Republicans Turning Back the Hands of Time

(CNSNews.com) – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said the “entire agenda” of the Republican-controlled House is to defeat Barack Obama in 2012 even if they “take down” the U.S. economy in the process.

At a Capitol Hill press conference on Thursday, Cohen said, “The fact that all these states came up with these laws at the same time was not spontaneous generation, it was Rovian,” referring to state voter ID laws requiring individuals to present photo identification before casting a ballot in an election. (“Rovian” refers to Republican strategist Karl Rove.)

“This was an obvious Republican attempt to hurt our vote in 2012 and to hurt the President of the United States’ chances of reelection, which is the entire agenda of the Republican House, is to defeat Barack Obama even if they take down the United States economy while they do it,” said Cohen.

According to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which was represented at the news conference, 16 states now have laws “requiring” or “requesting” voters to present photo ID in order to cast a ballot: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. Hawaii has a Democratic governor and Rhode Island’s governor is Independent.

Other Democratic members of Congress at the news conference included Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).