Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

As I have said and will continue to say, we should be making it easier to vote in this country, not harder.

I couldn't agree more. Stop trying to "fix" something that wasn't broken until people starting "fixing" it.

Fix-Elections.jpg

[THE_WIZARD_]

Nah. Never work.

[Dr. Strangelove]

What's interesting is that the whole idea of presenting an ID in order to vote is also a fairly recent development. According to wikipedia only 5 states required any sort of ID to vote as of 1980 and before 1950 none of them did. I'm pretty sure you would simply walk up, recite your name and address, and if you were in their book you could vote. My first couple elections we always then signed our names. I'm not exactly sure when that went away but it had to be at least a decade ago. Whenever they first introduced much fancier Drivers Licenses with magnetic stripes or chips in them.

Voter identification laws in the United States - Wikipedia

[THE_WIZARD_]

Nebraska has passed a voter id law this last election...which of course means we love JIM CROW ON STEROIDS...and we'll never host a MLB All-Star Game. Who know maybe the College World Series will protest being in Omaha.

[crashcourse]

we lost voter ID by < 1 point
we lost paying for illegal immigrants by < 1%
we lost kari lake by less then 1%
Homiday is in a recount but did file suit

https://www.dailywire.com/news/see-you-in-court-rnc-ag-candidate-sue-election-officials-in-arizona-over-alleged-errors-and-inaccuracies

[THE_WIZARD_]

Whatever. Trumper. Election denier.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Kari Lake issues a vague warning to current Governor Ducey and Hobbs if they dare certify the election

Crash- Will you be joining your fellow patriots at the state capitol this Friday for the big overturn the election rally?

[THE_WIZARD_]

JANUARY 6TH....ARIZONA STYLE!

[THE_WIZARD_]

DSL, CGVT and froot...I found your Christmas present!!!

[lineygoblue]

As I have said and will continue to say, we should be making it easier to vote in this country, not harder.

I can agree with this for the most part, but I don't see why voting becomes harder when you're required to show ID.

I recently had blood drawn for some lab work. I had to show ID.

I recently bought a new(er) car. I had to present ID to the dealership for the loan application, and for the new plates.

I was admitted to the hospital a few months back due to kidney stones. A very nice (and good looking) young lady came along with a laptop, and asked for my ID and my insurance card.

I recently picked up my groceries at a store that allows on line shopping. The young man that brought them to my car asked me for ID

And yes, on November 8th, when I went to the township office to vote, they asked me for my drivers license. I gave it to them.

.....

None of these things became more difficult because of the ID requirement. Its just part of the process.

[iam416]

It remains undisputedly true that voting is MASSIVELY easier EVERYWHERE in the US today than it was even 15 years ago.

[lineygoblue]

It remains undisputedly true that voting is MASSIVELY easier EVERYWHERE in the US today than it was even 15 years ago.

Agreed

With the magnetic strip on drivers licenses and state ID's, its so easy for the poll workers to verify everything with the click of a mouse. When I voted, they ran my DL thru their scanner, and all my info popped up on the screen. They handed me a ballot, and I voted. The whole process took about 20 seconds.

[CGVT]

I can agree with this for the most part, but I don't see why voting becomes harder when you're required to show ID.


None of these things became more difficult because of the ID requirement. Its just part of the process.

It is NOT harder because you have to show an ID. My son would have gladly showed up in person, showed his id and voted...IF the Republicans would have left him an option to do so, but they feared his vote, took away is opportunity to vote early ,and made it so he could not vote unless he got an absentee ballot.
He got his absentee ballot and filled it out. The GOP then discouraged his vote by making the instructions to ensure it is counted and to mail it back convoluted and confused. He had to pass the test that he could transit the proper path to have his vote actually be counted.

That is not making voting any more secure to vote in this country.

And it certainly is not make it easier to vote.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Yeah...it's the GOP JIM EAGLE!!!!!!!

Fuck you are stupid.

[Jeff Buchanan]

From a Brit's perspective (The Economist) these are the five things the Lame Duck US congress ought to pass to assure some semblance of a legacy (not in any particular order)

• Tackle the Dreamers Fiasco. Some of this cohort is reaching middle age. Do opponents of DACA concepts actually think this particular group is going to get deported and if so, to where? There are legitimate issues with birth place citizenship with easy fixes. Legislate them.
• Fund Ukraine's fight against Putin's aggression through 2024. Putin is expecting western resolve to weaken while he bombards Ukrainian civilians into submission, killing 100s needlessly in each wave of cruise missiles and Iranian drones he sends Ukrain's way to cut citizens off from electtricy and water. (a fucking war crime - that wasn't in the Economist article). As Wiz has noted, "this is wrong." Well, FFS are Americans going to sit on their hands and just pay lip service to "its wrong". Do something about it. The current US economic and military aid is $19b or 4% of the US defense budget. There's a proposal on the table for $38b more. Do it.
• Pass a reform of the Electoral Count Act of 1887. A reform is on the table. It will stop the kind of January 6th nonsense that occured and demonstrate that America is indeed interested in repairing it's scarred Democratic Republic.
• Raise the debt ceiling until the next presidential election is over -----no brainer.
• Clean up permitting requirements for sustainable energy projects (including nuclear). There's legislation on the table to do this. D's led by Joe Manchin and R's agree on the substance of the bill. Get it done

The Economist article concludes:

One of the heartening outcomes of the midterm elections was that the extremes did badly. Democratic candidates ditched ideas like defunding the police and were rewarded for their moderation. Our analysis of results found that Republican candidates backed by Mr Trump did about five points worse than they would have without his endorsement, and election deniers did even worse. This is a good moment to turn the reassertion of the moderate centre into a legislative programme.

My Editorial addition: R's need to ditch no exceptions abortion bans. The majority of American's think abortion should be lawful somewhere before the 13th to 20th week of conception .... and I don't have a position on where that should be. Somewhere in there is fine with me. I do believe it is not the Federal Government's role to be legislating abortions for or against but rather the states. If a ballot measure on abortions passes, then so be it .... will of the voters and all that. .