Judy Spady
- Board of Directors – Constitution First (www.constitutionfirstcolorado.com)
- Alternate delegate to RNC for Ron Paul
- Colorado Director – Patriot Coalition (www.patriotcoalition.com)
- Board of Directors – Guardians for Liberty (www.guardiansforliberty.com)

“Voting Rights…Democrats know that voter identification laws can disproportionately burden young voters, people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and the elderly, and we refuse to allow the use of political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens.”

- Moving America Forward
2012 Democratic Party National Platform, p. 18

Compare to the Donkeyrats position on guns:

[Second Amendment]…Democrats know that [deleted] laws can disproportionately burden young [deleted], people of color, low-income families, people with disabilities, and the elderly, and we [deleted] allow the use of political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens.

Comparisons to voting rights laws were brought up during the Colorado House Judiciary Committee hearings on these bill (e.g., by James Winchester), and were dismissed by the proponents of the bill.

The Brennan Center for Justice’s report “Voting Law Changes in 2012” notes that

11% of American citizens do not possess a government-issued photo ID; that is over 21 million citizens.
(p. 2)

and

Opponents maintain that photo ID laws exclude large swaths of the electorate, since 11% of citizens — and an even greater percentage of low-income, minority, young, and older citizens — do not have state-issued photo IDs. They argue that photo ID requirements are similar to a poll tax, whether or not the IDs are offered for free, because to obtain the necessary IDs citizens must produce documents that cost money, like passports and birth certificates.
(p. 4)

and

According to one study, as many as 25% of African-American voters do not possess a current and valid form of government issued photo ID, compared to 11% of voters of all races. And the kinds of government issued IDs that are permitted in the various state laws often put minorities at an even greater disadvantage. For instance, as noted above, the new Texas
voter ID law, permits voters to use a concealed handgun license as proof of identity, but precludes voters from using a student ID, even if the student ID was issued by a state university.
(p. 24)

I don’t know what the figures for Colorado are, but if a disproportionate number of poor people and minorities don’t have state-issued I.D.s, they will not be able to lawfully obtain a firearm under the provisions of HB-1229.

Obviously, the Democrat Platform and a Brennan Center study do not constitute legal evidence of the intent of the Colorado legislature.

However, in the same legislative session, the Donkeyrats passed the “Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act“.

SECTION 133. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.

Since a state-issued photo I.D. is required to obtain a firearm under HB-1229, I’m sure that somebody could go through the records of the hearings and debates for HB-1303 — or any past proposals for voter I.D. — and find instances of legislators aware that having to show a photo I.D. to exercise a right is discriminatory.

http://www.politicsdebunked.com/article-list/federal-spending
” The Federal government spent 3.7 times as much per person in 2011 as it did 50 years ago in 1961 when Democratic hero JFK was in office (adjusted for inflation). If Kennedy were around to propose his level of spending today he’d be denounced by the mainstream media as a radical extremist. State and local governments combined spent 4 times as much per capita. ”

The other problem however is that their “baseline budgets” are usually really only believable figures for the next budget year and optimistic hopes for after that, which is why the CBO and GAO do forecasts with “current policy” more realistic scenarios. Obama’s new budget is about the same as GAO’s “baseline” longterm debt forecast. A study shows that CBO’s estimates for deficits 5 years out have been overoptimistic for decades and worse than a “random walk”. In part they use too optimistic assumptions for future economic growth and other factors, this page:
http://www.politicsdebunked.com/article-list/budget-lottery
plugs in more conservative estimates from the Social Security Administration, SSA’s higher medicare cost numbers, and shows things could be worse than people realize, and government should plan conservatively. Entitlement+interest spending could be more than federal revenue within this decade.

What was the name of the case, and what was the case number?

What was the name of the case, and what was the case number?