Thom Hartmann vs. Dan Gainor: Voter id laws an invasion of privacy, a threat to democracy?

Thom debates with Dan Gainor, Vice President and T. Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow-The Business and Media Institute, (Website: www.businessandmedia.org, Twitter: @dangainor) on Ohio Senate Republicans add controversial photo ID requirement to election reform bill.

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News & Politics

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• Thom
• Hartmann
• Dan
• Gainor
• Election
• Voter
• ID
• Republicans
• Democrats
• interview
• Progressive
• News
• Interview
• congress

[misticspear]

@megagagnon1 Someone once said "do you need an id to pay taxes?" if this were a single isolated event maybe however this was part of a package of voting reforms that target certain groups. Even the simplest amount of looking at the reforms to see that. Once again if it were just this would not be that big of a deal. Another question if requirement is id's do you think it would be reasonable to offer them for free with the correct paper work?

[captcrais101]

@megagagnon1 It amazes me that conservatves care more about voter fraud than voting machine fraud and billionaires buying elections because of the citizens united decision.

[juscurious]

This Thom Hartmann is an idiot. You cannot do jack in this country without picture ID. You can't fly. You can't conduct most business activities. It's easy to get an ID. With a birth certificate you can go down to the DMV and get them to issue a state ID for a very modest cost. If you don't have the money, they will consider hardship and issue one for free. No the Democrats want illegals and other unqualified people to vote becasue they know they will get 90-something percent of illegal votes.

[tsharpmac420]

I guess its my young naivete causing me to think that all 50 states require a govt issue id 2 vote, like state driver non driver license

[Tounushi]

Am I alone in thinking that having valid ID at voting stations is common sense?

Mr. Hartmann's major complaint is the cutting off of thousands of voters due to their social status, which runs contrary to the basics of democracy. I say to that the US has other problems, then. A country where the people cannot even afford even a passport has a few issues in lieu of voting down the crapper.

Finnish system: voting note from the mail + name list in the designated station + valid ID. simple.

[megagagnon1]

@misticspear This effort alone is no big deal? Great. Then we agree, id should be mandatory at the polls. Spending a little government money to protect elections makes sense to me. We're not anti-spending, we're anti-out of control gonzo spending.

[misticspear]

@megagagnon1 right about the poll tax being turned down by offering the ids without charge, but thats bigger gov and i though you guys hated that. See how partisan garbage like you are spewing can be counter productive. winning elections? the point i made at first was that this effort alone is no big deal but it is part of a bigger package of efforts put forth to discourage the same groups that arguably won it for the dems in 08 like extra fees for regs in fl. Cognitive dissonance anyone?

[megagagnon1]

@misticspear This "poll tax" objection could easily be dismissed by waving the fee for id for low incomes, but then there'd be other objections because the truth is democrats don't want id in any case. They're less concerned about fraud and more concerned about winning elections. Felons and illegals shouldn't be allowed to vote, and if there was a sure way to stop them, it would hurt the democrats badly. I want an honest election, democrats simply want to win.

[misticspear]

@megagagnon1 we object to the fact that it is like a poll tax that is unconstitutional. You are sounding less like a person with a valid concern and argument and more like someone who just does not like the left. Im still looking for the empirical evidence of rampant voter fraud but you see i did it while agreeing that it is something we need to keep in check. I think you are doing less idea bringing and more arguing with people who you think are wrong and this is not the spot for that

[celainea]

Sociopaths always accuse others of what they have already done/are still doing. It's one of their ploys to keep you off guard & not looking where you should. Thanks Thom for keeping us on our feet.

[megagagnon1]

@misticspear Almost everyone Thom was talking about - the thousands of people without id - could get id simply by paying the DMV $30 or $40 - peanuts. Good for in most states 5 years. You seriously believe there are many people who can't afford $8 a year to renew their id? That's a pack of cigarettes. That's not an impediment. But even if they came up with a program to make it free, democrats like Hartmann would still object. He knows felons vote every election and this would stop that.