VCU Capital News Service/Flickr
With Republicans controlling the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature, Virginia Democrats are saying they don't have the votes to stop a wave of far-right legislation.
Virginia Republicans have so far pushed through a bill requiring a medically unnecessary, invasive sonogram before a woman exercises her constitutional right to end a pregnancy happening in her own body. The state Senate turned back a bill that would have banned abortions after the point where tests can reveal severe defects, but a bill that would end all abortions and make popular forms of birth control illegal continues wending its way through the House.
Virginia lawmakers have also moved to make it easier to buy more handguns and easier to discriminate against people trying to adopt kids who need adopting.
And as we've seen in states from Tennessee to Wisconsin, Virginia's newly empowered Republican legislators want to make voting harder. The Virginia House has passed one bill already that sets up a new rigamarole for anyone who can't show ID. A second, stricter bill requires voters to show photo ID at the polls and mandates that new voters prove their citizenship -- which you have not had to do before in order to vote in Virginia and which many thousands of Virginians may find hard to do.
The ACLU calls the bills "dumb and dumber."
If Virginia truly provided free IDs for any and all state citizens who need it in order to vote, it would cost the state millions of dollars. Missouri, which passed a similar law, estimated its costs at $6 million for the first year and $4 million each subsequent year. Indiana spent $12.2 million over four years implementing its voter ID law. Virginia has many more voters than either of those states and would therefore have even higher costs.
More usually branding themselves as fiscal conservatives, Virginia Republicans stand to gain politically from costing the state money on this one. Judging from national experience, the ACLU calculates that at 600,000 (pdf), largely from traditional Democratic constituencies, and nearly twice the margin in the last governor's race.
(Image: A voting rights rally last month/VCU Capital News Service/Flickr)
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Where does one turn to convince voters of a return to concerns of human dignity and care for our fellow beings, particularly the least of those among us? I know of one source, but it has been hijacked by the forces of hatred and mendacity.
OCCUPY: BE the 99%. Time to pack up the crayons and the sleeping bags and go fix our country. Bring the whole family, every chance you get. xo
People have forgotten about human dignity and care of fellow human beings. HECK, few Catholics read their bibles, yet they take their birth control pills while they allow their Bishops tell them to vote against the Democrats who are defending their rights in the first place. If that isn't screwed up, what is? Hypocrisy at its worst!
Voters need to think for themselves and not act like dittoheads for their religious leaders.
The people of VA voted them in, if they don't like what their reps are doing they can always vote 'em out and get rid of the laws they don't like. So the moral of this is: VOTE - it may be more important than you thought.
Dude, the issue is not Virginia voters, it's that we've got an overwhelmingly Republican majority of people in this state. Northern Virginia and parts of Southern Virginia closer to Richmond are heavily Democratic, but there's not enough districts and counties in the area to get rid of the Republican majority.
I don't like these people, but I can't do anything to vote them out, my district has gone Democrat every year I've lived here.
Katherine, the point is that the citizens of Virginia voted these clowns in. That means that the majority of Virginians approve of this nonsense, or at the next election they'll throw out at least enough of them to stop the tide of regressive legislation.
The point is that Virginians deserve what they're getting. If Virginians end up back in the 19th century, it's their own fault. Maybe they'll smarten up soon. Let's hope.
There really are two separate Virginias -- you could draw a line at Rt 17 and divide it into two separate states with two entirely different sets of electorate. The part to the NE of 17 is where all the money comes from and the part to the SW is where all the votes are. The people in the north make the money and the people in the south control it.
I agree with mpguy, vote those clowns out of office if you're not happy.
The point is that they are passing laws in order to restrict voting and make it nearly impossible to vote them out. Next up they'll require party and religious affiliation on your voter ID card. The far right is voting for the mark of the beast that they were once so terrified of. PAPERS PLEASE.
You do realize that it takes barely more than a quarter of the State's votes to control the legislature, don't you? The Gerrymander is a powerful beast indeed.
I agree with mpguy. Voters in Virginia did this to themselves, and if that is what they want then they shall have it. I, personally, think there must be a big majority of stupid people living in Virginia, and I'm very happy that I don't live there - I wouldn't want their stupidity to infect my family. I do feel bad for the Democrats who are stuck living there, where their vote doesn't matter anymore. It's unfortunate that the conservatives have chosen to move backwards, but that's really what fear based people tend to do.
I live in Virginia because that's where the military happened to send me, and didn't get a vote in the last election. So this whole thing is my fault that some assclowns who make a holy rolling ton more than I ever will are telling my wife what she can do with her own body in this state? I deserve that, do I? And meanwhile, just a couple comments up, people are talking about how they wish there was a return to empathy toward your fellow man...
That kind of "not my problem" attitude is generally why this sort of thing happens in the first place. Hope you clowns wise up before it starts happening where you live.
Katherine - I feel your pain. I am republican living in LA. My vote doesn't count here as well. The short answer is that if you can't stand the policies - move. However in my case, the weather and year round activities are too good to give up and move. The real answer is that you should stay and push back against what you think is bad policy. Thats what I do here. There are two sides of coin (and three if you love Ron Paul). So you should have conversations with your neighbors and debate policies. You both may learn something after you talk to each other, rather than talk past each other.
guess you didn't read the article. they don't have the votes to kick the bastard's out
No, I did read it. Just as we don't have the votes to kick out Jerry Brown, Boxer and Feinstein.
Hank --- Do you live in LA or CA? If you're in Louisiana, why would you care about kicking out California's two senators and its governor?
Ben --- As a member of the military, you're in a different position from most citizens of Virginia. The Dems can martial enough votes to turn things around in the next election--if they care to. If that takes 100% of the Dems, the state's Democratic Party organizers had better get busy and start organizing. You can't blame Republicans for taking advantage of Dems who were apathetic in 2010.
And when (of IF) those Dems gain a majority and can pass laws, they need to act like progressive Dems.
Hank, I too live in LA (county) in a republican district (and I don't like any of them these days) - I am left leaning Independent. I do what I can to make changes and change minds AND I thank God that we elected Jerry Brown instead of Whitman. Looks like we do the same thing on the opposite side! : )
Almost unnoticed is the profound impact Citizen's United has on congressional and state races.
Jane Mayer had an excellent piece in the New Yorker about the influence of one millionaire on state races (here). It is not hard to see Carl Rove style superpacs taking over state legislatures and annihilating Dem Congressional candidates so that the GOP retains the House and takes over the Senate.
If the GOP strategy of using SuperPacs bears fruit, it will be impossible to get a constitutional amendment limiting their use.
They have to be stopped cold in 2012 or we won't be rid of them for a generation.
As a Virginia voter, I'm sorry. Even the overwhelmingly blue Northern Virginian counties can't stem the tide of Republican idiocy. I'm ashamed to live in this state.
Please make sure that you vote to get rid of them next election. We need our country back before the tea toters turn us into a third world country.
Oh yes, I'll definitely vote. It may not do too much since I'm in NoVA... one of the bastions of blue in the red state.
I am in Roanoke City (in southwest Virginia) and we always go Democratic party. But, alas, we are a tiny blue dot in a sea of red.
Keep voting, ladies! If you really care, keep voting.
I am a union carpenter in MN. I have spent virtually my entire career advocating for paid holidays in our contract. 30 yrs ago they actually laughed at me. Even my union brothers. But I have kept at it. We still don't have paid holidays, but my brothers are now listening - and thinking it is actually a good idea. Keep trying!
The biggest joke of all is the republicans are doing all this because they are morally obligated to preserve life but they want guns in every household. How hypocrite of them, if they were true to their morals they would have much stricter laws in whom can own a gun and what kind of weapons allowed to civilians. Republicans what happen to God's Commandment, "Thou Shall Not Kill". For every killing of an innocent person you are as guilty of murder as the one that pulled the trigger. I hope you can sleep at night peacefully while someone is getting brutally killed because of your morals.
Stop making sense... you'll confuse them.
While they think they are "preserving life" ,they are forcing children into this world,maybe to parents who don't want them, will abuse them, can't afford to feed them, AND then the same people, want to stop "entitlement" programs to feed them. Why can't anyone in the GOP look past their nose to the future they are creating.
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Maybe enacting these laws will force the people of Virginia and other states who went so red in 2010 to wake up. The part of this that makes me most angry is that it didn't take a PhD to know this would have happened before people cast their ballots. An informed electorate is more necessary now than it has ever been.
I suggest it was not a lack of information but a lack of belief. How could any true American have believed that this could happen in America?
It ain't over. One should ask why so much is being spent on new and bigger federal courts. Are they preparing mass arrests based on McCarthy era crapola?
Pardon my French, but these guys are true pricks!
A crimson tide of near communistic rule has taken root upon our shores. Are we to simply shrug and walk away defeated? My guess is that if every democrat and every concerned independent gets riled up enough to actually vote then these radical laws will be overturned by the new democratically controlled government. The Right is a minority and they know it, that is why they oppose voting rights.
Fascism, not communism. Get your tropes straight.
Papers please is commie stuff as is KGB AKA homeland security.
why can't we just go back to the good old days when only white male landowners were allowed to vote in Virginia? And I thought living in South Carolina was bad....there's always someplace worse!!!
South Carolina is bad we just have a lot of diversions. The beach,the forest the humor of local politics.
Showing proof of citizenship for new voters in Virginia is stupid. They already require that at the DMV, which is where most folks would get their identification anyhow. I so hate this state.
Exactly-that was part of the reason for motor voter legislation in the first place.
We have no one but ourselves to blame for allowing these wrong-headed Republicans to take over. Hopefully we've learned the importance of voting in the mid-term elections. We Democrats do have the numbers to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
Better vote before you lose the right to.
It seems the republicans are unable to discredit President Obama's handling of the economy, jobs, credibility, so they will try to unseat him by manipulation. Making voter registration increasingly more difficuilt in states where the republican might not win, they can continue to strangle women's rights.What's next chastity belts?
Well... yes, if Santorum has his way. Santorum and his puritanical bandwagon.
As the GOP loses the fight on the so-called Obama economy, they'll pile on the social agenda. Meanwhile we all wonder what happened to the Republican idea of small government and leaving people the heck alone.
Obama's still working on the economy and the R's are working on pushing people apart. Typical.
Virginia Senate Democrats helped Republicans repeal the one-gun-a-month handgun limit: http://www.bluevirginia.us/showDiary.do?diaryId=5934
And let's not forget last year when Virginia Senate Democrats' screw-up allowed abortion restrictions to pass: http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/doh/2011/02/democrats-are-responsible-for-the-abortion-regulations-passing.html
This is a good point: it's not just enough to vote in Democrats because so many of the Democrats are complicit in these extreme measures. We have to push for liberal Democrats who stand w/ the party platform and don't brag about the fact that they've defied the party platform.
Look at the tea party candidates. None of them ran on this "social agenda" they are pushing nor did they admit to being religious nutcases. Of course the tea party won't complain until the Kochs tell them to.
Republicans are closing down voting booths and threatening folks that have the temerity to want to take part in their constitutional right to cast a ballot out of fear. The right is deathly afraid of the 99 percent of ordinary, poor and middle-class Americans that are fed up with the loopholes and benefits for the wealthy, fed up with a political party devoted to destroying the American Dream so Corporate America can send our jobs to China and make a fat profit. Investigate and prosecute... http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Can we get a list of all these far-right, extreme-conservative bills either being proposed or being passed in both the states and in the federal government?
What bills were proposed or passed in your state?
This same exact thing has been happening in Kansas since Brownback and his Koch-conspirators took over. And yeah, I know it's Kansas...but here in Eastern Kansas we are pretty Blue, and no one in his office, nor the Legislature, seems to give a crap what the constituents say. Even the Republicans I speak with can't stand his policies...and they are identical to those being driven through the VA Statehouse, too.
These extremely conservative republicans are corrupting and terrorizing our nation with anti-democratic policies, and fear. They are turning this country into a hypocritical Theocracy.
Unfortunately, it seems that our voices and votes are no longer the primary currency, so unless we all become millionaires, we just don't matter.
Let's just stop using the word "conservative" to describe Republicans. They are out to radically remake the country in their own reactionary image. Conservatism isn't about radical change, it's about slowing the pace of change, but neither trying to stop nor reverse it. On a lot of issues--the social safety net, contraception, equal rights--the conservative position is the progressive position because that is the status quo. What the Republicans are doing is fighting for a regressive revolution. There is a theory in linguistics that you can't properly speak or even think about something unless you have developed the right vocabulary for that thing. Calling Republicans "conservative" is not a part of the right vocabulary. If we don't speak and think about them properly, how can we properly fight them?
Let's see....more government regulations for a woman's womb; more guns in the hands of pro-life republicans; more capital punishment by the pro-life conservatives; no collective bargaining as allowed under federal law....... as Kevin Johnson just said: "We have no one but ourselves to blame for allowing these wrong-headed..."
Republicans’ can only get away with this nonsense because Democrats let them...the democrats in Virginia need to get their ID's and go vote these gun loving God fearing
evanglicians who want to force their beliefs on others...when the God they serve does not force anyone to serve Him. When God said He would send us a comforter in the form of His holy spirit to lead and guide us into doing what is right...He made no mention that REPUBLICIANS was to be our consciences. So Democrates...get out...get your passports, ID's, birth certificate and whatever else they want before November and vote like your life depends on it...that's your right!!
What's a few million or a few tens of millions to repuknican politicians when it buys the disenfranchisement of blacks and historically democratic voters?
I would like to see an indepth evaluation of the role of ALEC in all of these reich-wing legislative actions. Particularly quantifying their involvement.
ALEC is irrelevant to consideration of the validity of these voter id laws. I don't know if Virginia falls under the Justice Dept. reviews of voting rights changes. If it is, then that may be a problem for the state.
FTR I am still waiting for evidence from any conservative and/or Republican and/or person who supports Voter ID that shows that Voter ID laws actually do as they're intended to do. I can agree w/ the idea of spending these millions of dollars if it has the desired effect: but what evidence do we have that these laws will actually have the desired effect?
You've hit the nail on the head, right there. I was living in Indiana when a lot of the voter ID stuff was going on. Those around me, who were not considered particularly conservative in a state as conservative as Indiana, thought it was entirely reasonable to require ID because, after all, they have it, and if it keeps people from misusing the ballot box, why not? Those of us arguing against it were seen as alarmist and probably un-American. I'm sure I don't know the whole story, but the only people I know of who have run afoul of registration laws there have been Republicans who figured they could get away with it.
Well it's just especially annoying because the second that you say that to them- you know that they have to provide evidence- they immediately say 'well common sense says.' The problem? Common sense is a logical fallacy. And what do they do when you say that? Piss and moan that you ask them to be logical when they make arguments....
I just don't get it. If they wanna make an argument then go ahead, but I just ask that they don't be idiots about it.
Another problem is that most people don't get any sort of training in logical thinking. It doesn't have to be formal logic. And some people are logical just because they are. But most people are never required to develop critical thinking skills, so they don't. Personally, I didn't really develop the ability to construct a good argument until I went through graduate school. Believe me, there is nothing like the ego-crushing experience of being unmercifully and logically torn to shreds by a seminar full of other smug graduate students who don't give a damn about your feelings to make you develop your reasoning skills in a hurry. But graduate school isn't necessary. My guess is that Mickey developed her brain through trying to grapple with the mushy minds of her opponents. 'There must be a handhold here somewhere! I'll find it even if it kills me! Or you, which would be even better!'
Republicans’ can only get away with this nonsense because Democrats let them...the democrats in Virginia need to get their ID's and go vote these gun loving God fearing
evanglicians who want to force their beliefs on others...when the God they serve does not force anyone to serve Him. When God said He would send us a comforter in the form of His holy spirit to lead and guide us into doing what is right...He made no mention that REPUBLICIANS was to be our consciences. So Democrates...get out...get your passports, ID's, birth certificate and whatever else they want before November and vote like your life depends on it...that's your right!!
Virginia Republicans didn't vote for THIS. They just cast bitter, anti-Obama votes in 2010. Only, these days the Republican party is farther to the right than at any time in my life (I'm 36).
The power of money, sanctioned in greed by the purveyors of lust for power control and domination is not confined to Virginia. Other states; Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin have been infected by the same mentality that sees itself as being divinely sanctioned to run rough shod on the people; not in service to the electorate but rather to control and dictate to them. This will not stop unless any and all republicons and faux republicon tea-baggers are thrown out without reservation nor exception.
Let Virginians suffer. Maybe, just maybe, when they get their fill of the Republicans they elected in state office, they will wise up and vote them out. Until then, just suffer for your stupidity!
No. It's not OK to wish that people suffer.
I didn't vote for any of the people that are currently in office. The republicans in my district are very scary and idiotic. Our governor and attorney general are beyond scary; they are truly frightening. I don't live in Virginia by choice but I do vote here. I am here because the military sent our family to this hellhole.
The Hampton Roads area brings in tons of money to the state but our roadways are abysmal. Driving on them is almost like being in a video game in the way you have to swerve to avoid huge potholes. Services are being cut at every level. We have state-sanctioned discrimination, a deplorable foster care system, the highest rate of foster kids aging out of the system and soaring crime rates.
Our state senate spent several days at a complete standstill because they couldn't get over their bickering.
Please don't wish ill-will on the citizens of VA. Not everyone voted for these jokers. The sad fact is that of all the bills that are being passed the ones that do the most damage do it to the people (and animals) that CAN'T vote (minor children, the disabled, unborn children, the homeless). This legislature has been anti-everything-that-is-good-and-right-and-just-in-this-world.
Wait 'til that Republican legislature realizes that Virginia's always been a tobacco state. If they do as I suspect they SHOULD do (which is to give Virginia the lowest tobacco taxes nationwide), it'll likely stay Republican for a long time as smokers FLOCK to Virginia to increase its revenues!