A county judge in Wisconsin ruled today that the law backed by Gov. Scott Walker requiring voters to show photo ID is unconstitutional.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess blocked the law, saying it would unconstitutionally disenfranchise citizens who do not have photo IDs. Addressing claims that the photo ID law would prevent voter fraud, Neiss wrote, “fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression.”
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked a Texas law requiring voters to present photo IDs, saying it would disproportionately affect Latinos. A letter from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to Texas election officials said data from the state show:
…a Hispanic registered voter is at least 46.5 percent, and potentially 120.0 percent, more likely than a non-Hispanic registered voter to lack this identification. Even using the data most favorable to the state, Hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver’s license or a personal identification card issued by DPS, and that disparity is statistically significant.
If you are a union member who participates in Union Plus programs and have been affected by the recent tornadoes that struck the Midwest, you may be eligible for financial assistance.
Here’s a classic example of good news/bad news. First, the good news: The wage gap between what men earn and what women earn narrowed last year to its closest point ever, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). The bad news? Women still earn an average of 17.8 percent less than men. More bad news: The gap only closed because wages for men have fallen further than for women.
Last week, the Obama administration continued its push to boost U.S. manufacturing jobs when it proposed a $1 billion National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The proposal would create as many as 15 state-of-the-art institutes nationwide devoted to research and worker training to make U.S. manufacturers more competitive.
Tens of thousands of community members, working families, retirees, veterans, students and other supporters of workers’ rights stood together on a beautiful, sunny Saturday in Madison to reclaim Wisconsin. After enduring a year of Gov. Scott Walker’s disastrous agenda—tax cuts for corporations and the richest 1 percent, at the expense of public services and the dismantling of collective bargaining rights—Wisconsinites are more united than ever in their fight to recall the governor and repair all the damage his policies have done to the state.
Republican presidential candidates and party and conservative leaders holler that the rich are paying far, far too much in taxes. Here are the facts: Rich Americans are not overtaxed. Not by a long shot. From 1996 to 2007, the overall federal tax rate for the richest 1 percent fell by more than 6 percentage points. The top marginal income tax rate dropped from 70 percent in 1980 to 35 percent today. And that’s just for starters.
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