PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is being chided about his stand on voter rights issues in the nationally syndicated “Doonesbury” comic strip.
“Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau, weighing in on attempts by states to tighten voter registration laws, quotes Webster in the strip on Friday as saying Democrats had long used Maine’s 1973 Election Day voter registration law to “steal elections.” But Webster isn’t depicted as a character. A black crow, representing Jim Crow laws, does the talking.
In the second frame, “Jimmy” Crow says, “Sadly, too many of them (voters) are Democrats, who like to ‘steal’ elections, according to GOP chair Charlie Webster.” The frame shows silhouettes of figures representing the elderly, disabled people and college students, groups that critics say could be disenfranchised by voter ID laws.
Webster told the Portland Press Herald he was not moved by the comic strip, saying he sticks by his stand on voter fraud.
“I’m still right about it,” Webster said.
Republicans pushed for passage of a voter identification law in the Maine Legislature during the past session, but it was scaled back to a study.
Maine voters in November also overturned a Republican-initiated effort to repeal the law that allows Election Day, or same-day, registrations.
Webster has said that same-day registration opens the door to voter fraud, largely by nonresident students.
A review last year by Republican Secretary of State Charlie Summers found no evidence of voter fraud, but Summers said it also showed Maine’s election laws need further hedges against abuse.
The GOP in our great state of Maine has gone to the dogs. Could they be anymore of an embarrassment?
They are far less of an embarrassment then the liberals. The libs constant rude and hateful rants show qualities that embarrass Maine. You read it here every day and mainly on topics of the Governor. Often the remarks are so mean spirited they show total lack of knowledge. Gary Trudeau has been using his comic strip to support the Left since his first cartoon was printed. Enjoy Trudeau’s strip if you want. Showing a photo ID when voting is going to be the new norm . It Has to be thanks to so many illegals and all the Deceased that mysteriously arise from the grave to vote.
And yet, no proof is ever presented, just innuendo.
We had, what?, two documented instances of voter fraud in Maine recently. One was a guy in Oakland who wanted to vote twice to try to get his father elected to the city council, and the other guy was in one of those small towns west of Bangor who voted in two different towns. Until the right-wing can come up with actual harm being committed through fraudulent voting, it still looks more like voter suppression.
“After a two-month investigation into possible voter fraud by college students and noncitizens, Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers said Wednesdayhis evidence showed that none of the students committed fraud and only one noncitizen voted in Maine”
So then he sends threatening letters to the students, telling them to fork over money to the state by registering their cars or stop voting in Maine. Classy.
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/09/21/politics/secretary-of-state-finds-no-student-voter-fraud-but-maintains-system-is-vulnerable/
So do the two voters who had their votes negated by the two fraudulent votes in those elections have a right to legal recourse? What if one of those negated votes was yours? Would you be contacting a lawyer?
if that is all you have … you have nothing
PROOF?!! The GOP doesn’t need PROOF they only proof they require is on the bottle they all drink from…..the bottle of BS. :)
No, they need the tiniest bit of room to install needless fear into the populace. Fear immigrants, fear the other party, fear your neighbor.
The real question is – Do you care who votes? Does it matter to you if people who are not citizens are voting? Does it matter to you if elections are fair? It is not relevant if there have been two cases or 102 cases of voter fraud. There should be zero! And as long as we as citizens have to show ID to buy liquor, cigarettes, get on an airplane, or go to a Michele Obama book signing, showing ID to vote is a no-brainer.
I am more worried about the GOP’s efforts to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of legal voters to stop a couple or even a couple hundred fraudulent votes.
In PA it has been estimated that almost 1 million legal legitimate voters, people who have been voting legally for years, will not have the proper credentials to vote this election cycle. Of course most of the disenfranchised voters will be minority, elderly and poor voters, ie most likely to vote Democratic so no big deal, right?
I believe you miss the point entirely. People confuse issues like identification for credit-card purchases and financial transactions with the need for ID for voting. It is not the same. In the case of financial transactions, other innocent people could be greatly affected by having access to another person’s account. It is a prevention of theft and of a serious crime against another individual. Voting is a personal matter affecting no one but you.
Yes, there may be the rare instance of voter fraud. A number of cases consisted not of a person voting twice but of that person having moved to a new area and failing to re-register in the new location. For example, one county to the next, and then, of course, the county-level people on the ballot would be different. Admittedly, not technically legal, but hardly a major crime. The point is the “stuffing of the ballot box” did not occur and is not at all an issue. We have seen no cases of an organized group of people, using false IDs, to double and triple vote for their particular candidate or cause. This is a non-existent problem.
Now, let’s contrast that with the idea of not allowing a person to vote who is otherwise fully eligible to vote. That is the real risk. And, in my opinion, it is far more of a crime to prevent someone from voting than it is for the minuscule number of technically illegal votes that might come through.
Furthermore, it reeks to the high-heavens of the voter obstructionism we saw in the South and in the past. The Voting Rights Act prohibits this kind of foolishness and allows people to vote which is a fundamental right for all.
I would think the GOP, had they not been taken over by the Tea Party radicals, would hang their heads in shame seeing this kind of behavior. It is abundantly clear the TP just wants to win regardless of cost and integrity. I find them lacking in manners and sportsmanship. How these boors were elected is beyond me. Let’s hope civility and trust of the public returns to the State House.
you say, “voting is a personal matter affecting no one but you”. re: showing ID to use one’s credit card, it is ALL about Truth. You just do NOT want to see it.
You still don’t get it. The risk of of NOT permitting someone to vote due to onerous identification requirements far, far outweighs the risk of any voter fraud, which as countless reports have shown, it non-existent statistically speaking.
In Texas, the heartland of the bible-thumping nutbars, there were 65 cases of voter fraud, half of which were attributed not to double-voting but merely voting once in the wrong voting district. This was for a total balloting of 39 million votes. That computes to a 0.0000016% voter fraud rate.
Aside from having drunk two-gallons of the Kook-Aid from the far right, just exactly what is your problem? Why are you so obsessed with more government regulation and oversight? You are supposed to be in the party that wants the government to be bull-dozed into a ditch and buried for eternity. In this case, where there is no issue, you have jumped on this bandwagon. Are you afraid you actually will have (gasp!) DEMOCRATS voting in the election? We all know the poor, elderly, and disadvantaged tend to vote for Democrats and these are the people who may have only a rudimentary ID. I look at all this hoopla from the ultra-right as a direct attempt at voter suppression. Have you no sense or understanding of history? Do you not remember the poll taxes, the literacy requirements, and all the other claptrap that was dragged out to prevent people from voting?
Voting is Constitutional right that shall not be infringed upon. Using a credit-card is not.
You want truth, justice, and the American way, allow people to vote. What’s next? Police stopping you to ask for your papers? Oh, right, we have that in Arizona.
Okay Chuck, I do see some of your reply. the Kook-Aid you accuse me of is off base . How is this, In order to Drive a vehicle on USA roads, people Have to have a Valid Drivers License. Often when we use a credit OR debit card, we Have to show Id , pending on the retailers requirements. Now Obama wants Everyone to have health care Ins. So what is wrong with showing a proper photo ID at the voting booth? Clearly it is No different than what I just described.
As for your accusation of my lack of history knowledge, well, think what you may. does not matter is Far Left or Ultra Right, we are all here together and need to learn to be kinder to each other.
When you say What is Next? re: Rules or Laws, the Obama Health Care Mandate to me, is NOT constitutional. It is a Sham. remember those words in a few years if you sell your home.
Driving a car and using a debit/credit card is a privilege, not a Constitutional right. The point of having a valid driver’s license is to prove that you are capable of piloting two-tons of metal down a road and presumably not killing your fellow citizen. Checking for IDs on credit/debit cards is there to protect the innocent from having their money stolen by unscrupulous people.
Time and again, we see NO significant voter fraud, and now you are having the government interfere on your right to vote. Moreover, the right of your fellow citizens to vote. You and I have every ID under the sun because we do. A fair number of people do not have a government issued photo ID. They gave up driving years ago. The have their SS card and that’s probably it. So, now you want them to leave their home, trot down to Augusta, pay a fee, and get a photo ID for the sole purpose of allowing them to exercise their Constitutional right to vote? I find that appalling.
Tell me this: How many legitimate voters will be prevented from voting versus how many fraud cases will be prevented? It’s the old “Ten guilty men should go free, lest one innocent man be jailed” argument.
My apologies if I came across as angry. Frankly, I am fed up to here with this trend of late from the ultra-conservatives to yammer on about big government in one breath, but turn around and insist on government stepping into the private lives of citizens – birth control should be banned, same-sex marriage is against God and therefore, illegal, all based on their particular theological beliefs. All the civil rights we fought for in the 1960’s seems like for naught. I am all for conservative fiscal policy – not nutcase conservative, but pragmatic fiscal policy. Where has all this SOCIAL conservatism come from? Have the poles reversed and all the redneck bigots from down South decided to move north? I expect to see cross burnings soon! So, if I am p.o.’d about issues it is because I want the religious conservatives out of my life and my government. They can dance around a fire and bay at the friggin moon for all I care, but they have to get it through their heads that they cannot impose their religious B.S. on the rest of us.
Now, with regard to the ACA/Obamacare. First off, it is Constitutional because SCOTUS said it is. Case closed. I would suggest you give it some time. There are many, many advantages to it. I see it as a set of regulations for the private insurance companies to provide a level playing field for all insurers. The “fee/fine/penalty/tax” issue that has been droned on for seemingly an eternity is ONLY applicable to people who, despite subsidies and other ways to obtain insurance, opt not to. The rest of us who have insurance will never see this fine/tax. Clearly, the big objection to this is because it came from a Democrat and a black one at that. Where Obama dropped the ball on this is clear. He should have called the ACA, “Romney-care” or even better, “Reagan-care.” The exact same policies of mandates were suggested in the past by the GOP. Now, because a black Democrat suggested it, it will cause the USA to spiral into the abyss of Hell for all Eternity, Amen.
As far as being kinder to each other? I could not agree more. The other side could start by taking their cross, going home, and allowing civil same-sex marriage to become law in Maine (as it was in 2009). Then, they could stop calling the IRS the “Gestapo.” They also could drop this foolishness about teaching Creationism in school instead of real science. They could allow women to obtain birth control without having a hissy-fit. In Arizona, they could stop passing laws allowing officers to racially profile people on the street, stopping them, and asking “for their papers.” It sounds like Berlin in 1939! And, finally, they could stop asking citizens to “show their papers” at the voting booth.
Good stuff.
Keep fighting the good fight.
Well said Chuck.
For most of my life I’ve voted more often for Republicans than I have for Democrats. Today I’m almost afraid to vote Republican because of what the party has become. It used to be a party of fiscal conservatives with hardly a word about my personal life. Today, instead of an honest effort to tackle our economic problems, I see attempt after attempt to legislate morality by the new Republicans. Very sad … and more than a little scary.
You have summed it up precisely. How today’s GOP could possibly be compared to what you and I recall? They even show no respect for the party by calling the real Republicans, “RINOs.” How 5th grade playground is that?
As I have said before, the GOP went from class to crass, from NPR to PBR, and from intellectualism to buffoonery.
Sadly, if these squatters every leave the GOP Clubhouse, I’m afraid it will have been ransacked and abandoned. Who’d want it after the TP got through with it?
Even governor Reagan was against Proposition 6 in California in 1978 that would “have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported gay rights, from working in California’s public schools.”
Your fear is well founded and I share that fear.
And how many democrats around & in front of a microphone today are ANYTHING like JFK? You should be plenty fearful of most of them.
Great response, Chuck!!! I absolutely agree with your statements on conservatives. The more I read about how it was in the 1960s compared to their philosophy now, the more I also wonder what the heck happened.
At 57, I am very close to the Vietnam era. I missed the draft by 1 year – I would not have been eligible, it turns out, anyway. But, I certainly worked for social rights and freedoms that were being trampled upon by religious social conservatives. I might add this has nothing to do with fiscal conservatism. The GOP was always about fiscal responsibility, pro-business (but also very pragmatic, forming business-government partnerships where needed), but always was about individual freedoms. That was the whole idea – allow people to do what they want without interference from others or the government. I stayed a Republican until just this year when I realized the train had jumped the tracks and was heading for a cliff.
Some people don’t like Obama, usually for all the wrong reasons, but the Republicans have nothing. Romney has no plan and no real way to solve this economic problem. It is really simple. The middle class makes up 70% of the economic activity in the USA. They not only have fewer jobs and lower paying jobs, but their spirit is broken and they have become extremely risk-adverse (little surprise). They are not going to spend money they don’t have and cannot get, so they won’t be prompting business to expand production and hire more people. The TP has a death grip on Congress so the government isn’t spending any money. In a nutshell, no one is spending money and that is what make the economy run.
Now, you can cut taxes to the quick but so what? If you don’t have job, you won’t be paying any taxes, anyway. The middle class needs to be inspired and the best inspiration is a job that is going to be there for awhile. Nothing the Republicans have to offer (well, they have offered up nothing, period) will achieve any of this. So, this November, it’s the devil I know, and one who doesn’t profess these bizarre socially conservative ideas that have zero to do with fiscal policy, and everything to do with making me a second-class citizen.
As far as how all this conservatism/bigoted behavior happened? I have no idea. I cannot pin it down to a date or a particular Presidency. Bush-41 signed into law anti-discrimination laws for gays on the front lawn of the White House. Bush-43 was somewhat neutral. I think there was a lot of pushback from the bible thumpers with Clinton. Jerry Falwell waddled onto the scene but he was so much hot air. I have no idea. I will leave this to the historians as to how we went from advancing and progressing our society to reverting to a few years shy of the Inquisition. It stuns me in this day and age that we have regressed so far socially. I figured when I watched Armstrong set foot on the moon in 1969 and the civil rights laws were passed that we were off and running, and all this religious conservatism would end up in the library right next to “Ancient & Medieval History.” Well, I plan to retire to the family farm in a few years. Hopefully, global warming won’t have wreaked too much havoc and we have some really cold snaps that discourage the Southern bible thumpers from moving further north. I’ll put up a fence around the place and hang garlic up everywhere. They are so superstitious they will think I have a vampire problem and probably stay away. If not that, perhaps a large rainbow flag. They will think it is a recruiting station and flee in terror. Ah, to dream.
Whatever you do that works to keep that crowd away from decent people,please share!
Not for nothing is there poverty,disease and ignorance where they are strongest.
I have often thought they have a desire to maintain ignorance in order to control the laity. There is something in the bible about “not wanting the light to be seen.” I don’t recall it specifically but the point is that information is power and if you are trying to control people, providing them with information is not the way to go.
Penn Jillette said we are watching the death throes of religion. TV and the mall chipped away at these foundations but the Internet will be its death knell. How do you threaten and intimidate people with the supernatural when there are many other opinions at your fingertips? The Arab Spring with its Facebook & Twitter contributions reminds me of this.
Look at the shameful but not surprising attempts to muzzle and discredit the nuns.They are already the most ignored group in Catholicism,after kids.
The nuns are out on the front-lines working with everyday people. The hierarchy of the church? Not a clue.
Oh, and thanks! Forgot to mention that! Where are my manners?
Google Kentucky voter fraud.
It needs to be pointed out that Kentucky went GOP in the last Senate and House voting by less than a 3% margin, and most of those marginal counts were in rural counties, like Pike in Eastern Kentucky. ‘My way or the highway’ McConnell won relection but not by much. He keeps being the Scrooge in the Senate and he’s gonna be the one finding out about highway’s and not the building of them either.
I read both articles on the Kentucky voter fraud. You’d think there would be more. What I read indicated votes being bought. There is nothing about multiple votes, voting in the wrong jurisdiction, etc. These apparently are legitimate voters who agreed to “sell” their own vote for a price. You know full-well the voter who agrees to sell his vote will take the time to ensure he has all the IDs needed to vote. So, I ask you then, just how would voter ID prevent any of this?
It would not, but it might prevent an honest voter from being able to vote because he did not have the required ID.
1000 likes!
This is off topic but there is no tax on the sale of your house because of the ACA. It was a typical lie from the Right about what is actually in the ACA, along with Death Panels and a myriad of other lies too numerous to mention.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp
HEre is the link that disproves the 3.8% tax on home sales.
I thought I kept up on the rumors running about. But, I had not heard of the 3.8% tax on homes sales due to the ACA. That’s a new one for me.
P. T. Barnum said “there’s a sucker born every minute.” I guess there is! I swear I could come up with a story about Michael Jackson being Elvis’s secret space alien baby and there would be people who believed it!
Do people just blindly repeat everything they hear? What about a statement being reasonable or even plausible? How long would it take to check something?
Just like the “death panels.” What a load of horse manure! Has the USA dumbed-down to this level?
People will blindly repeat anything that agrees with their worldview even if the facts disagree with them
snopes makes mistakes. the last I knew, the 3.8% tax was very true.
I think Cheescake1955 explains it very well. Snopes is correct and you are in correct.
Whoops! I posted what Cheesecake had already said. Sorry!
No problem , sometimes it takes a village to educate a person :)
Would you believe Forbes? Here’s a quote:
“The healthcare law’s tax provisions include a 3.8% extra income tax on dividends, interest and capital gains. Absent some deal between
President Obama and Congress, it goes into effect in January. It applies to portfolio income to the extent that the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income tops $250,000 on a joint return ($200,000 for singles). So, if you have a spouse, a $240,000 salary and $45,000 of investment income, you’ll owe the 3.8% surtax on $35,000.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2012/06/28/dividend-tax-up-spy-down/
No mention of “house sales.”
The article is about 1 month old. It asks if the tax is killing stocks. Considering the market closed about 13,000 this week, I would say, “no.”
I believe if you make over $250,000 on the sale of a home you pay a capital gains tax – that may be what he is talking about.
Another person who posted here had a better quote on the specifics of the 3.8% tax with regard to capital gains. Here’s the usual definition:
“Individuals can exclude up to $250,000 in profit from the sale of a main
home (or $500,000 for a married couple) as long as you have owned the
home and lived in the home for a minimum of two years. Those two years
do not need to be consecutive. In the 5 years prior to the sale of the
house, you need to have lived in the house for at least 24 months in
that 5-year period. In other words, the home must have been your
principal residence.”
The key word there is “profit” so if you bought your primary residence for $150,000, and sold it for $400,000, you’d have “profited” $250,000 – keeping in mind capital improvements you made to the property, etc., which would be part of the baseline cost. So, if over the years you added $50,000 in repairs and sold it for $400,000, that means: (150,000 + 50,000) – 400,000 = 200,000. You’re still under the $250,000 exemption.
Anyway, I think it is a moot point. The other article pointed out the 3.8% applied to vacation homes and rental properties, and then only after some large income had been reached.
Nothing I have to worry about, for sure.
No. In addition to normal capital gains there is an additional tax for Obamacare. In other words I have planned for my retirement my entire life, decided 25 years ago to invest in commercial property and planned to sell it to fund retirement. Guess what? The government gets another 3.8% on top of capital gains.
Would you believe Politifact?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/25/chain-email/3-8-percent-tax-real-estate-transactions-health-ca/
The truth is that only a tiny percentage of home sellers will pay
the tax. First of all, only those with incomes over $200,000 a year
($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will be subject to it. And
even for those who have such high incomes, the tax still won’t apply to
the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence —
or to the first $500,000 in the case of a married couple selling their
home.
We can understand how this misconception got started. The law
itself is couched in highly technical language that only a qualified tax
expert can fully grasp. (This provision begins on page 33 of the
reconciliation bill that was passed and signed into law.) And it does
say the tax falls on “net gain … attributable to the disposition of
property.” That would include the sale of a home. But the bill also says
the tax falls only on that portion of any gain that is “taken into
account in computing taxable income” under the existing tax code. And
the fact is, the first $250,000 in profit on the sale of a primary
residence (or $500,000 in the case of a married couple) is excluded from
taxable income already. (That exclusion doesn’t apply to vacation homes
or rental properties.)
You will pay that tax on the sale of investment property. In other words a person sells a commercial building camp or second home the tax does apply.
Please correct me if I’m wrong (and I may be), but I believe that the Supreme Court recently found Obama’s healthcare reform to be constitutional. Are you telling us that you are better able to interpret the Constitution than the Supreme Court is?? Do you not think that a single payer health care system will be way more cost effective than the ridiculously clumsy and ineffective system that we have now? I hate to be the one to inform you, but the U.S. has the most cumbersome healthcare payer system in the world. We spend far more per capita than any other country and yet we don’t have the healthiest population.
The Supreme Court made their decision. That does NOT mean I Have to agree with it.
It’s still the law and will still benefit people like you who shouldn’t get any benefit from it.
As usual, you’re bleeding honest taxpayers
The Supremes ruled on portions of the ACA not on all of it.
I am so sick of people calling our highest court “The Supremes”
The Supremes were an all female R&B band in the 60’s.
Show some respect or shut up.
Lighten up. You are going to have a stroke before your time.
Deflection. Does not become you. Also looks like desperation for a losing cause.
You’re confusing them with accurate information, you bad boy. Now they’ll have to run back to Fox News to be comforted.
Or run to selected hits on Google.
Voting is a Constitutional right for CITIZENS. One person, one vote.
One corporation $50,0000,000 votes.
Quite right. And, voting requires you to be registered to vote. In Maine, you can do that in the same day. But, in the cases of those people most affected by the onerous requirement to show identification, you likely are dealing with people who registered to vote decades before and who are regular voters.
Non-citizens are not ones to register to vote. They want to stay under the radar. Their numbers also are insignificant. This would be considered fraud and a crime and if we look at the number of cases of fraud, they are statistically insignificant and would have no effect on the vote.
So, let’s look at this practically. A person shows up at a polling site which in most areas covers a small population of that area or district. A voting official looks up the person’s name from a roster, usually verbally confirms the address, and then checks off that name on the voting register. Where I am, we sign some card (I think) and are handed an electronic card that goes into a voting machine in one of the booths. We vote, eject the card, put the card in a big bucket, and that’s it. I do not need to show an ID as I am the only person at that address, no one voted in my name on that same day, and I confirmed my address verbally. The chances of this being anyone but me are really slim.
Let’s change that a bit. Now, the old guys and gals from the nursing home show up in the shuttle bus. They haven’t driven in years and have no “approved photo ID.” They walk up to the voting official, state their name and address, the clerk confirms all this and then asks, “Do you have your approved photo ID?” The answer is no. “Well, sorry Mr. Smith. Just because you and your wife have been voting here for the past ten years and I know you personally, if you don’t have the approved form of ID, I cannot allow you to exercise your Constitutional right to vote.”
So, what part of reality are you missing on this? You TP types yammer on and on about extra government regulation and controls but when it comes to resolving a non-existent problem with more government controls, you are all for it.
I ask you, does this voter ID law make any logical sense?
What more do you want? There is no problem to begin with, statistically insignificant fraud, and you definitely will prevent legitimate and eligible voters from voting.
The risk of preventing eligible voters from voting is too much of a price to pay for such a pitiful return.
The only conclusion I can arrive at is that you wish to promote fraud by denying people who would normally vote for a Democrat from being allowed to vote. What other conclusion could be drawn? Are you scared we might have that Muslim, liberal, foreign-born darkie in office for another four years? Goodness, we wouldn’t want the actual vote of the majority to count, unless it relates to something we want.
Voting illegally DOES affect another person, by DEFINITION. If I vote “Pizza” legally, and you vote “Hamburgers” illegally, and your illegal vote is not disqualified, then you have deprived me of my legal vote.
Pizza is better.
If you vote “Pizza” legally but 10 other voters are prevented from voting “Pizza” because they were forced to produce government IDs that they don’t have, cannot travel to obtain, and/or cannot afford, then the prevention of my vote for “Hamburgers” does not much matter.
And, that’s about the ratio. For every fraudulent vote (so utterly minuscule) you stop, you are preventing far more people from voting legitimately.
I happen to think that all legal voters should be able to vote. If all eligible voters voted then a couple hundred “fraudulent” votes would not matter.
Please provide once example of an election result being effected because of voter fraud.
I can, however, show evidence of elections being influenced by the GOP’s voter suppression tactics.
Google Kentucky voter fraud.
Again, links please
Just looked up voter fraud in KY. It is happening when legitimate voters are selling their votes for cash, not voters that are voting multiple times in an election or voters who are ineligible but are voting anyway.
How would making voters have an approved ID stop vote buying?
You are exactly right. The liberals do not want any kind of standards applied to voting because they don’t want any standards applied to anything at all. In a nutshell, when voting requirements are increased there are less Democrats voting. The constant erosion of voting standards will eventually the good old USA into a third world country.
Liberals don’t want people who do not meet the qualifications established by the Constitution voting any more than people of your train of thinking.
MBE (male bovine …)
Making it so that only GOP approved voters vote is making the US a third world country
I don’t need to show ID to buy liquor or cash a check.
I will say, now that you brought that up, those places that require EVERYONE under 80 or whatever to show ID to buy liquor is making it so that one needs a license to purchase liquor. I think that’s wrong and just ridiculous.
You are right there.I was at the grocery store behind a woman with a cane and white hair carrying a big jug of some kind of booze.The clerk,who was probably a quarter of her age,carded her anyway.
We don’t have the RIGHT to purchase alcohol or Ciggaretts…..it’s a privilege! We do however have the RIGHT to vote WITHOUT suppression from the right….they’ve got you right where they want you! Scared of nothing!
does voter suppression bother you at all?
try googling voter fraud and then make the same remark.
I will gladly look at any links you have to voter fraud that are not right wing hit sites.
Even if you do, you will find legitimate voters in KY selling their votes. The voter ID law would do nothing to solve that problem.
do you always have to rely on what is printed in a daily paper for news and fact? try googling this voter fraud and get some needed Facts.
Because we all know that if we find it on the internet it must be true.
Tell you what, I’ll go with the results of Charlie Summers investigation as Charlie himself reported … oops, zero fraud.
Say what you must , I merely suggest using Google as a tool as encyclopedias seem to be in the old days.
Maybe that’s why it’s called a NEWSpaper.The Founding Fathers did pretty well without Google.
You are quite the comic. When is the last time You used an encyclopedia?
I suspect you won’t find anything about fraud in the American electoral system in the early 21st century in any desk top encyclopedia either. As for Google replacing encyclopedias, remember that Google is a tool and like any tool is not correct for every job.
I can write anything I want about voter fraud. Title it “Voter Fraud in Maine”, post it on the internet, and you’ll get a google hit when searching. Doesn’t make it true.
I will gladly look at any links you have to voter fraud that are not right wing hit sites.
Because everything you read on the internet is fact. The facts I’ve read and the facts you’ve read seem to be different.
Only in your mind.
Hold on, your saying that what is on the internet…where anyone can post anything, is more accurate than the paper? I understand that every printed material comes to a certain conclusion with some bias, but really? Googling something is going to get to the truth? Have you seen that State Farm commerical where that lady talks about everything on the internet being true…that’s you isn’t it?
Gee whiz, you don’t get it. Google has replaced encyclopedias.
Are you for serious?
Google is a “search engine” not an encyclopedia. You can’t really believe that it is.
No way, Jose.
Still at it Google worshiper?
I was always under the impression that 2 + 2 equals 4 …. until I googled it.
I’m sure many are enjoying it. Voter fraud has not bee proven.
However voter suppression as in the 2000 election in Florida is well documented.
Voter Fraud Has been proven.
TWICE!
GREAT JUST GREAT
AN EPIDEMIC OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
Per Ghost Busters, “of Biblical proportions”.
DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER
At least they don’t want to marry each other!!
Would it really effect anyone if they did? Let’s ask the Sasquawch 8)
Eeee-yewwwww! ISM (Inter-species marriage). I’m sure Jesus said something against that.
Contrary to the delusional belief it does not exist in mass quantity.
This story + story on Maine’s GOP delegates = Charlie the clown. Anyone who votes this guy for a position other than turd chaser needs their head examined.
Next we’ll be seeing Mr. LePage in a Fred Flintstone strip showing him saying hateful things about how the homo-sapiens are either picking on him through their liberal press or trying to leach off of him by asking to share his campfire. Seems that cavemen are hard to please but as long as they don’t reside in the same state you’re living in they can provide you with some belly rolling laughs. However as we’ve learned here in Maine, make one your leader and all you get is shame and embarrassment.
one is too many .. at least for those who like an honest result and have their vote not be cancelled by another
..
Here is a quote from an article from the New York University School of Law:
Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare.
* Many vivid anecdotes of purported voter fraud have been proven false or do not demonstrate fraud.
* Voter fraud is often conflated with other forms of election misconduct.
* Raising the unsubstantiated specter of mass voter fraud suits a particular policy agenda.
* Claims of voter fraud should be carefully tested before they become the basis for action.
and that means some lawyer didn’t like the idea of voter ID .. and that’s all that meant
Actually, the article that I copied the quote from was not about voter ID, it was about voter fraud. There was no discussion of voter ID in the article. So I don’t believe that’s “all it meant”.
Secretary of State Finds no Student Voter Fraud
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/09/21/politics/secretary-of-state-finds-no-student-voter-fraud-but-maintains-system-is-vulnerable/
Links, please?
///
Data please. Real, accurate counts.
Just keep believing that
Two cases in 38 years?
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?
http://www.nationalmemo.com/republican-candidate-quits-amid-voter-fraud-allegations/
I guess thats why more states are enacting ID laws. Only those with their heads buried in the sand or up other places, beleive that voter fraud has not been proven. Maybe not in the backwoods, but in the urban areas it is rampant. The Dems want votes any way they can get them. Obama is a prime example.
And what can we say about those that say widespread voter frauds are proven (at least in Maine and a lot of other places).
Most, if not all, of the States that have approved voter ID laws are Republican controlled and the laws work against minority, elderly and poor voters, which are usually Democratic voters. They do nothing to address actual voter fraud, just work to suppress voters that Republican’s would rather not vote.
And old people who can’t read ballots shouldn’t be allowed to drive or vote.Problem solved.
At what age are you willing to give up your right to vote? That’s rediculous. When did you come up with the idea that citizenship is contingent on age/ You know, less than 100 years ago, a great percentage of Americans couldn’t read or write. They still voted.
not true.. i live here in Florida and like no where else in America we need voters to ID themselves .. elections have been stolen here or lost .. once that happens it’s over the very idea of a Republic is crushed.. it’s a small requirement.. and you need it for most everything else.. try getting a drivers licence re newed without an ID..
…..
Why did the Democrats kill votes from overseas military members in 5 counties?
I would have to admitt that Charlie Webster is the perfect man for the job!
I don’t believe that anyone could do a better job proving that voter fraud is a manufactured crisis designed to steal the 2012 election!
spouting your rant is far from amusing. voter fraud in google, provides facts.
Then read them. Think about them. Then reply.
I have read them, there are real facts and suggest you do the same. or go back to sea.
Keep this up and there won’t be any TV for you, tonight.
Actually you are so amusing. This is far better than tv. Reading the comics too, gives new definition to amusing. LOLS.
Conservatives love them some giant flat screens.They certainly don’t read except for George Will and David Brooks
Could you please post the links to the articles that you are talking about? I would like to read them.
When I “google” voter fraud I find lots of articles that say voter fraud either doesn’t exist or is used to further political agendas.
What political party do the writers of the articles belong to? No democrat will ever admit to looking the other way when it comes to illegality.
////
You’re funny, I don’t think democrats have cornered the market on lying unfortunately.
If that is true, then the opposite could be said about republicans. No republican will ever admit that their real agenda is to supress voting rights to those who are considered possible voters for the opposition.
You can put all sorts of rubbish up findable on Google. It must be evaluated for veracity. If you don’t, you get an F on your project.
Hbear: “spouting rant” in his post?. Seen more often in some responses by the conservatives.
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?
Duh! You Do Have To show proof to Register!
What proof? A utility bill or other such “proof” that can easily be forged?
“Any” document can be forged! Even Voter ID s
Let us use some deductive reasoning!When there is a concerted effort by one group across all States and that effort results in more of a change to the outcome of the election than the purported crime that the effort seeks to eliminate,– than a reasonable person could concude that the effort is in fact a criminal act by design hidden in the pretext of politics!
I do believe that the Miscreants responsible should be brought to justice and prosecuted to full extent of the laws for this conspiracy to undermine the Democratic Process.
What proof is needed in order to get a drivers license or a passport? Bring those.
I can’t resist adding that many Floridians have arisen and continue to rise from the dead, after learning they had lost their voting rights, as decreed by their illustrious governor.
seems the dead also rise up for every Chicago election. and think it is time for you to admit you are Wrong.
Are you aware of of what you just said?
Lol.
Let me be the first to tell you, just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean they are wrong.
Gee, thanks for your comment. Will keep that in mind.
You said that very well. Thank you.
Typical neocon fascism, the simultaneous quest for more power and control while knocking the Dems for “Big Government.” The whole GOP party is a national embarrassment, and Romney is their ring master clown.
whatever happened to wanting TRUTH…………………. you are not worth the time to chat Obama and Romney.
TRUTH hurts, doesn’t it, hammockbear?
actually koufax, I wonder if you would know the truth if it hit you in the face. this is not about one upsmanship. poor fella.
I don’t take it personally, hammock. And our little debate is but a microcosm of the great polarization that has split our once-great nation down the middle.
If you believe that the function of government is to produce, promote and protect wealth, then you are a Republican. If you believe that the function of government is to promote the health and welfare of the citizens, then you are a Democrat.
I find your “poor fella” remark curious, but just so you know…I would rather be poor and honest than rich and crooked.
Gee! I would rather be honest and rich! And by Obama’s definition of “rich” I have managed to achieve both!
Good.Then he needs to start taxing you.
I believe there is a fool born every minute. I agree with you that I too, would rather be poor and honest than rich and crooked.
Being insulting and looking like a narrow-minded oaf does not help bring others to your way of thinking.
Okay Gary, narrow minded is a poor choice. Try American. and Oaf, well , I have been called worse and does not bother me.
Keep it up, your credibility is now less than zero and fading fast.
What do you mean?
And your qualifications?
“Rude and hateful rants” ? You must be talking about LePage.
actually whoever you are, I refer to comments all over the BDN.
You are the one complaining about rude liberal rants. Then you deny that you brought it up. Call Adrienne. She’ll fix up a response that might help you.
I merely call it as I see it. That is Not complaining. It is stating Fact. I read this paper for amusement.
Typical teapublican loaded with condescending replies. It must be extremely difficult for you to corroborate your “facts.” You postings indicate a fondness for taunts, rather than objectivity.
hammockbear, you need to take a chill pill and get both feet on the ground. Quit insulting and running down anyone with a different opinion then yours. And for the record I have no comment on the material you have been discussing. A cartoon is just that. A cartoon that pokes fun at issues for humor is fun to read and not to be taken seriously.
I believe you describe the majority of commentators here. Cartoons a funny, political and colorful. So what is your beef?
Some have a poverty of facts …
You don’t seem to be having any difficulty at all posting “rude and hateful rants”.
Only in your mind, the Rude and Hateful rants are too numerous to name.
“Rude and hateful rants”? You must be talking about LePage.
What is your favorite Le Page rant:
The IRS is Gestapo? Mainers are fat and lazy? That building is not an organized labor building? I used to take Halloween candy from other kids. Now I’m governor? I went on vacation last week, because I had nothing to do? I’m working for the people of Maine, not the whales of Maine? If you take a plastic bottle and put in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women have little beards? Tell them to kiss my butt? You’re going to see a lot of me on the front page saying ‘Governor Le Page tells Obama to go to hell?
“They are far less of an embarrassment then the liberals. The libs constant rude and hateful rants show qualities that embarrass Maine. You read it here every day and mainly on topics of the Governor. Often the remarks are so mean spirited they show total lack of knowledge.”
You said it, Hammock. But I know you didn’t really mean it.
You just cannot take the heat, you surely can dish it. And you are angry that your liberal was not elected Gov. Sorry for your loss.
You are beginning to sound funnier with each one of your posts.
He may not be funnier but he is certainly getting more and more desperate to be right.
Guess you think you know it all. You do not. Sorry.
Merci.
彡 ☆ミ
Well fella, only if you think so. Vile and Lies are harsh accusations. They can be used in slander and defamation.
Speaking of needing to leave the kitchen …
The heat!?
Well, you are a bit of a gas furnace.
The libs constant rude and hateful rants show qualities that embarrass Maine
^^LOL!
OMG, How true that is, Thanks.
Hmm. I read that quote that cnnc was laughing at you.
I recall back in the 80s when conservatives had a big hissy fit about something they saw in a Doonesbury comic strip that they went on a crusade and forced the paper to put Doonesbury on the editorial page, so that comic strip readers could be assured that they would see nothing more controversial than Nancy and Sluggo in the comic section.
Conservatives can’t abide seeing opposing opinions, even out of the mouths of comic strip characters.
As for your reference to illegal fraudulent voting, there simply aren’t any actual examples for you to refer to, or so few examples that it amounts to the same thing. This is a myth, one of many that conservatives seem to take as the gospel truth, because it conforms to what they want to believe, or because it conforms to what Rush and Glennie tell them.
Perhaps Conservatives have a better use of manners.
Rush Limbaugh and manners?
I am sure a lot of folks confuse Paul LePage for Emily Post .
And you’re an example?
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?
I don’t get it. I’m not trying to be difficult, but whenever I have voted in Maine, I have had to identify myself by name at the polling place, and they check their list to see if I am registered, and when they find my name on their list, they give me a ballot.
Don’t they put a checkmark next to my name after I vote, to signify that I have voted once? I would think they would. I would think that if people were misrepresenting themselves, and voting under other peoples’ names, there would be someone complaining, when they tried to vote, and were told they already had.
Wouldn’t you?
What does it take to “manufacture” a name – a copy of a utility bill or similar documentation will do it and with same day registration the fraud will not be found for months, if ever.
By the way, I think the poll watchers at your polling place are more diligent than many others!
But you miss my point, no one has been reporting that anything like this has happened.
But what we do know is that by creating a hurdle, we are GUARANTEEING that a large number of people who SHOULD be able to vote, will be prevented from voting in November.
What most people here are arguing is, it is better to have a tiny number of people vote improperly than to preemptively take away a large number of legitimate voters’ right to vote. The cure is worse than the sickness, don’t you see?
I can see where many may promulgate this theory. However, I strongly disagree with it for the following reasons:
1. No one is proposing to take away “legitimate voters’ right to vote. The legitimate voter can easily get an ID that would ensure their ability to vote.
2. There are many (and I am one) that believe it is not “. . .a tiny number of people {who} vote improperly.” The belief is that the number is significantly large and growing daily.
3. Until we require that a legitimate voter can identify themselves neither your theory nor mine can be proven!
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?
Re point 1., that’s the main reason it’s proposed. Not spoken out loud (except in smoke filled backrooms), but there nonetheless.
You’re fond of that phrase!
Correct! But prove it wrong!
I don’t think I will continue responding to someone who merely cuts and pastes snippets of argument from one posting to the next. I prefer to talk to someone who doesn’t rely on stock responses. It shows a lack of interest on your part in what the other person is saying.
But you might want to consider, if poll workers are incompetent, as you imply above, what makes you think they’re going to check people’s IDs after you require them to have them? Just another regulation that isn’t going to be enforced. You don’t trust them now, why would you trust them later?>
Personal experience? And yes, the registrars at my polling place are diligent.
I noted that when I first started reading the BDN. Actually, not such a bad idea. Since all conservatives must read the OpEd pages (right?), it’s funny they haven’t griped about that placement. Oh, you mean they don’t read those pages? How do they find anything to rant about?
Not at all a myth. But if that makes you happy then so be it.
If we must show IDs to vote, it wouldn’t be a burden if everyone had equal opportunity to access said ID. For some people the burden is the cost of procuring the ID. For others it’s lack of transportation to the BMV.
Look who is calling the “kettle black”. You are right up at the top with “rude and hateful”. You have degraded people repeatedly on here.
No, I have not and have enjoyed every word. After the rude name calling of Gov. Le Page, well ,what can I say. That is the Rude I refer too. Just call it as I read it.
Yes, you have been rude repeatedly. For instance today you told Briney to take a nap not once but twice. Rude.
And how many of those illegals and dead people voted in Maine?
As for rude and hateful rants, the words that come from LePage and Webster rank in that category as well.
No secret that Gary Trudeau has left of center tendencies and is quite willing to express them. Many papers throughout the country run the strip. No reason to censor, as you seem to imply.
Remarks mean spirited? Most certainly in these forums but no worse than the drivel (and I’m being kind and PC) spewed by conservatives against Gov. Baldacci and (even worse) against the President. I agree that name calling is counterproductive at best, but that from the conservative side seems even worse than”mean spritied”.
”
You read it here every day and mainly on topics of the Governor. Often the remarks are so mean spirited they show total lack of knowledge. ”
—When in Rome Speak Italian—-!
You are joking, right?
A lot of folks like Trudeau got their start in liberalism during the Vietnam War years. As an aside, I’ve been reading a book by the late Adm. James Stockdale, a fighter pilot during Vietnam, that the War was started under false pretenses. Anybody else familiar with this?
What part of “two cases in 38 years” did you fail to understand? .05263 cases per year. That must mean one illegal and one deader every 17 years. Not quite the zombie apocalypse is it?
Prove it! Let’s see the numbers.
Gee, if I were an illegal alien, the first thing I wanna do is present myself to some government office so I can commit a felony by registering and voting …. all against the law.
These people want to stay under the radar not in front of it.
Think about it.
Requiring legitimate voters to purchase a drivers license or other photo ID would be considered a poll tax and as such is unconstitutional. They can’t set up a bunch of bogus rules as obstacles to an individual exercising his/her right to vote, thereby disenfranchising a particular societal group for any purpose.
The Supreme court will make sure of it, unless I COMPLETELY miss my guess!
and we don’t see constant rude and hateful rants from the Governor. Adrienne Bennett must be ready to explode or have an ulcer. I wouldn’t want to be his babysitter. (and I bet he has a diaperful at the end of the day).
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
Obviously, you don’t read Doonesbury. Or, the newspapers and magazines. Your fixation is on Rupert the Fox’s bilge.
Sure, they could call themselves Democrats!
Don’t say that! LePage & Co. can always sink lower!
Only if they were Democrates
I found my head one day when I wasn’t even trying,and here I have to say,’cause there is no case in lying, lying.Yes the answer lies within,so why not take a look now,kick out the devil’s sin,become a Republican now.
Substitute either “Grumpy” or “Gruesome” for Grand, as in Grand Old Party.
I love dogs. How about – to the tea pot?
…
I give up. What does … mean?
Uh oh.
Republicans don’t seem to mind being ridiculed. In fact, they thrive on it.
When you have all the crazys on your side who cares if you are laughed at!
Every asylum inmate swears the others are insane, but not ME.
Been there haven’t ya!
LOL
Yes, I have. They wanted me to take them out with me.
“Webster on Friday, quoting him as saying Democrats had long used Maine’s 1973 Election Day voter registration law to “steal elections.”
Yeah Charlie you and republicans in other states, the only problem is …. there’e no proof!
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?
Yeah extrmely nuts !!!
Maine’s Republicans are true to their Cartoon Characters from the Penguin on down.
You’re aiming too low.
—
Classic example of rude at its height. must surely be lack of education. eh?
Then you should have said ‘rudeness.’ Capitalize the M in must. Add ‘a’ before ‘lack,’ and place a comma after ‘education.’
You’re dismissed.
You definately are overdue for that nap.
It was reported that President Carter would sit in his office (off the oval office) and correct the grammar and spelling in memorandums on important issues sent to him by cabinet members for his consideration. He would then send them back!
He turned out to be the 2nd worst president in my 78 year life. Oh yes – the worst? The one we have now!
Wow, can’t believe that you are accusing someone else of a lack of education. Every comment you have posted has random capitalization, incorrect punctuation, and poor grammar. Looks like you are the one who suffers from a lack of education.
Perhaps it is intentional. Did you ever think of that? Tends to get the dander to fly and create amusement.
A person who does that has a name.
>>One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a
newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum
disruption and argument.
(Begins with a T )
Hmm, actually, no I didn’t think of that and I can’t personally think of any reason why you would want to do that. I don’t gain anything out of getting “dander to fly” as you say (causing an argument), and I don’t find it amusing in the least. You have posted comments that people are rude and disrespectful and then you state that write your posts poorly to get “dander to fly”. That makes no sense to me at all, maybe I’m missing something.
If amusement is your sole purpose for posting, get a life. If so, other conservatives should disown you since you’re taking them down even further than they are.
Snarky lefty says something bad about a Republican…film at 11.
Very, very good!
It was a dumb move and it backfired on him. Before enacting the change, they should have found better data to support their claim that voter fraud was a problem. As in most states that are trying to suppress the vote, the evidence isn’t there.
No voter Identification means no evidence of fraud! Convenient right?
No. Webster didn’t like the fact many college students were able to vote even though they are from away. Since they live temporarily in the state, then they were counted as residents and could vote.
“Theres no proof!” Precisely! No ID, no proof! Very convenient right?How does this affect college students (assuming they have an ID?)
Same song, umpteenth verse. Yawn.
Good night! Sleep tight in your dreamland!
Did just fine, how about you? Come up with some new rhetoric?
‘Webster tells the Portland Press Herald he’s not moved by the comic strip, saying he’s still right about his stand on voter fraud.’ I’m fairly confident that Mr. Webster hasn’t had any type of movement for a very, very long time……as evidenced by all the crap he spews.
Voter fraud, taking oldsters off the highways…nothing of any substance, just like his buddy, Paul.
I agree that Webster is full of $#!^ but elderly drivers can be very dangerous and something needs to change with that.
Then leave it to Charlie. Older drivers should be taken off the road. Especially centurians.
Charlie should also develop a plan to remove handicapped drivers, and those tapping and texting, eating and reading, drinking and snorting and boom boxes. Also, hair combers, manicurists, tooth brushers, drummers, finger wavers, tv-ers, non-signalers, speeders, family feuders, up your rear enders, non-yielders, non-stoppers, and wrong way Corrigans.
No new rule needed for elderly drivers. How about those who Text and drive, and the best, how about the people who drive to physical therapy on heavy pain meds. Let the friends and families help the elderly to to stop driving. No new law is needed. it will cost More to impose that law than we have money to do so.
CW is right on that.These old fools are more dangerous than any drunk on the road.Complete road test every year after age 65 NOW.Politicians have been gutless about this for years.
You are on the wrong thread! The attack on older drivers was done in an earlier issue this week!
No surprise there, Trudeau is like the lowest form of Liberal life!
yeah, probably got past 4th grade in school and such
Look up his biography. I’m sure he’s a college grad (otherwise, how could he write about college life and characters the way he has for decades).
He prolly read up on it on the google.
I believe he was Brian Dowling’s roommate at Yale . His cartoon character BD was named in his honor.
Ummmmm Trudeau has Bachelor AND Master’s Degree- both from YALE and he received an L.H.D. (Doctor of Humane Letters in 1976) from YALE and he’s a multimillionaire…..so what do you have for a Degree and from where and what’s your net worth??? Try again.
He will probably take that as a compliment.
In true ‘Dubya’ Cheney-Bush style, just keep repeating your delusions enough and one day it’ll be ‘true’ – in your persistently closed off mind.
Obama must be your new God. I pity you.
Have you washed LePage’s feet yet?
“Webster tells the Portland Press Herald he’s not moved by the comic strip, saying he’s still right about his stand on voter fraud.”
Ya Webster, the real fraud is the one “YOU” see when “YOU” look in a mirror!!!!
Ya….A car dealer in Farmington noted on comments in the PPH that Webster asks for two receipts when he buys a car. The second one lower so he doesn’t have to pay as much for taxes. He said he is well known around Farmington for such acts. How about looking into a story on Webster and his illegal antics BDN? Would make for a great story and show the real fraud.
This is NOT about voter fraud, which has NEVER been a problem in this country.
This is a bold-faced, shameful attempt to restrict voter participation of people that tend to vote Democratic.
Voter fraud is a BIG LIE that is perpetrated by the conservative brain washing machine – Limbaugh, Beck, Fox News etc.
It’s a subversion of our democratic process, and the Republican/Tea Party hacks love it.
So Democrats wait til the very last minute to register to vote? Meaning they probably don’t review or investigate where candidates stand on the issues. They only vote with their “feelings”.
No. When you learn about candidates and issues, then you’ll know what party to register for. By the way, From what I’ve read, more and more people are registering as independents.
the independents will surely give the Obamas 4 more years. duh.
Maybe- any more Romney foot-to-mouth episodes will make it easier.
Do you flatter yourself with flatulent rhetoric daily?
Melora is so correct. sad that you canNOT see it.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but people are allowed to vote, even if it’s only with their feelings. It’s a constitutional right to be able to vote, whether it’s a so low-informed vote or a well-educated vote.
You betcha!!! Right On !!!!!!!!!!
I don’t believe that you have to be a Democrat to register to vote on election day. There could be many reasons why someone would need to do this. Does your comment reflect how you truly feel or are you just spouting off because it really sounds like obstructionism to me. How will YOU prove that you know what the issues are? How will we know that you are not voting based on your disdainful feelings for others?
Eliminating same day registration and mandating newly approved photo ID’s affects Republicans, also, however these criteria are deliberately being aimed at legitimate and typically Democrat voters unfairly ie the poor, disabled, elderly, minorities, and students. And it’s being attempted without sufficient advanced notice before this important upcoming election.
Even if states were to give voters the ID’s for free, it would still be considered a poll tax, in effect, because voters have to arrange and pay for transportation and for document fees etc in order to produce and/or, in many cases, REproduce ‘acceptable’ proof of citizenship and residency. And that’s assuming they can even get such in time.
Singling out particular societal groups, for any reason, thereby preventing them from exercising their constitutionjal rights is not legal.
Teapublicans can’t win unless they cheat and they know it, which is also why they will lose.
Obama 2012
you honestly believe the (legal) democrats have the majority? and liberal media has far more outlets than the republican propaganda from fox.. i take neither side.. but both sides are guilty of the same cheating. this is not a game or a contest.. this is our country, if we dont cut this bullshit we will collapse as a civilization.
Actually, you’re only partly right. Conservative talk radio has far more stations than progressive talk radio.
It is part of their fear agenda. They recognized as a powerful motivator after the terrorist attacks, and really ramped it up when a bi-racial man was elected the most powerful man in the free world.
Obviously, liberal-progressive democrats don’t give a damn who votes. Typical.
That is untrue. It’s just that Republican attempts to prevent minorities from voting is way too obvious.
Radical right wing teapublican myopia. They believe everyone is numb and dumb enough to believe their rants.
I’m afraid their motivated by fear- and it will get worse if economic conditions don’t improve.
What an ignorant hate filled patently false thing to say. Your opinion is offensive to the american way.. You sound like a fascist.
You are Hilarious- 4 things ALWAYS happen when you respond: 1. you are always offended by what someone says whose opinion doesn’t coincide with what your twisted and myopic views might be. 2. you then go on to tell them they lie, are hateful and of course are ignorant 3. then you accuse them of being un-American and finally 4. you then go on to call them names – either a communist or a fascist or a socialist (anything with an ‘ist’ on the end of it.) Too bad all you ever do is EXACTLY what you accuse everyone else of doing. So much easier than actually attempting to formulate an actual succinct rebuttal to someone else’s opinion isn’t it…..let’s talk about ignorance and while we’re at it how about just plain being lazy on your part. HILARIOUS.
You are referring to some other posters on here, aren’t you?
Obviously the ultra right wing neo-cons wold like to cut the voting rolls of the poor and elderly – especially the Blacks. We moderates firmly believe that everyone has a right to vote.
“We moderates” – There’s that term again used “falsely!”
We’ve been through that on the forum on Renee Ordway’s column. We moderates are indeed titled correctly.
“We moderates!” Not hardly! You apply the words, but you really are still a left wing (probably) democrat!
No way, Jose. Registered as a party member just once, three states ago (in order to try to maintain the candidacy of a great Senator) and let it lapse. I’ve usually voted from my analysis of the issues. I realize that most extremists, anyone to the left of you is “left wing”, extremist, or at least a Democrat. Time to take the blinders off.
Every citizen has the right and deserves to vote, not just those that YOU deem worthy. You are not the judge of who is smart enough or who has thought the issues through enough to vote. You, your highness, do not get to decide that!!
Its funny that with such extreme hatred of each side towards the other, that people cant believe voter fraud happens. Lets use lepage for example. I bet there are plenty of people here, that would vote 100 times against him given the chance.
There is no reason not to want id to vote, unless you are of course wanting to commit fraud. If you care so much about poor people who dont have id, have fundraisers to help get them ids. Maybe make use of campaign donations for something good?
I detest him but would not vote against him more than once. Besides, I’m from Maine, the rest of the country would look down on me no matter how I voted.
I lived in 4 states. Nobody gave much thought about Maine. They tended to focus on their own state’s affairs. So let’s hold up our heads and start thinking that we’re just as good as everyone else, and probably twice as good, in fact!
Even thought the Governor says otherwise?
That’s the tactic you have to resort to, when you have absolutely no record to run on; just year after year of epic failures!
I guess Maine’s students aren’t the only ones looked down on in the rest of the country. Tell a lie, get caught at it, say it doesn’t matter, grin. Sounds like the definition of stupid to me.
Let’s see, over 38 years, two people (intent on voting GOP) get stopped. So GOP wants to make sure nobody can vote without ID. Weird in towns where you walk in door and voting clerk says high to you using your name and has found you on list before could move up the step or two.
I guess, in places like Portland, ID’s are a real necessity, and all those criminals down there are a problem. … we, up here, know they spend most of their time trying to find ways to cheat us and deprive our children of education — OPPS sorry, that’s the Portand and Augusta GOP again … isn’t it?
Portland proposed last year that people not even citizens be allowed to vote. It was up for discussion.
Maybe the goverment should give away cell phones and free service to those who vote democratic, oop’s the already do, I’m bad
Actually slices of pumpkin pie on Election Day would be better.
LOL
The demo will continue to steal elections…
Like the Presidential election of 2000?
Ooooooh k.
Live in La-La land do you?
You folks better stop showing up at the polls to vote, you’re stealing elections from republicans who don’t have majority support. That’s called democracy and our governor and his friends just don’t like it.
Even the most fervent Republicans know that higher turnout usually favors Democrats. Hence their motivation to make voting more difficult.
LOVE IT!!!
Voting laws that confirm a voter is a citizen and able to vote in his/her district is the wave of the future. It is the only way to confirm votes are legal. It is easier to prove a voter is legal than one is illegal.
Also there are areas of the state that have proposed voters be able to legally vote when they are not even citizens. Portland discussed this last year. With Democrats trying to bolster their roles illegally the least one can do is make certain folks are indeed legal when they show up to vote.
Doonesbury still around who knew………. Much prefer Calvin and Hobbs even in reruns.
Right on!
Actually Zits and Baby Blues are much better.
Point granted, but the “comic” strips and Doonesbury have different puposes. As stated before, it’s probably good that it is on the OpEd page.
Oh, and I miss Calvin and Hobbs too but I like Peanuts reruns even better.
As He should be.
Gary Trudeau is like a stale half-eaten box of cracker jacks. You really want them to be edible. So you try one and then quickly spit it out. Can’t do it. Then you look for a peanut, but they’re all gone. So you sigh and throw it in the trash. Trudeau is a lifetime supply of stale cracker jacks. He lost his sense of humor and originality 25 years ago and now clobbers everything in sight with his giant Hammer Of The Obvious to make up for it. I don’t care about the politics. Just. Be. Funny. Still, I had to read the cartoon on Maine, and now I have decayed caramel stuck to my teeth.
Give our regards to the folks back home on Pluto when you get there. Say, are you registered to vote there?
Actually, he stays quite current (as this weeks Jimmy Crow strips illustrate).
Who really cares…..OMG
No one seems to ever mention the fact that no fraud is found, if no one ever bothers to even check IDs.
Precisely! Americans are a mobile society. They move often. I recently voted in Maine for the first time. When I walked into the polling place no one knew me yet no one asked for any identification or even asked that I sign my name. They just gave me a ballot. I could have registered in multiple places under several different names. In small towns of Maine some may be known to the poll watchers, but that is the exception not the rule.
The left likes to point out that there has been no fraud in voting. If you do not check identification how would you detect fraud? You don’t! This makes a very nice circular argument that fits their objective.
I believe the (democrat) motto in Chicago (Cook county Illinois) has long been; “vote early – and often!”
Boston has a similar past, especially in the mayoral reign of James Michael Curley:
“Vote early for Curley! Vote early and often!”
You obviously don’t know what you are talking about, so stow it.
Every voter has to register with a corresponding name and address, often evidenced by something as simple as a recent utility bill with a valid mailing address which is then checked by poll workers and has nothing, whatsoever, to do with having payed for a drivers license or a picture ID. Such a requirement has been historically considered a poll tax and, and as such, makes the so called requirement unconsitutional. Voting is an individual right and is covered under the equal protection clause. They an’t set up sets of rules, for any purpose, that disenfranchise a particular group from exercising their constutional rights.
Fine, then GIVE the few that do not have a driver’s license a picture ID if they are residents and qualified to vote in the jurisdiction issuing the ballot.
You validated my previous post. The poll workers did not even attempt to confirm I was who I said I was much less check my address.
Methinks democrats doth protest too much! Could it be they fear losing the votes of all those ineligible voters?
YES YOUR GOV
GOP view voters as a threat to their existence. It is not any wonder that they would do everything they can to keep them from being able to exercise their right to vote.
GT-American hero for four decades and counting.
Cost of Young Republicans Club renting and hiding all the ‘get out the vote’ buses. $350.00
Salary for Chairman of the Republican Party who thought up the bus scam $500.00
Maine Voter Fraud Study requested by Republican Secretary of State $10,000
Seeing the whole stupid bunch made fun of in an international cartoon …………… Priceless!!!!!
posted in wrong place
It is ok, dont do it again..LOL…:)
…..
Charlie Webster – still right (wing) about it. Did the PPH have to explain the strip to him?
Let me state it again, hammockbear. Showing a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, does NOT prove that you are an eligible voter. A driver’s license proofs that you can drive. It does not prove that you are a United States citizen, which is the first requirement of being able to register to cast a vote in an election. I personallyl talked to Mr. Summers about this when I sat next to him at the pancake breakfast in Brewer on the 4th of July. He, too, indicated that you had to show a driver’s license to ID yourself. I explained the facts to him and, I believe from the way he looked at me, that he was surprised at that information. I have never had to show proof that I am a US citizen. Not in the 5 states in which I registered to vote, as my husband and I moved across the country. Not once! Yet, I only have to open my mouth to speak and you can tell I was not born here. So how intense is this preventing voter fraud issue really? If even the Secretary of State has not thought of this particular requirement, then how can we expect a clerk at the Registration Office to know it. A clerk only follows orders and if he/she has not been instructed to check eligibility of the most important part of registering to vote, who knows how many non-citizens sign up? So, let’s put some teeth in this requirement.
I’ve been volunteering at my local Democratic Party Office…spreading the word about our candidates. If we “steal” the election by inspiring our party members to vote, it will because of our diligence and dedication to win. But we aren’t planning any acts of chicanery or other illegal moves to “steal” votes. Just plain honest campaigning and phone canvassing is going on over there.
The Teabillys are a national joke, but they are too stupid to realize it !
Tea Bullies… They are known for being a bully and bigots… They scare the Liberals until they give in.
For those of you who are too frugal to buy the print BDN, this is the comic strip I mentioned on a post yesterday. Apparently, Charlie Webster reads the print BDN.
Thanks, BDN for posting this article (and cartoon) online.
Why congratulate the B*N for featuring the Trudeau cartoon as news (in addition to publishing it on their web page?) It only reinforces the bias pervasive in the B*N editorial pages and shows why the SCOTUS was correct in “Citizens United.” No Republican or conservative can get a fair shake in the “mainstream media” without paying for it while any left wing jerk can get yards of column space to promote any theory imaginable!
Yawn.Go away Sarah.
Not so and you know it.
Voter Suppression: “The chairman of the Maine Republican Party said Friday that College Republicans at the University of Maine at Farmington worked to prevent university vans from being used to take student voters to the polls on Election Day 2010.Charlie Webster, who has been campaigning against a group seeking to overturn a recently passed law that ended same-day voter registration in Maine, said in a phone interview that UMF’s College Republicans reserved university vans to use on Election Day last November, but then parked the vans in a lot so they couldn’t be used to take students to the polls.”
http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2011/07/30/politics/maine-gop-leader-says-umf-college-republicans-parked-vans-on-election-day/
Ah! Another theory – but where’s the proof?
LOl…Moon bats…LOL…
Thank you Mr. Trudeau… Small minded GOP voters will believe anything they are told to…
Mr. Trudeau you are F.O.S.! but never mind since Democrat voters will believe anything you feed them with a spoon or a barn yard shovel!
I agree CONservatives certainly are moon bats and Lemmings following any group that are Moon Bats, like ALEC that has brought us these Nanny Discriminatory Laws.
“i’m still right about it”..even in the face of being wrong…typical teagagg/gop response.
Charlie finally recieves recognition for the cartoon character he is.
Between Charlie and LePage, our State has become a joke across the entire country.
No, he’s not “still right about it.”
The LePage administration and the Maine GOP are a national embarrassment. They think Mainers are basically clueless and don’t really pay attention to what’s gone on. Make up a lie and repeart over over and over again and maybe people can be convinced it’s ‘true’- a la Dubya Cheney-Bush. History is repeating itself in Charlie Webster et al. In order for them to be right, no pun, they have to make everybody else wrong. Maineahs are smahter than that! Ayuh! …”The secretary recently confirmed that his investigation of the list revealed no evidence of fraud, but inexplicably, even as he affirmed that students have every legal right to vote where they live, he questioned their patriotism for doing so. The ACLU of Maine and allied organizations wrote Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers today, demanding he send a new letter clarifying these voters’ rights and correcting the record.
Then came the list of 19: 19 young adults who availed themselves of Maine’s longstanding tradition of election day registration in 2004. But these voters registered from a nontraditional residence – the Holiday Inn. Rather than simply ask “why?” partisans started pounding tables in September, using this “uncovered” evidence as proof that Mainers should vote to uphold the repeal of same-day registration.
It took a simple phone call to discover that during the 2004 school year, the entire Holiday Inn was, in fact, a St. Joseph’s College dorm housing transfer students whose campus had been ravaged by Hurricane Ivan. Long after the hotel confirmed this fact to the media, the press release “revealing” these students remains on a state political party’s website, ignoring the far less scandalous truth. The only thing these 19 Mainers appear to be guilty of is having had the gall to be displaced by a natural disaster during an election year…” http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/category/allegations_of_voter_fraud/
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/category/allegations_of_voter_fraud/ …”The secretary recently confirmed that his investigation of the list revealed no evidence of fraud, but inexplicably, even as he affirmed that students have every legal right to vote where they live, he questioned their patriotism for doing so. The ACLU of Maine and allied organizations wrote Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers today, demanding he send a new letter clarifying these voters’ rights and correcting the record.
Then came the list of 19: 19 young adults who availed themselves of Maine’s longstanding tradition of election day registration in 2004. But these voters registered from a nontraditional residence – the Holiday Inn. Rather than simply ask “why?” partisans started pounding tables in September, using this “uncovered” evidence as proof that Mainers should vote to uphold the repeal of same-day registration.
It took a simple phone call to discover that during the 2004 school year, the entire Holiday Inn was, in fact, a St. Joseph’s College dorm housing transfer students whose campus had been ravaged by Hurricane Ivan. Long after the hotel confirmed this fact to the media, the press release “revealing” these students remains on a state political party’s website, ignoring the far less scandalous truth. The only thing these 19 Mainers appear to be guilty of is having had the gall to be displaced by a natural disaster during an election year…”
They don’t care about the facts, they care about demonizing people they disagree with. It’s not enough to have a different opinion, they have to paint them as evil, awful cheaters.
of course voters should ID themselves … are you people nuts…..it doesn’t take a brainiac to know that if there were two caught there were more. and one is too many .. come on Maine get it right
I will reply to your comment with your own words “it doesn’t take a brainiac”.
There have been Republicans, Democrats, Catholic Priests, Rabbis, and school teachers found guilty of …………………fill in the blank……………..so should we punish all Catholics, Democrats, Jews, and State employees? I am afraid your answer is probably yes.
Go ask Mr. Nutting about fraud.
I do like the cartoon, it is cute…. But there is nothing wrong with showing an ID to vote.. None what so ever.
Let’s see, a Republican from Maine was convicted for harassing and tying up a Democrat get out the vote phone campaign. Charlie encouraged Northern Maine student Republicans to take college vans available for use under false pretenses but really just parked them so the student Democrats could not se them to take voters to the polls. Both some Tea Party people and some Republicans have complained about fraud and deception at the Maine Republican Convention. No wonder Charlie is so paranoid about voter fraud, seems like the Republicans are up to their elbows in it. Fortunately most of the people in the State are Democrats, so their is no need for your paranoia to make laws to restrict Ameerican voters rights. The founding fathers would be ashamed.
Make up a big lie, repeat it as often as possible, and you’d be amazed at the number who’ll fall for it. Charlie knows that much about the crowd. Of course, once the crowd realizes its been taken for a ride, Charlie ought duck his head. By the way, Charlie, if anyone at least eighteen years old takes up residence in another town other than the one where he or she lived as a child, that place may become that person’s legal residence for purposes of voting. If the person moves out three months, three days or three decades later, it is of no concern to the registrar of voters. When and if the person registers somewhere else, the registrar will be notified by that jurisdiction. So, the citizen’s legal physical residence, “not the old home town or where the family lives” is the determinant. If the voter chooses not to declare the current place of residence as the legal one, but would rather vote in ” the old home town” he or she just left behind, that can be done by absentee ballot. Charlie and company seem to think that should be the only way a new arrival, particularly a college student of age, would be allowed to vote. Whether that person is financially supported by parents or anyone else, which is often part of the Charlie style argument, is of no particular concern to the registrar of voters. The question is simple: up until the closing of the polls, does one live in the town where one seeks to register and can one supply printed evidence of that claim? If so, and if one can provide a legitimate photo id and fill out the registration card, that’s all there need be to it. Charlie and other anti-democrats don’t like that very much. I don’t believe they ever have. I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually argued to adopt a constitutional amendment invalidating Amendment XXIV, which declared poll taxes unconstitutional. To them, and perhaps many more, voting ought be limited to tax-paying citizens, citizens of “good report,” pillars of the community, etc. Goodness ,gracious.
Boy, Britain mocks us by showcasing their national health care service at the Olympics. Now Doonesbury mocks Maine GOP push for Voter ID laws. Nationally our governor is mocked every other week for his gaffs. Romney’s gaff at the Olympics put his lack of diplomatic savvy front and center. Now he is fawning over Israel and looking like he is set to threaten global stability. Tell me. Is there are good news about what Republicans are doing?
I am waiting for Doonesbury to do a cartoon
mocking Dizzy Lizzy Warren in Mass about being
a Native American. Think we will see that soon?
Doonesbury’s simple four panel strip, said more than a full page of type.