
2. Majority Leader Schumer is sticking to his guns and keeping the threat of going “nuclear” on legislation in reserve if Republicans do not work cooperatively.
3. The author shows that many of the greatest challenges of our era:

• partisan polarization
• dark money
• a media culture built on manufactured outrage.

Conclusion:

1. This is an excellent book about governmental history and
2. …the practice of implementing the filibuster.
3. #MustRead book for anyone who wants to improve civic engagement
4. …understand who you are voting for and how it will affect you!
   
5. The Senate is a POWERFUL institution that can change your life.
6. The filibuster was used as a tool against  Civil rights and 
7. …voter repression in America.