July 21, 2016

Victory for Veasey, Victory for Us, Victory for Democracy!

When he was still a State Rep, Congressman Marc Veasey filed a lawsuit against the Texas Voter ID law. Texas retirees came in right behind him and made fighting voter suppression a major part of our own program. The payoff came July 20 when federal authorities ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

Retirees objected to voter suppression because it hit those of us who no longer drive. Without a valid driver license, it was difficult for Texas seniors to vote.

The law was actually struck down because it was also racist ancd conflicted with the Voting Rights Act, according to the court.

They left it up to the federal judge who made the original ruling against Voter ID to determine whether or not Texas authorities were being intentionally racist when they made it up. It is possible that parts of the law will eventually stand, but “ameliorating” programs would have to be put in place. That would be expensive, so the Republicans backing the law will find themselves spending more public money or doing what they should have done in the first place and dropping the law!

Meanwhile, Texas retirees can take a moment to be proud, not only because we publicly stood up for democracy, but also because we have always stood by our champion, Congressman Marc Veasey. When he first began his campaign for Congress, Veasey sought help from unions. The first union group to respond was, you guessed it, retirees at my union, UAW 848! That’s where he made his first campaign speech to a union audience!

Since then, we have visited his office many times and have been pleased to see him at our events.

JOIN CONGRESSMAN VEASEY AT OUR AUGUST 3 EVENT!

On August 3, Congressman Veasey will headline our celebration of Social Security at 2010 Postal Way in Dallas. Please join us!

–Gene Lantz, President