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Jewish World Review March 9, 2012/ 15 Adar, 5772 Race-baiting Dems oppose voter ID By Deroy Murdock
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | To stymie new and proposed requirements for voters to present photo identification at the polls, top Democrats cry rivers over those who would become disenfranchised for lack of ID cards. If they really cared about these people -- of whom there may be millions -- Democrats would join Republicans to assure that these individuals receive ID cards for everyday use. Instead, leading Democrats use vicious racial rhetoric to hammer those who simply want voters to be who they say they are. "Some people want to put their Confederate flags up again in Virginia," hissed Benjamin Davis, former director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. At a Jan. 31 rally in Richmond, Chavis accused state lawmakers of trying to "lynch democracy." Dwight C. Jones, Richmond's Democratic mayor, added, "The fact that there's a brother in the White House is just so unsettling to people." According to Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., pro-photo ID Republicans are "turning the clock back to the days of Jim Crow." Last July, former President Bill Clinton told the the liberal Campus Progress' annual conclave in Washington, D.C.: "There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit a franchise that we see today." Some 31 states require all voters to show proof of identification before voting at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But these divisive Democrats seem concerned about those without ID cards only on Election Day. The other 364 days of the year, these men and women are undocumented citizens. Absent photo ID, these disconnected Americans do not participate fully in the American experience. Those without photo ID cannot open bank accounts. They may not board passenger jets. They are not supposed to ride Amtrak trains. They may not purchase cough syrup containing ephedrine and other methamphetamine precursors. In Illinois, they may not buy Drano. In fact, they may not enter the Justice Department to denounce photo ID rules without first showing photo ID. Race-baiting Democrats apparently couldn't care less about these undocumented citizens. If they did, they would lead a common sense effort to provide photo ID cards to every American adult who needed one. By displaying new ID cards on Election Day, these politically enfranchised Americans would curb potential and actual ballot fraud and boost confidence in the voting system. Beyond Election Day, these freshly documented citizens would be socially enfranchised. With photo ID cards, they could cash checks, fly, visit government buildings, and do plenty more that documented citizens accomplish daily. "It's perplexing how so many groups complaining about voter ID laws have the funds to register voters, educate voters, and transport voters to the polls, but never budget anything to rectify ID problems," declared Deneen Borelli, my colleague on the advisory board of Project 21, a network of market-oriented black thinkers. Civil rights organizations and other groups that rail against photo ID rules "should dedicate their resources to help people get ID cards rather than complain about laws that have passed," says J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department voting rights attorney and author of the legal policy page-turner "Injustice." "That's what they did in 1964. But it's harder to raise funds off of accomplishments rather than complaints." This year should see the first American Photo ID Day. Local and state government offices should open on, say, the first Saturday after Labor Day, allowing citizens to secure free ID cards and even register to vote. Where necessary, the same volunteers for civic groups, unions, the tea party, the Republican Party and the Democrats who deliver voters to the polls in November should drive people without ID cards to motor vehicle bureaus and other participating institutions. Thus, undocumented citizens would become identifiable voters -- and documented citizens. If Democrats give a damn about these disengaged Americans, they will implement this idea. If Republicans do not embrace this perfect method to reduce voter fraud while boosting the life prospects of those with the least, then they truly are The Stupid Party.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Comment by clicking here. Deroy Murdock is a columnist with Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.
• 03/02/12: Forget kids --- today's debt hurts adults • 02/24/12: Dems arise against Obamacare • 02/17/12: The voting dead are understated • 02/10/12: Holder takes on 'racist' photo-ID cards: Prejudice is widespread --- even Obama backed them • 02/03/12: On tax plans, Gingrich trumps Romney • 01/27/12: Photo IDs can protect elections, let dead rest • 01/20/12: Romney runs hot and cold on global warming • 01/13/12: Economic freedom declines in U.S. • 01/06/12: Time to yank off Mitt's mask • 12/23/11: Boehner hands Dems a gift • 12/15/11: The U.S. could learn much from Hong Kong • 12/09/11:$687 billion is available to Congress free of strings • 12/02/11: Obama criticizes Wall Street but takes money from it • 11/18/11: Puerto Rico shows Washington the way • 11/11/11: Take heed, America: In Ohio even left-wing unionists voted to repeal ObamaCare • 10/28/11: Thanks, Netanyahu, for surge of hardened terrorists • 10/24/11:The Obama Spend-O-Rama • 10/17/11: Cain stakes his viable claim just by showing up • 10/07/11: Green jobs are national scandal • 10/04/11: Obama proudly declares class war • 09/23/11: Obama wrong about ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress • 09/16/11: Obama needs Ryan's vision on jobs • 09/09/11: Reaganomics trounces Obamanomics • 09/02/11: Labor leaders to Obama: Stop killing jobs • 08/26/11: Pro-market Perry vaults over Romney in GOP race • 08/19/11: Some rich Americans will not rest until Washington boosts their taxes • 08/12/11: Hope, change and free birth control for all • 08/05/11: Debt deal does virtually nothing • 07/21/11: Dems pro-choice on abortion but little else • 07/15/11: Debt deception: If only Dems were honest and GOPers were courageous • 07/08/11: Congress' war on light bulb blows up
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