This isn’t
anything new for me to talk about. Maybe I should leave it alone but for some
reason I cannot. I really don’t like to continue to complain about the
Republican Party because the Democratic Party does stupid things too but I
guess when you mess with people’s rights it bothers me more than most other
things. As you know Republicans are trying to make it harder for lots of
American citizens to cast their votes this November. They say it is because of
the possibility of voter fraud. Since the year 2000 there have been 2068
alleged cases of voter fraud. During that time there have been more than 600
million votes cast in presidential election not to mention state and local
elections then we would get into the billions. This (2068) is a very small
amount and from that only 10 were in-person voter fraud. So how can Republican
push through these Voter I.D. Laws to combat this non-existent problem? You
know the answer. They want to suppress the vote. They want to decrease the
number of people voting for President Obama and it is working.
If you are among
the people that feel it is okay to require people to show I.D. to combat the
problem of In-Person Voter Fraud then I wonder why? I say that because voting
is a right, just like speech and bearing arms. Should we really make it harder
to vote because of the actions of 10 people since the year 2000? Over 9,000
people are killed every year with guns but we are not making it harder to buy
guns. Over 70,000 people are injured with guns each year and some would say we
have made it easier to get guns. You can do the math. Does this make sense to
you? When it comes to guns the Republicans say even though lots of people are
killed we have the ‘right’ to keep and bear arms and that right should not be
infringed upon. Why do they not use the same logic when it comes to voting?
Maybe because this effort affects mostly the poor, the elderly and students and as a party
those are three groups that the Republican Party doesn’t care about.
I know all
Republicans don’t feel this way. I will say that all of my Republican friends
that I have talked to about Voter I.D. think it is a good idea. I even know
some that say they are Democrats and they are okay with Voter I.D... I don’t know
ANY Republicans that want stricter gun laws.
To bring
this to a close, it is Rights vs. Rights and only one of them can quickly cost
you your life. One of them has a big
money lobbying firm behind it and the other is being used to try to get Mitt Romney
into the White House.
Not sure where to start on this one, I opened it interested to see what you might say about the ongoing situation in Libya, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East.
ReplyDeleteBut since we are still on this, allow me to retort. A) It's not only Republicans pushing for voter reform, plenty of Dems have pushed through Voter ID legislation in their respective states as well. An ID is required for pretty much everything, EVEN receiving welfare (so that sort of debunks the thought that the poor will be unable to attain an ID, and therefore lose their vote). I don't know all the laws in all the different states, but I do know some states have an option that you can sign an affidavit saying you were unable to obtain an ID, and then will allow that person to vote. Other states have even gone so far as to offer to come to people's homes and provide them with a photo ID at the government's cost.
As for the numbers of voter fraud you mentioned, well you forgot a pretty big problem with those numbers, they only refer to prosecuted cases. In other words, due to the nature of voter fraud, who knows how many cases go unnoticed.
The gun part is injecting a different issue all together, but ok, allow me to retort. Having lived in one particular city that I will use as an example (Baltimore, MD), which has probably the strictest gun laws in the nation. Yet year in, year out, Charm city ranks at the top of the list in murder rates...but how is this possible? Surely all the criminals are concerned dearly about not breaking and gun laws on the way to committing whatever crime they are about to perpetrate. What's that? You think they may not care about using an illegal firearm while committing whatever other felonies they are doing....hmmm
Also, just a funny add on, why am I required to enter in a code to publish my comment? Are you worried about fraudulent entries into your blog?? Are you trying to disenfranchise potential commenters who can't read the numbers because they can't afford a large screen? Just saying.
ReplyDeleteOkay Jeb, let me retort your retort. About your add on. I have no control over the code required to post your comment. It makes me enter the code when I post this comment. Its a Blogspot.com thing not a Randy thing.
ReplyDeleteOn to the good stuff. I did say that I know some Dems that are okay withthe Voter ID thing. I'm just saying it is mostly a Repub thing. I think there are 2 maybe 3 states that have Democratic Govs that have these laws being pushed. I will look it up to be sure.
You missed my point but made it for me. Maybe I was not clear. I'm not for stricter gun laws. They should just enforce the laws we have now. The same with Voter ID. We don't need stricter laws because its not gonna stop whats not happening.
As for prosecuted cases. Well thats all anyone can base numbers on. I'm sure you are not trying to argue a negative. You believe there are more and I believe there are less. Its a wash. So we have to go with the people that have been caught. In-person voter fraud is very very very small because most people are not criminals or that stupid. It is a felony and I find it hard to believe they would risk 5 years in prison for each bad vote they cast and a 10k fine for each one. That kind of risk and nothing for them. I can't see it.
I don't assume that all poor people are on welfare. I just don't think the ID thing is gonna fix anything. If you can afford it you can get ID being anyone you want. This only hurts the poor.
Also MOST voter fraud comes in the form of Absentee Voting not to mention hacking into electronic voting machines.
So thank you for making my point. Stricter laws only hurt the regular people and do not to stop the criminals.
I forgot about your middle east mention. I think you are talking about the recent attack on the US Embassy. I'm waiting until more info is in. We only have 1 or 2 sources about what happened. I don't want to be like Romney and respond without the full story. I know I didn't have to say that last part but you know .......LOL.....I couldn't help it.
ReplyDeleteWow...you two should get married...or divorced! Kidding. The intelligent man sees both sides of an arguement or a situation, and realizes there can be an unseen, unheard, and even unspoken of third, fourth, or fifth side. That's wher I stand gentlemen...firmly rooted in the lush ground of conspiracy! Everything is said and done for a reason (usually occult). There is really no reason to pursue a hidden agenda if the creator of that agenda is not talking or possibly even dead. I realized quite recently that regardless of the circumstances or the facts, the moment they saw my racially diverse status, I was not going to get help, I was not going to be considered, and most importantly, I was not going to win. BUT...I was allowed to play! Why? To give the appearance of fairplay...painting black and white stripes on a horse doesn't make it a zebra, but ask anyone who saw it from a distance (like on HLN, CNN, YouTube, or even running through the neighbors back yard in the dark) and they would swear on their lives that a zebra it was. I'm just saying...
ReplyDeleteI think I know who anonymous is but I'm not sure. Either way I don't doubt what he says. My point simply put is that if you support keeping it simple for gun owners then you SHOULD support keeping it simple for voting rights because they are BOTH rights. When I talk to people on the Right that is not the case. That was all I was trying to say.
ReplyDeleteI fully understand and agree with you 100% percent. Keep in mind that owning guns gives certain people the right to kill you. The right to vote seems to be causing the same reaction. And yes you do know who I am...See you one of these Tuesdays!
ReplyDeleteIt is so blatantly obvious and disheartening. Why pick election year to push this if it isn't about voter suppression. If the government thinks this is a necessity then they should supply the id's, door to door like they gather census information.
ReplyDeleteMy own mother can obtain a social security card, even though she is a retired civil service worker of over 40yrs, because she wasn't born in a hospital and the affidavit that sufficed her entire career, for driver's licenses, etc doesn't work now, even though she is able to collect her retirement benefits and Medicare with that number. after 9/11 since all the folks who signed that affidavit are dead she can't get a social security card to even get a part time job.
These situations far outweigh the number of people who commit voter fraud.
This is ALL about voter suppression if you look at the numbers. The only thing this does is hurt the poor, ill, and elderly. It does not stop the problem they pretend is there. It does show the power of Fox (not) News. I guess some rights are more important than others. If this was going on in another country there would be calls for sanctions. I'm sorry to hear about the problems your mother is having. It's not right. Notice they didn't apply those voter rules during the Republican Primaries.
ReplyDelete