HB 626 is the "uglier, smellier, brain-damaged cousin" of HB 218

Not Even Close to Constitutional (3.00 / 1)

Not even the Bush Court lets this go through.  Requiring a birth certificate is a de facto poll tax.  After all birth certificates are NOT free.

Karl--By the way, there are plenty of decent brain-damaged cousins, who don't need to be insulted by post title.

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by: blank @ Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 14:12:49 PM CDT

It's from the Chronicle (0.00 / 0)

Click through the link and you'll see it's from them.

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by: KT @ Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 14:27:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Aw come on ... (0.00 / 0)

Well, I was going to title it "retarded cousin," but I decided that would be insensitive. So now you're telling me I can't even use "brain-damaged"? Come on, how am I supposed to insult Phil King if EVERYTHING is declared offensive? -Lee Nichols, Austin Chronicle

P.S. I suspect I'm going to need plenty of derogatory adjectives for Phil King and the Republicans over the next few days, so please offer suggestions. :-)

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by: ernesttubb @ Sun Apr 29, 2007 at 22:14:03 PM CDT

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"Immigration reform" (0.00 / 0)

These bills are all meant to appease the immigration reform groups who don't mind cheap labor but don't believe the laborers should have any protections and rights. And of course they are primarily racist so if they manage to keep citizens they don't believe should have the right to vote, as in minorities, from voting, all the better.

If the cost of passports is any indication, most of the still-disenfranchised groups won't be able to afford to buy certified copies of their birth certificates.

Which means they won't be able to register to vote.  And that suits the Republicans just fine. Along with the immigration reform groups. Although they appear to be one in the same.  Racist Republicans.

And you think the Justice Department under Al Gonzales will object?

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by: Baby Snooks @ Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 14:44:13 PM CDT

Still a problem if it's defeated... (5.00 / 1)

Even if these racist bills are defeated, there is already another law that goes into effect in May of 2008 requiring a certified copy of a birth certificate in order to obtain or renew a drivers license or ID card. 

And no doubt Perry will see to it that the cost of those copies is increased so as to make it unlikely that most poor people, even poor white people, will be able to afford one.  Imagine applying for anything without identification.  That will probably take care of CHIP real quick.  Applications marked "parents had no identification." Utility companies usually require identification as well. So the "bad credit/no ID" providers will make a fortune. Need health care through a hospital district? That will take care of the increasing costs of "public health care." There will be no need. Those who need it won't have identification.

Republican = Evil.

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by: Baby Snooks @ Sat Apr 28, 2007 at 14:56:33 PM CDT

Watch for vehicles (0.00 / 0)

all of these bills are going to have a tough time in the senate.  the republicans' best hope is to attach them to another bill. luckily, folks are already on the lookout.  from the statesman blog:

Democrats move to keep voter ID off other bills
April 27, 2007
by Jason Embry
Austin American-Statesman

What could prove to be a key turn in the fight over whether voters should be required to show more identification came and went quietly earlier this week in the Senate.

Senate Democrats are believed to have the votes to prevent consideration of the voter ID bill, which the House has passed. Now those Democrats and their staffs are looking for any possible vehicle that Republicans might use to keep the bill alive.

On Tuesday the Senate considered Senate Bill 1464, a proposal by Sen. Kyle Janek, R-Houston, that says if someone is excused from jury duty because of a lack of citizenship or because they do not live in the right county, they cannot vote in that county.

Before a vote on Janek's bill, Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, had a few questions for Sen. John Carona, who was presiding over the Senate in place of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Actually, the questions were really for Senate Parliamentarian Karina Casari Davis, who was advising Carona just as she does whoever is the presiding officer.

Watson asked whether the voter ID bill would be a proper amendment to attach to Janek's bill. Carona, based on the parliamentarian's counsel, said no, that such an amendment would be subject to a point of order. Watson asked if the House attached the voter ID language to Janek's bill, would it be subject to a point of order and have to return to the House. Carona said yes. Essentially, Watson's questioning established that the voter ID language is not germane to Janek's bill.

Don't be surprised to see similar questions about other Senate legislation related to voting.

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by: Spaceman @ Sun Apr 29, 2007 at 16:31:45 PM CDT

Load The Poison Darts... (5.00 / 1)

Just finished reading the Journal (2228) having to do with debate and passage of HB218. I was looking for an explanation for the postponement of HB626, but instead had my senses assaulted by the baseness and lowbrow stupidity of those who shoved this thing through. Reasonable amendment was offered and turned aside. The amendments weren't even openly hostile, let alone enough to knock all the ugly off the text as it went along.

I guess it's been too long since Texas has been in dutch with the DOJ, and this latest batch of egomaniacs in the Leg now thinks that somehow they're immune to Federal scrutiny. We'll just have to see about that.

I believe that I'll be damaged should this bill become law at the end of session, and my plans are to file complaint with the Feds immediately. I invite you all to join me, provided that my not being a minority doesn't offend y'all's sometimes-delicate sensibilities. You see, my complaint won't be based on anything having to do with race. It will instead be grounded in my status as a voter, period.

That's just as well. It isn't racism that has been driving this train - it's idiocy. The demands of this bill remind me of the initial attempts to pass Texas' "open container" law. The bill's principal author had done such a poor job of writing the text that it would have subjected motorists to a citation and fine for having an open soft-drink can or bottle in their vehicle -  even sans the contents. Typically, it is difficult to embarass the Legislature, but that bill succeeded in doing so. The difference here, obviously, is that a thoughtful rewrite of HB218 won't save the day.

With either or both of these excessive voter I.D. measures set into statute, or some amalgam of them as yet unknown, it will require something of a voter uprising to set things right; and who cares if the bill's proponents get embarrassed? Should they eventually have their way, I'll want to be first in line to rub their collective nose in the results. It is an open question as to whether I can muster the energy for such a fight, but I believe I'd relish it.

***poll catt***

Seen It All; Done Most Of It

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by: Poll Catt @ Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 02:04:37 AM CDT

Something to be considered for the DOJ challenge (5.00 / 1)

The whole Alberto "Fredo" Gonzales attorney general firing fiasco, is that the politicization of DOJ has finally come to light.  The very partisan political appointees at DOJ who were going too far in forcing their "fake fraud" claims, are now exposed or have moved on.  The most aggressive voter ID political appointtee was a guy by the name of Bradley Schlozman.  He moved into one of those US Attorney postitions in Kansas City.

The decisions made by that DOJ hidden behind closed doors of the past six years are not going to be the ones they can make now. There is so much focus on them right now.  

TMPMuckraker 4/24/07
DoJ Lawyer: Controversial Prosecutor Played Politics at Department
When Ty Clevenger, a line attorney in the Civil Rights Division, forwarded a friend's resume to deputy division chief Bradley Schlozman, he was expecting questions about his friend's experience as a lawyer. But what Schlozman wanted to know, according to Clevenger, was whether his friend was a Republican.

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by: sonia @ Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 20:16:54 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The Timing May Be Right (0.00 / 0)

Sonia;

Good information. Thank you.

Nothing squeals louder than a cornered rat, and there isn't likely to be many of these two-legged Bush/DOJ vermin left with the fool-hardy perseverence to keep doing what they've done in the face of general public scrutiny.

If my last public stand is that of making any one of them do the right thing in spite of their own inclinations, I'll die happy.

I'm quite serious: If 218 or 626, or some hybrid version makes it into law, I'll muster the strength for a fight and I will file the necessary paper for it.

*** poll catt ***


Seen It All; Done Most Of It

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by: Poll Catt @ Thu May 03, 2007 at 01:42:32 AM CDT

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