Lacy Clay

Democrats in the United States House of Representatives sent a letter to the United States Department of Justice requesting that they look into new laws that require voters to possess photo identification in order to cast a ballot. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed voter photo ID legislation earlier this summer because it would put the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of Missourians at risk. 

Here is an excerpt from the House Democrats' letter:

Approximately 11 percent of voting-age citizens in the country -- or more than 20 million individuals -- lack government-issued photo identification. We urge you to protect the voting rights of Americans by using the full power of the Department of Justice to review these voter identification bills and scrutinize their implementation.

The Voting Rights Act vests significant authority in the Department to ensure laws are not implemented in a discriminatory manner... [T]he Department should exercise vigilance in overseeing whether these laws are implemented in a way that discriminates against protected clauses in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

.Missouri Democratic Representatives Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver all signed the letter.  

h/t Salon

The League of Conservation Voters released its annual environmental voting scorecard today.  Eighty-one House members received "zero" ratings for their votes against clean energy and commonsense pollution safeguards -- and four of those zeros came from Missouri.  

Here's how the LCV summarizes their methodology:

“While the lack of progress in 2010 is highly disappointing, we applaud those members of Congress who fought to protect public health and the environment and reduce our nation’s dangerous dependence on oil,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. “Conversely, the 2010 Scorecard clearly exposes those members who put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of the health and well-being of all Americans by opposing efforts to transition our nation to a clean energy economy, enforce commonsense pollution safeguards, and protect the environment.”

Politico reports this afternoon that seventy-four House Democrats, including Rep. Lacy Clay and Rep. Russ Carnahan, are "asking Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any health care reform cases, citing reports that his wife financially benefited from efforts to repeal the legislation."

Thomas' wife, Virginia, is a Republican lobbyist in Washington, and founded a organization called Liberty Central that received huge anonymous contributions to carry out its pro-GOP activism.

Here's the text of the letter, as published by the Washington Post:

The Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
United States Supreme Court Building
1 First Street Northeast
Washington D.C., DC 20543

Dear Justice Thomas:

As an Associate Justice, you are entrusted with the responsibility to exercise the highest degree of discretion and impartiality when deciding a case. As Members of Congress, we were surprised by recent revelations of your financial ties to leading organizations dedicated to lobbying against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We write today to respectfully ask that you maintain the integrity of this court and recuse yourself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of this act.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 270-175 this afternoon to repeal the federal "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay and lesbian soldiers from the military.  Representatives Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver all voted for repeal.  Representatives Todd Akin, Roy Blunt, Jo Ann Emerson, Sam Graves, Blaine Luetkemeyer, and Ike Skelton voted against repeal.  The full roll call vote is here.

Nearly 80% of Americans support repeal. It's time. 

The U.S. Senate passed a $17.6 billion jobs bill today by a 68-29 vote, sending it to the White House for the President's signature. "The bill includes a payroll tax break for small businesses and highway funding designed to spur job growth," according to Politico.