I’m not sure where this will go. But one of the core issues in the debate over ‘vote fraud’ is that there’s virtually no recent evidence of voter impersonation fraud in the United States. People who get paid to register people do sometimes fill out registration cards for “Mickey Mouse” and “Mary Poppins.” But no one ever shows up to vote as “Mickey Mouse.” So even though that’s registration fraud, it’s not something that actually ends up affecting real elections. And remember, these claims of ‘fraud’ are what is behind efforts to make it a lot harder for people to vote.
One of the biggest peddlers of vote fraud tales is someone long-time TPMers will know well: Hans von Spakovsky. He’s the one who’s come up with what appear to be the most recent instances of actual impersonation, back in 1982.
But now it gets interesting. One of the most conscientious and knowledgable people to write about this subject is another person we’ve referenced many times: Rick Hasen, a professor at UC-Irvine who writes a blog on election law. He’s being trying to find a copy of the 1984 grand jury report that Spakovsky based his report on — the one about voter impersonation back in 1982. But he can’t find any copies. Anywhere. And von Spakovsky hasn’t replied to Hasen’s request to review the documents. Here’s the rest of the story.
As we gear up for our 2012 election season coverage and the redesigned TPM website, due later this year, I wanted to let you know that we’re going to have a special section on what I believe is one of the most important — though still pretty undercovered — stories of this election cycle: the crackdown on voting. Read More
Colbert assures FEC he pocketed handshake fees himself rather than giving them to his proposed SuperPAC.
Guy robs bank to get arrested so he can get free medical care in prison. Unfortunately, the one dollar he demanded for isn’t enough to count as ‘bank robbery’ in North Carolina. So he’s out of luck.
Advance excerpts for fmr. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s (R) announcement speech are out. And he’s painting a stark picture. “We must make hard decisions that are necessary to avert disaster,” he’ll say. See more here.
Huntsman’s announcement will come just across the river from TPM HQ here in Manhattan, at New Jersey’s Liberty State Park. Our Eric Kleefeld will be there.
Fixin’ to jump into the presidential race, Texas Gov. Rick Perry tells conservatives they should start following him on “Tweeter.”
Bond king Bill Gross takes a shot at deficit hawks and calls for immediate economic stimulus.
This is really a must-read piece. Not because of the message but the messenger. The hyper attention to the country’s debt is supposed to be in reaction to the bond market, the people who buy our debt. But the biggest bond guy in the country is telling Congress that while getting the deficit/debt in order is important long term it’s simply crazy to think massive budget cutting is going to create the jobs or the growth the country needs. Unfortunately, that’s the mindset now of people on both sides of the aisle. Must read.
It’s astonishing to me that there’s actually a growing number of Republicans pushing to make major cuts to Social Security as part of the bum’s rush push for spending cuts this summer and fall. The idea has zero public support. And it doesn’t make much sense from a policy standpoint since Social Security isn’t what’s driving the country’s structural deficits. What’s most surprising though is that many Democrats are along for the ride.
Phasing out Medicare isn’t the answer. But Medicare is at least a big driver of government spending because health costs themselves are growing rapidly.
Who will just say, ‘No’. It’s bad policy. Bad politics. So why not just say ‘No.’