Jim Nussle Doesn't Want You To Vote

Jim Nussle Doesn't Want You To Vote

Jim Nussle joins in the Steve King papers-please, go back where you came from mentality:

Nussle's proposals include requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast a ballot, as well as requiring that ballots be printed only in English.

Nussle said his measures would ensure no one votes who cannot prove his eligibility.

So. Guilty until proven innocent. And a "solution" to a problem that doesn't exist, says Mike Mauro:

"We don't have a history of any prosecutions because of someone voting illegally or improperly. What we have right now works."

Even Nussle admits it:

Nussle said he had no proof of illegal immigrants trying to vote in Iowa.

Vote suppression tactics like this, under the guise of "ballot integrity," are all the rage wherever Republicans can shove them through. Here's how it would have worked in Missouri:

In order to receive a state ID in Missouri, one must present three separate forms of ID. 'Acceptable' ID is as follows:

Birth Certificate (Required) Cost $30.
Plus 2 supporting pieces of ID from the following list:

Passport. Cost $20. (COMMENT: A few commenters are now telling me that the current cost of a passport is $100.)

A copy of your mortgage statement. Cost: $100,000 plus or minus, depending on the real estate market.

A baptism certificate: $20 appears to be the minimum fee involved in document requests of this kind. I was baptized once but I've gotten too old to remember what church I baptized at, since I was a 6 months of age, at the time.

College Picture ID: $3000 which is a lowball estimate of the tuition you'd pay to attend a public university for one semester.

Bank Book or Checkbook: $50-$100 whatever is the minimum deposit required by most banks to open a bank account. Most poor people cash their paychecks at the local grocer, or check cashing store because they can't afford the initial deposit or all the fees involved in maintaining a bank account.

And lest we not forget: The $11 fee to pay for your certified Missouri Photo ID that is the requirement to vote.

The cheapest way to get the necessary documents for a photo ID costs $81. This means in Missouri you must pay $81 for the right to vote.

The Missouri courts found this de facto poll tax beyond the pale and overturned it late last week.

This move shows Nussle's working an All My Base Is Belong To Me strategy. And it's revealing about the nature of the GOP base in Iowa: xenophobes who are afraid the person speaking espanol in front of them in the Wal-Mart line is talking about them. That unwelcoming, gee I wish it was 1950 again attitude is a big reason why Iowa is one of the slowest growing states in the nation.