'BradCast' 6/17/2021 (Progress on voting rights, filibuster?; SCOTUS upholds Obamacare)

On today's 'BradCast':  President Biden signed a new law designating Juneteenth – the day commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. – as the nation's newest federal holiday (14 House Republicans voted against it). The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in a 7-2 vote, rejecting a stupid challenge brought by Republican-controlled states.  The Republicans' stolen-and-packed Supreme Court approved discrimination against same-sex couples by a Philadelphia foster care group, but LGBTQ advocacy groups say the very narrow ruling could have been much worse. The sweeping election and campaign reform bill, the For The People Act (S. 1), moved one small step forward, after a compromise proposal put forward by West Virginia's Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin garnered positive reviews from voting rights advocates and legal scholars as a path forward for Congressional Democrats to secure voting rights protections. Georgia voting rights champion Stacey Abrams endorsed Manchin's compromise proposal, acknowledging that it is incomplete and imperfect, explaining how it is critical for protecting voting rights against the wave of GOP voter suppression bills proliferating around the country. Abrams also endorsed Manchin's inclusion of a 'Voter ID' provision, explaining how it is not at all like the wildly restrictive ID requirements passed by Republican state legislatures. One caveat:  there are no provisions in the bill to counter new GOP state laws allowing legislatures to reverse any election results they don't like. In leaked audio, Manchin says that he is open to reforming the filibuster, critical for passage of any voting rights legislation. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'