Sunday, February 24, 2013

Freedom Isn't Free But Oppression Is Even More Expensive

For the past two years, the Republicans have repeatedly brought up their desire for voter suppression by ending same day registration.  They use the flim-flam reasoning that there is a vast conspiracy to commit voter fraud in each and every election to justify their desire to suppress the vote, but have yet come up with any proof of such a conspiracy.

As they kept bringing it up, people kept looking at it more and started realizing what a bad idea it was.

Scott Walker tried to sell it as being a way to relieve the stress the clerks and poll workers and gosh darn it, he cares too much to let them feel stressed, even if it means ending democracy.

The clerks made it clear that Walker was full of something besides care.

Then it came out that the voter suppression would cost over $5 million.  And that's not counting the lawsuits it would spawn.  Walker said that no matter how much he hates it when poor people, minorities and college students vote, he wasn't going to spend that much money just to step on their necks.

Besides, he needs the same day registration around so he can make his kid vote for him.

Now it comes out that the $5 million estimate was really only one third of the cost of voter suppression:
Eliminating voter registration at the polls would cost Wisconsin taxpayers up to $14.5 million, more than double the original estimate, according to a state elections board report released Monday.

The higher costs identified in the Government Accountability Board report come from new registration responsibilities that would kick in at four state agencies if the same-day registration law is repealed.

[...]

Elimination of the state law would make Wisconsin immediately subject to both the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and 2002's Help America Vote Act. Wisconsin is currently exempt from those requirements because it offers registration on Election Day at the polls.

Under those federal laws, Wisconsin would have to establish a system for offering voter registration services at state offices where people get driver's licenses and at agencies that provide public assistance or administer programs that assist people with disabilities.

Costs faced by the four affected agencies - Transportation, Health Services, Children and Families, and Workforce Development - total up to $10.5 million. Expenses to the GAB, which were first estimated to be $5.2 million over two years, were later lowered to about $4 million. That makes the combined cost about $14.5 million.
The article also reports that Rep. Joel "Get in mah belly" Kleefisch was set to introduce the bill anyway.

How much do you want to bet that the Republicans really, really hope that Walker will escape John Doe and become president so that he can once and for all do away with that pesky constitution and all the rights contained within it.

3 comments:

  1. "President of the United States, Scott Walker"

    I'll bet that's a wet dream for many a Tea-partyin' Wisconsinite. I can hear the freedom bells a-ringing... oh no wait that's the coal-train headin to the ports for export. Or is it petcoke they're hauling?

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  2. All enemies foreign and domestic.February 25, 2013 at 11:39 AM

    I would like to remind all my fellow veterans of the oath we took.

    "to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic"

    Living in these times finally makes the term "domestic" seem a lot more relevant when it comes to threats to our Constitution.

    Remember your oath when any "domestic" enemy tries to steal our Constitutional rights.

    It's not just about your 2nd amendment rights.

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  3. The Republican strategy to win elections is two-fold...amp up the rhetoric and vilification and then make it harder for people to vote.

    ReplyDelete