Voter ID Laws And Paying The Social Debt

I was listening to NPR the other day and Diane Rehm was on.  I’m not sure what the official subject of the show was, but the conversation moved focused race in America.

One of the topics covered involved the voter ID laws being passed in many states in recent years.  The usual points were made in that these voter ID laws impact:

  1. The poor
  2. Minorities

I have my usual response to item 1 in that the cost of IDs is hardly onerous or burdensome.  But, be that as it may.

It was during the discussion that I was struck by thoughts surrounding item 2.  Rather than all this hand wringing over laws that make sense but disproportionately impact minorities creating this manufactured tension, why not address why minorities are disproportionately impacted.

I suspect that no one believes that a black attorney or a Hispanic doctor either doesn’t have ID or would find it difficult to get one.

Just another case of trying to manipulate outcomes to be equal rather than the opportunities.

Anyway, one of her guests was Richard F. America.  He discussed reparations in America and specifically mentioned this topic through the words of his book, “Paying The Social Debt.”

I though the conversation interesting enough, and the point of view different enough from mine, that I wanted to read the book.  So I went to Amazon:

Paying The Social Debt

I’m sure there are a ton of good reasons, but I was just struck by the stones required to charge a hundred bucks for a book on paying social debts.

6 responses to “Voter ID Laws And Paying The Social Debt

  1. On IDs – just get a national ID that every citizen must have, free of charge, and must use when receiving government benefits, voting, etc. That’s what almost all other industrial states do.

    Yeah, I suspect the high cost is because it’s an academic book that doesn’t sell much. If publishers don’t expect it to generate good profits, they’ll price it so that the buyers that get just about anything (libraries, research universities, etc.) pay enough to cover their publishing costs. If he’s out promoting it, maybe there will be an increase in demand and the publisher will either make a paperback and print more, allowing the price to go down.

    • On IDs – just get a national ID that every citizen must have, free of charge, and must use when receiving government benefits, voting, etc.

      Drivers licenses or state ID’s are almost that exact same thing. Just without the free.

      Why does it have to be free? Doesn’t that just mean someone will be taxed for a service that someone else uses without paying for?

      If publishers don’t expect it to generate good profits, they’ll price it so that the buyers that get just about anything (libraries, research universities, etc.) pay enough to cover their publishing costs.

      Here I thought college profs were just greedy.

      • Why does it have to be free?

        Because poll taxes are illegal. Because, if you make people pay to exercise the right to vote, you are necessarily excluding some marginal amount of people based on not having enough money to do so comfortably. If we charged $100 to vote, you’d get why it was a horrible idea, but when it’s $20 and a day at the DMV you don’t, because to you that’s insignificant.

        In 1966 according to wiki, the last poll tax was ruled unconstitutional, and it amounted to less than $15 in 2013 money. So, that’s why it has to be free.

        I was just struck by the stones required to charge a hundred bucks for a book on paying social debts.

        I don’t think someone who proclaims the omnipotence of the free market ever gets to throw stones about how high someone priced their own good. Like Scott said, it’s probably a textbook. I paid a lot more for calculus texts in college, and that’s knowledge that has been public domain for 200 years.

        • If we charged $100 to vote, you’d get why it was a horrible idea, but when it’s $20 and a day at the DMV you don’t, because to you that’s insignificant.

          Yeah, I get the poll tax. And I get that such taxes have to be illegal.

          I just disagree that obtaining an ID is the equivalent.

          And more than all of that, I disagree that such requirements are targeting the poor. I WILL admit that I think such laws are targeting illegal immigrants.

          I don’t think someone who proclaims the omnipotence of the free market ever gets to throw stones about how high someone priced their own good.

          You’re right – Mr. America can charge what he thinks he can get. I just find it ironic for someone preaching the value of giving back would charge a hundo for the opportunity to hear his sermon.

  2. Yeah, I get the poll tax. And I get that such taxes have to be illegal.

    I just disagree that obtaining an ID is the equivalent.

    Here’s your current argument, then: If I charge you $2 to vote, it’s illegal. If I require you to go get a card that shows who you are, and also costs $2, then it’s not illegal.

    But then there’s no real prohibition on poll taxes. I’ll start a special state voter ID program that costs $100 for your card (because of the background checks, residency checks, fingerprinting, etc.). I’m SO worried about voter fraud that I need a really special card, and thus it costs more. Is that okay? If not, then why a driver’s license? If it’s about amounts, then why not have a poll tax of $20? That would discourage voter fraud too, because it would become expensive for the fraudulent voters to do it.

    I just don’t see any justifiable way for you to distinguish a $2 poll tax that is bad from a $15 ID card which is good, while preserving the idea that any poll tax is bad.

    And more than all of that, I disagree that such requirements are targeting the poor. I WILL admit that I think such laws are targeting illegal immigrants.

    Except that that’s not really what it’s about.

    I never understood this. What’s the worry, that a million guatamalans are sneaking across the border, picking spinach for pennies on the dollar, and then suddenly they all want to go vote? How would that even work? There’s no voter fraud problem, as we’ve agreed on several times. So why would the GOP spend so much time and money on Voter ID to keep illegal immigrants from voting, unless the real point was to raise the bar to disenfranchise certain voters?

  3. Why so subjunctive? Voter IDs are already free. No one’s even talking about taxing so much as two dollars every few years out of a permanent $670/month SSI payment…

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