by Amanda Terkel

WASHINGTON — A Wisconsin judge declared a state law requiring people to show photo ID in order to be allowed to vote unconstitutional on Monday, issuing a permanent injunction blocking the state from implementing the measure.

“Without question, where it exists, voter fraud corrupts elections and undermines our form of government,” wrote Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess in his decision. “The legislature and governor may certainly take aggressive action to prevent its occurrence. But voter fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression. Indeed, they are two heads on the monster.”

The decision comes less than a week after another judge temporarily halted the implementation of the voter ID law.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Education Network filed suit in Dane County Circuit Court in October. Lester Pines, an attorney with the firm Cullen Weston Pines & Bach who is working on the case, told The Huffington Post at the time that their argument against the voter ID law was quite simple: It violates the provision in the Wisconsin constitution that determines who can vote.

Niess agreed with this argument:

Article III is unambiguous, and means exactly what it says. It creates both necessary and sufficient requirements for qualified voters. EveryUnited States citizen 18 years of age or older who resides in an election district in Wisconsin is a qualified elector in that district, unless excluded by duly enacted laws barring certain convicted felons or adjudicated incompetents/partially incompetents.The government may not disqualify an elector who possesses those qualifications on the grounds that the voter does not satisfy additional statutorily-created qualifications not contained in Article III, such as a photo ID.

He added that a “government that undermines the very foundation of its existence — the people’s inherent, pre-constitutional right to vote — imperils its legitimacy as a government by the people, for the people, and especially of the people.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed the voter ID bill into law in May, calling it a “common sense reform” that would “go a long way to protecting the integrity of elections in Wisconsin.”

“It’s a shame activist Dane County judges continue to stand in the way of common sense,” said Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Walker. “We are confident the state will prevail in its plan to implement photo ID.”

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (R) he plans to appeal the decision.

“In its rush to enact a Voter ID law, the Wisconsin Legislature failed to pay attention to the Wisconsin Constitution. Luckily, the League of Women Voters had the courage to stand up and defend the fundamental right of to vote that our constitution guarantees,” said Pines. “The proponents of Voter ID assert that it is meant to prevent fraud. We all know the truth: it is designed to suppress voting by poor people and students. Now, in Wisconsin, that will not happen.”

A Voter ID law was also blocked in Texas on Monday. The Justice Department’s civil rights division objected to the requirement, arguing that many Hispanic voters lack state-issued IDs.

Go here to read the ruling.

When 99% Is Not Enough to Trust a Republican

by Randy Shannon

The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a bill to restrict citizens’ access to the ballot. The bill was originated by a right-wing think tank called the American Legislative Exchange Council. An estimated 22,000 PA voters will not be able to vote under this new law. Republican legislatures in other states are passing the same law in hopes of influencing the outcome of the November election.

In late January concerned community, labor and civil rights leaders met with Sen. Elder Vogel (See story here.) and urged him to oppose the Republican voter ID law. He was told that several thousand elderly, young and poor voters would be disenfranchised by the new law. The new law is unnecessary because there have been no incidents of voter fraud. It is also an extra financial burden on the state and local election bureau’s at a difficult fiscal time.

Sen. Vogel’s aide Joe Weidner was present at the meeting. He stated “I’m against the bill.” When Vogel was asked his position he stated: “I’m 99% against this bill.” Vogel also assured the group that the bill would not come up for a vote this year. He also promised to meet again before deciding on his vote.

The Roll Call on this vote shows that Vogel voted for the bill that he was 99% against. This is instructive to community leaders who choose to believe the words of this Republican legislator. Is Senator Vogel a liar? One can only be 99% sure that he is a liar.

Pennsylvania Senate approves Voter ID

HARRISBURG — — Legislation that would require state residents to show photo identification every time they vote has moved a step closer to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

Continue reading Elder Vogel Was “99% Against” Voter Restriction but Votes Yes! →

by Randy Shannon

The Progressive Democrats of America 2012 leadership retreat at Winslow, Arizona on April 25 gave Wenona Baldenegro a standing ovation. She welcomed PDA back to Arizona. Her speech was a moving account of the struggle of her single parent household to survive on the reservation and her determination to educate herself and work to uplift the poor and working class people of her district. As a candidate for Congress she pledged to fight for jobs, national healthcare, and a tax system in which the wealthy pay their fair share. The article below on her candidacy is from Huffington Post. Baldenegro is endorsed by PDA and the USW among others.

Democratic Shift: Arizona Turns to New Leadership in Historic Congressional Campaign

Jeff Biggers

With a 9-point Democratic voter edge in the newly redrawn District 1, an extraordinary alliance of resurgent Arizona Democratic Party leaders and rural, Latino, Native American and environmental groups has placed Navajo attorney Wenona Benally Baldenegro’s historic Congressional campaign into the national spotlight as a bellwether in the state’s new politics.

Since incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ) decision to run in neighboring District 4 last month, bipartisan support for the Harvard-trained public interest advocate’s bid to become the first Native American woman in Congress has surged across the vast rural district, which includes Flagstaff and 10 Native American tribes, historic labor towns and an estimated 40 percent Native/Latino electorate. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has placed District 1 in its Red-to-Blue program.

Continue reading Progressive Democrat Wenona Baldenegro May Be First Navaho Woman in Congress →

Leading Public Health Official Says Impact Fee Law Violates Medical Ethics

Scott LaMar / WITF

Pennsylvania’s Capi­tol

Pub­lic health pro­fes­sion­als say the impact fee law signed by Gov­er­nor Cor­bett this week could hurt the deliv­ery of health ser­vices to injured work­ers or res­i­dents liv­ing near gas drilling sites. The leg­is­la­tion allows drillers to with­hold infor­ma­tion on the chem­i­cals used to frack nat­ural gas wells if the com­pany deems them pro­pri­etary, or a trade secret. This would include the chemical’s iden­tity and the con­cen­tra­tion level.

A pro­vi­sion does allow health providers access to the infor­ma­tion in order to treat a patient, but requires the health­care worker to sign a con­fi­den­tial­ity agree­ment, that oblig­ates the med­ical pro­fes­sional to use the infor­ma­tion only to treat an indi­vid­ual patient. Dr. Jerome Paul­son, Pro­fes­sor of Pedi­atrics & Pub­lic Health at George Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­sity, says the law runs counter to med­ical ethics.

“All of the oaths (of the med­ical pro­fes­sion) require us to work for the good of the pub­lic in addi­tion to the indi­vid­ual patients,” said Paul­son in a phone inter­view. “So block­ing our abil­ity to col­lect and share infor­ma­tion, or make the col­lec­tion and shar­ing of infor­ma­tion more cum­ber­some, means we wont be able to ful­fill our responsibilities.”

Continue reading Republican Gas Law Violates Medical Ethics →

Democrats Will Choose Nominee for US Congress from New 12^th District

by Randy Shannon

February 20, 2012

The April 24^th primary election in Pennsylvania will see two incumbent Democrats, Rep. Jason Altmire and Rep. Mark Critz, competing for the Democratic nomination to represent the new 12^th District in the 113th United States Congress.

Critz has been endorsed by a number of labor unions. The following unions have endorsed Critz:

United Mine Workers

United Steelworkers

Utility Workers Union

Service Employees International Union

United Food and Commercial Workers

Laborers’ District Council of Western PA

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1279

International Association of Firefighters

United Transportation Union

Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 354

The Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare have also endorsed Critz.

Continue reading Democrats Will Choose Nominee for US Congress from New 12th District →