It really was about a National Voter Photo ID!!!

Was Trump trying to justify a nationwide requirement for photo ID? Was that the point of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Election Integrity? Of course it was, and Kansas' Secretary of State and Vice-chairman Kris Kobach the best man to make it happen. Real "states rights" and "small government-like," right? 

But when Trump dissolved the committee, he and Kobach spewed completely different answers. Why did they lie, and what are they trying to hide?

It's NOT about Photo ID? Well, that's what Kris Kobach told NPR's Robert Siegel:

SIEGEL: Do you think that's entirely about stubbornness on the Democratic - on the left side of this? There are people who think that the right to vote is so vitally important that requiring somebody to have a state, you know, photo ID or something is compromising one of the most basic democratic right. They have a different point of view. You couldn't reach some kind of compromise with them about these things?

KOBACH: Well, the commission wasn't even opining on the subject of photo ID. So that wasn't even on the - that wasn't even a topic of discussion at any of the meetings.

SIEGEL: I think your critics felt it was all leading in that direction, and that you've characterized...

KOBACH: Well...

SIEGEL: ...What should be the outcome (unintelligible).

KOBACH: The critics were making a bizarre and frankly idiotic argument. They were claiming that by looking at the issue of voter fraud, that was going to cause state legislatures to pass laws that would, in their view, make voting more difficult. And in their view, that would include photo ID. Well, that's ridiculous.

Trump says it was about Photo ID!!! Now here's what Trump officially said twice, in two consecutive tweets, contradicting Kobach:

Again, the simple truth behind Republican efforts to put as many hurdles in front of voters as they possibly can, like union membership, food stamps and unemployment, is to suppress voter participation: Here's a quick summary:

Walker's "small government" gets BIGGER!!! 3 ID's; less Secure Voter Photo ID, Photo ID for voting and check cashing, and a Drivers license. People who don't drive pay for Roads!

Let me see, a photo id card for voting, issued by the state, makes it legally clear you are who you say you are. After forking over a birth certificate, social security card and other forms of ID, Wisconsin knows it’s you, so vote. Again, the card codifies for legal purposes, you are who you say you are…with a picture to boot.

Not anymore, in our madcap upside down bubble world of Scott Walker. This Walker scheme is truly unbelievable, and would give Wisconsin 3 separate forms of ID. My head is hurting. That’s small, deregulated government? JS

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration wants to stamp “voting purposes only” on the free

IDs the state makes available, making it harder for people to use them to open bank accounts or prove their identity when they pick up their children from day care.

Walker’s not done dragging everybody down the rabbit hole: 

The Division of Motor Vehicles also is proposing having the state produce cheaper, lower-quality IDs that have fewer fraud protections.

Huh, FEWER fraud protections. Kinda the opposite of what Republicans said they wanted to with voter photo ID?

And it doesn’t stop there either. This is Walker’s way of funding the transportation department. Those cheaper low quality ID’s will force the poor and elderly who don't drive to spend money on the better photo ID, which should be free.

State officials believe the changes would increasing transportation funding by nearly $1 million over two years.

Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families said, “I don’t think the elderly and low-income people who don’t drive should be the state’s target for boosting revenue for transportation spending.”

Ya think? These are the people that most likely don’t drive, paying to build the highways? My god.

Peacock said the proposal would create confusion because the state would begin issuing two types of IDs – ones that could be used only for voting and ones that could be used more broadly – as well as driver’s licenses. “Do state lawmakers want a pharmacist to tell my 80-year-old uncle that he can’t get his heart medication because he has the wrong kind of ID?” Peacock asked.

Walker’s Republicans promised those who didn’t have an ID could get a free one, avoiding the whole constitutional problem…until they realized it costs the state money.

The voter ID law made state IDs free to those who said they needed them for voting purposes. The result: Very few people pay the $28 fee for state IDs these days, according to budget documents.

In fiscal 2015, the state took in $437,000 from ID sales – 86% less than the $3.2 million it received in fiscal 2010.

In a comment only Republicans lacking a conscience would say or even think:

In the DMV budget request filed last week, officials noted the free ID cards have value beyond their ability to be used for voting. “If free ID cards were marked for ‘Voting Purposes Only’ this may discourage people from obtaining a free ID for purposes in addition to voting.” 30% of those seeking IDs would begin paying for them if the free ones were eligible for voting only.

There's a reason Walker refused to raise user fees -taxes- to fund transportation:

That would generate $970,000 over two years. However, some of that new money would be offset by $164,000 in costs because the state would have to alter its computer systems to accommodate the new type of IDs.

Is this getting ridiculous or what? Photo ID for Food Stamp Purchases?

Yea, let’s keep dumping on the poor lower paid worker using food stamps. It feels so good.

They've always said, “busy hands are happy hands,” and nowhere is that more evident than in our own “small government” republican legislature (it’s small “r” republican now because they’re not a legitimate party anymore, just a bunch of taxpayer supported petty bullies too weak to make in the private sector).

And GOP voters continue to betray their “small government” credentials (assuming this myth was ever true in the first place), by not asking why they’re seeing an array of convoluted regulations when government was supposed to get out of the way. 

I've got a feeling it has more to do with conservative voter envy over "the lifestyles of the poor and downtrodden." These dummies are still getting mad over “large screen plasma TV’s,” despite the fact no one’s made a tube TV for decades. Here's another retreaded unoriginal idea from the right wing:

Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, says the proposal is an effort to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse and to make programs like FoodShare more efficient. But detractors say it would shame those living in poverty, with no discernible benefit.

The only thing stopping republicans right now are federal laws preventing these onerous added layers of “special scrutiny.” It’s all about equal treatment under the law. If charge or debit card customers don’t have to show a photo ID, why would someone on food stamps?  These idiotic ideas would be on the fast track if the GOP ever turned programs like this into state run block grants, free of government fairness “strings.”

Rep. Jesse Kremer is a sick paranoid.  

Penalize the poor, deduct $3.50 worth of food. 

"It sickens me to see all of the fraud and abuses … From some of the tenants in our rental homes that make more than I do and can't afford rent to the people using Quest cards at Potawatomi or using these benefits to purchase steaks for their dogs because dog food is not covered. They are there as a crutch and a lifeline, not a lifestyle."

Let me see if I've got this right; government always screws things up and can’t do anything right, but it can do a great job running big government food stamp pantry outlets?

Kremer also wrote in his "term paper" … limiting the use of QUEST cards to privately-run food pantries overseen by the government. " 

Heck, republicans want to create a federal regulation requiring the photo ID for Foodshare. The argument is this: It would crack down on the sales of cards on social media or the black market. But that's a lot of BS too: 1.3 percent in 2009-11.

And this will blow your mind: Talk about irresponsible public policy. Kremer is willing to make this malicious change, knowing the law is flawed and unworkable:

The central problem is that an EBT card is issued to the head of a household, but all members of that household are allowed to make purchases with it, per federal law. Kremer acknowledges that the ability for other household members to use a card presents a problem for his bill. "The way we’ve drafted the bill is it would still be head of household getting the card with the photo ID on it, but everyone else in the household still would have to be able to use that card," Kremer said. "So it’s kind of, yeah, a double-edged sword. It works in some cases and won’t in others."

But screw it, right Kremer, because that's just too much work to try and solve.

But we know what this is all about really. And this feigned "we're just worried about fraud" thing has gone beyond credulity:

A 2013 move to put photo IDs on EBT cards in Massachusetts prompted complaints from the USDA that the state was using the requirement to improperly cut benefits and similar concerns were raised when Maine implemented the requirement in 2014.

Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, flagged the bill as an "appalling" move … He said Wisconsinites are struggling financially in large part due to policies passed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican legislative majority. "Shaming a mother in poverty who's trying to feed her kids isn't going to make her less poor. Basing policies on ridiculous allegations isn't going to solve any real problems," Ross said. "Jesse Kremer needs to provide the evidence to back up his call for this despicable policy, and if he can't, the first thing he should do after apologizing to the people of Wisconsin is resign."

Wisconsinites take the simple act of voting for granted (until it will be too late to do anything about it), new poll number says.

Despite the media coverage of voter suppression and disenfranchisement with restrictive voter ID laws, the public doesn't seem to think it's something they need to bother with, like it could never affect them now or in the future.

In the new Marquette University Poll, this stunning result stood out. jsonline:

Sixty-three percent favored photo ID as a requirement to vote, 32% disapproved.

That's scary. Maybe it's been too easy to vote. After all, most of us just walk up to a table, sign a book, get a number and vote. No big deal right? Until they ask you for a photo ID.

You don't need any of this anymore!!!

Before voter ID, people were simply asked to bring any number of ways to prove who they were. With the new law, a photo ID is required, making every other form completely useless.

Oh, but there's more:

NY Times: Just how many voters will be frozen out of local and state elections is unclear. For some, the requirements can be cumbersome: Women who married and changed their names, for example, must show not only a birth certificate but also a marriage certificate. An older resident who moved here after decades of voting in another state may have trouble obtaining a birth certificate, or strain to pay the fee to obtain it.  

It's even worse in some states where student ID's aren't accepted, but gun permits are. Anything goes. And none of this includes poll locations, reduced hours and days to vote...the list is only going to lengthen with time.