Quote of the Day: Why Republicans Like Voter ID Laws

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From Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, telling a friendly audience about the state legislature’s accomplishments this year:

Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.

Apparently this drew a “loud round of applause,” and why not? Photo ID laws like Pennsylvania’s are mainly about politics, and everyone knows it. They suppress turnout primarily among minorities, the poor, and the young, and those are well-known Democratic-leaning constituencies. In a close election, Pennsylvania’s law might very well allow Romney to win the state.

Anyway, it’s good to hear someone admit this. Usually they’re smart enough to pretend that voter ID laws are about preventing voter fraud.

(Via Steve Benen.)

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We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

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