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National Dems’ identification crisis
Last Updated on Friday, 8 July 2011 01:11 Written by rslcpol Friday, 8 July 2011 01:10
Check out the latest piece by RSLC President Chris Jankowski as published on Politico:
Former President Bill Clinton, addressing a liberal group Wednesday, likened Republican state legislative efforts to address voter fraud to the days of Jim Crow and poll taxes.
Aside from the fact that his charges are designed to distract and manipulate public opinion using the worst kind of racial politics, his line of attack is only the latest attempt to shift the nation’s focus from the Democrats’ failure to address critical economic problems facing American families and businesses.
It will not work.
The reality is that Democrats can’t seem to grasp that voter fraud is a crime and a fundamental danger to our democracy. Every time voter fraud is committed, the value of every vote is diminished and the fundamental principle of one person, one vote is undermined.
Or, according to the report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, “fraud in any degree and in any circumstance is subversive to the electoral process.”
Clinton’s assertion — like the one from the Democratic National Committee chairman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), that “You’re more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to see an instance of voter fraud in this country” — shows just how out of touch national Democrats are with state legislative issues.
As the law professor James Woodruff, of the Florida Coastal School of Law, wrote in an op-ed article last year, “the practice of vote fraud is alive and well in the 21st Century.”
From ACORN registering Mickey Mouse, to illegal payments for people to vote multiple times, to dead voters casting ballots, state legislators of all political stripes can attest that the list of voting crimes across the country is a problem that needs to be addressed. Countless cases of voter fraud are identified, investigated and prosecuted annually, while scores more go undetected.
The Carter-Baker Report concluded, “states need to do more to prevent voter registration and absentee ballot fraud.” Like many state legislatures across the country, the panel called for a uniform photo ID voting requirement.
States, whether Republican and Democratic controlled, aim to implement simple, common-sense voter protection provisions that could help restore public faith in voting.
Georgia is a good example. Secretary of State Brian Kemp noted that instances of voter fraud decreased, and turnout of Latino and African American voters significantly increased, after Georgia implemented a photo ID requirement for in-person voting in 2007. Comparing the 2006 to the 2010 general election, voter turnout among African Americans outpaced the growth of that population’s pool of registered voters by more than 20 percentage points.
From 2004 to 2008, Latino and African American voter turnout increased by 140 percent and 42 percent, respectively — rates that align with the growth rates of voter registration in those demographics.
The judicial system has supported state efforts to protect law-abiding voters through common sense regulations. The most notable example was the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing Indiana’s “valid interest” in requiring photo identification. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the 6-3 majority, noted “the flagrant examples of voter fraud in American history.”
Clinton was off base in his remarks and he should retract his statements and apologize. More important, national Democrats need to recognize that voter fraud is a reality, that the solutions being presented work, that they empower the electorate and have been deemed effective by national leaders, scholars and the courts.
Only when we set aside these divisive, emotionally based sidebars can we collectively return to a productive discussion of how to provide concrete solutions to the real problems that America’s families and businesses face everyday.
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National Journal: What We Can Learn from Wisconsin
Last Updated on Friday, 8 July 2011 09:10 Written by rslcpol Friday, 8 July 2011 09:10
From National Journal:
MILWAUKEE—On February 11, Wisconsin’s newly minted Republican governor, Scott Walker, unveiled his budget-repair bill, a controversial proposal to curb collective bargaining for public employees, boost their pension contributions, and require a plebiscite to increase their pay above the rate of inflation. “We must take immediate action to ensure fiscal stability in our state,” Walker said that day. The following week, thousands of public employees and political activists assembled at the Wisconsin Capitol to protest, and it became clear that the governor’s path to fiscal stability would be paved with a historic level of political instability.
After the ensuing discord, nine state senators—six Republicans and three Democrats—face recall elections this summer. Ostensibly, these are referenda on the Republican agenda in Wisconsin. Democrats and liberal groups are infuriated by a plan to roll back what they see as essential protections for workers. Republicans are flummoxed by Democrats’ refusal to behave like the minority and concede that they won’t get their way in the Legislature.
But instead of a reflection on the parochial travails of Wisconsin, the recall elections have turned into referenda on the nationwide agendas of both parties. A review of demographic data, campaign ads, and advocacy groups’ efforts suggests that what was supposed to be a local affair has become a testing ground for, and possibly a harbinger of, the 2012 election. Democrats in several key districts are telling their constituents that the GOP would cut back on Medicare, per Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan; Republicans are bird-dogging the theme that Democrats, enamored of big government, simply aren’t serious about responsible accounting.
Read the Rest…
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RSLC Responds to Bill Clinton’s “Jim Crow” Comments
Last Updated on Thursday, 7 July 2011 10:24 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 7 July 2011 10:24
From PoliticalTicker:
Democratic Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz made similar comments in June, calling attention to the Sunshine State effort. The Florida congresswoman told CNN contributor Roland Martin Republicans “want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws” and block Democratic voters from the polls.
Schultz later said “Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use.”
Chris Jankowski, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, said Clinton was using Schutlz’s talking and points “owes an apology to Republican legislators that are seeking sensible steps to protect the integrity of elections in our country.”
“Maybe it was an attempt to distract from the Democrats’ abysmal record of tax hikes and shutdowns over spending cuts, or perhaps he was simply trying to be provocative while speaking to a super-liberal audience,” Jankowski said in a statement. “Either way, such rhetoric is out of bounds.”
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NM: Secretary of State Works to Assure Accurate Voter File
Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 01:07 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 28 June 2011 01:07
From SantaFeNewMexican.com:
Secretary of State Dianna Duran recently sent 64,000 names of registered voters to state police for investigation. But she said Monday that she doesn’t consider those files to be potential voter-fraud cases.
“Don’t use the words voter fraud, ” Duran said in an interview Monday. “I’m just trying to assure the accuracy of our voter files. … It’s not a fishing expedition. It’s not a witch hunt.”
Since the state police investigation became known earlier this month, Duran has been the object of criticism by some Democrats.
Duran said the files handed over to the Department of Public Safety were “questionable” cases in which information such as names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth on the voter list didn’t match up with information on Motor Vehicle Division files.
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WI: Democrats Flush with Union Donations
Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 12:32 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 28 June 2011 12:32
From NewsMax.com:
No big surprise here: The union financial spigots are open for Democrats running in contentious Wisconsin recall elections this summer. In fact, 97.7 percent of the $62,625 that union political action committees have donated to recall candidates has gone to Democrats, according to a nonpartisan watchdog group, reports the La Crosse Tribune.
Three Democrats and six Republicans are facing recalls in July and August, with the Democrats on the block for trying to foil Gov. Scott Walker’s yanking collective-bargaining rights in his budget plans and Republicans, for supporting the measures.
The breakdown on the contributions comes from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks contributions larger than $100.
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GOP has candidates and the edge in 2011 election
Last Updated on Monday, 27 June 2011 01:27 Written by rslcpol Monday, 27 June 2011 01:27
From Pilotonline.com:
The pivotal 2011 General Assembly elections are more than four months away, but Virginia Republicans already have one important advantage over their Democratic Party rivals.
Republicans have candidates running in at least 107 of the state’s 140 General Assembly districts. The GOP is well positioned to retain its comfortable majority in the House of Delegates and is mounting an all-out effort to grab control of the state Senate, where Democrats hold a fragile 22-18 majority.
Despite controlling the recent Senate redistricting process, Democrats so far have candidates in just 24 of 40 Senate districts and have no challengers for any Republican incumbents. The Democrats’ hopes of preserving a majority may rest largely on defending the districts they now represent.
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Unions fight right to work bill in New Hampshire
Last Updated on Friday, 24 June 2011 12:31 Written by rslcpol Friday, 24 June 2011 12:31
From the Wall Street Journal:
Republican House Speaker William O’Brien said he would call a special session of the Legislature, likely in the fall, seeking to override the veto by Democratic Gov. John Lynch. New Hampshire Republicans this spring passed the bill, which would allow private-sector workers to opt not to join a union or pay dues at unionized workplaces.
The bill is “needed because New Hampshire has to compete globally for jobs,” Mr. O’Brien said.
Naomi Walker, director of state government relations for the AFL-CIO, called the outcome “a victory for 2011” but said the labor federation expected to face similar fights in 2012.
Unions have fought off an unprecedented number of right-to-work proposals this spring. The skirmishes came amid a broad campaign largely led by Republicans, who won majorities in statehouses and governorships last fall and pushed for cost savings to address budget deficits.
Several states, including Wisconsin and Ohio, adopted measures limiting most public-sector unions from negotiating over benefits and boosting the amount public workers contribute for health and other benefits.
Lawmakers in about 18 states, including Missouri, Michigan and New Mexico, introduced right-to-work bills this year, saying they help attract businesses and create jobs. Some were introduced but never acted upon, others were assigned to legislative study groups and some died in committee.
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LA: Jindal Happy with State Budget
Last Updated on Friday, 24 June 2011 12:22 Written by rslcpol Friday, 24 June 2011 12:22
From 2theadvocate.com:
Agreeing on a $25 billion operating budget amid major money problems was the highlight of the 2011 regular legislative session, lawmakers said Thursday.
“What started out as a very uncertain session evolved into salvaging some very critical programs in state government,” said Senate President Pro Tem Sharon Broome, D-Baton Rouge.
Broome and other lawmakers were asked to evaluate their performance on the last day of a session dominated by budget issues, primarily how to offset a $1.6 billion shortfall that drove the gathering.
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CT State workers “close to making tragic mistake”
Last Updated on Friday, 24 June 2011 12:14 Written by rslcpol Friday, 24 June 2011 12:14
From Courant.com:
State workers, of whom I am one, are close to making a tragic mistake by rejecting the proposed concession agreement our union leaders negotiated. This would inflict significant damage on taxpayers, state workers and Connecticut’s economic future.
Despite charges that the agreement is a sweetheart deal, it isn’t. It is a meaningful effort to address major, long-term structural problems — the unfunded liabilities — in retiree health care costs and pensions. Failure to address those issues threatens their existence.
At the same time, it asks us to accept a two-year wage freeze and then modest salary increases — while having all employees contribute for 10 years to ensure their retirement health care benefits. The agreement also would gradually raise the retirement age for those retiring after 2022, except for employees qualifying under hazardous duty. Finally, the agreement asks us to participate in preventive medical care — common at major employers — that would improve our health and potentially save tens of millions of dollars.
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Redistricting will shore up GOP gains
Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 June 2011 12:46 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 22 June 2011 12:40
Check out the latest article written by RSLC President Chris Jankowski that appeared in the Daily Caller.
With record high unemployment and endless Democrat tax-and-spend plans, it is no wonder Democrat insiders are looking to conjure up good news. Early redistricting maps coming into focus from their favored states — particularly heavily gerrymandered Illinois, where Democrats surrendered any pretext of staking out the moral high ground — have Democrats boasting that they can spin straw into gold.
However, the raw numbers and political realities clearly demonstrate that Democrats have no path to a House majority in the near future. They have even less chance of reversing state-level Republican gains.
Thanks in part to the Republican State Leadership Committee’s REDMAP project, there are more state-level Republicans now than in nearly a century. These include many new majorities that will be drawing fair and legal Congressional and state legislative lines at a four-to-one advantage over Democrat-controlled states.
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