The New Bosses, aka GOP majority in the General Assembly, are up to some astonishingly cynical and arrogant tricks. In fact, the current General Assembly session in Raleigh has morphed into something different from a normal exercise in lawmaking.
Charlotteans don’t get much detailed news of how the legislative sausage is made in Raleigh — and frankly much of it is as boring as a watching a fly take a nap — but yesterday’s Sleaze-Factor-10 tactics, and the misplaced passion behind them, should be a concern for everyone in N.C. As Chris Fitzsimon of NC PolicyWatch sums it up in an excellent essay today, “This is clearly an ideological crusade now, not a legislative session.”
I’ll keep this as concise as possible. Yesterday, the N.C. House failed to override Gov. Perdue’s veto of the Voter Photo ID bill, which would make it harder for thousands of seniors and students to vote. Well, Majority Leader Paul “Skip” Stam wouldn’t hear of it. As Fitzsimon reports, Stam “immediately invoked a parliamentary procedure to keep the bill alive for another veto override vote that could happen any time before the General Assembly adjourns its short session next summer.” When Democrats expressed their outrage at this short-circuiting of the normal legislative process, Stam told them, “It’s not settled until it’s settled right.” Here is Fitzsimon again: “That says as much about the arrogance of Stam and the rest of the Republican leadership as anything else that has happened in this reactionary session.”
Now, Stam’s shenanigans are bad enough, but wait, it gets slimier. Under the guidance of House Speaker Thom “Pride of Cornelius” Tillis, the GOP made yet another procedural maneuver to get around the House vote to sustain Perdue’s veto. They moved a series of “local bills” to the Rules Committee, attempting to enact the Voter Photo ID bill on a county-by-county basis. The governor cannot veto local bills. This is an outrageous power grab, since local bills are supposed to deal with truly local matters, and aren’t supposed to be used as a scam to get around N.C.’s constitutional requirements for passing laws. These guys — Stam, Tillis, and their cohorts — have become so brazenly amoral in their running of the legislature, it’s breathtaking.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2011.
Its common sense that having a photo ID should be a basic requirement for voting… it is a crucial step in stopping voter fraud and from keeping illegal immigrants from voting.
What is blatant and ugly is the liberal attempt at voter fraud for NOT wanting people to prove who they are when they vote.
I think people are missing the point, its not about one particular law…its about preservation of democracy. The procedures and checks are in place to keep the decision making process open and fair. It is not intended to be an exercise in gamesmanship, or as the article says, shananigans.
Why are the Democrats and Perdue so scared to have only citizens who can prove they are citizens vote?
Lose all the poor and illegals support that put you in office on the coattails of “hope and change”?
I guess when the President of the country and the highest Democrat in office is not a nutaural born citizen and forged his own birth certificate, identity is just not that important.
When need ACORN around again to bribe voters with cash and cigarettes.
Dems are so pompous and care so little about the poor and uneducated until they aren’t able to vote for them. If they can’t vote. let’s see how much money still goes to welfare programs to support them. I guarantee you that no vote=no financail support.
Maybe the GOP is going about it in a new way but just like Obama and his lyin’ to get in office, the end justifies the means and Dumocrats have no argument against that or the man would not even be in office-he is not even naturalized citizen.
I see all the Glen Beck looneys are up this morning.
CL is so liberal it makes me sick that they would title an article like this…it’s to STOP LIBERALS FROM CHEATING…and of course you don’t want that…but it’s for your own good…the GOP is alive to protect liberals how would otherwise pump AIDs into eachother or poke their own eyes out with forks….durrrr!!!
Frankly, I been shocked for years to find out that I can just walk in to the polling place, state my name, and go vote without providing an ID. But seriously, who can be responsible enough to make the effort to vote, and at the same time be so irresponsible that they can’t get an ID? Probably people who vote for higher taxes on anybody who makes more money than they do.
The comments I’ve read are astonishing, considering that voting is a fundamental American right, and thet the voter ID requirement is a solution searching for a problem. When about 25% of eleigible American voters actually vote, I’d say we should be ENCORAGING more people to vote. The voter ID law is just a means of discouraging eligible voters, which is exactly what the Republicans want. Finally, it sounds like “Bud” (7/28 4:52 pm) not only has a problem with illegals voting, but also the poor voting. That’s right Bud, let’s disenfranchise the poor to help ensure a permanent Republican majority!