The GOP Is Keeping People From V****g Instead of Giving Them a Reason To Do So

Opinion, Allan Katz

I have no problem with the idea of a v**er ID. The question needs to be what suffices for v**er ID. Maybe it's a utility bill. Maybe it's some other indication because I think most people, regardless of race or our party, believe that no one should be v****g in the name of someone else. If we look at what we know in terms of v***r f***d, since the days of the big-city machines, we don't have any cases of systemic v***r f***d in the United States.

So the real issue becomes one of what do you really want to accomplish here? What I think we want to accomplish here is that we want more people to v**e. We want to make it easier for people who are eligible to v**e, we want their v**es all to be counted and we all want it to be accurate. If Republicans spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for them and less time trying to keep them from v****g, they probably would come out a lot better. It is far too easy to use race as the basis on both sides to talk about a bad bill as a r****t bill. Sometimes a bad bill is just a bad bill.

We take the term "r****t" and we throw it around way too much. I think there was r****m in this country, and I think there still is institutional r****m in the country. However, everything that I don't agree with isn't necessarily r****t. Everything that the Republicans want to do isn't necessarily r****t. The farther we can get away from that, and focus on what the real issue is here, the better off we are.

There are a lot of ways to deal with the Senate filibuster. You can lower the number. We lowered it in the past from 67 to 60. Maybe in these partisan times, that's a more realistic way to go. You can carve out an exception for v****g rights, because that's a fundamental right. All I'm trying to say here is that there are ways to go forward without calling people names and working very hard to keep more people from having an opportunity to v**e.

As I've said to my Republican friends, if you spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for you and less time to keep them from v****g, you'd probably come out a lot better.

The GOP Is Keeping People From V****g Instead of Giving Them a Reason To Do So

Opinion, Allan Katz

I have no problem with the idea of a v**er ID. The question needs to be what suffices for v**er ID. Maybe it's a utility bill. Maybe it's some other indication because I think most people, regardless of race or our party, believe that no one should be v****g in the name of someone else. If we look at what we know in terms of v***r f***d, since the days of the big-city machines, we don't have any cases of systemic v***r f***d in the United States.

So the real issue becomes one of what do you really want to accomplish here? What I think we want to accomplish here is that we want more people to v**e. We want to make it easier for people who are eligible to v**e, we want their v**es all to be counted and we all want it to be accurate. If Republicans spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for them and less time trying to keep them from v****g, they probably would come out a lot better. It is far too easy to use race as the basis on both sides to talk about a bad bill as a r****t bill. Sometimes a bad bill is just a bad bill.

We take the term "r****t" and we throw it around way too much. I think there was r****m in this country, and I think there still is institutional r****m in the country. However, everything that I don't agree with isn't necessarily r****t. Everything that the Republicans want to do isn't necessarily r****t. The farther we can get away from that, and focus on what the real issue is here, the better off we are.

There are a lot of ways to deal with the Senate filibuster. You can lower the number. We lowered it in the past from 67 to 60. Maybe in these partisan times, that's a more realistic way to go. You can carve out an exception for v****g rights, because that's a fundamental right. All I'm trying to say here is that there are ways to go forward without calling people names and working very hard to keep more people from having an opportunity to v**e.

As I've said to my Republican friends, if you spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for you and less time to keep them from v****g, you'd probably come out a lot better.

The GOP Is Keeping People From V****g Instead of Giving Them a Reason To Do So

Opinion, Allan Katz

I have no problem with the idea of a v**er ID. The question needs to be what suffices for v**er ID. Maybe it's a utility bill. Maybe it's some other indication because I think most people, regardless of race or our party, believe that no one should be v****g in the name of someone else. If we look at what we know in terms of v***r f***d, since the days of the big-city machines, we don't have any cases of systemic v***r f***d in the United States.

So the real issue becomes one of what do you really want to accomplish here? What I think we want to accomplish here is that we want more people to v**e. We want to make it easier for people who are eligible to v**e, we want their v**es all to be counted and we all want it to be accurate. If Republicans spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for them and less time trying to keep them from v****g, they probably would come out a lot better. It is far too easy to use race as the basis on both sides to talk about a bad bill as a r****t bill. Sometimes a bad bill is just a bad bill.

We take the term "r****t" and we throw it around way too much. I think there was r****m in this country, and I think there still is institutional r****m in the country. However, everything that I don't agree with isn't necessarily r****t. Everything that the Republicans want to do isn't necessarily r****t. The farther we can get away from that, and focus on what the real issue is here, the better off we are.

There are a lot of ways to deal with the Senate filibuster. You can lower the number. We lowered it in the past from 67 to 60. Maybe in these partisan times, that's a more realistic way to go. You can carve out an exception for v****g rights, because that's a fundamental right. All I'm trying to say here is that there are ways to go forward without calling people names and working very hard to keep more people from having an opportunity to v**e.

As I've said to my Republican friends, if you spent more time trying to convince these people to v**e for you and less time to keep them from v****g, you'd probably come out a lot better.

Always good to hear from you, Rose. The following is an excerpt from a long-ago posting of mine...

"I find myself continually questioning why I stay on this forum. I guess it is because I am in constant search of the common thread that may, once again, bind us all: The eventual hope and belief that the best within our forefathers will emerge once again and we will begin to re-affirm ourselves as the greatest nation to have ever graced this good earth. I don't think that this will come about by steadfast devotion to any political party or ideology, but by the belief in ourselves as a nation of Americans, one and all".

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."

"Patriotism is love of country. But you can't love your country without loving your countrymen and countrywomen. We don't always have to agree, but we must empower each other, we must find the common ground, we must build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good."

Always good to hear from you, Rose. The following is an excerpt from a long-ago posting of mine...

"I find myself continually questioning why I stay on this forum. I guess it is because I am in constant search of the common thread that may, once again, bind us all: The eventual hope and belief that the best within our forefathers will emerge once again and we will begin to re-affirm ourselves as the greatest nation to have ever graced this good earth. I don't think that this will come about by steadfast devotion to any political party or ideology, but by the belief in ourselves as a nation of Americans, one and all".

"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."

"Patriotism is love of country. But you can't love your country without loving your countrymen and countrywomen. We don't always have to agree, but we must empower each other, we must find the common ground, we must build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good."