The Republican Party's war on Democracy, the voter suppression campaign [View all]

[Bill USA]

http://www.nationofchange.org/republican-war-elections-1340978741

They wrap themselves in a constitution we were taught to revere, a constitution they secretly hold in contempt. They are subversives in Armani suits, and they are far more dangerous to the survival of this creaky, old republic than communists and terrorists ever were.

News that a Republican leader recently boasted that Pennsylvania’s new voter identification law will boost Willard Mitt Romney’s chances of winning that key state in the November election is causing a stir among progressives and liberals. Why?

First, a few facts: The loquacious protagonist in this story is a tool named Mike Turzai. Not exactly a household name, unless you happen to live in the state founded by William Penn – you know the state where the “Miracle at Philadelphia” (aka the Constitutional Convention of 1787) happened, where the Liberty Bell proudly displays its crack, and where the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross famously helped launch a revolution.

Turzai is the Republican House Majority Leader in Pennsylvania’s state legislature. As such, he was instrumental in getting House Bill 934 – otherwise known as the Pennsylvania Voter Identification Protection Act – passed. The bill, which was recently signed into law by Republican Governor Tom Corbett, will require Pennsylvanians to show valid photo identification each and every time they vote. Think of it as a form of contraception: like safe sex, this bill is for the voters' "protection".
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