Politics Plus

Republicans already have more ways to steal an election than the very dirtiest, mangiest dawg has fleas.  Every time I turn around, there’s another one!  Their problem they face is that most of them are blatantly illegal.  What ever is a Republican to do?  Well, fearing that the sheriff might be a problem, they are trying to hog-tie the sheriff.

Republican operatives are charging forward with their efforts to sabotage the Federal Election Commission in its lawful obligation to police campaign abuses. The six-member commission is evenly divided between the two parties, but the Republican vice chairman, Donald McGahn, has spent his tenure as a partisan obstructionist, adroitly engineering 3-to-3 standoff votes to block penalties and other recommendations by staff investigators who uncover abuses by big-money campaigners.

Now Mr. McGahn aims to take advantage of a temporary Democratic vacancy and 3-to-2 Republican edge to push through rules that would make total lackeys of commission staff members by blocking them from the usual sharing of information with the Justice Department and other agencies. In his partisan cunning, Mr. McGahn would even bar them from looking into possible violations publicly reported in news media and on the Internet.

It is critically important when the commission meets next week that this attempt to gut investigative procedures be kept off the agenda until a full, six-member panel is in place. Two nominees — to fill the vacancy and to replace Mr. McGahn, whose term is up — await approval in the Senate. Washington’s major watchdog groups have said that the McGahn proposal would gravely undermine campaign law and that the issue is of such importance that it should be taken up only by a full panel…

Inserted from <NY Times>

It amazes me the the Senate confirmed McGahn, considering his ties to Americans for a Republican Majority, the NRCC, and Tom Delay’s bogus charity.

The two nominees are currently tied up in the Senate due to a Republican filibuster.  Hey Leg-Hound Harry!  Nuke the filibastards!

The Republican Party has a war on _______.  Just fill in the blank with anything good for America, and you’re right!  The Republican War on Voting has been going on for years, but their most recent big offensive, now taking place in McCrorystan, opens a window on Republican intentions for the future of our right to elect our representatives.

IN THE wake of the Supreme Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision, which gutted significant portions of the Voting Rights Act, it’s difficult to say which of the many recently passed voter-suppression bills constitutes the greatest threat to that most sacred of American freedoms: the right to vote. The contest has several leading contenders, but the winner just might be North Carolina’s especially draconian bill, signed into law on Monday.

The bill includes the usual provisions that have come to characterize the quiet assault on the franchise: a shortened early-voting period, the elimination of the state’s successful same-day registration program and, of course, a strict photo identification requirement despite any evidence of voter fraud in the state.

What makes this law unique is how much further it goes. It includes no fewer than 12 extra provisions that prohibit such things as counties extending polling hours by one hour in the event of unusual circumstances (such as, say, long lines); provisional voting should someone, say, mistakenly go to the wrong precinct; and pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, who could previously register to vote before they turned 18.

The bill is a truly abominable piece of anti-democratic legislation, the only likely effect of which will be to make it increasingly difficult — maybe even impossible — for some people who don’t typically support Republicans to be able to vote. Sadly, none of that seemed to bother Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who signed it into law regardless… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Photo Credit: Jackie Whiting

Rachel Maddow underlines this by tying it into the Republican War on Students, especially black students.

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The behavior of the Republican Party in the Totalitarian Plutocracy of McCrorystan, exemplifies the overall Republican goal to a establish a permanent totalitarian Regime of one-party rule, in which elections exist for show only, just like Germany did in the 1930s.

The people in the audience at that county meeting clearly realized what the Republicans are full of, as their vocal support for the lone Democrat made clear.

Considering the case of Montravias King, Jim Crow has clearly returned. The GOP has said, "You can’t run or vote, Boy." Next they might pass a law requiring black people to call them "massa".

The Republican Party has a plan for education.  It comes down to taking our tax dollars for schools out of the public school system, and putting it into private and charter schools.  The tactics they are using to bring this about are beneath despicable.  Consider the case of one of America’s worst Governors, Tom Corbett.

With less than a month left until students return to school, Philadelphia's schools are in crisis. But it's a manufactured crisis just like we've seen in every other district where the charter schools/privatization agenda is in full swing. Don't be fooled by this hostage-taking. This was the plan all along.

While Tom Corbett's $400 million prison seems to be proceeding right on schedule, Philly schools are still underfunded and facing a deficit of at least $50 million dollars. What to do?

Bust teachers' unions, of course. …

…That NBC article is a little bit gentle. Here's what Corbett and his lieutenants actually said:

Gov. Corbett emphatically rejected on Tuesday a request to release $45 million in state funds, the latest twist in the ongoing battle to resolve the Philadelphia School District's financial crisis. Corbett's budget secretary, Charles Zogby, said the money would not be available until the teachers' union signs a contract that includes substantial "fiscal savings and academic reforms."

"The law is clear," Corbett reiterated during an appearance in Chester. "Until that takes place, there can be no release of funds."

In other words, teachers, give everything up or the kids get shot. Nice work, there, Tom Corbett. There's a word for what you're doing. It's called bad-faith bargaining. [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

Here’s the video:

Correction: I had to delete the video, because the embed code at C&L points to the wrong video.  Click through to the site to see it.  Kudos to Lynn for the catch.

I fully support the teachers.  Beyond that, This is just a scheme to take away tax money for poor kids, leaving them with schools so inferior that it virtually assures their continued poverty.  Then they want to use it to pay for superior education for rich kids and indoctrination in pseudo-Christian hate for Theocons’ kids.  And who gets to pay for it?  If you live in one of the many states where Republicans are using their control to wage their War on Education, YOU do!