3/4/2008
Voting is a PRIVILEGE. And so are property taxes....
Two blogs that are required reading today. Chris Schneider does a great job as usual, making his point. And today, it’s a great point (again, as usual).
Voting is a privilege. It’s not a right. And to demonstrate, Schneider hauls out a page from Wisconsin’s 1958 Blue Book (the state’s legislative almanacs), about which he says
Basically, the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau had no problem essentially calling people dopes if they either made an ill-informed vote, or threw their vote away as a “protest.”
Supporters of a law requiring photo ID at polling places often point out that one needs an ID to rent a movie, go to a bar, or cash a check. They argue that if people are expected to use identification for those relatively insignificant actions, they certainly should be asked to verify who they are before voting.
Amen.
We all need to read the page Schneider shares from 50 years ago. Here’s a preview…
As we have said, voting is a privilege, not a right, and may be taken away or given as the people through their representatives decree. Thus, today in Wisconsin the privilege of voting is confined to those over 21 years of age…. But only certain people over 21 may vote and so it is not a guarantee which is given to everyone. It is true that the privilege of voting may not be denied because of certain things such as race, color or sex, but it can and is denied for other reasons.
….There are… some indications that all of the people do not always exercise good judgment in their vote. It is inconceivable that a person should vote for a person who is dead but whose name is listed because the ballot was printed before his demise, yet that happens.
….For many centuries, and even today, in parts of our world people have struggled and died for the privilege of voting, and it therefore gehooves those of use to whom the privilege has come so easily by reason of birth in this state that we treat this privilege with the dignity to which it is entitled.
Amen again.
Ok, Action Alert time
Fred Dooley, Real Debate Wisconsin, alerts us to AB 580, as it sits on Governor Doyle’s desk. Richard Parins, president of the Brown County Taxpayers Association, expressed concern about this before its passage – to me and to Senator Cowles, one of its co-sponsors. Fred distills the complex stuff – it’s going to be tougher and more expensive to disagree with the tax assessor.
Read Fred’s piece and contact Governor Doyle – ASAP.
COMMENTS
Jo,
I note the Blue Book Date was from 1958. This was before the Voting Rights Act of 1964. The "privilege" of voting stated by the author and in the 1958 text actually supports the point of voting as a Right. According to Dictionary.com the 4th definition of Privilege is "any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government". So the "Right" to vote, common to all citizens, makes it a Privilege. It has nothing to do with photo ids. The 1958 Blue Book mentions nothing about photo Id, only that the voter is a citizen, having resided in the state for a period of time etc. I remember many "housewives "in the 1960s who never had a driver's license, they didn't need one (in the eyes of society) because the family had one car, or none, and their husbands did the driving anyway. So what photo id did these women have? Would they be turned away at the registration booth today?
dave allen (Tue Mar 04 07:59:54 2008)
"Basically, the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau had no problem essentially calling people dopes if they either made an ill-informed vote, or threw their vote away as a 'protest.'"
Naughty naughty.
Two useless qualifiers in the same statement. Where did this garbage get started?
Please join my campaign to eliminate the tedious use of the word 'basically' on interview programs and other sources. This over-used word demeans and condescends to the listener while
inflating the speakers self importance and esteem.
I could rag on this all day.
You just did.... (that being said, I agree with you about its overuse... basically, I agree with you about its use, period.) JE
Lon Ponschock (Tue Mar 04 10:58:58 2008)
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