The Save America Act is voter suppression; you can't hide from voters!

On Tuesday, I took a look at the TSA shutdown. Now, the whole debacle is ballooning faster than airport security wait times. After blocking multiple standalone bills from Democrats to fund TSA while the debate over DHS funding continues, Republicans put out their own proposal. It would have funded all of DHS except for some parts of ICE. Democrats said the offer didn’t include any of the limits on ICE agents they’re asking for. So now, you have untrained ICE agents sent in to do the jobs of TSA they have absolutely no business doing. Which sounds idiotic on its face, but there’s a perverse logic to it, according to some. Like, for example, Steve Bannon. On his podcast, he said that sending ICE agents to airports is a test case for sending them to polling places in November. First you had these masked idiots terrorizing Americans in the streets. Then you send them to the airports, to make the already stressful process of making a flight on time even worse. The end goal is apparently to take all the skills they’ve mastered and apply them to the midterms. It’s so obvious that Republicans are terrified of the absolute devastation they’re facing in this election, if they feel like they have to literally physically scare voters away from the polls. Then there’s the fact that this isn’t just about ending the stalemate over funding and ending the DHS shutdown. Trump has made it explicitly clear that he’s not approving any funding deal unless Republicans pass the SAVE America Act, which is itself another desperate attempt to disenfranchise voters. All of which is to say, Congress has been very busy. Here are a few things I’ve been keeping an eye on, and what’s really going on here. Why paraphrase the purpose of the SAVE America Act when Trump came right out and said it? “I’m tying Homeland Security into voter identification, with picture, and proof of citizenship in order to vote.” So, he effectively killed any chance of resolving the DHS issue, unless Democrats not only get on board with Republicans’ half-assed funding proposal, but ALSO agree to essentially gut whatever is left of the Voting Rights Act. This isn’t about election integrity, or preventing widespread voter fraud, which, to be clear, does not exist. This is about suppressing the vote, making it harder for people to vote, making it harder for specific people to vote. The SAVE America Act would impose “proof of citizenship,” which is really just a fancy way of saying, “we don’t want young people, poor people, and married women who change their last names to be able to register to vote.” It also states that government-issued ID does not include student IDs issued by colleges and universities. I wonder why. It’s also a blatant attack on mail-in voting, something Trump’s been railing against since time immemorial. On any given day, it’s “corrupt” and guarantees a “crooked election,” or cheating. Apropos of nothing, Trump just cast a mail-in ballot in a Palm Beach special election this week. I don’t blame him though. It must cost a fortune to gas up the jet and get down there with oil prices being what they are. Your support of the SAVE America Act tells me you know your agenda is highly unpopular and rather than push policies people actually want or face the consequences of your actions (and inactions), you'd rather disenfranchise. I can't wait to fire you.