Photo ID bill rammed through stacked NH House committee
Channel: impolitical
Date: 2012-05-11

Executive session of the NH House Election Law Committee on SB289, regarding requiring photo ID for voters. May 10, 2012

Chairman David Bates, who professes to be a devout Christian, and who strives to put forth a meek and civil demeanor, herein reveals his dedication to honest and forthright discussion and his courage to state plain truths plainly. That is to say, he reveals that such dedication and courage do not exist in him, and that he is a willing servant of the lie, having forsaken any inward pretense of integrity for the favor of his worldly masters.

Shortcuts to the most significant points of the session will be added here in the near(ish) future.

The committee was at full capacity, with all absent GOP lawmakers being replaced (in what was an extremely unusual practice prior to 2010) with ringers -- that is to say, hacks with no knowledge of the bill at hand who could be relied upon to vote however House GOP leadership told them to. Today, that meant Reps. Webb, Silva, Fields, Villeneuve, Souza and Boehm. Kappler must have been out of town.

Webb spoke to the bill with great confidence, breezy dismissiveness and all the intellectual depth one would expect from someone whose entire knowledge of the issue derived from a ten minute briefing on his party's approved talking points. The rest of the substitutes were merely loyal potted plants (though Silva, who never actually spoke, has an air of intelligence, if not of principle, and Fields claimed to have been following the subject, though that claim was his only utterance). This should not be taken as a suggestion that they had no personal opinions on the issues at hand, or were coerced to go against them -- indeed, I am certain they wholeheartedly approved of the intimidation and discouragement of those particular voters who would be most affected by the bills before them; rather I am referring to their utter ignorance of the many hours of committee and subcommittee work, over a period of months, on the bill at hand, and their utter uselessness and lack of contribution to the debate thereon.

The Democrats, to be fair, did make sure to replace their two absent members with Reps. Richardson, who has one of the sharpest intellects in the House (and who, it is unfortunately necessary to add, does possess a sharp intellect), and DeLoge, a low-profile rep previously unknown to this writer who asked a couple of good and incisive questions.

The majority of the debate occurred between Reps. Bates, Pierce and Smith, with Hoelzel, Richardson and Thomas making up the second tier in terms of speaking time.

The final vote (not included here) was 13-7 in favor of OTPA. (Ought To Pass with Amendment) Voting against were all five Democrats, plus Drisko and Hoelzel (with Thomas choking in the clutch, though he at least took a swing).