Republicans have greatly exaggerated the occurrence of voter fraud to justify new state voter-ID and registration laws. Meanwhile, a firm hired by the Republican National Committee and several state Republican parties has been submitting voter-registration forms with clear irregularities, including misspelled names and missing dates of birth. After news of the problems broke last week, the RNC fired the firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, which is run by a GOP strategist. Several states have begun investigations. Submitting fake voter-registration forms does not necessarily mean that someone would vote illegally – though that’s what Republicans claimed in 2008 when they accused the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, of falsifying forms.
The 2012 election isn’t even over yet, but the Hill newspaper reports that Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., is aggressively lobbying fellow senators to support him for the prized job of chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2014 election. The current chairman is Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Moran is the sole 2014 contender so far for a chairmanship the Hill noted “has been a springboard to the upper ranks of the Senate GOP leadership.” Moran’s spokeswoman told the Hill: “While he has been encouraged by his colleagues to give the NRSC a serious look, Sen. Moran continues to be focused on making certain Republicans gain a majority in the Senate and win the White House this November.”
Gov. Sam Brownback caused a lot of damage when he vetoed state funding for the arts last year and laid off the staff of the Kansas Arts Commission, which also led to the loss of about $1.2 million in federal and regional arts grants. To his credit, Brownback reversed course this year and approved funding for a newly formed Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission. But as Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, warned last week, a lack of transparency at the new commission and at the private Kansas Arts Foundation could hurt efforts to regain trust. The arts officials wouldn’t provide lawmakers with details about how they are spending money or about the foundation’s fundraising efforts or what grants it has awarded. “The intent of promoting arts will be continuously downplayed as long as there is such secrecy,” Schodorf said.
Republicans have greatly exaggerated the occurrence of voter fraud to justify new state voter-ID and registration laws. Meanwhile, a firm hired by the Republican National Committee and several state Republican parties has been submitting voter-registration forms with clear irregularities, including misspelled names and missing dates of birth. After news of the problems broke last week, the RNC fired the firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, which is run by a GOP strategist. Several states have begun investigations. Submitting fake voter-registration forms does not necessarily mean that someone would vote illegally – though that’s what Republicans claimed in 2008 when they accused the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, of falsifying forms.
