and so in texas, they've got their voter id law. the justice department looked at it and said, you know, this affects the voting rights of minorities. this is making it harder for minorities to vote. and not only that, it's disproportionately harder for latinos and african americans to vote. so, the justice department is able to block that under the voting rights act. texas's response is to say, well, the voting rights act is unconstitutional. and we can expect that these cases may very well make it all the way up to the u.s. supreme court. some of these southern states, especially, which are covered under the voting rights act, and their actions on voting have to be cleared in advance by the justice department's civil rights division. they say that it's wrong to single them out this many years later. my answer is, well, you know, it's harder for them to make that argument when they keep passing these laws that disproportionately affect minority voters. >> how can it be that almost 50 years after the voting rights act of 1965 was pa

there are successful in getting a strict voter id law in texas.ey went out in the 2010 elections and dispatched a few ohundred of their volunteers. they're very aggressive and the way they did their poll monitoring. they looked for any little tiny mistake or infraction that was made, reclassified as fraud, send it to the legislators who then used it as a promise to pass the photo voter id law in texas. >> can you talk about the recent summit that was held this past weekend in ohio? >> sure. in ohio this past saturday, "true the vote" had a state summit where they go around to various states and have with a call these states summons. basically, recruitment tools, meetings they have where they bring in a number of far right- wing individuals from far-right wing organizations to talk about or rather drum up cases of so- called voter fraud. they would inflate -- groups like acorn, and basically use that as a recruitment tool for people to come in and volunteer with their network. they have won a couple weeks ago in colorado. this past weekend, they ha

he needed a photo id.t required a photo id to enter their own convention to have eric holder attack photo ids. >> and they actually sued georgia five years ago when georgia passed this photo id lot to be there were appointed in the case. the judge noted the fact that the plaintiffs could not come up with a single witness, not one person in georgia it would be unable to vote, and that included the naacp. they could not find a single one of its members in the state of georgia did not already have a photo i.d. that would qualify them to vote. .. i believe that this has become a partisan issue. it is unfortunate because the vast majority of americans agree on common sense. it's a postcard. you don't even have to show up anymore. just send them a postcard. we need some voter integrity less to make sure voter registration rolls are accurate and is not to be ctg. we can do both. what the voter i.d. law, and georgia for example they have bands that go around to places that are senior citizen centers that are place

and it's not just people that don't have id. they have id. they have the id they voted for years with. this is new id. and i think that we've got to let the right wing have to deal with the fact that they're the ones changing id based on a non-existing problem. we're not against id. let us use the id we always had in pennsylvania. >> well, it would seem to me it's going to take a lot of people coming into the state of pennsylvania to help out with this. i mean, this is going to take a mammoth effort to make this wrong a right between now and november 6th. reverend al sharpton and ari berman, great to have both of you with us. >>> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter and facebook. >>> coming up in the program, medicare misinformation. it is out there big time. the republicans double down on what really is their biggest lie to date. running into this election. we'll show you just how they're struggling to keep their story straight when we come back. stay with us. you're watching "the

election in november by kicking millions of democratic voters off the rolls with voter suppression id laws is now well documented less well documented is the racist history that is motivating these very same voter id laws after the civil war african-americans were finally recognized as equal citizens in america but southern lawmakers couldn't study stomach the thought of now freed slaves voting so they passed a series of laws requiring blacks to pass little literacy tests or pay poll taxes before they could vote few months ago attorney general eric holder made a connection between these new voter id suppression laws and our nation's dark history of discrimination against minority voters. many of those without i.d.'s would have to travel great distances to get them and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them we call those poll taxes. thanks to the voting rights act passed in one thousand nine hundred sixty five things like poll taxes and literacy tests to keep minorities from voting were supposed to be outlawed that's why the department of justice is

it can be military id. two or three other forms right now off the top of my head, i don't have it in front of me. >> i don't really know. i know it's harder to vote, but i don't know how you vote. the top election official in the state and the guy who signed it into law do not know what's in the law. but don't worry, pennsylvania is on top of this thing. there's no need to worry. at least the house republican leader in the state legislature knows what is in the law and why it was passed in the first place. >> voter id, which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania, done. >> that was the pennsylvania state house republican leader. the top republican in the house in the state legislature in pennsylvania which is controlled by the republicans. telling a cheering crowd at the republican state committee meeting last month how awesome the new voter id restriction is going to be when it wins the state of pennsylvania for mitt romney. and in fact, the folks at talking points memo among ot

rating for congress really much of a surprise also thanks to pennsylvania's radical voter suppression id law nearly half the city of philadelphia may not be able to vote in november what are groups doing to fight back against these types of laws and how can we stop conservatives across the country from rigging the election and for decades now social security has helped the millions of americans stay afloat and avoid living in absolute poverty but now conservatives want to do away with social security and get them struggling seniors to a life of hardship what's going on here. so remember back in two thousand and ten when for three months we all watched oil gushing into the gulf of mexico as b.p. fumbled around trying to cap the macondo well that was spewing fifty three thousand barrels of crude every single day. we knew that eleven men died on that rig we later saw the images of marine life choking on toxic oil we sell the devastated coastlines along the gulf blanketed in black mock we heard stories of small business owners who made their living on the coast fishing and entice and tourist

the china based website, id chief arguably the most popular fake id website has been shut down. andrea mccarren has more from capitol hill. >> i'm andrea mccarren on capitol hill where four u.s. senators sent a letter to china's ambassador asking that country to take immediate action against the fake id website known as id chief. >> their federal police are hard handed. and wouldn't take lightly being internationally embarrassed by this letter. >> a bizarre note remains posted on id chief's website, urging customers only to use their existing fake id's for buying beer in movies. the business goes on to explain it was only trying to help students have some fun. >> they were making $20 to $40 a year. this is a big, big business. >> the wildly popular china based id chief has been producing fake id's that are so sophisticated they can pass through scanners designed to detect fraudulent cards and prevent minors from buying alcohol. >> they found 12 and 14-year- olds having successful in using products to buy liquor as liquor stores. >> andrea mccarren, 9news now. >> not only was the

voter id. say, 25% of african-americans lacking proper id. does anyone believe that? that is just poppycock. it's really patronizing. here is what pennsylvania's law day. you have several ideas that you can use. you can use a government issued id from the dmv. you can use a passport, military id, student id. if you don't have any of those -- you go to the polls and you can vote a provisional ballot and within six days you have to send in your proof of id by mail or by fax or in person. okay. gerri: what if i can't afford to mail that? >> guesswork when i sign an affidavit to say that i'm too poor to get an id and they will still count your vote. you can always vote absentee. so the judge who rules pennsylvania's washington that thrown out. because you can't find anybody who can be disenfranchise. gerri: i've read that it is a quarter of the voters who don't have an idea. >> or is the bottom line. what they spend a small fraction of that getting ids and solve the problem. instead, they're spendi

passport, a military i.t., a student id or an employer id issued. they didn't compare against those other things because the government would allow them to check the u.s. list and they didn't check the other state aid basis. so once you pull all of that in like texas did in the big fight with the doj when they came to the conclusion that out of the i think 13 million registered voters in the state only about 1% of the registered voters don't have some form of id and it's going to be very easy to get an id. >> host: i'm glad you mentioned texas because did in the originally say that you could vote with a weapons permit but not with of the kawlija id your state employment. texas you may recall during the debate of the republican debate on who is going to be the nominee of the party remember the governor of texas was given a hard time of the fact texas is one of the few states if you're in the united states illegally moly can you attend college but the institution that is why texas is one of the few states that doesn't allow a student i.d. because if y

the id -- voter id law is carefully written so the city of philadelphia does not have the right to do that. if we -- >> wow. >> the county board of elections, we're allowed to issue little paper voter registration cards saying you're registered to vote, congratulations, but we, the county board of elections is not allowed to issue ids that people can use for voting. >> i tell you what, if anybody has a formula to save pennsylvania for the democrats, i am all ears. i'll devote all kinds of time to it on the program. i got to see the template for how this is going to get done. it is a huge lift. stephanie singer, great to have you with us tonight. all the best. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show" stay with us. >> the fascination with taxes i paid, i find to be very small minded compared to the broad issues that we face. >> the obama campaign asked mitt romney to make a deal on his tax returns. and the candidate blows it off. tonight, patriotic millionaires respond to romney's ridiculous tax rate. >> paul ryan says he likes the band "rage against the machi

instituted photo id laws.has increased confidence in elections. sometimes it is correlated to increase voter turnout. and a whole lot of good things. that shows that some of the hysteria is silly. there is a third opportunity and that is the opportunity for administrative complexity. unlike kansas, certain states like colorado do not have the potential for broad-sweeping legislative changes. nonetheless, elections are difficult and complex. there are plenty of opportunities to make improvements. i would like in elections to software. when software is released, there are bugs in the software. vulnerabilities like vulnerabilities in our elections. sometimes they are released and no one ever touches them and nothing goes wrong. sometimes you run across a bug and you will have problems. you will have to shut down your computer or you will have some type of inconvenience. you know there is a problem but it still allows you to accomplish your task. then there are bugs that wipe out your system and you lose all of yo

i don't see how having to show a photo id is discriminatory against anyone. there were similar sent i.s from marianne -- sentiments from marianne. when i go to see a doctor, i need a photo id. that means the elderly would also need one. they need it to use with your insurance and medicare to say you are who you are. but ed violet points out voter id laws are a solution in search of a problem. your dogs could attempt to vote under someone else's name and could face 10 years in prison. it's a dangerous way to steal one single vote. that's why it's so very, very rare. why, exactly, ed, and if policing voter fraud is really the goal, then make it easier for people who are poor or old or don't have cards to get such an id before you put the law into effect unless, of course, the real goal is to make it more difficult for such people to vote at all in which case the judges got it right. you're never wrong to express your thoughts in mcmail. the address is as always mailbag@wusa9.com -- many mcginty's mailbag. -- in mcginty's mailbag. the address is as always mailba

passport, a military i.d., a student id or an employer id issued. if they didn't compare their lives against any of those other things fox state stated basis. like texas did, texas and the fight with doj. when they can to the conclusion that elbe i think 13 million registered voters in the state only about 1% of the registered voters don't held some form of id. so for them it is going to be very easy to get an id. >> i'm glad you mentioned texas, because didn't texas are originally say that you could vote with a weapons permit but not read the kawlija id? >> guest: texas you may recall during the debate on who is going to be dominated party, the governor of texas was given a hard time over the fact texas was one of the few states where if you are in the united states illegally not only can you attend college but the state gives you in-state tuition. that is why texas is one of the few states that doesn't allow a student i.d. because if you have a student ids have it doesn't mean you are a citizen. if you are in the u.s. illegally to go and vote. >>

but underneath the padding wrapped in plain white paper was a pair of fake ids.a mccarren, 9news now. >> okay. well, minors using the fake ids to use booze or get into bars, that wasn't the only concern on capitol hill. lawmakers were worried the false identification could be used by domestic terrorists as well. >>> the fire behavior is what i would classify extreme. >> i think it's very frightening. people are pulling together and trying to help each other. >> tonight a wildfire about 90 minutes outside of seattle, that's it, continues to burn out of control. 60 buildings have been torched. hundreds more are threatened. about 400 people have left their homes behind while hundreds of firefighters are trying to bring the flames under control. tonight the fire covers more than 40 square miles. wow. >> and no relief out there. it's been dry for almost months now. >> part of the same pattern. >> yes. >>> now, here is the deal, we were lucky in the immediate metro area. not so lucky the west of town. over four inches of rain and a possible tornado up in baltimore. let

of photo id.they did it as recently as four years ago in 2008, and the guy who wrote the opinion was john paul stevens, who was one of the great liberal icons to serve in the u.s. supreme court and in the last 30-some years. a liberal justice wrote an opinion upholding voter id laws in indiana, and he made the point that because of the state's legitimate interest in combating voter fraud and because of the state's legitimate interest in verifying people as it does in many aspects of life. you know, verification is not a strange thing in our life, justice stevens reasoned because it was not string in civil life, it was no burden to apply it in the context of voting. when that happened, there was a presidential campaign that was going on in this country, and campaigns bring out the hyperpartisan in us. this is not a partisan vent today. don't take it as a partisan comment. it's factual comment. i don't remember then senator obama who was the democratic nominee even issuing a press release criticizin

customers only to use their existing fake id's for buying beer in movies. the business goes on to explain it was only trying to help students have some fun. >> they were making $20 to $40 million a year. this is a big, big business. >> the wildly popular website has been producing fake id's that are so sophisticated, they can pass through scanners designed to detect fraudulent cards and prevent minors from buying alcohol. >> they have been successful in buying liquor at liquor stores. >>> for the second straight day, the metropolitan washington air force authority feeling the heat from local leaders. the u.s. department secretary, d.c.'s mayor, and the governors of maryland and virginia signed a letter expressing their outrage over a recent audit that found questionable spending. now, they want immediate changes. >> i'm bruce leshan at dulles. $9,000 first class trips to europe, $400 bottles of wine. the letter from the mayor, the transportation secretary, and the governors does not offer any threats, but it does say a number of reforms must be instituted i

will the voter id law in pennsylvania stand? >> well, it was a very contentious set of court hearings. but a couple of facts emerges. there was a con 10 shun that -- contention that 10% of voters lack an id. so that is a real bone of argument. but i think the numbers are way too high because they count due duplicates and they don't count people with pass poured -- passports and other things. the other thing we noticed is the pennsylvania law is different from some other states. if you don't have an id you can still vote. you vote a provisional ballot. you have six days to e-mail, fax or visit in person and deliver your form of identification. and if you can't do that and you claim you don't even have the money to get a birth certificate to get a free photo id from the state, your vote will still be counted. so there literally is no chance that somebody will be denied the right to vote because they don't have an id in pennsylvania. >> john, that's not what the aclu says. they say you need the voter id and you never hear that in s

it was so over-the-top that even in aas case unforioing in s id. nearly every american president, starting with george washington, ind ouding a lot of that presidenel i don't even like. our founding fathers who wrote the first amendment wourio be ct id and d at how barack obama is trying to redefine the first amenaent. in 1814 francis sco toh not o wrote the star spangled banner and included the line, this the armada in gthe w is oamer tusts. congress made in god we trust our natiowe tl mthe wel, and itn all of your monnot o. it's time for the american people to realize htes scndamental the transformation the obama is trying to bring about in america. [applause] rde over there. rde hyperion and from the university of virginia. i noticed in a lot of my christveran friends and real apathy when it comes to political issues do you think that this courio be something that motivates the church to get back involved in politics? ing w so, htes do we articulatet in order to get some excitement? rde tha18s wus a lot of other good books. showing the scandals

urging customers only to use their existing fake id's for buying beer in movies. the business goes on to explain it was only trying to help four students have some fun. >> they were probably in the range of $20 to $40 million a year. this is a big, big business. >> wildly popular china based has been producing fake id's so sophisticated they can pass through scanners designed to detect fraudulent cars and prevent miners from buying alcohol. >> 12 and 13-year-olds having been successful in using products to buy liquor at liquor stores. one has to question the judgment of someone who takes an id from someone so little he has to reach up to the counter to hand it off, but it happens. >> earlier this year, with the help of an intern, we purchased a pennsylvania driver's license from id chief for $200. within weeks, it made the 8,000 mile journey to gaithersburg, maryland. >> it looks as authentic as it can be. >> id's impressed police with its authenticity and became packaged in an envelope marked bracelet. inside, a gift box and an actual red bracelet. but underneath

the california id, for an id, or your passport is fine. >> now you have open your account. simple? exactly why it was designed. you can access your account online, set up direct deposit, and make transfers. it is a real bank account. >> it is very exciting. we see people opening up second accounts. a lot of these people never had account before. people who have problems with bank accounts, people without two ids, no minimum deposit. we are excited to have these people. >> it has been a great partnership with bank on s.f. because we are able to offer checking, savings, minimarkets, certificates, and loans to people who might not be about to get accounts anywhere else. even if you have had a previous account at another financial institutions, we can still open an account for you, so you do not need to go to a check cashing place, which may turn to two percent of your monthly income. >> you can enroll in free educational services online. just as it -- visit sfsmartmoney.org. with services like financial education classes and one-on-one meetings with advisers, asset smart money network

, college id. so they have a lot of parameters. they're giving out free voter ids throughout the state, they're doing a huge educational campaign. but the judge said this is going to protect the integrity and reliability of the voting process. and, you know, all of us are aware of how a few votes can make a big difference. we've seen presidential elections turn on 543 votes. so you take a state like pennsylvania and other states, ohio, where these voter id laws go into effect, they want to protect the integrity of the voting process. this ruling, i think, sets forth a very compelling, reasoned opinion as to why voter ids are constitutional and, megyn, you know, the one thing i can't understand from the opponents of these laws, if you go into the department of justice -- because in some of these cases the doj's filed on the other side -- when i go into the department of justice, i've got to show my driver's license. they go through a photo id check. i'd say the same thing for voting. i don't think t