San Francisco Passes Proposition C Also Known as the "Homeless Tax"

[Mchart]

But yet 98% of the Armed Force have at least a high school dipolma vs 86% of the general population...and 71% of the general population cant serve due to being too fat, not strong enough, etc...

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/after-service/201801/are-military-members-the-lowest-our-low

Even the dumbest job in the military these days requires a level of education, lack of criminal record, and mental/physical stamina that the vast majority of the population can't meet.

It gets real tiring seeing people shit on military personnel. It hasn't been that way since the big draw downs back after the conclusion of the first gulf war and the massive down sizing the miltiary has faced over the last three decades.

 

[sirsad]

Again, I'm not making any value judgment (at least not in the post you are quoting) about any policy of either side politically. Just pointing out that our elections aren't free and fair, and that they are starting to resemble a tyranny of the minority.

You are incorrect in understanding the USA. Perhaps renaming the USA to The United Countries of America would better help you understand what you believe isn't free and fair.

Gerrymandering cannot be stopped. Any district drawing will favor one side or another and there is no logic in creating any district. So there is no solution to district drawing.

 

[purple_monster]

Let me briefly explain U.S. politics to you from an as neutral perspective as I can, to avoid running afoul of the politics rules of the forums:

About 55% of those of us who vote in the US are in favor of greater social safety nets, much like what is present in Scandinavia.

About 45% of those of us who vote are very much opposed.

Because of issues like gerrymandering, targeted voter suppression, money in us politics, where wealthy donors give money to campaigns of rheir choice giving those campaigns an outsized advertising advantage, and the electoral college and fixed two senator cpunt per state regardless of size, which favors more rural conservative states over more urbanized left leaning ones, the majority needs to win elections by well above the actual simple majority in order to enact policy, so more often than not the minority gets their way.

To be fair, both sides of our political spectrum have used these questionable tactics, but the conservative minority of the population has been much more effective at doing so.

And that's not to mention the ~ third to half eligible voting population (depending on the election, closer to half during most midterms, closer to a third during most presidential election years) who have just given up on the process of voting, as they see it as such an unfair process and unable to enact change.

The United States was founded on great principles for its time. Considering how long the constitution has been able to keep this country going it was very impressive work for a bunch of 18th century farmers, but if we truly seek fairness it could use a significant update for the 21st century, limiting money in politics, banning gerrymandering, more strongly defending against voter suppression, and potentially revisiting the electoral college and two senator convention making all votes of equal value.

This is very unliked to happen in our highly divided and heated political era where political tribesmanship seems to matter more than objective fairness.

I feel like at some point things will fall apart, probably driven by our future automated AI economy and massive unemployment forcing us to address these issues, but this might be a long long time away.

and you flat out failed. without getting into breaking rules here again, this has a certain bias all over it that i will not mention or touch.

 

[purple_monster]

You are incorrect in understanding the USA. Perhaps renaming the USA to The United Countries of America would better help you understand what you believe isn't free and fair.

Gerrymandering cannot be stopped. Any district drawing will favor one side or another and there is no logic in creating any district. So there is no solution to district drawing.

dont forget bodies of water where generally humans dont make their homes. a fair grid can never be created.

 

[capt_cope]

Oh, here we go with the fallacy that poor people are poor because they are lazy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Generally poor people are poor due to a large number of complex intertwined issues, including lack of opportunity (poverty is a self fulfilling prophecy, if you are born poor you likely stay poor due to not having the tools to pull yourself up), disability (mental or physical) just bad luck. Sometimes people are poor because they made stupid mistakes when they were young and foolish, and now are stuck. Should this follow them for life?

Blaming the poor and the homeless and claiming they are in the situation they are because they are lazy is one of two thins, a complete blindness to reality, or an intentional excuse so you don't feel morally obliged to help. It is utter hogwash, and until you disavow yourself of this notion, there is little else we can discuss.

Nicely done! You not only avoided addressing his actual position, you went ahead created a new one where he calls poor and homeless people lazy, and blames their situation on that laziness...

He didn't call anyone lazy and he didn't blame homelessness or poverty on laziness. Talk about blindness to reality!

Back to the topic at hand: I wish someone would do a study on the massive difference between the homeless population in San Francisco and the homeless population in the rest of the nation. Nationwide, the chronically homeless (defined as having been continuously homeless for a year, or experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years) account for only 17% of the homeless population, but in San Francisco that number jumps to 31%.

 

[HorseproofBacon]

The problem with this....is more will end up in the city politicians pockets than will go to help homeless people

You can't help a homeless person unless you get them to become self sufficient. They will always be dependent on you not, unlike feeding a wild animal.

 

[c3k]

Texas...didn’t that race have an incredible amount of outside money flooding in and all sorts of Hollywood and media endorsements of the guy who lost?

Couple that with the left wing drive to import illegals, make them citizens, and then own their votes.

Not too much of “on their own.”

 

[purple_monster]

I can only speak for the services available locally in my area, and they are woefully inadequate. There are not beds for everyone, shelters are often full, especially when it is cold, and even so many homeless people don't find the shelters to be safe, and thus prefer to try their luck on their own.

Both mental health services and drug treatment centers can't even keep up with the need from families who have insurance, let alone those who don't or are homeless. A colleague of mine's 13 year old kid was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he literally could not find a psychologist through normal channels for him to get treatment, despite having insurance. He eventually had to use professional connections he had through work in the research community to get out in touch with someone who would take him on as a patient. Most People can't do this.

Add to this that most drug treatment programs are completely unregulated, and completely divorced from reality when it comes to what medicine and psychology actually says about treating addiction.


Your characterization of there being ample services available for free seems so disconnected from reality as to make me wonder where you got that idea. I don't think we even have the capacity to treat 5% of patients with insurance, let alone those without or on the street.

Excuse me, but your platitudes are showing.

 

[HorseproofBacon]

no stop really please hush up...... ehhhhh who am i kidding its too late for Texas anyways. The transplants who move here because of bad economies in blue states are voting in the same kind of politicians here who want to implement the same kind of policies. it baffles me.

Simple explanation; Blue people are stupid.

 

[purple_monster]

3.) Voter ID requirements aren't a bad idea in general, but the problem is that they assume everyone has the proper documentation to identify themselves. I recently read an account of someone who had to spend three days and $80 to get all the documentation together to get his Texas license in order to be able to vote. For you and me this is not much of an issue, but for someone who is poor and works and hourly job, they cant get the time off to go stand in line during limited business hours and probably don't have the $80 to spend. That's why we banned poll taxes decades ago. That's also not to mention that voter ID laws like the one in Texas tned to cherry pick which ID's are valid and which aren't based on which ID's white older men are more likely to have, and which young minorities are less likely to have. Case in point. School ID's are not accepted, but firearms ID's are...

I'd like to tell you that you are full of shit from over here in Texas. You only need a utility bill or any kind of "official mail", from somewhere that has your name on it. If you can't get that then ANY paycheck is also proof. Now my question to you is, if we don't require any ID, what exactly prevents me from getting back in line and voting over, and over, and over, and over again. At some point, you need an ID, to register or whatever.

And yeah, maybe if you can't even get a free ID from the library you SHOULDN'T be voting, we don't need your vote from an adult that can't even get the most basic of adult things right. I'll jump on that train.

 

[Wierdo]

Proud new Californian, we're still standing strong, best state by a mile so far.

We'll see how this solution works out, SF needs to tackle this issue badly, victim of its own success. They let companies and major rental conglomerates walk in unchecked, but didn't put in sufficient housing investment to cope with the rapid imbalance, there's still allot of work to do in this area, and this is just the first step.

Back in WV it was just rich crooks and their "subjects" voting for their cronies as told, basically modern day feudalism. The trick is - expanding on what southern president LBJ articulated so well in the past - to just put a vague immigration and socialism hook in your speech somewhere, and they'll do your bidding without question, give you their first born if you ask.

Child hunger? Opioids? Broken down Trailer parks around every pothole ridden corner? That's not a systemic issue, nothing to see here, sweep quietly under the rug. Boy I sure loved paying 2% less sales tax though!

 

[Biznatch]

How do you propse fixing this then? Shit dumbasses in my state just reelected a child rapist and someone who was brought up on ethics charges by the last administration for fucks sake.

Remove money from politics (kill citizens united especially), and fix the gerrymandering problem would be a good start. There were a couple other good ideas mentioned on the first page already.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

I'd like to tell you that you are full of shit from over here in Texas. You only need a utility bill or any kind of "official mail", from somewhere that has your name on it. If you can't get that then ANY paycheck is also proof. Now my question to you is, if we don't require any ID, what exactly prevents me from getting back in line and voting over, and over, and over, and over again. At some point, you need an ID, to register or whatever.

And yeah, maybe if you can't even get a free ID from the library you SHOULDN'T be voting, we don't need your vote from an adult that can't even get the most basic of adult things right. I'll jump on that train.

I have never spent time in a Texas DMV, so I lack personal experience. All I have on this particular subject is book knowledge.

I was recounting the experiences I read here, of a recent DC to Texas transplant trying to get his license converted to a Texas one so he could vote.

I'd be curious to hear what you think about his experience doesn't line up with reality.

 

[Biznatch]

You are incorrect in understanding the USA. Perhaps renaming the USA to The United Countries of America would better help you understand what you believe isn't free and fair.

Gerrymandering cannot be stopped. Any district drawing will favor one side or another and there is no logic in creating any district. So there is no solution to district drawing.

Obviously if the party in power can draw their own maps they will do it in their favor..... So how about we make a bi-partisan committee that's responsible for drawing the maps....

 

[nutzo]

The reason many homeless who have received some help fail and return to the streets is well documented. They don't want to be homeless, but usually their entire support structure and social circles are there and they find they have an absolutely horrible time coping in isolation once housed. Any program that is going to be successful has to consider both the physical AND the psychological needs of the human being.

Actually, a growing percentage of the homeless here in California are people who where released early from prison in an attempt by the current governor to lower the prison population. Usually jailed for stealing to support their drug habit or attacking people.

 

[Dead Parrot]

A basic rule of Economics is 'Subsidize something and you get more of it'. My prediction is in a few years, there will be a follow on ballot measure to change the 50 million start level to 25 million and the tax rate from .5% to 1% to deal with the growing homeless problem.

 

[Krenum]

Actually, a growing percentage of the homeless here in California are people who where released early from prison in an attempt by the current governor to lower the prison population. Usually jailed for stealing to support their drug habit or attacking people.

Reason #5356 not to move to or visit that shithole.

 

[nutzo]

1.) Voter ID requirements aren't a bad idea in general, but the problem is that they assume everyone has the proper documentation to identify themselves. I recently read an account of someone who had to spend three days and $80 to get all the documentation together to get his Texas license in order to be able to vote. For you and me this is not much of an issue, but for someone who is poor and works and hourly job, they cant get the time off to go stand in line during limited business hours and probably don't have the $80 to spend. That's why we banned poll taxes decades ago. That's also not to mention that voter ID laws like the one in Texas tned to cherry pick which ID's are valid and which aren't based on which ID's white older men are more likely to have, and which young minorities are less likely to have. Case in point. School ID's are not accepted, but firearms ID's are...

I don't know the specifics of Texas's law, but if even half of what you wrote is true it needs to be changed.

However, in most other stated that have Voter ID laws, the laws provide for free ID's for lower income people.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

You are incorrect in understanding the USA. Perhaps renaming the USA to The United Countries of America would better help you understand what you believe isn't free and fair.

Gerrymandering cannot be stopped. Any district drawing will favor one side or another and there is no logic in creating any district. So there is no solution to district drawing.

Districts certainly can be generated algorithmically. Assign a bi-partisan workgroup and task them with coming up with an algorithm. I'm sure this can be done.

One idea I had was the below(I'm sure there are problems with it, but if I can think of one quickly, pleny of others can be thought of)

Lets use Virginia as an example.

- Your number of districts for any given state is provided based on census data. In this case for Virginia, we have 11 districts.

- Assign the center of each district based on the centers of the municipalities with the highest population in that state. So, for virginia, that would be:

1.) Virginia Beach
2.) Norfolk
3.) Chesapeake
4.) Richmond
5.) Newport News
6.) Allexandria
7.) Hampton
8.) Roanoke
9.) Portsmouth
10.) Suffolk
11.) Lynchburg

- Check on a map to make sure none of these municipalities are right on top of eachother. If they are skip one, and continue down the population list.

- For each of the population centers add the zipcode of the center to the district.

- Next, starting clockwise and to the north of that zipcode add the next adjoining zipcode. Skip ocean areas, areas outside the state, or zipcodes already claimed by other districts. In round one, each district gets two zipcodes, its center, and the one directly adjoining it to the north.

- One by one add the next zipcode clockwise from the second zipcode, swiveling in an axis around the center zipcode. In round two, all districts have three zipcodes.

- Go all the way around the center zipcode, adding zipcodes to the district, one by one. Once all the way around add the next adjoining zipcode to the north of the second zipcode, and continue around.

- Stop when the population of the district equals or exceeds 8 million (pop. of Virginia) divided by 11 (number of districts).


Apply this algorithm any time there is redistricting in any state.

So, as mentioned, this one may not be perfect. It would make sense to run computer simulations and see if the algorithmic model systemically favors one party or the other. If it does, pick another one. This is where the bipartisan working group comes in. The working group will be charged with coming to a unanimous decision regarding an algorithm they think is fair for both sides.

 

[Krenum]

I don't know the specifics of Texas's law, but if even half of what you wrote is true it needs to be changed.

However, in most other stated that have Voter ID laws, the laws provide for free ID's for lower income people.

Doesn't need to be changed a bit.

How difficult is it to present proper identification? Its not hard.

 

[Deleted member 126051]

Please stop speaking for "us". Your distinctly leftward tilt and deep ignorance means your comment simply reflects your biased view, not objectively describing American politics. "About 55% of those of us who vote in the US are in favor of greater social safety nets, much like what is present in Scandinavia." Stupid, baseless statement free of facts and detail.

Saw his post on my phone and was going to respond in almost exactly this manner when I got home.

"Nono! I'm trying to be neutral here! All us SENSIBLE PEOPLE..."

The federal government is not, and has never been, a direct Democracy.
There are some concessions to that with the House of Representatives. It's makeup based on population.
The senate represents the individual states though. And was never EVER intended to be representative of the population. (Ergo, this is why we had the HoR!)
The Senate was set up this way to grant equality to the states themselves. As each contributes something to the Union.

It's this way so that large urban population centers do not dominate the rest of the country.
Mainly because the urban elites know JACK SHIT about what's ACTUALLY going on in the rural areas and have no business formulating policies without input from those areas.

But noooo. Everything MUST be a popularity contest!

 

[Deleted member 126051]

Doesn't need to be changed a bit.

How difficult is it to present proper identification? Its not hard.

No it isn't.

But requiring it makes it MUCH harder to cheat...

Had my ID out and was told by the polling person here in IL, that they were told they weren't allowed to ask for them...

Yet, 4 years ago, in the LAST mid-terms, there was a goof on my ballot and they needed my DL, two bills and another form of picture ID.

 

[Biznatch]

Doesn't need to be changed a bit.

How difficult is it to present proper identification? Its not hard.

No one said presenting an ID is hard..... The issue is them limiting what ID's they except, which almost always excludes ones held by the poor/people they don't want to vote. If you want voter ID laws, then follow other countries that have implemented them properly. Auto register everyone *eligible* to vote, and send them all a voter ID card to use to vote at no cost..... Solves the voter fraud boogey man problem they keep claiming is the issue, but that's not what they are really trying to accomplish.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

How difficult is it to present proper identification? Its not hard. Unless you are an illegal, even then its not that difficult.

For you and me it is simple.

For someone who is working 3 jobs just to make rent and feed their kids, doesn't have a car, so they can't justify paying licensing fees, it is both financially difficult, and difficult to find the time to get some of these documents in order.

Also, many older African Americans born in the south in the middle of the 20th century do not have birth certificates. They were never issued any. And even if you do, there are many issues (like old name changes, clerical errors, etc. etc.) that can make it very very difficult to actually obtain an id.

In voter id states it is very easy to obtain a qualified voter id, unless you are poor, black, latino or elderly, and often that is by design.

 

[Krenum]

No one said presenting an ID is hard..... The issue is them limiting what ID's they except, which almost always excludes ones held by the poor/people they don't want to vote. If you want voter ID laws, then follow other countries that have implemented them properly. Auto register everyone to vote, and send them all a voter ID card to use to vote at no cost..... Solves all the actual problems of voter fraud, but that's not what they are really trying to accomplish.

I'm Poor and I have proper identification. I still don't see the issue, other than being lazy.

 

[Deleted member 126051]

Oh, here we go with the fallacy that poor people are poor because they are lazy.

No. Simply that throwing more money at the problem isn't going to fix it.

So what happens then? Another tax? Then another? Then another?

Where does it stop?

When every last business and working person moves out of the state?

THEN where are they going to get their tax revenues from?

This is basically selfish, covetous people voting themselves a "share" of money THEY DIDN'T EARN. Just because "this other "guy" has MORE!"

 

[Krenum]

For someone who is working 3 jobs just to make rent and feed their kids, doesn't have a car, so they can't justify paying licensing fees, it is both financially difficult, and difficult to find the time to get some of these documents in order.

That shouldn't be our problem. If you're having to work 3 jobs just to feed your kids, you shouldn't have had kids to begin with.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

No. Simply that throwing more money at the problem isn't going to fix it.

So what happens then? Another tax? Then another? Then another?

Where does it stop?

When every last business and working person moves out of the state?

THEN where are they going to get their tax revenues from?

This is basically selfish, covetous people voting themselves a "share" of money THEY DIDN'T EARN. Just because "this other "guy" has MORE!"

Bet we know this isn't the case.

Other countries, very successful countries, are able to have these programs, pay for them, and also actually benefit from them.

We know it works in all the Scandinavian countries, and we are at least as good as they are. God damnit, this is America, and if anyone else can do something, so can we. We are not less capable. We are just less willing.

 

[Biznatch]

I'm Poor and I have proper identification. I still don't see the issue, other than being lazy.

Well since you represent every poor person in every state/city/county across the US, I guess that's case closed....

 

[Icon_Charlie]

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

That shouldn't be our problem. If you're having to work 3 jobs just to feed your kids, you shouldn't have had kids to begin with.

The 14th Amendment grants the right of all men who are citizens to vote. The 19th Amendment adds women. Their economic condition or availability of documents cannot constitutionally prevent them from doing so.

 

[clockdogg]

Nicely done! You not only avoided addressing his actual position, you went ahead created a new one where he calls poor and homeless people lazy, and blames their situation on that laziness...

He didn't call anyone lazy and he didn't blame homelessness or poverty on laziness. Talk about blindness to reality!

Back to the topic at hand: I wish someone would do a study on the massive difference between the homeless population in San Francisco and the homeless population in the rest of the nation. Nationwide, the chronically homeless (defined as having been continuously homeless for a year, or experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years) account for only 17% of the homeless population, but in San Francisco that number jumps to 31%.

Sillycon Valley effect. Overachievers. Top to bottom.

 

[Joust]

The 14th Amendment grants the right of all men who are citizens to vote. The 19th Amendment adds women. Their economic condition or availability of documents cannot constitutionally prevent them from doing so.

So, do you oppose voter registration entirely?

 

[Kinestron]

You mean how fucked would Texas be. Leftists leave the places they've poisoned with their policies for greener pastures, and proceed to transform it into what they just left. See Oregon, Washington, Colorado, etc.

Beat me to it.

 

[Kinestron]

Because of issues like gerrymandering, targeted voter suppression, money in us politics, where wealthy donors give money to campaigns of rheir choice giving those campaigns an outsized advertising advantage, and the electoral college and fixed two senator cpunt per state regardless of size, which favors more rural conservative states over more urbanized left leaning ones, the majority needs to win elections by well above the actual simple majority in order to enact policy, so more often than not the minority gets their way.

To be fair, both sides of our political spectrum have used these questionable tactics, but the conservative minority of the population has been much more effective at doing so.

.

If that were true, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Dept of Education, etc would not exist or would be very limited in scope. I think you meant to say Republican instead of conservative. Government has done nothing but grown over the decades. The last true cuts were made way back in the 1920s. To me, the bigger government grows the more socialist it becomes, i.e. your 55% is more on the winning side. Proposition C is just another paper cut in the long list of wins for socialist causes.

 

[Krenum]

The 14th Amendment grants the right of all men who are citizens to vote. The 19th Amendment adds women. Their economic condition or availability of documents cannot constitutionally prevent them from doing so.

Come on now, you need proper identification to vote, don't be difficult. Or just live in California where you can vote for free, no mater you're nationality or pulse.

 

[pendragon1]

For you and me it is simple.

For someone who is working 3 jobs just to make rent and feed their kids, doesn't have a car, so they can't justify paying licensing fees, it is both financially difficult, and difficult to find the time to get some of these documents in order.

Also, many older African Americans born in the south in the middle of the 20th century do not have birth certificates. They were never issued any. And even if you do, there are many issues (like old name changes, clerical errors, etc. etc.) that can make it very very difficult to actually obtain an id.

In voter id states it is very easy to obtain a qualified voter id, unless you are poor, black, latino or elderly, and often that is by design.

 

[Kinestron]

For you and me it is simple.

For someone who is working 3 jobs just to make rent and feed their kids, doesn't have a car, so they can't justify paying licensing fees, it is both financially difficult, and difficult to find the time to get some of these documents in order.

Also, many older African Americans born in the south in the middle of the 20th century do not have birth certificates. They were never issued any. And even if you do, there are many issues (like old name changes, clerical errors, etc. etc.) that can make it very very difficult to actually obtain an id.

In voter id states it is very easy to obtain a qualified voter id, unless you are poor, black, latino or elderly, and often that is by design.

 

[Krenum]

Ironic how all of the college kids interviewed are in fact racist. No wonder our education system is the laughing stock of the world.

 

[capt_cope]

3.) Voter ID requirements aren't a bad idea in general, but the problem is that they assume everyone has the proper documentation to identify themselves. I recently read an account of someone who had to spend three days and $80 to get all the documentation together to get his Texas license in order to be able to vote. For you and me this is not much of an issue, but for someone who is poor and works and hourly job, they cant get the time off to go stand in line during limited business hours and probably don't have the $80 to spend. That's why we banned poll taxes decades ago.

You read an account that was grossly exaggerated and overly dramatic then.

Here is a list of the acceptable forms of photo ID:

• Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
• Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
• Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
• United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
• United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States Passport (book or card)

With the exception of the U.S. Citizenship Certificate, which does not expire, for voters aged 18-69, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. For voters aged 70 or older, the acceptable form of photo identification may be expired for any length of time if the identification is otherwise valid.

Election Identification Certificates are available from DPS driver license offices during regular business hours. Find mobile station locations here.

Here is a list of the supporting forms of ID that can be presented if the voter does not possess one of the forms of acceptable photo ID and cannot reasonably obtain one:

• copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate;
• copy of or original current utility bill;
• copy of or original bank statement;
• copy of or original government check;
• copy of or original paycheck; or
• copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document).

I found the "account" you mentioned, it's utter bullshit. Here's where it all falls apart:

Obtaining an ID was another matter. Texas has one of the strictest voter-ID laws in the country. It is very selective about which IDs are valid—the Republican-controlled state legislature determined that military IDs and gun licenses are fine, but employee and student IDs are not—and to vote I would have to obtain a Texas state ID. I could get a driver’s license if I turned in my license from Washington, D.C., from where I’d recently moved, and as long as I brought proof of citizenship, proof of my Social Security number, proof of identity, and proof of residency. So I brought along my passport, W-2s, bank statement, insurance statement, phone bill, and D.C. driver’s license. The employee at the Texas Department of Public Safety who signed the piece of paper that would serve as my temporary license was named “Borders”; he made a joke about not crossing him.

On his quest to get a valid photo ID for voting he brought not one, not two, but four of the approved supporting forms of ID listed, and as the cherry on top, he brought HIS FUCKING PASSPORT! In case you missed it, that's a valid form of photo ID that can be used to vote. The fact that you can read something as deeply stupid as that article and just accept it as truth is scary.

That's also not to mention that voter ID laws like the one in Texas tned to cherry pick which ID's are valid and which aren't based on which ID's white older men are more likely to have, and which young minorities are less likely to have. Case in point. School ID's are not accepted, but firearms ID's are...

Cute, but that's a pretty weak argument. Don't get me wrong, Texas clearly "cherry picked" the valid forms of ID, there's a pretty obvious trend - they're all issued by the government... Know what kind of ID usually isn't issued by the government? School IDs.

And then add to the fact that all this is justified as an attempt to combat voter fraud, something that is more rare than being struck by lightning. These justifications are nothing but red herring coverups in order to put policies in place that maximize the ability of one group to vote, and minimizes the ability of others.

Automatically register all eligible voters to vote, and hand out eligible ID's for free that don't require people to take time off from work and stand in line, and suddenly absolutely no one has a problem with Voter ID, because if you do this it doesn't rob anyone of their right to vote.

More rare than being struck by lightning? I beg to differ:

• In May 2016, CBS2 Los Angeles identified 265 dead voters in southern California. Many cast ballots “year after year.”
•  The Heritage Foundation’s non-exhaustive survey confirms, since 2000, at least 742 criminal vote-fraud convictions.
• North Carolina announced in April 2014 that 13,416 dead voters were registered, and 81 of them recently had voted. Among 35,750 North Carolinians also registered in other states, 765 voted in November 2012, both inside and outside the Tarheel State.
•  South Carolina’s attorney general concluded in January 2012 that 953 people “were deceased at the time of their participation in recent elections.”
•  The Public Interest Legal Foundation recently discovered that Virginia removed 5,556 non-citizens from its voter rolls between 2011 and last May. Among these non-Americans, 1,852 had cast a total of 7,474 illegal ballots across multiple elections.
• And here's an article from this year detailing more dead voters in California

For reference the National Weather Service estimates 280 people have been struck by lighting this year.
And here in Wisconsin you can get a free voter ID... Some people still have a problem with it.