My oh my! Leave it up to those rich Republicans to pull a stunt like this!

I was just reading an editorial in the August 9th edition of the New York
Times called "A Welfare Check and a Voting Card". The article concerns the
Obama administration's endeavors to more strongly enforce the 1993 National
Voter Registration Act, which is better known as the "motor-voter law".

As you may know, the purpose of this law was to encourage more people to
vote, by making it easier for them to register to vote at the DMV --
Department of Motor Vehicles -- as well as at most government pubic
assistance offices.

As the editorial explains, while many states embraced the DMV part of the
law, the other part of the law -- making it possible to register to vote at
public assistance offices -- was not enforced, ignored, or simply outright
resisted.

But guess who offered the most resistance? According to the NYT editorial,
it was Republican officials who feared that too many Democrat voters would
register to vote. Consider this key paragraph from the editorial:

----- Begin Quote -----

In part, that was because of additional paperwork at those offices, but in
many states, Republican officials did not want to provide easy entry to the
voting rolls for low-income people whom they considered more likely to vote
Democratic. The Bush administration devoted its attention to seeking out
tiny examples of voter fraud and purging people from the rolls in swing
states. It did little to enforce the motor-voter law despite years of
complaints from civic groups and Democratic lawmakers.

----- End Quote -----

But, as I said, it seems that the hanky-panky of the Bushes and the
Republicans may soon come to an end if Obama has his way. Consider this
paragraph:

----- Begin Quote -----

In April, however, President Obama’s Justice Department sent the states a
set of guidelines  making it clear that it expected full compliance with the
public-assistance office section of the law — the first time in the 15-year
history of the motor-voter law that the Justice Department has explained
what kinds of offices are covered and what procedures are to be used. The
guidelines make it clear that people applying for benefits must not only be
offered the chance to register but must be given help in filling out the
forms if they ask. If states do not comply voluntarily, lawsuits are likely
to follow.

----- End Quote -----

Quite frankly, as most of you should know by now, I consider most
politicians to be double-talkers and promise-breakers who are not worthy to
be trusted. They will say anything, and do anything, to get your vote, and
then stab you in the back once they are in power. They will back-peddle on
their promises and commitments to their constituents, and then offer some
lame excuses regarding why they failed. Maybe they never intended to keep
their word in the first place!

As far as I am concerned -- and as I have said before -- the whole
democratic process is a farce and an illusion. The only-two-parties-allowed
mentality is ludicrous. Sure; there are a few other parties, but to what two
parties does most of the money always go? Unless a man or woman has piles of
money, he or she can't even run for office, which goes to show that it is
more about money than actual issues. Any intelligent person with good ideas
should be able to easily run for office, but that isn't the way it is
anymore. The Electoral College is a gimmick which is easily abused. It
should be one-man, one-vote. Candidates should win an election through the
popular vote.

I realize that the system is not perfect, but there is a lot of room for
improvement as far as I am concerned, to weed out the corruption, favoritism
and Big Money.

Of course, as Christians, we should all know that there will only be One
Government which will be righteous, fair and free of corruption; and that is
the one that is described for us in Daniel 2:44, Psalm 2 and elsewhere in
the Bible -- the Millennial Government of Jesus Christ! Consider this:

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever." Daniel 2:44, KJV

And BTW, I am neither Republican, Democrat or Independent, so please don't
start nagging on me regarding my supposed political biases.  :)

Following is the full NYT editorial.


A Welfare Check and a Voting Card

New York Times Editorial

August 9, 2010


After years of deliberate neglect, the Justice Department is finally
beginning to enforce the federal law requiring states to provide voter
registration at welfare and food stamp offices. The effort not only promises
to bring hundreds of thousands of hard-to-reach voters into the electorate,
but it could also reduce the impact of advocacy organizations whose role in
registering voters caused such a furor in 2008.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, better known as the motor-voter
law, is well-known for making it possible to register to vote at state motor
vehicle offices. However, the law also required states to allow registration
at offices that administer food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, disability
assistance and child health programs. States were enthusiastic about the
motor-vehicle section of the law, and millions of new voters got on the
rolls while getting a driver’s license. But registration at public
assistance offices proved far less popular.

In part, that was because of additional paperwork at those offices, but in
many states, Republican officials did not want to provide easy entry to the
voting rolls for low-income people whom they considered more likely to vote
Democratic. The Bush administration devoted its attention to seeking out
tiny examples of voter fraud and purging people from the rolls in swing
states. It did little to enforce the motor-voter law despite years of
complaints from civic groups and Democratic lawmakers.

In April, however, President Obama’s Justice Department sent the states a
set of guidelines making it clear that it expected full compliance with the
public-assistance office section of the law — the first time in the 15-year
history of the motor-voter law that the Justice Department has explained
what kinds of offices are covered and what procedures are to be used. The
guidelines make it clear that people applying for benefits must not only be
offered the chance to register but must be given help in filling out the
forms if they ask. If states do not comply voluntarily, lawsuits are likely
to follow.

The administration will undoubtedly be accused of acting in a self-serving
political way by making it easier for more Democrats to vote. The effort may
have that effect. But it is worth remembering that the recession has brought
millions of new people to food stamp and other welfare offices in the last
two years, many of whom may not be traditional Democrats. In addition,
government offices are much more likely to provide reliable registrations
than Acorn or other advocacy groups that were widely accused of fraudulent
sign-ups in the last cycle. Welfare offices generally have extensive methods
of verifying identities in order to provide benefits, and it is illegal to
provide false records there.

But the best reason to applaud the Justice Department’s new posture is that
it will bring more voters into public life. When advocacy groups sued Ohio
and Missouri to force their public assistance offices into complying, huge
groups of new voters surged onto the rolls — more than 100,000 in Ohio, and
more than 200,000 in Missouri. Nationwide enforcement by the Justice
Department could add millions more. The more people who have access to the
ballot, the better the country will be.



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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