Thread: ABBOTT: Obama’s scheme to take over Texas

ABBOTT: Obama’s scheme to take over Texas

Overruling the Supreme Court on voting rights is the start

by Greg Abbott
Tuesday, July 30, 2013


Illustration by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

The Obama administration’s interference in Texas’ redistricting and voter-ID litigation does not protect voting rights. It protects theDemocratic Party. Recall that just a few months ago, high-ranking Obama operatives launched a campaign to “turn Texas blue.” The administration’s foray into Texas voting rights litigation is just another page in that political playbook.

In redistricting, the Obama administration has aligned itself with Democratic state representatives and Democratic members of Congresswho already are suing Texas. It is no surprise then that the legal position of President Obama’s attorneys seeks to improve Democratic candidates’ prospects. Of course, Mr. Obama’s attorneys conceal this partisan agenda with lofty rhetoric about minority voting rights. But it is no coincidence that every change to district lines supported by the administration benefits Democrats. Behind the empty allegations of racial discrimination lies one goal — helping Democrats in 2014.

The president’s partisan use of the Voting Rights Act actually hurts many minority voters in Texas. With the administration’s support, redistricting litigation already has unseated Texas state Reps. Jose Aliseda, Raul Torres, Aaron Pena and John Garza, as well as U.S. Rep. Quico Canseco. These representatives — all Republicans — won in 2010 in predominantly Hispanic districts. In 2011, however, the Obama administration and other partisan interest groups succeeded in getting a court to draw district lines so that only a Democrat could win these seats. As a direct result, all of these Republican Hispanic representatives lost their seats in 2012 except for Mr. Aliseda, who chose not to run for re-election. His district had been dismantled altogether at Democrats‘ request.

The administration’s approach reveals the Democrats‘ fear that Republican candidates were making inroads with Hispanic voters.Democrats could never “turn Texas blue” if that trend continued, so they got the courts to draw district lines that guarantee Democratic victory in predominantly Hispanic areas. What about the rights of Hispanic voters who preferred representatives such as Mr. Aliseda, you might ask? They apparently don’t matter to this administration.

Similarly, polling consistently shows that Hispanic Texans strongly support voter-ID requirements, another target of the administration’s litigious political strategy.

Electoral fraud harms voters of all races, and voter ID is a simple, nondiscriminatory way to help stop it. Getting an ID is free of charge for any Texan who needs one. Voter-ID laws already have been upheld by theSupreme Court. Crying “voter suppression” is nothing but a cynical scare tactic designed to mobilize Democratic partisans, none of whom ever will be prevented from voting by these laws. The administration’s absurd claim that this common-sense fraud prevention device is actually a racist plot to prevent minorities from voting would be comical if it weren’t so depressing to see an American president stoop to that level.

The president’s attempt to put Texas’ elections under his thumb also disrupts the constitutional balance between federal and state governments. The Constitution makes elections the states’ business, not the federal government’s. The Supreme Court’s recent Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder decision threw out a requirement that certain states “preclear” their voting laws with the Department of Justice.

On top of that, putting states like Texas back under federal oversight is unnecessary to protect voting rights. Although the Supreme Court has ended the preclearance requirement, the protections of the Voting Rights Act still apply. Anyone claiming discrimination by a state voting law can sue in federal court. In fact, that is exactly what has happened in the Texas redistricting litigation, where the Obama administration injected itself. If the courts find that a state law violates the Voting Rights Act, the law will not be enforced. These lawsuits cost the aggrieved voter nothing. There is a sizable cottage industry of lawyers who gladly take any legitimate — and many illegitimate — cases at no charge to the aggrieved voter.

After the Shelby County decision, the Voting Rights Act still works. It just no longer imposes an onerous and costly preclearance requirement that disrupts the state-federal balance of power enshrined in the Constitution. Instead of allowing the Voting Rights Act to work in a way the Constitution allows, the Obama administration is sowing racial divide to score cheap political points. The president is using the legal system as a sword to wage partisan battles rather than a shield to protect voting rights. This overreaching action undermines the Voting Rights Act and the rule of law. Texas will not tolerate it. So far, neither will the Supreme Court.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...ke-over-texas/

I have not read the full article posted here, I do note need to. The little despot who is defiling the White House with his presence is predictable. Texas really needs to tell the feds to go screw themselves. Of course, I guess it would take an act of courage beyond what any politician is capable. But consider this: Texas keeps enforcing its own voter laws and ignores the Feds. Let Eric (Hate Whitey) Holder send his Federal Marshalls and let them be met with Texas Rangers who tell them that Texas laws on voting supersedes federal laws and threaten to arrest the Federal Marshals if they do not leave.

Baroque (Little Marx) Obama will violate every law until somebody stops him. I can not,but the Governor of Texas could, where our Founding Fathers alive they would, but then they were real men who loved the ideal of freedom more than their careers or their livers or their fortunes or their sacred honor. You see now how free societies are born and how they die. Rick Perry is no George Washington.

posted on August 23, 2013
by Frank Camp

The Invisible Racism of Democrats

The Department of Justice, presided over by Eric Holder, is filing a lawsuit against the state of Texas alleging that Texas’ new voter identification laws stand in violation of the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment. Let’s take a look at those Amendments: Section one of the 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.“ Section one of the 15th amendment states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The official complaint filed by the DOJ outlines Texas’ voter ID law: “SB14 requires nearly all in-person voters in Texas to present following forms of government issued photo identification in order to vote: a driver’s license, personal ID card, or election identification certificate. All of which are issued by DPS. A license to carry a concealed handgun, U.S. Military ID card, a U.S. citizenship certificate with photograph, a US. passport.” The law goes on to say that ID’s that have expired more than 60 days prior to an election may not be used, but anyone who does not have a viable ID can apply for an EIC (election identification certificate) at no charge. In addition, to apply for a photo ID, all you have to do is go to a DMV. It costs $16 dollars. The 14th and 15th Amendments state that the government cannot deny a citizens’ Right to vote based on race or gender. The Texas voter ID law does nothing of the sort. The Left just wants to score political points and keep voter fraud alive. In addition, it seems to me that Democrats are being a bit racist here. Given the ease with which one can obtain either photo ID or an EIC (for free), what are the Democrats saying with this lawsuit? According to the DOJ: The Texas law “was adopted with the purpose, and will have the result, of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.” 1. The DOJ can’t know the intent of the law. 2. You need a photo ID to board an airplane, buy a car, rent an apartment, buy a house, get a job, open a bank account, see a movie—among numerous other things. Am I supposed to believe that minorities don’t do any of these things? Do they just sit in an empty field? It seems that’s what the Democrats think. 3. Do the Democrats truly believe that minorities are too stupid and too incapable to drive, take a bus or walk to a DMV to obtain a photo ID? Do they believe that minorities are helpless, unable to figure out how to obtain a free EIC? 4. If the Democrats aren’t, in fact, extremely racist, then the only other option is that they want voter fraud to continue. Here are the facts: Voter fraud is real. It helps Democrats win elections. Why else would they fight so hard against voter ID laws? Because the only other option is that the Democrats are extraordinarily racist. Come to think of it, the two may not be mutually exclusive.

Read more at http://lastresistance.com/3077/the-invisible-racism-of-democrats/#C8BjK9mGgtLtrA5d.99