Analysis · Speech on a bill · beta

Alex Padilla

1149 words · 53 sentences · 72 clauses

Statement grade
B
Average 77 / 100
A score under 50 is red. Choose a measurement to see where it lost points and why; choose it again to clear.
Procedure 5%Claims 67%Aside 1%Reasoning 12%Positioning 6%The ask 8%

This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.

Mr. President, Procedure · 13 wordsreserving the right to object, let me remind us all, colleagues, that we, ProcedureClaims · 10 wordsas of today, are 41 days from the midterm elections; 1Aside · 16 wordsor, as I like to refer to it, it is simply the last day to vote, AsideClaims · 54 wordsbecause a lot of people in States across the country take advantage of their right and opportunity to vote early, in person, like people in Virginia did beginning this last weekend.2 Many people in States across the country, including in my home State of California, exercised their right and option to vote by mail.Partly on point Procedure · 9 wordsI will get back to that in a minute.Procedure Claims · 121 wordsThe point is, in a growing number of States, the midterm election is already underway. People in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Alabama are already receiving their ballots in the mail.3 In Virginia, South Dakota, Minnesota, Vermont, and Illinois, voters are already going to the polls to vote in person early. In the next couple of weeks, additional States will begin. Nine more States will have begun their early voting. In my home State of California, ballots will be mailed to every registered voter in the State.4 So, again, the bottom line here is the 2026 midterm election has already begun; it is in full swing.Partly on point So let’s not be fooled about this attempt to pass a piece of the SAVE Act. Procedure · 4 wordsNo. 1, the substance.Procedure Claims · 66 wordsIt is not just a voter ID bill. It is a bill-- and the timing is curious--that seeks to create chaos and confusion over vote-by-mail and absentee voting. The other part is, indeed, the timing and its implications, trying to change the rules--because this bill, if signed into law, would go immediately into effect, creating chaos in the middle of an election that is already underway. Procedure · 8 wordsBut don’t just take my word for it.Procedure Claims · 22 wordsLet me quote the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Utah, who says that this is ``violating our constitutional right to a secret ballot.’’5 Reasoning · 27 wordsWhy? Because the requirement to include a copy of your driver’s license when you are voting by mail undermines the notion of a secret ballot in America. Claims · 28 wordsLet me quote the Republican Governor of Ohio, who says that a very similar bill that reached his desk in the State of Ohio represented ``a significant burden.’’6 Reasoning · 53 wordsAnd, again, it is not just a potential or theoretical significant burden for some election sometime in the future. It would go into effect immediately, causing chaos and confusion and a burden for election administrators, who wouldn’t even know how to begin to comply with this for an election that is already underway. Claims · 90 wordsLet me go even further and reference the Supreme Court’s recent actions when they blocked President Trump’s Executive order on vote-by- mail and what he was trying to do, giving authority and direction to the U.S. Postal Service to determine which voters get their ballots and which don’t.7 Even Justice Kavanaugh, with whom I disagree on much--but even Justice Kavanaugh--said it was in part because changing the rules so close to an election ``would be arbitrary and capricious.’’8 That was a couple of weeks ago that this ruling came out. Reasoning · 41 wordsIf at that time the Supreme Court deemed it too close to an election, we are even closer now. And so, again, there is not nearly the time to properly, responsibly implement it, even if you agreed with this bad policy. Procedure · 21 wordsLet me make a case for what is really going on here, all this talk about changing the rules around elections.Procedure Claims · 59 wordsThis administration, including the President himself, has been trying nonstop to interfere and change the rules on the elections for a long time now, and those efforts have been successfully pushed back. I expect him to continue these threats and attempts--not just between now and election day-- probably on election day and postelection day, if history is any indicator. Reasoning · 20 wordsWhy?Partly on point First of all, it is a desperate attempt to hold onto power because the writing is on the wall. Claims · 23 wordsIn poll after poll, approval ratings, et cetera, show that Donald Trump is going to be in for a rough night this November.Off pointNo reason given Positioning · 27 wordsBut it is also an attempt to distract.Partly on point You would think that he--or we--could be spending more time on trying to bring down costs for working families.PositioningLogical leap Claims · 192 wordsBut, no, for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the unauthorized war in Iran, the price on everything is not just not going down; it keeps going up--the price of gas that people put into their passenger cars to get to and from work or wherever they need to go. The cost of diesel is also at record levels and being passed on to consumers in terms of increased costs on everything else-- groceries, clothing, consumer electronics, and more. The threat to the economy is so bad that the Federal Reserve has not only not lowered interest rates as Donald Trump has practically demanded; they have taken a recent step to increase interest rates for the first time in 3 years to try to rein in inflation.9 So nothing is getting cheaper, nothing is getting easier, and a recent report showed that the administration’s tariffs--again, the war in Iran; the trade wars that are unnecessary; and bad economic decisions--are taking a toll on American families: $4,200 per household in increased costs because of higher prices.10 And now the President has, once again, threatened our Canadian neighbors with endless tariffs. Procedure · 3 wordsLook at healthcare.Procedure Claims · 15 wordsThe average cost of employer-provided healthcare is expected to increase by at least 11 percent.11 Positioning · 10 wordsWhat happened to the so-called ``Liberation Day’’ of last April?12Positioning Claims · 26 wordsPresident Trump promised that these tariffs would bring back manufacturing, make Americans more wealthy, pay down the Nation’s debt, create jobs, and lower prices for consumers.Off point Positioning · 4 wordsThat sure sounded good, PositioningClaims · 67 wordsbut it couldn’t be further from the truth. None of that has happened. Actually, the exact opposite has come to bear.Off pointNo reason given But, again, instead of focusing on those issues, we are once again taking precious time on the Senate floor and talking about unnecessary changes to how people should be able to vote or not vote--maybe that is their ultimate objective--for an election that is already underway. Positioning · 28 wordsJust because your team is losing at halftime doesn’t mean you can call a timeout and change the rules or change the referees, trying to change the outcome.Positioning The ask · 15 wordsSo let’s dispense with this measure and get back to the real work at hand. Mr. President, The ask · 77 wordsI would therefore ask the Senator to modify his request so that instead of S.No reason given 5271 and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 5390, the End Trump’s Tariff Tax Act and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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