The most loathsome administration in history

Just when you think the Republicans can't stoop any lower, here comes the virtues of early minority death rates and the swiftboating of a twelve-year-old.

I kid you not.

Alan Breslauer at BradBlog reports on how the chief of the Voting Rights division of the U.S. Department of justice says that restrictive voter ID laws give minorities a greater voice:

The NLC kicked off their 2nd Annual convention over the weekend, including an expert panel titled, "It's Not Over - Defending the Right to Vote Against Disenfranchising Tactics". While many issues were covered over the course of 2 1/2 hour panel, the most hotly debated subject was the current rash of GOP-pushed Photo ID laws sweeping the nation, just in time for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Tanner --- and we'll repeat it again, he's the Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice --seems to believe that restrictive Photo ID laws are not only non-discriminatory but actually favor minorities (at least in Georgia). All of the other expert panelists, audience members and even one particular vocal cameraman (that would be me), were incredulous, and found Tanner's comments absurd and objectionable.

In the first of several video clips below (5:45) Tanner states that Voter ID laws "very much [are] a state by state issue" that come down to "who has the ID and who doesn't." Tanner goes on to contend that Photo ID issues really only impact the elderly. There is a racial link however, because "our society is such that minorities don't become elderly the way white people do. They die first," he told those of us in the room. And things that disproportionately impact the elderly have the opposite impact on minorities. In other words, Tanner concludes that Photo ID laws actually negatively impact non-minorities and seemingly give them a greater voice.

Video here.

Meanwhile, the family of a 12-year-old who gave the Democratic rebuttal to Captain Codpiece's weekly radio address is being harassed by freepers and wingnuts:

The Frost's are a family of six living in a working class neighborhood in Baltimore MD.

The state of Maryland has found them eligible to participate in the CHIP program.

They bought their "lavish house" in 1991 for $55k at a time when the neighborhood was less than safe. Sixteen years later, the house still needs work.

Halsey Frost is a self-employed carpenter/woodworker.

Bonnie is a part time researcher/editor for a medical research firm.

Last year, the Frost's made $45,000 combined. Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined depending on Halsey's ability to find work

The children and their education

Graeme has a scholarship to a private school. The school costs $15K a year, but the family only pays $500 a year.

Gemma attends another private school to help her with the brain injuries that occurred do to her accident. The school costs $23,000 a year, but the state pays the entire cost.

Right wing bloggers have been harassing the Frosts calling numerous times to get information about their private lives.

More here and here.

What the hell kind of monsters ARE these people?

UPDATE: Here's more about the Frosts (via Digby):

Graeme and his 9-year-old sister, Gemma, were passengers in the family SUV in December 2004 when it hit a patch of black ice and slammed into a tree. Both were taken to a hospital with severe brain trauma. Graeme was in a coma for a week and still requires physical therapy.

Bonnie Frost works for a medical publishing firm; her husband, Halsey, is a woodworker. They are raising their four children on combined income of about $45,000 a year. Neither gets health insurance through work.

Having priced private insurance that would cost more than their mortgage - about $1,200 a month - they continue to rely on the government program. In Maryland, families that earn less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level - about $60,000 for a family of four - are eligible.

Now before anyone says the Frosts can't afford their mortgage, consider that their mortgage is payment is 32% of their gross monthly income -- well within long-established guidelines in the mortgage industry that pre-date the recent bubble; which usually regard 28-33% as what one can afford. Another $1200/month or more for health insurance, and you're looking at nothing left after taxes for utilities, food, and clothing. It simply should not be necessary for families to spend a third of their pre-tax income for health insurance.