Mary Kiffmeyer is the state ALEC chair. She could not be in ALEC, and not know the relationship of the Koch Brothers within the organization.
One of the core leaders, founders. and funders of ALEC, more prominently since the corporate defections this year, notably WalMart, are the Koch Brothers who are among those that run ALEC. They are prominent inside ALEC, they are prominently linked outside ALEC to the organization. It used to be a secret, but it hasn't been hidden for quite a while now, unless perhaps one relies on Fox News for their information.
In the case of Kiffmeyer's claims in the Strib article below, her support for voter ID became a public issue on which she acted ONLY after ALEC made it a priority; and the amendment passed by the legislature, which she supports, does not appear to differ in any significant way from ALEC model legislation for voter ID.
Add to that one of the major sources of funding to support the voter suprressive Voter ID legislation is funded directly and indirectly by the Koch Brothers, and it is clear that Ms. Kiffmeyer knows very well who the Koch Brothers are, and is acting at their direction and arguably benefits from the Koch Brothers support through ALEC.
In other words, it appears that Ms. Kiffmeyer is hoping that the good citizens of Minnesota are mostly low information voters who don't know the connection, and who don't read and compare ALEC model legislation with proposed ALEC legislation in Minnesota.
Thsi reminds me of an earlier exchange I had a few months back when Governor Dayton vetoed the Shoot First legislation. My conservative blogger friend Mitch Berg insisted, and claimed to have verified it wth Rep. Cornish, that the Shoot First legislation was not ALEC legislation. However he was unable to explain then how it was that Cornish had attended ALEC events and meetings, and that afterwards, the legislation Cornish proposed and which was passed in the legislature was so very similar to ALEC drafted legislation that it was almost word for word the same.
What this shows us is that we cannot believe the false assurances by ALEC members about whose bidding they are doing -- it isn't ours, it appears to be the Koch Brothers, and other ALEC special interst shady dealers from outside the boundaries of Minnesota.
Corruption is defined by the world bank as public office used for private profit. Kiffmeyer and Cornish could pose as model poster children over that definition.
Shame on Kiffmeyer, shame on Cornish and shame on every damned one of the Republican ALEC corrupt politicians. And shame on anyone who promotes their lies about writing their own damned legislation or having their own independent ideas, or worst, the lies about who their significant influence is. And double shame, shame on those who lie to help them do it; a willful failure to check out facts and multisouce is a lie by ommission, and that is still a lie.
With that much money and that much mendacity gong on, to borrow a phrase emphasized by Tennessee Williams in "A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", we should be wondering who has to spend that much money and be that dishonest --- it certainly isn't for the greater good of Minnesota. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, we have the characters Big Momma, and Big Daddy; in the Minnesota adaptation, we apparently have not only the other liars, but Big Oil Koch Brothers trying to run things for us through mendacity.
This appeared in the June 26, 2012 Star Tribune:
"This is an outside force, coming to Minnesota, telling us how our Constitution ought to be designed," added Carlson.
"Minnesota has the best record of openness, of honesty, of voter participation, of any state in the union," said Mondale. "This is a clean, solid, exemplary state. This constitutional amendment is designed to discourage voting."
The Republican-backed proposal, which is to be submitted to voters in November, would amend the state Constitution to require all voters to show a government-issued photo ID, would create a system of two-step provisional voting for those without proper ID on election day, and would mandate uniform registration requirements for all voters.
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, a former election judge and secretary of state who has long pushed the amendment, said it is a homegrown movement to improve Minnesota's voting system. "I have no clue what the Koch brothers are," she said.
"It's ludicrous that I'm a blind little follower. ... My position on photo ID was an independent decision of my own, legislation that I worked on in my own way."
Carlson and Mondale said they became involved after reading about the proposed amendment and the push to get it on the ballot. Carlson blamed the issue on the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of conservative legislators and business leaders that offers model bills to state legislators. Kiffmeyer is listed as the state chair for ALEC in Minnesota.
"We pride ourselves in two parts of an election,'' Carlson said. "One is high voter turnout. The second is integrity. We've led the nation in both. Now we're subject to a campaign of total disinformation."
Kiffmeyer said she developed her support for the photo ID concept after years as an election judge, secretary of state and legislator, not by ALEC formula. She said that although Minnesota is correctly praised for the way it counts ballots once they are cast, the combination of same-day registration and no requirement of a photo ID creates opportunities for fraud.
* * *
Except of courst that there aren't those documented instances where any voter fraud occurred that wuold have been prevented by voter ID. And while it is an oft-repeated mantra on the right that the 2008 election for Senator was stolen by Democratic voter fraud, the only convicted instance of voter fraud was a person who voted for Republican candidate Coleman.
When challenged to explain how Republicans know how anyone else voted, to identify the means they know not only that voter fraud is occurring where close and careful investigation can't find it, but that it was FOR a Democratic candidate, they have no answer. Which means they don't want to answer, because that would be to admit that where we have secret ballots, they do NOT know that; it is just one of the fantasies and myths they embrace while rejecting objective reality and fact.
One of the core leaders, founders. and funders of ALEC, more prominently since the corporate defections this year, notably WalMart, are the Koch Brothers who are among those that run ALEC. They are prominent inside ALEC, they are prominently linked outside ALEC to the organization. It used to be a secret, but it hasn't been hidden for quite a while now, unless perhaps one relies on Fox News for their information.
In the case of Kiffmeyer's claims in the Strib article below, her support for voter ID became a public issue on which she acted ONLY after ALEC made it a priority; and the amendment passed by the legislature, which she supports, does not appear to differ in any significant way from ALEC model legislation for voter ID.
Add to that one of the major sources of funding to support the voter suprressive Voter ID legislation is funded directly and indirectly by the Koch Brothers, and it is clear that Ms. Kiffmeyer knows very well who the Koch Brothers are, and is acting at their direction and arguably benefits from the Koch Brothers support through ALEC.
In other words, it appears that Ms. Kiffmeyer is hoping that the good citizens of Minnesota are mostly low information voters who don't know the connection, and who don't read and compare ALEC model legislation with proposed ALEC legislation in Minnesota.
Thsi reminds me of an earlier exchange I had a few months back when Governor Dayton vetoed the Shoot First legislation. My conservative blogger friend Mitch Berg insisted, and claimed to have verified it wth Rep. Cornish, that the Shoot First legislation was not ALEC legislation. However he was unable to explain then how it was that Cornish had attended ALEC events and meetings, and that afterwards, the legislation Cornish proposed and which was passed in the legislature was so very similar to ALEC drafted legislation that it was almost word for word the same.
What this shows us is that we cannot believe the false assurances by ALEC members about whose bidding they are doing -- it isn't ours, it appears to be the Koch Brothers, and other ALEC special interst shady dealers from outside the boundaries of Minnesota.
Corruption is defined by the world bank as public office used for private profit. Kiffmeyer and Cornish could pose as model poster children over that definition.
Shame on Kiffmeyer, shame on Cornish and shame on every damned one of the Republican ALEC corrupt politicians. And shame on anyone who promotes their lies about writing their own damned legislation or having their own independent ideas, or worst, the lies about who their significant influence is. And double shame, shame on those who lie to help them do it; a willful failure to check out facts and multisouce is a lie by ommission, and that is still a lie.
With that much money and that much mendacity gong on, to borrow a phrase emphasized by Tennessee Williams in "A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", we should be wondering who has to spend that much money and be that dishonest --- it certainly isn't for the greater good of Minnesota. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, we have the characters Big Momma, and Big Daddy; in the Minnesota adaptation, we apparently have not only the other liars, but Big Oil Koch Brothers trying to run things for us through mendacity.
This appeared in the June 26, 2012 Star Tribune:
"This is an outside force, coming to Minnesota, telling us how our Constitution ought to be designed," added Carlson.
"Minnesota has the best record of openness, of honesty, of voter participation, of any state in the union," said Mondale. "This is a clean, solid, exemplary state. This constitutional amendment is designed to discourage voting."
The Republican-backed proposal, which is to be submitted to voters in November, would amend the state Constitution to require all voters to show a government-issued photo ID, would create a system of two-step provisional voting for those without proper ID on election day, and would mandate uniform registration requirements for all voters.
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, a former election judge and secretary of state who has long pushed the amendment, said it is a homegrown movement to improve Minnesota's voting system. "I have no clue what the Koch brothers are," she said.
"It's ludicrous that I'm a blind little follower. ... My position on photo ID was an independent decision of my own, legislation that I worked on in my own way."
Carlson and Mondale said they became involved after reading about the proposed amendment and the push to get it on the ballot. Carlson blamed the issue on the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of conservative legislators and business leaders that offers model bills to state legislators. Kiffmeyer is listed as the state chair for ALEC in Minnesota.
"We pride ourselves in two parts of an election,'' Carlson said. "One is high voter turnout. The second is integrity. We've led the nation in both. Now we're subject to a campaign of total disinformation."
Kiffmeyer said she developed her support for the photo ID concept after years as an election judge, secretary of state and legislator, not by ALEC formula. She said that although Minnesota is correctly praised for the way it counts ballots once they are cast, the combination of same-day registration and no requirement of a photo ID creates opportunities for fraud.
* * *
Except of courst that there aren't those documented instances where any voter fraud occurred that wuold have been prevented by voter ID. And while it is an oft-repeated mantra on the right that the 2008 election for Senator was stolen by Democratic voter fraud, the only convicted instance of voter fraud was a person who voted for Republican candidate Coleman.
When challenged to explain how Republicans know how anyone else voted, to identify the means they know not only that voter fraud is occurring where close and careful investigation can't find it, but that it was FOR a Democratic candidate, they have no answer. Which means they don't want to answer, because that would be to admit that where we have secret ballots, they do NOT know that; it is just one of the fantasies and myths they embrace while rejecting objective reality and fact.
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