House GOPers now taking aim on AG Holder

[Bill USA]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/eric-holder-fast-and-furious-darrell-issa_n_1773070.html

The Republican-run House on Monday asked a federal court to enforce a subpoena against Attorney General Eric Holder, demanding that he produce records on a bungled gun-tracking operation known as Operation Fast and Furious.

The lawsuit asked the court to reject a claim by President Barack Obama asserting executive privilege, a legal position designed to protect certain internal administration communications from disclosure.

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Holder refused requests by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to hand over – without preconditions – documents that could explain why the Justice Department initially denied in February 2011 that a risky tactic was used to allow firearms to "walk" from Arizona to Mexico.

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In response to the lawsuit, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said, "We were always willing to work with the committee. Instead the House and the committee have said they prefer to litigate."
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(emphases my own)

GOP war on Democracy - the campaign to disenfanchise non-Republican voters

[font size="+1"]Since Republicans won control of many statehouses in the November 2010 elections, more than a dozen states have passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification at polls, cutting back early voting periods or imposing new restrictions on voter registration drives.[/font]

Republican legislators say the new rules offer a practical way to weed out fraudulent votes and preserve the integrity of the ballot box. Democrats say the changes have little to do with fraud prevention and more to do with placing obstacles in the way of possible Democratic voters, including young people and minorities.

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In mid-March 2012, the Justice Department’s civil rights division blocked Texas from enforcing a new law requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls, contending that the rule would disproportionately suppress turnout among eligible Hispanic voters.

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[font size="+1"]The Justice Department’s decision, which followed a similar move in December blocking a law in South Carolina, brought the Obama administration deeper into the politically and racially charged fight over a wave of new voting restrictions, enacted largely by Republicans[/font] in the name of combating voter fraud. South Carolina faces the choice of dropping the proposed change or asking a federal court in the District of Columbia to approve the law.
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