Only Repugs Commit Voter Fraud

How shameless are the Orange Loser Kris "Kissing Ass" Kobach and the rest of the repug voter-suppression machine to be throwing Democratic voters off the books in the name of "voter fraud" that is only committed by repugs.

Fraudulent-voting white repugs who get a slap on the wrist while minorities making innocent mistakes go to prison.

David Atkins at Political Animal:

As over forty states step forward in refusing The Trump Administration’s embarrassing voter fraud fishing expedition, a real actual case of voter fraud just made its way through court. Unsurprisingly, the voter in question was for Trump–and unsurprisingly she was caught. This is what actual voter fraud looks like:

A woman from Des Moines, Iowa, pleaded guilty to election misconduct for attempting to cast two separate ballots in the 2016 presidential election for then-Republican nominee Donald Trump.

According to the Associated Press, Terri Lynn Rote, 57, entered her plea for the felony charge on June 27. Court documents state that lawyers affiliated with the case are recommending Rote face up to two years of probation with community service on the side.

Rote told police why she tried to vote more than once. She was convinced her first vote for Mr. Trump would be manipulated and changed to a vote for then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. According to her statement to the police, Rote believed Mr. Trump’s claims about widespread election rigging.

There is no evidence of widespread and organized voter fraud anywhere in the United States. Trying to organize hundreds of people to impersonate other people on the voter roles and vote in their place would be a herculean task, not worth the marginal statistical advantage, and an enormous risk of getting caught. It just doesn’t happen in the modern era.

The real risks to election security are manipulable electronic voting machine software, hacked voter registration lists, and compromised scanning machines. A corrupt local official might try the old-school approach of stuffing paper ballot boxes–though there’s been no evidence of such behavior for decades. All of those problems are on the back end of the election process–it’s counting fraud, not voter fraud. And in terms of actual voter fraud? Well, it’s extremely rare and almost impossible on an organized basis. The most plausible and worrying fraud on the voters’ side is vote-by-mail ballots in assisted living centers and by family members of the elderly and disabled–which, while troublesome, would be a small number of cases and wouldn’t typically affect any but the most hyperlocal elections. Beyond that are a literal handful of paranoiacs like this Trump voter, or the occasional green card holder who didn’t know they couldn’t vote. And those ones are quickly caught.

It’s worth noting that in yet another example of unequal justice in America, a Latina green card holder who made an innocent mistake was recently sentenced to eight years in jail. Meanwhile, this white woman who knowingly and intentionally tried to vote twice for Tump will get at worst two years of probation.

That’s not an accident. “Voter fraud” is a term used to scare racist whites by conjuring images of urban minorities coming into their precious bedroom communities en masse by busloads, voting multiple times for fake and deceased people on the rolls. This doesn’t happen, of course, but try telling that to the legions of loyal Fox News watchers. “Voter fraud” is then used as an excuse to ramp up ID and other requirements that disenfranchise the poor, the young and the otherwise disadvantaged to benefit Republican constituencies. It’s no surprise that minorities who get caught voting innocently face far harsher penalties than white conservatives committing knowing fraud.

Governor Lying Coward Tells More Lies in Cowardly Attack on Planned Parenthood

Really, motherfucker? You really think a baseless lawsuit against Acorn Planned Parenthood is going to vault you into the White House in 2020? 

FRANKFORT, Ky (Feb. 18, 2016) - Governor Matt Bevin today announced that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. for operating a facility in which 23 abortions were performed unlawfully from December 3, 2015 through January 28, 2016.

False. Abortion is legal in this country, and no amount of harassing, unnecessary rules can make it not legal.  Don't libertarians and repugs hate government regulations? Because they interfere with small business?  The almighty Free Market demanded abortion services in Louisville.  How dare Faux-Bro Bevin defy the holy market?

James Bruggers at the Courier on Jan. 31:

Gov. Matt Bevin's heated statement issued Friday evening accused Planned Parenthood of providing "illegal abortions," and accused the health care nonprofit of admitting it had violated state law.

But Planned Parenthood on Saturday countered by adamantly saying it made no such admission.

"We did not perform illegal abortions," said Betty Cockrum, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. "We worked in good faith ... following Kentucky precedent" when it comes to licensing of its new Louisville facility, she said.

The only mistake Planned Parenthood made was suspending its abortion care while Governor Lying Coward finished his hissy fit.  Which isn't over yet.

Buying Off and Disenfranchising Dems the Only Way Repugs Can Win

And you should know that, Greg Stumbo.  You should have started fighting this 10 years ago.

From the Courier:

Democrats said Wednesday that they are ready to defend their majority in the Kentucky House even as Gov. Matt Bevin continues peeling off Democratic lawmakers and opening seats that could help Republicans win control for the first time in 95 years.

In his latest move, Bevin appointed state Rep. Tanya Pullin on Tuesday to serve as an administrative law judge for the state Department of Workers' Claims.

Pullin, a Democrat whose district covers all of Greenup County and part of Boyd County in Northeastern Kentucky, starts Jan. 1, and her vacant seat in the House will need to be filled through a special election.

Democrats hold a clear advantage in the district's party registration, with 57 percent of voters registered as Democrats and 35 percent as Republicans. But Bevin carried 57 percent of the vote in Greenup County during last month's gubernatorial election, and Pullin's departure is yet another hit to House Democrats.

SNIP

House Speaker Greg Stumbo told reporters Wednesday that Pullin had notified colleagues long in advance that she wouldn't seek re-election and that Democrats have already begun recruiting.

He also accused Republicans of trying to buy a majority and said he fully expects Democrats to remain in power when the session starts Jan. 5.

“It’s a shame that they result to these tactics - these special elections cost money,” Stumbo said. “It’s obvious they are trying to take the House by this tactic. But we’re going to be prepared to meet them on the election grounds.”

BEGUN recruiting?  The deadline for filing for legislative offices is January 29. Forty--three days.  You should have had candidates lined up and filing MONTHS ago.

The repugs sure did.

"Keep Fighting, Beloveds"

Molly Ivins knew better than anyone what it is like to be a liberal in a deep-red state, and she never gave up.  We can't either.

First, we need to know what we're facing.

Joe Sonka at Insider Louisville:

Gov. Bevin’s changes likely to be felt immediately

Even before next year’s session of the Kentucky General Assembly convenes, many of Gov. Steve Beshear’s executive orders are now at risk of being immediately rescinded by Matt Bevin once is sworn in on Dec. 8.

Beshear’s executive orders at risk include prevailing wage on construction projects; a $10.10 per hour minimum wage for state employees and contractors; protection of state employees from discrimination in hiring based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and – most significantly – his creation of Kynect and the expansion of Medicaid to those up to 138 percent of the federal poverty rate. Bevin appears likely to rescind most of these, though he at times backtracked during his campaign on a pledge to do away with Medicaid expansion “on day one.”

The hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who have coverage through Medicaid due to this expansion will be watching Bevin closely to see whether their eligibility will be rescinded with the stroke of a pen – assuming that is legally possible, which is up for debate – or if he will attempt to push for this through the legislative process.

Democrats still have a firewall in the state House… for now

While Bevin becoming governor is a major victory for Republicans and their policy agenda, the big remaining hurdle is the Democrats’ slim majority in the state House. Republicans have long called for so-called “right to work” legislation, tort reform, charter schools, abortion restrictions, fuller privatization of public pensions, and a more regressive consumption-based tax reform in the General Assembly – only to be stymied by Democrats in the House. Though Bevin will now have the bully pulpit of the governor’s mansion, his favored legislation still will face the hurdle of Democrats and House Speaker Greg Stumbo.

Or will he? A serious threat for Democrats over the next two months will be rural conservative House Democrats flipping to the Republican Party, seeing the writing on the wall of their electoral future by having a D next to their name in a region of voters trending solidly Republican. Another threat is Bevin appointing any of these Democratic House members to a position in his administration or a judgeship, which would come along with a hefty boost in their public pension and open up the seat for a Republican to win in a special election. Gov. Beshear tried the same strategy with Republican members of the Senate in order to flip the majority of that chamber, though ultimately failing in that task.

If this happens and the Republicans take over the House, the entire Republican policy agenda likely will pass by this spring. If not, Bevin and his party still have the opportunity to pick up enough seats in next year’s state House elections, delaying their long sought after wish list of policy goals until 2017. Until then, the House remains the Democrats’ only firewall.

Dems to the left, Dems to the right?

Following Tuesday night’s bloodbath, Sen. Ray Jones – the Democratic minority leader of the state Senate – blamed his party’s losses on Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, saying Kentucky Democrats have to further distance themselves from the party’s national leaders. Pressed on this by Rene Shaw of KET, Jones had difficulty differentiating local Democrats and Obama on policy positions outside of coal regulations, highlighting the challenge of how his colleagues could pull off this familiar strategy that has failed so badly in the past two statewide elections.

Other Democrats have taken the exact opposite lesson from this election, saying their candidates’ insistence on villainizing Obama over the past seven years has managed not only to suppress the vote of progressive Democrats, but made the party’s brand so toxic that no attempts by candidates to distance themselves for Obama – like Grimes in 2014 and Conway this year – can work.

This internal debate among Democrats will not be resolved anytime soon, but it will surely shape the direction of the party going forward.