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Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat, criticized the Supreme Court for its Monday decision to uphold a voter-identification law in Bayh’s home state of Indiana.

The law requires voters to present photo identification at their polling places. Bayh told PBS talk-show host Tavis Smiley that the requirement, which the court supported on a 6-3 vote, will disenfranchise too many minority, disabled and elderly voters.

Bayh rejected the notion that the law is necessary for security reasons. “[I]n the absence of voter fraud, I just don’t see the reasoning for this,” he said.

Categories: Indiana, Producer's Picks, Evan Bayh, Civil Liberties, Government Reform, Courts, Voting Rights

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Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., is urging final action on his bill that would create a federal “shield law” to protect the anonymous sources of journalists. He said one more Senate vote on the measure, which has the backing of the three top remaining presidential candidates, will clear it from Congress to President Bush.

Categories: Indiana, Media, Mike Pence

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Federal income-tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service, making this week a politically opportune time for Congress to debate tax issues.

The House today debated a “taxpayer assistance” bill that would end the private collection of federal taxes, strengthen taxpayer protections from identity theft and tax fraud, stop federal contractors from using foreign subsidiaries to evade Social Security and other employment taxes, simplify the reporting of cellular telephone taxes, and expand tax help for low-income taxpayers.

Democrats who spoke in favor of the bill included Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Brad Ellsworth of Indiana and Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.

Categories: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Producer's Picks, Technology, Brad Ellsworth, Taxes, Earl Blumenauer, Crime, Rosa DeLauro, Rahm Emanuel

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Republican Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana believes the time has come for a “draw down” of U.S. troops in Iraq and is “on the fence” when it comes to future House votes about the war, according to an interview he granted to the blog Fort Wayne Observed.

“I believe we need to draw down because we need to be in the region, and I’m afraid that if we don’t do some draw down that the left of the Democratic Party is going to go isolationist, like after Vietnam,” Souder said.

“We’re going to abandon the region. We won’t be able to handle Iran; we won’t be able to handle Pakistan; we won’t be able to protect Israel; we won’t be able to Dubai, [United Arab Emirates], Qatar, Yemen — that whole Arab region of more moderate states.

He added that President Bush “needs to work with … the moderate Democrats, and they need to get away from the left.”

Categories: Indiana, Iraq, Foreign Affairs, Mark Souder

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What do Democrats think of Iraq today? Something quite different than what they used to think, according to the Republican Party. The GOP has a new ad that highlights past statements of Democratic leaders in an effort to paint them as hypocrites for their views now.

Most of the statements are from 2002. Here are some examples:

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: “Saddam Hussein in effect has thumbed his nose at the world community, and I think that the president is approaching this in the right fashion.”
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California: “Saddam Hussein certainly has chemical and biological weapons. There’s no question about that.”
• Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller of West Virginia: Hussein is “working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.”
• And Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a likely 2008 presidential candidate: “I can support the president. I can support an action against Saddam Hussein.”

The ad also features excerpts from two other presidential contenders — Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina — and from Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.

On the other side of the Iraq debate, VoteVets features Iraq war veterans in a new 30-second ad titled “Stop Escalation.” “If you support escalation,” said one veteran without a left hand, “you don’t support the troops.”

That effort followed a video spot from three months ago titled “Because of Iraq,” which blamed the U.S. focus on Iraq for the failure to capture al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, for spreading the military too thin, for creating more terrorists, and for making America less secure. “Saying these things out loud is patriotic,” one veteran says.

Categories: New York, California, Delaware, Indiana, Nevada, West Virginia, Iraq, Harry Reid, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., John (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Presidency 2008, John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, AdWatch, Joseph Biden Jr.

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