People Do Shameful Things Behind Closed Doors: Blunt Signs SB1014; Bars Fired Up!

The Republican party has once again shown their disregard for voting rights, civil rights, and discrimination laws with SB 1014.  We must act now to stop the affects of this regressive attack on Missourians, by taking the appropriate steps to insure eligibility to vote, by acquiring a state or federal ID and participating in the legislative process to reverse this law, through civic actions, such as sending letters, emails and calls to elected officials.

On Wednesday June 14, 2006, Governor Matt Blunt and the Republican majority passed Senate Bill 1014.  This law, if the efforts to over turn it do not prevail, could disenfranchise as many as 200,000 Missouris of their constitutional right to vote.  The new law requires the possession and display of a federal or Missouri  photo identification card to exercise voting rights.

Governor Blunt has signed and the Republicans have passed SB 1014 and it is now a state requirement to vote in Missouri.  However, the Missouri Democratic Party is aggressively challenging this Missouri statue as unconstitutional.

The real intent OF SB 1014 is to erect a Jim Crow equivalent barrier to those Missourians most at risk of voter participation-the elderly, poor and disabled-not to curb voter fraud.  Voter fraud is a criminal act orchestrated by clever electioneers, hence SB 1014 will only serve to skew voter participation in favor of the rich republican base.

Two things need to happen.  First, those voters who do not have the required state or federal identification card must acquire one before the November 2006 election.  Our will to exercise our constitutional guaranteed right to vote must be stronger than the Republican will to take it away for political gain. 

Next, every citizen and registered voter who can must act now to assist legal challenges to this mean spirited attempt by Republicans to further control the legislature in Missouri and handicap Demarcated candidates running for office, call your local, state and federal elected officials, contact the media, send a letter to your newspapers and talk to your friends and neighbors.

The Republican party will further disenfranchise Missourians if they are allowed to continue to govern as the majority party, both locally and nationally.  They will continue to cut social programs that help the poor and middle class, such as Medicaid and Medicare, education, community law enforcement, housing and urban economic development and jobs programs to put people to work, while giving tax breaks to the rich and powerful corporations. 

 The following are the steps required to get a state or federal identification card:

·         Proof of lawful presence  (most likely a raised-seal birth certificate)

·         Proof of identity (a social security card is sufficient)

·         Proof of residency (such as the one following)

·         Most recent utility bill

·         Most recent voter-registration card

·         Most recent bank statement

·         Most recent government check

·         Most recent pay check

·         Most recent property tax

·         Most recent housing rental contract for current residence

·         Mortgage documents for your current residence

·         Are other government or official document containing name and address of applicant issued within the previous 30 days.

·         Proof of name change

As well, check to make sure your family members and friends have approved Ids.

For more information on what to do to oppose SB 1014 and the voter identification requirements contact the Missouri Democratic Party at 573-636-5241. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________Political Action Network-STL is a St. Louis based independent Democratic Committee, formed to provide advocacy and support for Democratic causes.  PAN-STL promotes the renewal of neighborhoods in mostly urban areas of our communities, by addressing issues such as crime, education funding, urban blight, jobs creation, healthcare and economic development.  Through the formation of collaboratives, comprised of local and national leaders, local clergy, industry, academia, and governement, we mobilize resources, people, and ideas in an effort to promote better communities and the quality of life for its people.

Address:

POLITICAL ACTION NETWORK-STL.

Carl E. harris, Sr.

political director

PO BOX 775012,

ST. LOUIS, mISSOURI 63177

email: polactnetstl@yahoo.com

Even though Roy was forcefully removed from the Governor's Office, it is now clear to everyone that Fired Up Missouri and Roy Temple are a virtual Army of Occupation in the territory between the ears of those in the Governor's suite.

A date certain has been set for withdrawl--- January 2009.

As a blogger on this site, I wonder what Spaz would do with me if I attended?  Let's see, Persian Gulf War vet, current commissioned Navy officer who holds TS/SCI clearance and works in the cryptology/intelligence community, Libertarian, blogger on a "Carnahan" web site, opposes everything Blunt and his corrupt administration stands for ... yep, definately a PHYSICAL THREAT ... with my VOTE, yes ... just part of the Rethug problem of drawing the circle closer and closer and closer ... when everyone opposing you is not just a dissenter but a threat, it's a sign the wheels are coming off the manure wagon!

Dear Spaz:

I see you finally found the correct slogan for this governor's office:

 "Call the cops!" 

Unfortunately, the Capitol Police, who obviously need to improve their identification system, hauled out the wrong guy.  I'm sure you'll fix that in these last days of your assignment.

Sleep well.

Ignited

Roy, I agree that you are a threat to the Governor.  Not a physical threat mind you (I hope you won't be offended when I point out that, although you were quite the scrappy athlete in your younger years, the Governor is younger than you and was active duty military more recently than you) as I think it would be a fair fight.  Perhaps it goes without saying that you are a serious political threat to this Governor.  This is a Governor who wants to stifle dissent at any cost.  Members of the press beware, if Roy is going to be excluded next it will be Mother Jones, then Riverfront Times, then the Post Dispatch.  Pretty soon only Fox News will be allowed to cover the Governor's press conferences. 

that I quoted heavily from this on kos.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/15/142618/412

They threw the reporters out of Gitmo this week. Now Missouri's own "Clark Kent"-- mild-mannered, investigative reporter by day; Super Blogger by night-- gets tossed out of a Jeff City news conference. What do these guys have to hide?

When it comes to security, I suspect that Roy, having once been a chief of staff in the U.S. Capitol, has a higher level security clearance than "Spaz," the governor's gatekeeper. (BTW, how did he get that nickname? Has it anything to do with his spastic political behavior?)

If the FEC says Roy is a journalist and this site is an on-line newspaper, who is "Spaz" to overruled that finding? Have I missed something here in the chain of command? I tell you, folks, if we don't stand up for Roy now, "What will you do when they come (at) you?"

Let freedom reign!

Given past history, there is a pretty good chance Matt Blunt will be attending at least one Republican Governors Association lobbyist-fest this summer during bill signing season.

And when partisan duty calls, Mattt Blunt is not shy about turning over his gubernatorial pen to Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.  Last summer, Kinder signed at least three bills into law.

Which raises an interesting question: would Acting Governor Peter Kinder order the Capitol Police to kick officials from the Secretary of State's Office and former gubernatorial Chief of Staff Roy Temple out of one of his public bill signings?

He's at it again. If you recall, last year 'bout this time the Governor's security detail refused to allow a group of disability advocates into an open meeting of the Governor's Council on Disabilities. He was delivering a speech on the wonderfulness of the Americans with Disabilities Act, desperately trying to pretend that he thinks that people with disabilities really do have civil rights. First the activists were told that there was no space in a room the size of half a football field, and then, like Mr. Temple, they were told that they were a security threat.

Today, Mr. Blunt, you did your best to neutralize the disability vote by signing a bill that makes voting even more inaccessible to us than it already is. We know that part of the reason you needed this bill to supposedly combat non-existent fraud is to make sure that the people you badly hurt last year with unnecessary and cruel Medicaid cuts can't vote against your legislative buddies.

But you know what? We're going to vote anyway, as many  of us that can. And those of us that voted for you last time won't be supporting your friends in the legislature this fall. Wise up, Boy Wonder. The only real threat in your vicinity is the threat to democracy posed by your opposition to the right of ordinary citizens to disagree with your policies.