This is too much. The first two GOP witnesses at the House Elections Committee identified their great threat to democracy: 12 Catholic nuns in Indiana who were not allowed to vote in 2008 because they lacked the proper, bureaucracy-approved, identification papers.
One of those two witnesses was John Fund, a partisan hack posing as a journalist. He's a fantasist and fabricator. Fund said, "I interviewed two of the nuns. One admitted to me it was a stunt intended to discredit the [Indiana voter restriction] law." He didn't mention a name. Maybe the "interview" was in Fund's private confession booth, protected by clergy confidentiality. Claiming he had to "catch a plane," Fund left before members could question him about ridiculous and documented errors in his partisan book on voter suppression, I mean voter fraud.
Anyway, a dozen nuns were turned away from the polls. It made all the news, as they say. Questioned about how bureaucratic restrictions disenfranchised, Fund said, "I interviewed two of those nuns. One of them admitted to me it was a stunt."
Nun stunts?
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita also blamed the nuns for the voting debacle that embarrassed Indiana backers of the new identification restrictions. "Those nuns weren't disenfranchised, they just didn't want to follow the law."
Oh, I bet these guys wouldn't say that to the faces of these spiritual leaders.Rulers, anyone? Back of the knuckles? Ring a bell?
There's a lot of sound and fury from Republicans about the need for new bureaucratic restrictions on the right to vote. They've never produced any evidence of a problem such burdens will fix. They can't explain how their complicated identification requirements for voters will be administered or enforced. They simply guarantee that all voters will face a lot more hassle dealing with underpaid federal and state bureaucrats. For instance, if one follows the law, a Texan can't get a new driver's license without a birth certificate, but you can't get a birth certificate without a driver's license.
All that said, nothing speaks so eloquently to the pathetic arguments of the Republican empty rhetoric as Sen. Troy Fraser's "worst-list" job trying to defend his proposal. Intent on ignoring Texas' major problems in health care, jobs, college tuition, public education and the environment to advance their power, Republicans are putting partisanship before progress. And that's sad. House hearings on voter restrictions begin today. It's a good time to review their argument, or lack of argument, in the Senate.
(Putting this excellent post back atop the page. - promoted by Phillip Martin)
Airport Security Checkpoint or Polling Place?
Here is an honest and easy-to-understand statement of a Republican belief that lies behind their efforts to place burdensome and bureaucratic barriers between citizens and the ballot box:
Few citizens have the formidable intellectual and moral capacities (let alone the time) required for the role that [popular democracy] assigns to the citizenry, although defenders of the concept believe that participation in democratic political activity strengthens these capacities, enabling a virtuous cycle.
That quote is from Judge Richard Posner, of the Seventh U.S. Court of Appeals. It's in his book, "Law, Pragmatism and Democracy." Posner wrote the appeals court opinion approving Indiana's restrictive voter identification requirements. The restrictions on voting, he said in that opinion, would harm many citizens. But we shouldn't care.
Let the quote sink in.
Because so many of us lack the intellectual and moral capacity to participate in our governance, restrictions on voting are no big deal to Posner and his ilk.
In Texas this week, debate opens on a proposal that places extraordinary identification requirements on citizens who wish to vote. The proposed law's ambiguous language appears to grant part-time, amateur polling place officials the absolute power to accept or reject a would-be voter based solely on that citizen's appearance or other subjective judgments. For the first time since women and blacks were granted the vote, appearance alone may disqualify a would-be voter. We'll return to this in a moment.
Posner is an open opponent of popular democracy. Most anti-democrats simply lie, not wishing to fuel what is the ultimate "wedge" issue in a democracy: should all citizens share equally in the decision-making of their communities and country? Some Republican backers of restrictions on voting may not share Posner's belief in the inferiority of many citizens. They simply want to use the law to reduce the number of people inclined to vote against them.
"Stop Voter Suppression Rally", Educational Forum and Film
What: Join legislators and our coalition of organizations against Voter Suppression Legislation for a rally, educational forum, and film explaining why we need to oppose Voter ID (Photo ID) legislation and how we'll win this fight.
No one should be confused about where many American right wingers are coming from when they limit access to the courts and propose new bureaucratic restrictions on voting. There's a line in U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's dissent in the landmark Wyeth [pharmaceutical] versus Levine case that proves the point. (A pdf of the opinion and Alito's dissent can be found here.)
In that case, the court held that federal bureaucracies could not trump the law. FDA approval of a drug didn't protect manufacturers of dangerous drugs from civil suits when their drugs hurt people.
This is a barrier to justice Big Pharma desperately wanted. It's a good sign that the Court turned them away. But Alito's dissent makes clear the real issue -- whether the financial and political elite can escape the judgment of citizens in a democracy -- is still with us.
The same right-wing logic is driving their desperate attempt to make voting a bureaucratic nightmare for all of us. Here's what Alito said:
This case illustrates that tragic facts make bad law. The Court [in its majority opinion] holds that a state court jury, rather than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is ultimately responsible for regulating warning labels for prescription drugs.
Ignoring for a moment that human tragedy pretty much gave birth to the law, in ancient cultures, in Greece, Rome, English common law, the U.S. Constitution etc., Alito is arguing, as do many right-wing, elitist judges and politicians, that the people have no business meddling in matters of their own health and safety.
This is exactly why so many on the Right want to restrict the right to vote. As the debate opens next week in the Texas Legislature on a proposal to restrict our right to vote, everyone should keep this in mind. When rulers believe the people they would rule should be excluded or inhibited from participating in political decision-making, democracy itself is threatened.
It's no coincidence that new barriers to participation are proposed just as a significant majority of Texans realize that right wing policies have caused a global economic crisis, made health care and college education unaffordable for the middle class, empowered corporate thievery, and ruined the environment.
In other words, human tragedies threaten the power of the Right, and they don't want us to overcome the multiple tragedies with new laws. Which, in the minds of the Right, would be bad because it threatens their power.
Six state legislators joined environmental advocates Monday morning to forecast a sunny session for solar power. Public Citizen, Environment Texas and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club hosted a statewide round of press conferences this week to roll out our solar report, Texas Solar Roadmap -- which can be downloaded at www.cleanenergyfortexas.org.
Texas Solar Roadmap highlights how a robust solar program would help put Texans back to work, reduce peak energy prices, curb climate change, improve air quality, and position the state as a world leader for solar production. The full report is a pretty good read, but if you're short on time I suggest the condensed version, Wildcatting the Sun.
Senators Troy Fraser (R-Abilene), Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio), Kirk Watson (D-Austin), Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), and Representatives Mark Strama (D-Austin) and Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) all appeared to champion the solar bills they have introduced thus far.
Rafael Anchia's HB 278 and Florence Eliot Shapiro's SB 427 would require the state's electric utilities to support the development of 2000 megawatts of solar and other on-site renewable technologies by offering direct incentives to consumers and businesses.
This is right in line with Public Citizen's distributed solar goal, outlined in both Wildcatting the Sun and Texas Solar Roadmap. According to our report , such a standard could lead to installations on as many as 500,000 roofs in Texas by 2020 at a cost of about 98 cents per month per Texan (Polls have shown that 81% of Texas voters are willing to pay up to a dollar a month to encourage solar power. What about you?). This investment would create an estimated 22,000 jobs and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide emissions by 29 million tons, the equivalent of taking 4.3 million cars off the road for a year.
Anchia stressed that this should be Texas' solar session because it would answer two of our major challenges: air quality, and global warming. Senator Fraser was the first legislator to speak, proclaiming that this would be Texas' solar session. Chairman of the Business and Commerce Committee, Fraser is well positioned to be an effective solar champion...
(This is a seat we need to hold. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
While the Presidential race continues to suck a lot of the air out of the Texas political atmosphere, vitally important down-ballot races are kicking into high gear as early voting approaches. The race for HD-17 (Bastrop, Fayette, Lee, Burleson, Colorado counties)is heating up as the GOP looks to pick up the seat vacated by Robby Cook (D-Eagle Lake) and Donnie Dippel works hard to keep it in the Democratic column.
Rick Perry tool Tim Kleinschmidt has been spending gobs of PAC and lobbyist money (much of it from the likes of TLR, TX Oil and Gas PAC, and Bob Perry) trying to discredit Dippel and press hot buttons like he's done with his insidious mailers. The latest one I received (thanks, Tim!) touts his "plan to secure our borders" by spending state funds on border enforcement and requiring photo I.D. to vote. Apparently the cookie-cutters who designed his campaign neglected to tell Tim that border security is a FEDERAL issue and that photo I.D. for voting is an unconstitutional imposition akin to a poll tax.
Needless to say, Tim is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Kleinschmidt was recently busted for paying his daughter with campaign funds in direct violation of state election laws, and also apparently tried to film his campaign commercials during a non-partisan public forum in Bastrop recently. Later that week, at another candidate forum in Colorado County (in which the parties had agreed to no candidate cameras), Kleinschmidt failed to even show up and sent a surrogate instead. Clearly he's not interested in talking about the issues, since he's apparently confused about a number of them: Kleinschmidt mentions "supporting local schools" but also supports private school vouchers (which is it, Tim?), and claims to oppose toll roads and the TTC ( a new position from 2006...) while having fundraisers hosted by the Godfathers of the Toll Road Lobby like Perry and Mike Toomey. But despite his many ties with big insurance, big oil, and various other anti-labor and anti-working family forces that have made the Capitol and Guv's Mansion their personal playground for the last 10+ years - Tim claims he's an "independent voice" for rural Texas "values" !
Meanwhile, long-time Fayette County rancher and ag consultant Donnie Dippel (who would the cows really support, Tim?) is running on a sound platform that speaks to the actual issues affecting working families of the 17th District: fully funding our public schools and bringing back vocational training programs(strengthening the rural labor force), support for rural health care services like CHIP and local hospitals, support for volunteer fire departments and rural law enforcement, repealing the Republican-enacted small business tax, (back to those "small town values" again) , protecting our water resources (as Kleinschmidt sells his water out of the District!) and encouraging economic development in HD-17, with it's mix of rural and exurban communities.
Frances Carnot needs our support and our help in her bid to unseat Frank Corte in State Rep. District. 122. Frances is a smart, articulate, and committed women dedicated to ridding the Texas Legislature of the useless menace of Frank Corte.
If you are a women, then Frank Corte is your public enemy number 1. He has singlehandedly done more to undermine women’s healthcare and women’s rights in the Texas Legislature over the last ten years than any other legislator in Austin.
If you are a parent of a public school student, he has consistently undermined public education and supported redirecting public education funding to private and religious institutions.
If you are paying high insurance fees, that is because Frank Corte is a ‘Best Friend’ of the insurance lobby!
If you are out of work or under employed and need extra help with providing healthcare for your family, don’t look to Frank Corte for that help, as he has turned a cold shoulder to the senior citizens and children of Texas when it comes to providing adequate healthcare in Texas. He is one of the reasons Texas is last in the nation for providing healthcare for our children.
(And thank you Diana! Readers can contribute to Maldonado's campaign and the TexBlog PAC via this link. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Dear Texas BlogPAC and Friends,
I want to thank you and your donors for your generous contribution to my campaign. We will use your contribution to communicate our message of balanced, progressive leadership to the voters of Williamson County.
I also want to thank you for a great party at Scholz's! The good news about getting Texas back on track is that so many different people are prepared to pitch in their resources, time, and in the case of your party...their singing voices!
House District 52 covers most of Williamson County including far north Austin, Round Rock, a bit of Georgetown, and all of Taylor and Hutto. The eastern side of the district is home to some of the most productive farmland in all of Texas. To the west, high tech workers and busy commuters have settled in the district because of affordable housing and excellent schools. We must honor and protect our rural roots as we plan for and manage the growth of urban areas.
Just like you, I am prepared to do much more than merely complain about the failures of past leadership. I will advocate for affordable tuition, consumer protection for homeowners, state support for public education, and increased access to healthcare for all Texans. I will fight against toll roads, the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC), and road projects that do not serve the people of my district.
As a former president of the RRISD Board of Trustees, I have worked to put the interests of our kids first. I have worked with my fellow citizens and board members to fully fund classrooms while respecting the pocketbooks of local taxpayers.
I am ready for to fight this battle. As the next legislator from Williamson County, I will build upon my track record of success to provide fair and honest leadership to my district and all Texans.
The facts are staggering. Close to 3 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary. More than 1.1 million went back Tuesday night to the caucuses. This extraordinary day and night was felt everywhere.
It is the proverbial thunder over the hill. Democrats are back. Everywhere.
There is a lot of loud whistling in the dark from Tom Craddick supporters about whether they gained votes or didn't lose votes or were given a low bail-bond to get out of electoral jail temporarily. And it's true that some Craddick-Ds won, but not because Democrats had a referendum on Craddick.
Instead, it's because Democrats attracted more than a million new and just-getting-informed voters to the polls. Would it have been better if anti-Craddick D's had won? Of course.
A million new people suited up as Democrats for battle. They haven't yet aimed their weapons at the most corrupt House leadership in Texas history. But that clicking sound is the sound of a million hammers being pulled back.
And by the way, as Phil wrote below, there were no real gains by Craddick. And Democrats had already gained three anti-Craddick votes since the session through special elections and party switching.
Would it have been possible to inform these new voters? The truth is, given the short fuse on this primary -- we only knew a few weeks ahead of time that the presidential hurricane was coming here -- it is highly doubtful that resources could have been marshaled. Craddick cronies were a bit lucky. They were already trying to buy their way out of trouble. And the massive spending by his corrupt contributor network just bought themselves a lot more scrutiny in November.
Brief tactical note: It's quite obvious these new voters are not political junkies, they are concerned and engaged citizens. They are not watching Hardball or Olbermann. Communicating with cable t.v. alone will not be sufficient to turn new and low information voters into repeat, high information voters.
To compare, Rick Noriega won without a runoff in this context of new, low-information voters. He spent his money on the networks. Which these new voters are watching.
