Voter ID Is a Texas Emergency, Rick Perry Declares

• God is going to smite him in the balls

• Spending money the State doesn't have, to fix a problem that doesn't exist, is the very definition of bad government.

• It is difficult to single out one of Dick Perry's blatant political posturings as the epitome of sleaze (remember the coyote which supposedly gave up its life for Dickey's political machismo?), but then his whole tenure in office has been one long embarrassment for those few of us Texans who can claim some modicum of intelligence.

• Sure, vote fraud exists. Just ask Attorney General Abbott. He came up with about 26 cases in 24 months. With around 25 million Texas state residents, and nearly 13 million of them registered to vote, that's truly a scandal! (That's sarcasm, in case you didn't notice.) Of course, most of those were minor errors and certainly not organized attempts to sway an election. I complied with Texas state law to identify myself to the state as an eligible voter. In doing so, I received a voter registration card, which I present every time I vote in an election. So far that has resulted in less than 0.000002% incidence of fraud. Sounds pretty good to me.

• http://lmgtfy.com/?q=logical+fallacy+ Well god damn, if it's on the internet, it has to be true. Especially from such a non partisan website made up of such kind, color blind people.

• The day I'm asked to show more than my voter reg card to spin the wheel and choose the next gang of thieves is the last time I'll visit the poll. All done, all through...every time I turn around I'm treated as a prime suspect...your govt issued currently dated photo id sir, now!

• There is no excuse for ignorance. Voter fraud exists, and I simply cannot explain any rational individual who would opose showing ID to vote. It appears that liberals are against showing an ID to vote. What does that say about liberals? We show an ID to get a library card, to board an airplane, to get a bank account. If you doubt voter ID, go to King Street Patriots' website and check out their "true the vote" project.

• Wasn't convenient just missed that one. So you got one out of four (and only mostly since it is quite easy to fly on an expired ID card). I actually posed no argument for or against voter id requirements. Just making the point to Fresh prince your everyday examples are easily disputable.

• Hi guest, you conveniently skipped over the example of flying from Houston to Dallas, if you had included that one you couldn't have said "none of the private transactions require presentation of a valid Government Issued ID card". If you want people to be able to vote without really proving their identification (a couple pieces of someone's mail doesn't cut it, I'm sorry), then you go ahead and vote the Dem's back into office in the next election. I don't want people voting who are incapable of proving who they are, and that's the bottom line. The only people who could possibly support the inane contention that voters shouldn't have to provide government issued picture ID to vote are those people who support voter fraud, plain and simple.

• Umm, it's easy to dispute Richard Doll since none of the private transactions he references actually require presentation of a valid Government issued ID card. "Rent a DVD" , Nope, a credit card is all it takes. "Buy beer or wine" Only if you appear to be under 21 and the establishment is worried about TABC. "Rent or buy a place to live", Nope, this one is completely about presenting the seller/landlord evidence that you can pay the rent/mortgage and if renting have not trashed previous units.

• Anything to distract the voters. We have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing Gov. Goodhair to be elected to another term.

• And if voter fraud really was real like Rick says, Bill White would have got more than the 129 votes he received in last year's Gov. race.

• ANYTHING to distract from the cuts proposed today in Austin: • Elimination of Pre-K Early Start and Early Childhood School Ready Programs: This proposal would cut 109,000 children from Pre-K Early start programs, and another 83,000 from the Early Childhood School Ready program. • $1.15 Billion Reduction for College Financial Aid Programs: The proposed reductions cut funding for new students, directly threatening Texas' growth and productivity. These programs are considered "Closing the Gap Programs," including TEXAS Grants program, they are designed attract students to Texas universities and college, and directly benefit our economy. • Elimination of 9,600 State Employee Jobs: State agencies and departments face the elimination of 9,600 state employee jobs under the introduced House budget. It has been estimated that for every lost public sector job, an additional one-and-a-half jobs is lost, potentially resulting in a total of 24,000 lost jobs if this version of the budget moves forward. • $9.8 Billion Cut in the Permanent School Fund: This is the primary account for financing public schools in Texas. The proposed budget did not appropriate funds for student enrollment growth. This will force the Legislature to re-write school-funding formulas to account for this major cut to the Foundation School Program. • $1.57 Billion Reduction in Nursing Facility Payments: According to the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS), there are over 3.7 million Texans of 60 years of age or older, which represents 14% of our total state population. Nursing home residents, along with the disabled, make up 70% of the state's Medicaid expenses. The proposed budget takes away $1.57 billion in funding compared to what DADS has stated they need for the 2012-2013 biennium. • Reductions in Mental Health Funding: Under the proposed budget, approximately $160 million would be cut from the public mental health system that serves both children and adults. This number includes cuts to community based services as well as mental health crisis services and beds at the state’s psychiatric hospitals. In addition, approximately $52 million would be eliminated from psychiatric and transitional programs designed to help inmates at Texas prisons.

• I totally support adding photo identification to the voter registration card, and keeping the card free. Maybe this should be added to the legislation. However I feel it's a stretch to equate a poll tax (actually having to pay to vote) to having to prove your identification with a government issued photo ID in the year 2011.

• I'm sorry...what is this all about? I can't concentrate with that helmet o' hair staring at me.

• The Constitution has banned a poll tax for Federal elections. IDs are not free. This plan will essentially charge people for their right to vote. If the proposed plan included free IDs, and made them easier to acquire, then perhaps it would be less controversial.

• If you're legit, this shouldn't even bother you. However, since welfare recipients and illegals make up a portion of the democratic vote, of course this is going to make them sweat. So as usual, the Houston Press is going to somehow spin this into racism and bigotry. Unbelievably ignorant, but should we expect anything different? How can you dispute Richard Doll?

• My my my! A little slanted in our reporting, are we, Dick. Whatta Dick!

• It is a lie to say you don't need an ID to vote. You are required to provide your ID to get a registration card. If you go to the polls without the card you then have to show an ID either way someone looks at your ID. This is another level of red tape designed to make someone rich. Soon people will be calling for ID cards to get a voter ID card.

• Let's see, we need a valid government issued ID to rent a DVD, buy beer or wine, rent or buy a place to live, fly from Houston to Dallas, and many other normal day to day activities. However, asking for a government issued ID to vote and select our leaders is BAD, BAD, BAD - Horrible racist Republicans! How dare they - the nerve of those intolerant racists.

• This voter ID issue is so stupid. The real pros at cheating know that the best way to do it is to go to a nursing home and obtain voter registration cards and vote by mail. So this voter ID bill achieves nothing. What a dumbass.

• Uh, yeah, there's a big fraud here in Texas, has been for about ten years now. It's called "the office of the governor." Attorney General Abbott spent two years and $1.4 million looking for voter fraud and didn't come up with a single felony conviction. Why don't republicans quit pretending and just break out the white sheets and start burning crosses again?

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