U.S. 2012 Election

[a_majoor]

A candidate with clearly libertarian leanings. Having low poll numbers does not invalidate the arguments, and given the size of the debt crisis upon us, the proposed solution has the advantage of actually being able to work in a realistic timeframe. (Won't be doen, since in the immortal words of Glenn Reynolds: "There's no opportunity for graft"):

http://reason.com/blog/2011/08/30/presidential-candidate-gov-gar

Presidential Candidate Gov. Gary Johnson: Cut Federal Spending by 43% - and Cut Social Issues From GOP Agenda

Nick Gillespie & Jim Epstein | August 30, 2011

According to the latest CNN/ORC survey, former two-term Gov. Gary Johnson (R-N.M.) is polling at 2 percent, neck-and-neck with pizza magnate Herman Cain and ahead of former Gov. John Huntsman (R-Utah) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).

Yet while Cain, Huntsman, and Santorum will mix it up with Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas), former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), and Reps. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) at the next GOP candidates debate on September 7, Johnson has been told to stay home once more. This latest exclusion has prompted writers at National Review, which isn't particularly amenable to Johnson's libertarian-leaning platform, and elsewhere to wonder what's going on with the selection process.

While Johnson may not make it to the Republican debate at California's Ronald Reagan ranch, Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie caught up with him at FreedomFest in July to talk tax reform, cutting federal spending across the board by 43 percent (the amount currently being financed by debt), and how focusing on social conservatism could reduce the GOP to minor-party status.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Zach Weissmueller, and edited by Epstein. About 4 minutes.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. For a playlist of videos released so far, go here.

Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

For more Reason coverage on the GOP 2012 field, go here.

 

[a_majoor]

Since the President will not be running on his record, this is probably the Democrat campaign outline:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/08/obama-jobs-speech-warning-to-congress.html

Minutes after his Sept. 8 address to Congress is set, Obama bashes both houses
August 31, 2011 |  7:54 pm    1945

Within minutes of agreeing with congressional leaders Wednesday night on an address to a joint session next week, President Obama flashed out an email to millions of supporters criticizing the chambers, their members and vowing to pressure them to enact his as yet unspecified job creation ideas.

"It's been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on," the Democrat charged in an email with the subject line: "Frustrated."

It's not exactly clear how long "a long time" Obama was thinking of. But until midterm voters produced a historic House turnover to Republicans last November, Obama's Democratic Party controlled both houses with substantial majorities and gave him vast spending, reform and healthcare programs.

It was, at least in part, voter reaction to such legislation that produced the divided government in D.C. now.

This evening's email is likely revealing of the strategy this White House intends to follow for the 2012 presidential election, blaming Congress for what hasn't happened in the economy and employment sectors.

Polls show approval of Obama's economic leadership now down around 1 in 3, with 2 out of 3 feeling the country is on the wrong track.

Speaking of his joint session address Sept. 8, Obama's email says:

Next week, I will deliver the details of the plan and call on lawmakers to pass it. Whether they will do the job they were elected to do is ultimately up to them. But both you and I can pressure them to do the right thing.

We can send the message that the American people are playing by the rules and meeting their responsibilities -- and it's time for our leaders in Congress to meet theirs. And we must hold them accountable if they don't.

Other than the chief executive's threats and the lousy job performance review of both parties, it looks like Obama and Congress are in for a really nice working relationship in coming months.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Follow The Ticket via

 

[Fishbone Jones]

 

[kstart]

The GOP War on Voting:

In a campaign supported by the Koch brothers, Republicans are working to prevent millions of Democrats from voting next year

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830

Just as Dixiecrats once used poll taxes and literacy tests to bar black Southerners from voting, a new crop of GOP governors and state legislators has passed a series of seemingly disconnected measures that could prevent millions of students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly from casting ballots. "What has happened this year is the most significant setback to voting rights in this country in a century," says Judith Browne-Dianis, who monitors barriers to voting as co-director of the Advancement Project, a civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C.

Republicans have long tried to drive Democratic voters away from the polls. "I don't want everybody to vote," the influential conservative activist Paul Weyrich told a gathering of evangelical leaders in 1980. "As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." But since the 2010 election, thanks to a conservative advocacy group founded by Weyrich, the GOP's effort to disrupt voting rights has been more widespread and effective than ever. In a systematic campaign orchestrated by the American Legislative Exchange Council – and funded in part by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who bankrolled the Tea Party – 38 states introduced legislation this year designed to impede voters at every step of the electoral process.

Details in article, re: which states affected, newer registration required.  Make sure you are properly registered well ahead of the election date.  Start now.

 

[PuckChaser]

Are they trying to prevent Democrats from voting, or are they preventing anyone who shouldn't be voting from voting? A lot of those rule changes include showing government ID or proof of citizenship, what's wrong with that?

 

[cupper]

Are they trying to prevent Democrats from voting, or are they preventing anyone who shouldn't be voting from voting? A lot of those rule changes include showing government ID or proof of citizenship, what's wrong with that?

There is nothing wrong with  it in a general sense. But it is the more stringent requirements added on top of already existing regulations that makes it more difficult for traditionally democrat voting populations to meet these new requirements.

It's all being wrapped up as a solution to a problem that barely exists, namely voter fraud. All independent research points to this being a manufactured problem, and the new regulations a solution looking for a problem.

 

[Brad Sallows]

>All independent research

Translation: all ideological dogma

 

[a_majoor]

Voter fraud is an issue that does need to be addressed, and there have been lots of articles over the years about groups like ACORN fraudulently registering voters, or so called "motor voters" regisering and voting in different districts or states.

Indeed, given the remarkably lax standards of voter registratin and ID currently in place, this seems more like common sense in action than anyting else. After all, there should be no perception that elections are in any way being rigged or manipulated, as dsputed elections lead to loss of legitimacy for the process overall.

 

[kstart]

Voter fraud is an issue that does need to be addressed, and there have been lots of articles over the years about groups like ACORN fraudulently registering voters, or so called "motor voters" regisering and voting in different districts or states.

Indeed, given the remarkably lax standards of voter registratin and ID currently in place, this seems more like common sense in action than anyting else. After all, there should be no perception that elections are in any way being rigged or manipulated, as dsputed elections lead to loss of legitimacy for the process overall.

Is there proof of this?  How many have been charged?

I'm familiar a bit with ACORN here (Canada), and from what I know, yes they will help to reduce barriers for people that are poor, for many things, including exercising their democratic right to vote.  If you're poor and don't own a car, and the polling station is inaccessible (by public transportation); or if you are physically disabled, elderly, with limited mobility and can't get out to vote without help, yes, poverty groups can help and should help.  I know that from working with homeless people-- they are regularly targets of crime, they don't have safe places to store the little possessions that they have.  Lost IDs are something poverty groups deal with frequently so that their clients can access the system for medical needs, employment programs, etc.

I would be skeptical that the voter-fraud is as big as the GOP are claiming it to be.

From the RS article ( http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830 )

A major probe by the Justice Department between 2002 and 2007 failed to prosecute a single person for going to the polls and impersonating an eligible voter, which the anti-fraud laws are supposedly designed to stop. Out of the 300 million votes cast in that period, federal prosecutors convicted only 86 people for voter fraud – and many of the cases involved immigrants and former felons who were simply unaware of their ineligibility. A much-hyped investigation in Wisconsin, meanwhile, led to the prosecution of only .0007 percent of the local electorate for alleged voter fraud. . . A 2007 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, a leading advocate for voting rights at the New York University School of Law, quantified the problem in stark terms. "It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning," the report calculated, "than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls."

Policies should not be made up due to paranoid-based fears, there should be statistical back-up for policy changes.  Is it statistically significant, barring rare and infrequent cases (outliers).


Compare undemonstrated risk with demonstrated risks on the democratic process:


From RS article (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830?page=2 )

In Texas, under "emergency" legislation passed by the GOP-dominated legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Perry, a concealed-weapon permit is considered an acceptable ID but a student ID is not. Republicans in Wisconsin, meanwhile, mandated that students can only vote if their IDs include a current address, birth date, signature and two-year expiration date – requirements that no college or university ID in the state currently meets. As a result, 242,000 students in Wisconsin may lack the documentation required to vote next year. "It's like creating a second class of citizens in terms of who gets to vote," says Analiese Eicher, a Dane County board supervisor

242,000 students lacking the documentation to vote-- that's statistically significant.  Now if they had a standardized ID system, regardless of gun ownership, student status, disability, level of income.

Has there been ideologically motivated restrictions placed on voters, purposely to skew results?  Democraphics of voting behaviour is well-studied by both parties and their pundits, and PR professionals.  Ann Coulter, for example, would prefer that women didn't vote, particularly single women: http://www.observer.com/2007/coulter-culture 

 

[cupper]

The best example of supposed voter fraud I've heard was about a deceased man who cast a vote in one election, according to the local GOP party rep. It came as a huge surprise to the man who assured all that he was very much alive and well, and had in fact voted for the GOP candidate, but would be reconsidering his decision in the future.

The Justice Department under the Bush Administration fired several federal prosecutors for refusing to bring forward charges of voter fraud because there was either no evidence that the fraud had occurred, or that the voters mistakenly thought that they were eligible to vote.

Voter fraud is a manufactured problem of the GOP to disenfranchise traditional Democratic voting populations. It goes along with the robo calls that tell voters that poll locations have changed, or that candidates have already won so they do not need to come out and vote. The fact that tactics like these have been linked predominantly GOP organizers says a lot about how far the GOP is willing to go to gain and hold on to power.

 

[ModlrMike]

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Neither side is lily white on this issue. Casting one's opponent as the devil raises questions about one's own status.

 

[cupper]

Dems aren't smart enough to figure out how to get power and keep it.

I'm glad I have an excuse for not voting.

Still have to wonder how they can hold themselves up as an example of Democracy.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

From RS article (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830?page=2 )

In Texas, under "emergency" legislation passed by the GOP-dominated legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Perry, a concealed-weapon permit is considered an acceptable ID but a student ID is not. Republicans in Wisconsin, meanwhile, mandated that students can only vote if their IDs include a current address, birth date, signature and two-year expiration date – requirements that no college or university ID in the state currently meets. As a result, 242,000 students in Wisconsin may lack the documentation required to vote next year. "It's like creating a second class of citizens in terms of who gets to vote," says Analiese Eicher, a Dane County board supervisor.

242,000 students lacking the documentation to vote-- that's statistically significant.  Now if they had a standardized ID system, regardless of gun ownership, student status, disability, level of income.

Fake student ID, along with drivers licenses are one of the easiest forms of fraudelant ID to obtain, so I can understand why student ID's might not be considered valid. On the other hand see here for the requirements for obtaining a concealed carry permit in Texas. Who's ID would you except? Concealed carry license or student ID? Note that there are other forms of ID that can be used (e.g.) drivers license, birth certificate, etc)  can used instead of student ID's.

 

[cupper]

drivers licenses are one of the easiest forms of fraudelant ID to obtain

You haven't tried to get a US drivers license lately have you?

Ever since 9/11 the number of hoops that one must go through to get one when you do not already have one can be more baffling than a trip through the looking glass.

And don't even try to show up at  the DMV without having checked the latest requirements online the same day you show up.

Now, that is not to say that you can pick up a fake on the street for the right price, but don't expect it to stand up to any form of close scrutiny.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Of course there is no fraud.  It is merely coincidence that "mislaid" ballot boxes keep popping up wherever election results are close.

 

[kstart]

You haven't tried to get a US drivers license lately have you?

Ever since 9/11 the number of hoops that one must go through to get one when you do not already have one can be more baffling than a trip through the looking glass.

And don't even try to show up at  the DMV without having checked the latest requirements online the same day you show up.

Now, that is not to say that you can pick up a fake on the street for the right price, but don't expect it to stand up to any form of close scrutiny.

From the Rolling Stone Article ( http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830?page=3: )

The barriers erected in Texas and Wisconsin go beyond what the Supreme Court upheld in Indiana, where 99 percent of state voters possess the requisite IDs and can turn to full-time DMVs in every county to obtain the proper documentation.

  By contrast, roughly half of all black and Hispanic residents in Wisconsin do not have a driver's license, and the state staffs barely half as many DMVs as Indiana – a quarter of which are open less than one day a month. To make matters worse, Gov. Scott Walker tried to shut down 16 more DMVs – many of them located in Democratic-leaning areas. In one case, Walker planned to close a DMV in Fort Atkinson, a liberal stronghold, while opening a new office 30 minutes away in the conservative district of Watertown. 

This must get confusing when individual states are creating their own laws, while this is about a Federal election.

In some states, ex-felons are allowed to vote, while in other states, ex-felons are denied the right to vote.  Naturally there is going to be some confusion.

Having a valid driver's license also does relate to Poverty, the Physically Disabled (e.g. missing limbs, don't have a car with adaptations), or loss of Eyesight; Elderly;  those who can't afford a car, have access to a car, or don't want to go into high debt just to afford a car. . .

We have some practices in Canada of tampering that is legal, e.g. the re-defining of voter districts/ridings, and in that way the results can be skewed to favour the governing party (both Liberals and Conservations do this, standard practice), but so far,  no big surprises so far on voting days, re: IDs, eligibility.

As for the registration forms,

Since January, six states have introduced legislation to impose new restrictions on voter registration drives run by groups like Rock the Vote and the League of Women Voters. In May, the GOP-controlled legislature in Florida passed a law requiring anyone who signs up new voters to hand in registration forms to the state board of elections within 48 hours of collecting them, and to comply with a barrage of onerous, bureaucratic requirements. Those found to have submitted late forms would face a $1,000 fine, as well as possible felony prosecution.

Will there be enough people on hand to process these forms, long line-ups, etc. . . These are hard things to do for working people, who can barely get a day off even if they are really sick (without risking jobloss-- few jobs, lots of competition for them).  How many days off could it take to get their forms in, apply for the right IDs?

E.g. from the Rolling Stone article ( http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-gop-war-on-voting-20110830?page=3 )

  For those voters who manage to get a legitimate birth certificate, obtaining a voter ID from the DMV is likely to be hellishly time-consuming. A reporter for the Tri-State Defender in Memphis, Tennessee – another state now mandating voter IDs – recently waited for four hours on a sweltering July day just to see a DMV clerk. The paper found that the longest lines occur in urban precincts, a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act, which bars states from erecting hurdles to voting in minority jurisdiction.   

The ACLU is looking into things and hopefully these issues are ironed out and no more big surprises leading up to the Voting Day.

Having Firearms Registration would also prevent those who fail to satisfy requirements for registration: perhaps anyone with mental health issues, from mild depression and so forth. . . what about 'Honourably Discharged Veterans", for example, e.g. COSIs?    Further barriers to prevent voting. . . ?

 

[Rifleman62]

cupper:

You haven't tried to get a US drivers license lately have you?

My 17 year old granddaughter in Oklahoma City, OK just got her drivers license last week. A harrowing experience due to the DMV staff and procedures.

For her appointment she had her green passport and related documents for her Dad's US posting; US green card; US military ID; US HS student card, birth certificate, Drivers Ed certificate etc.

At the DMV you have to pass  glass enclosed security, sit with your back to the counter, and deal with rude little people who lord it over young white girls (I would say raciest).

All that ID was refused and my grand daughter and family was threatened with deportation from the USA, etc, etc. Also asked if she had voted in the US. She is seventeen!

My daughter had to phone to a supervisor and make another appointment. Dealt with a white guy this time.

 

[DBA]

Voter ID laws are so lax there is no evidence produced when voter fraud does occur. Not much more than "I am John Doe from Mary Jane Lane", "Here is your ballot" so once the vote is cast and the person leaves there is no way to detect let alone prosecute them if they are really "Bob from Doug Drive" and have voted multiple times.

Take a look at Canada's voter ID requirements: Elections Canada: Voter Identification at the Polls . We also have more competent voter registration and run a National Register of Electors.

 

[cupper]

cupper:
My 17 year old granddaughter in Oklahoma City, OK just got her drivers license last week. A harrowing experience due to the DMV staff and procedures.

For her appointment she had her green passport and related documents for her Dad's US posting; US green card; US military ID; US HS student card, birth certificate, Drivers Ed certificate etc.

At the DMV you have to pass  glass enclosed security, sit with your back to the counter, and deal with rude little people who lord it over young white girls (I would say raciest).

All that ID was refused and my grand daughter and family was threatened with deportation from the USA, etc, etc. Also asked if she had voted in the US. She is seventeen!

My daughter had to phone to a supervisor and make another appointment. Dealt with a white guy this time.

My experience wasn't quite that extreme, but just as frustrating.

About a week before my wife and I went to get our licenses in Virginia, she checked on line to see what documentation was required. It listed various documents such as valid passport, valid drivers license, green card, etc. We had everything in order, or so we thought. We get there, take a number and wait. And wait. After 2 hours our number is called, we go up, and the ever so helpful government trained drone goes through all of the documentation and says everything looks fine, but where is your addressed piece of mail?

Apparently sometime in the period since the last update on the website and the day we show up, they added a requirement to show proof of residency in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which meant that you needed to provide a piece of mail addressed to you, that was not a window type envelope. In other words, you couldn't use a bill or something that had your address on it, you needed to provide some sort of envelope with a cancelled post mark, with your name and address on it.

Needless to say we were both livid. To the point where I politely explained how asinine it was that I could enter the country (at that time) with a birth certificate and a drivers license but couldn't get a license because I didn't have a piece of mail with me.

Sure enough, we went home, checked online, and the new requirements had been updated three days before.

So after waiting a few days to mail an empty envelope from my office to my home, we went back. Breezed right through.

Now to their credit they have since revised the proof of residency requirements to something more reasonable and secure such as a bill with the name and address on it. And they have you check in at a separate desk where they check to see if you have all the required documentation before issuing a number, so you do not have to wait in line before finding out there is a problem.

And all of this was a direct result of 9/11. Apparently several of the hijackers obtained Virginia Drivers Licenses through the DMV with fake documents, since prior to 9/11 Virginia was one of the easiest states to get a license.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Given the power the right to vote places in a person's hands - including, ultimately, the power to compel others to do various things - it is unlikely that any voter ID requirements could be considered unfairly onerous.