It seems the Kansas GOP is prepared to follow the example of the Wisconsin GOP in passing restrictive laws making it harder for Democratic-leaning groups to vote.

It hardly seems worth the effort as Democrats are an endangered species in Kansas as it is, esp. now that Dennis Miller retired. When our family in Kansas votes, they know their liberal votes are pretty much protest votes.

I guess it just goes to show what their real priorities are: power and the perpetuation thereof.

There are only so many words I can drag out of my vocabulary….

Why do they all look alike? Like really goofy. Hmmm.

The New Code Word in Dog-Whistle Politics: “URBAN”

Coming Soon!

Progressives use their national spending power to hurt states and companies that have anti Democratic Views

Progressives need to start speaking the only language that Corporations and their Puppets “GOP” understand “MONEY”.

Corporations fear this simple idea, “a large number of people don’t buy our products because we support Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush, the GOP etc.”

For example,
An Organize National Progressive Base could just send a letter to Corporations with HQs in Kansas, and simply tell them our 30 million members around the USA will no longer be buying your products, due to your stupid state representatives.

I promise you, Kobach would be history in a matter of seconds.

Corporations have one BIG weakness, they LOVE MONEY, more than they love humans, god, the USA govt., Earth etc. this is a fact.

Remember Obama Wall Street Buddies are foreclosing on USA soldiers.

Money is the only language these clowns hear and understand.

Progressive must UNITE! ASAP

“Kansans would have to show a passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They then would have to show a government photo ID — driver’s license, passport or state university ID — at the polls.”

I don’t understand. What is wrong with proving who you are? Will that not eliminate voter fraud if there ever was such a thing? You mean, you could walk in and vote before without anyone asking just who you are?

The young, urban, poor, unmotivated, and uninformed did such a bang-up job when they had the franchise, that Repubs now have full control of state government. Who’s responsible for this travesty?

We already have and it’s been pretty damn easy. In fact, it’s a no-brainer! You can’t buy products or be a consumer if you have no money. When there are no jobs, no income that meets a standard of living in the country, then purchasing products from corporations is out of the question.

I’m all for buying from your local farmer, craftspeople, artists, and other US made entities. Forget those corporations that won’t hire us and have committed treason!

I promise you, Kobach would be history in a matter of seconds.

The very definition of “eliminationist rhetoric”.

Maybe it’s time for rhetoric from the working class. Sorry, “former” working class.

I take it you don’t like Obama and the MSM Jobless Recovery BS. :)

I am still stuck on how can a nation have a recovery, when people are being laid off daily. (what is the difference between a Great Recession and Great Depression? does anyone know?)

I also want to know, why do the MSM say crap like Americans Companies hire abroad and not home, why doesn’t the MSM say USA companies are committing TREASON by hiring foreigners over americans.

We all say Bin Laden is a terrorist, but we refuse to say USA bankers, that put USA soldiers families out of their homes are terrorist. What is the difference?

Me thinks USA govt by corporations for corporations is going to end BADLY!

“I take it you don’t like Obama and the MSM Jobless Recovery BS. :)”

You would be correct! I don’t like propaganda or Government lies either.

On that jobless recovery issue. They have only eyes for their own wealth and not the wealth of the country as a whole. It makes no difference that the bulk of the US is failing in every sector as long as the banks are hiding their crimes and profiting.

Our Rep’s name was Dennis Moore who announced he wasn’t running Dec’09. His wife ran for his seat but there was a tremendous amount of money from the other side… where does it all come from? Ah, there’s the rub. Out of state and maybe even overseas. where does Kris Kobach come from besides off the train of re-writing AZ immigration laws? Oh yeah, Harvard, Yale, Oxford.
But he’s not an elite because he graduated from Washburn Rural High School (on the edge of Topeka). Christian? Check: Anglican. Maybe that’s where he gets the idea that ‘others’ are bad. Oh wait, when he was head of the Rep party in KS 2007-8 he was rebuked by the FEC for mishandling of funds and taking illegal contributions and when he ran against the same Dennis Moore in 2004 accepted contributions from white supremacist groups. AG John Ashcroft, VP Dick Cheney, rightard Phyllis Schlafly just love him — isn’t that enough?
Oh yeah, Joe Arpaio campaigned for him in Kansas City.
Every time I hear his name, I cry a little inside.

Corporations have one BIG weakness, they LOVE MONEY, more than they love humans, god, the USA govt., Earth etc. this is a fact.

Heh, I don’t think an anthropomorphism can be a fact.

The Republican party clearly has no problem changing the rules to help cement their power, even if it means disenfranchising people with anti-small-”d”-democratic actions.

Now why does this seem familiar? Oh yeah, someone was calling for similar disenfranchisement for the same reasons not so long ago. I wonder who that could have been…

Oh yeah, now I remember. The GOP isn’t the only major political party whose politics-of-convenience-thinking drives them to suppress democracy for the sake of short term political gain. And it is hypocritical to denounce Republicans for actively doing what the Democrats and their apologists clearly want to do themselves, albeit using slightly different methods.

Oops. Thanks for the correction. I knew it was Moore. I don’t know why I wrote Miller. Anyway, it was a huge loss to the district when he retired. Heck, I’m in Missouri and I was very disappointed that he didn’t run again, although I can’t blame him.

It is guaranteed to reduce turnout among the poor, who are less likely to have passports of DL’s, and there is no proof that voter fraud has ever occurred.

So your goal is to stop this theoretical thing from happening at the expense of real live people being denied their right to vote? Reminds me of supporting the superior rights of the imagined fetus versus the real rights of live babies and women.

David Dayen has a fresh cross-post available: Senate Rules Reform Will Be Tweaked, Some Democrats Nervous About Committing to Changes

http://www.lvncountygop.com/Voter%20fraud%20is%20a%20reality%20in%20Kansas.doc

The claim here is that there have been 8 convictions for voter fraud over the past decade in Kansas.

The good news is Kansas has very few young or urban. They do much better in the poor category. Add Kansas to the list of States I will not knowingly support economically. This list includes Arizona, South Dakota, Indiana and the old Confederacy.

there is no proof that voter fraud has ever occurred.

Tell that to the convicted.

Alan I see you need some facts, I listed some below for you :)
Fact 1
We are bleeding middle class jobs at a pace that is staggering. Since the year 2000, the United States has lost 10% of its middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

Fact #2
In particular, the United States is absolutely hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs. Back in 1970, 25 percent of all jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs. Today, only 9 percent of the jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.

Fact #3
The decline of manufacturing in America has only accelerated over the past decade. The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

Fact #4
Deindustrialization is creating ghost towns in some areas of the United States. Even some of America’s biggest cities are now only a shadow of what they used to be. Since 1950, the population of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has declined by more than 50 percent. In Dayton, Ohio 18.9 percent of all houses now stand empty.

Alan if you need more facts please ask

Anthropomorphism is a term coined in the mid 1700s[1][2] to refer to any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed or believed by some to belong only to humans) to animals or non-living things, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. Examples include animals and plants and forces of nature such as winds, rain or the sun depicted as creatures with human motivations, and/or the abilities to reason and converse. The term derives from the combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), “human” and μορφή (morphē), “shape” or “form”.

Alan
the supreme ct says Corporations are people, so it is a fact that Corporations love MONEY more than Earth, God, Humans, the USA govt etc.

And so goes another chapter in the Feudalizing of America.

I shouldn’t answer the troll, but:
“submitting fraudulent voter registration cards.” – you do know that registration fraud has nothing to do with voter fraud, right?

Kobach doesn’t have a link or any proof for the 8 people convicted, so I don’t know whether that number is true or whether it is another case or registration fraud – but 1 person per election cycle justifies denying 100s of (conveniently Democratic) voters their rights?

Ann Coulter got in trouble for voting where she didn’t live – is that “fraud” or a mistake for someone who has more than 1 residence?

the supreme ct says Corporations are people

Fact vs. satire:

http://saintgasoline.com/2010/07/11/corporations-are-people-says-supreme-court/

These proposals are clearly unconstitutional.

Unfortunately we have a Supreme Court controlled by five regressive judges who will not uphold the constitution here.

“My hope is that Kansas will be to stopping election fraud what Arizona is to stopping illegal immigration,” said [Secretary of State Kris] Kobach, who made voter fraud a cornerstone of his fall campaign.

Under Kobach’s proposal, Kansans would have to show a passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship when registering to vote. They then would have to show a government photo ID — driver’s license, passport or state university ID — at the polls.

Voters casting advance or mail-in ballots would have to include their driver’s license number, or a photocopy of their ID.”
And how about we add the Poll Tax..yes, bring it back..

The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (i.e., slavery). It was ratified on February 3, 1870.
Nothing unconstitutional in the Kansas argument

A Georgia ID law was struck down because it was basically a poll tax – an artificial barrier to prevent people from exercising their rights.

I’m thinking literacy tests and some type of proof of ownership of property…

It’s not the ID requirements for registering or voting that people have a problem with,
Really.
It’s that this Krap-hack would [b]only talk about this single issue[/b] on his ‘campaign’ before the voters and loudly, vociferously, raising bigmoney on a [b]non-issue[/b].
Because, frankly, when R’s scream and yell about non-issues to get or stay in office they are actually busy doing other things … that nobody finds out til it’s too late.

In the state where integration began in education, dis-integration and dis-enfranchisement, coupled with redistricting will keep the people who make less than 100K a year (the majority) away from the polls and disgusted with the system.

Look for ammendments to KS constitution for granting only property owners the right to vote. Mark my words.

“Now why does this seem familiar? Oh yeah, someone was calling for similar disenfranchisement for the same reasons not so long ago. I wonder who that could have been…”
—————

So, to be clear, efforts designed to make it more difficult for people–largely, young, impoverished, and minority people–to vote in general elections is “similar” to efforts to eliminate the ability for a minority of Senators to keep legislation supported by a majority of Senators from even coming to a final vote **in which they would still participate**??

The equivalence isn’t just false, it’s positively delusional.

“submitting fraudulent registration cards”

In Kansas City, Missouri. You are aware that Missouri is not in Kansas aren’t you?

So no drivers license, no passport and no birth certificate?

We should just take their word for it that they are citizens? Get real. It is embarrassing that we haven’t been doing this.

http://www.kansas.com/2010/07/28/1421836/voter-fraud-not-a-significant.html

This editorial says, as of June 2009, 7 cases referred to prosecutors in 5 years in Kansas and only 1 prosecuted.

“…denying 100s of (conveniently Democratic) voters their rights?”

What right is being denied? This law refers to new registrants and all voters. Correct?

“My hope is that Kansas will be to stopping election fraud what Arizona is to stopping illegal immigration,” said [Secretary of State Kris] Kobach . . .”

Where do you even start with a sentance like this? I suspect this Rep effort is directed at Wyandotte County and the Latino population in much of the southwest corner of the state. It will most likely affect voter registration in these areas at least.

As a Kansan, such anxiety and silliness is not unusual or surprising.

From KMBC, 12 Jan: “Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is declaring an end to what he calls the days of ever-expanding state government.” Considering Kansas is a rural welfare state, I’m sure such measures will greatly improve the lives of many Kansans.

And here may be a more appropriate link to AZ in re the recent shootings: 18 Jan “Topeka — Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center is looking at a cut of approximately $372,000 under Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget.

Brownback seeks a statewide cut of $10 million from grants to community mental health centers and $5 million in a program designed to help families where children are experiencing mental health problems.

“The idea that you can cut $15 million out of mental health funding and expect to save $15 million is incorrect,” David Johnson, chief executive officer of Bert Nash, said Tuesday. “People don’t get well and problems don’t get fixed just because you are not paying for them.”

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/jan/18/statehouse-live-brownbacks-proposed-budget-cut-wou/?kansas_legislature

What’s delusional is the notion that reducing or eliminating the fundamental building block of democracy — democratic debate in the legislature — will somehow lead to more democracy, or that it will lead to progressive legislation being passed. It won’t. What it will do is make it even easier for secret, back room deals to affect the final form of legislation, and for those who craft this dubious legislation to pass it. For reasons having absolutely nothing to do with actual democracy or support therefor, some want this to be the way our government operates. Such an attitude is neither democratic or progressive. Small wonder why so many voters don’t see the American left as being any better or different than the far right: principles only hold when they’re convenient.

The problem is that it costs money to obtain drivers’ licenses, state identification cards, birth certificates, and other forms of identification. And if you’re homeless, or too poverty-stricken to expend the extra few dollars on those when you’re faced with going hungry, that translates to a lot of legal citizens being denied their right to vote. The law is unconstitutional because it is essentially a poll tax. People have been voting using their signatures as identification for centuries with few provable instances of fraud. Signatures are copied and saved for comparison in the following election, and often the same people operate the polling stations every cycle. Fraud? Only, in this case, on the part of Republicans seeking to consolidate power yet again by disenfranchising voters.

http://www.gregpalast.com/behind-the-arizona-immigration-lawgop-game-to-swipe-the-november-election

I wonder how serious a problem this is? Perhaps somebody could interview a person who used to vote but now no longer does because the new requirements are so burdensome.

FL has 11.2 million registered voters and 14 million licensed drivers:

http://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license.shtml

http://www.dos.state.fl.us/news/communications/pressRelease/pressRelease.cfm?id=479

1 can drive legally before age 18.

I’m sorry if I am repeating a sentiment that someone else has already said ( I haven’t read all previous comments)but it is my position that the policies embraced by Obama and the Dems in the House and the Senate the past couple of years will do far more to suppress the votes of their base than this law in Kansas. Let’s stop the Pavlovian responses to the mainstream media’s tribal games.