In today’s America, you can’t even get a speeding ticket without a photo ID. Granted, you might be thrown in jail if you get caught speeding and forgot your ID; but you will eventually have to prove that you are who you say you are to get out of the hoosgow. Nor will you be able to board an airliner. However, you can vote in most states. To many Americans who voted Republican in the last election, voter ID should be a no-brainer. With a majority — however thin — the gutless Senate Republicans cannot pass one of the president’s most important legislative priorities: the Safeguard America voter ID bill.
If the peace with Iran holds and gas prices/inflation drops, the Republicans should be in good shape in November.
It is obvious why the Democrats unanimously oppose Voter ID. After all, a major part of their constituency consists of the dead in Chicago, undocumented aliens, and any derelicts that they can bus from homeless shelters and seedy bars to the polls on election day. But the Voter ID act remains a bridge too far for Republican senators. This is the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Given the mood of the country today, a continued Republican majority in the House and Senate is by no means assured after November.
The excuse is the filibuster by Democrats. There is good reason for both parties to keep the filibuster in place, Both know it is a tool for the party not in power not to get steamrolled and what goes around comes around. However, the GOP does have tools in its kit.
The reason voter ID was not a part of the Constitution in the first pace is relatively simple to understand. First, photography had not yet been invented. Second, in the villages and towns of mostly rural America, virtually everyone knew everyone else. If a stranger showed up to voter, he was likely liable to be tarred and feathered … or worse.
The Republican majority can keep the Senate in session for the whole summer denying the senators their cherished time off at home or in whatever Caribbean paradise that their ill-gotten gains from fat cat donors allows them to afford, and some are in tight races. It would require sacrifice on the part of the Republicans as well. I am not sure that they are up to it. If that sounds cynical on my part, it is a healthy distrust of the cesspool that Washington remains. I’m not confident that the GOP senators have the intestinal fortitude; but one can always hope.
If the peace with Iran holds and gas prices/inflation drops, the Republicans should be in good shape in November. If not, they need to strike while the iron is hot. If Voter ID becomes law, the president can go to bat confidently for Republican candidates. With the nation at peace and relative prosperity to run on, Mr. Trump can claim that he kept his campaign promises. No more open borders, inflation under control. and only bonified Americans allowed to vote.
Gary Anderson is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator
