Saturday, May 25, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013

Metcalfe says 'lazy' people don't deserve to vote

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is nothing if not blunt. The Butler County lawmaker lands at the center of almost every controversial issue in the Capitol be it immigration, gun control or voter ID. Now he has inserted himself into the middle of the "47 percent" debate by suggesting, on a Pittsburgh radio broadcast, that Pennsylvania's new voter ID law, which is still being fought over in the courts, will only disenfranchise the "lazy."

92 comments

Metcalfe says 'lazy' people don't deserve to vote

POSTED: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 8:31 AM
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe is nothing if not blunt. The Butler County Republican positions himself at the center of almost every controversial issue in the Capitol, be it immigration, gun control or voter ID.

Now he's dived into the middle of the hot "47 percent" debate by suggesting, on a Pittsburgh radio broadcast, that Pennsylvania's new voter ID law, will only disenfranchise the "lazy."

Metcalfe on Wednesday told KDKA Radio that the law, which is still being fought in the courts, may exclude those on the "public dole," like the people GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney referred to in the leaked video taken at a private fundraising event - who are too lazy to go get a proper ID.

Metcalfe, the lead sponsor of the voter ID legislation signed by Gov. Corbett in March, said the burden is on the citizenry to get the documents needed to vote.

When asked about the tens of thousands, if not more Pennsylvanians who may not be able to vote on Nov. 6, Metcalfe cited Romney’s mention of the 47% of the country who will never “take personal responsibility and care for their lives” as evidence that some citizens do not deserve to vote.

HOST: Are you absolutely convinced…that the methods to implement this law are effective and will in fact make sure no legitimate voter will be disenfranchised?

METCALFE: I don’t believe any legitimate voter that actually wants to exercise that right and takes on the according responsiblity that goes with that right to secure their photo ID will be disenfranchised. As Mitt Romney said, 47% of the people that are living off the public dole, living off their neighbors’ hard work, and we have a lot of people out there that are too lazy to get up and get out there and get the ID they need. If individuals are too lazy, the state can’t fix that.

(Audio/ Think Progress)

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Amy Worden @ 8:31 AM  Permalink | 92 comments
92 comments
Comments  (94)
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:17 AM, 09/20/2012
    In the event that someone needs a replacement birth certificate, one must pay for a duplicate/replacement. If you don't pay for the duplicate, you can't obtain an ID, even if it's free from PennDot. Hence, for these individuals, they must pay an expenditure in order to be eligible to vote. Having to pay anything in order to vote is in direct violation of the 14th amendment of the Constitution. Gotta love how the GOP loves to praise the Constitution but few it seems have ever bothered to actually READ it.
    VoiceofReason50
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:20 AM, 09/20/2012
    Let me get this straight: the party that constantly demonizes government and regulations and trumpets itself as the party of freedom passes a regulation that forces people to go through annoying bureaucratic hoops in order to exercise their most basic right as citizens, despite having been unable to produce any evidence that there was a "voter fraud" problem to begin with? The hypocrisy is mind-boggling.
    Mainz05
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:21 AM, 09/20/2012
    A Pennsylvania politician, sworn to up hold and defend the Constitution finds a way to justify "limiting access" Citizenship.

    He is dangerous to the fundamental principle of being American.
    Dexter
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:27 AM, 09/20/2012
    Only, the lazy and ignorant sheep are upset by his comments...It is no big deal...go get an ID or shut up...you need it to fly or oopen a bank account.....lazy is as lazy does....and those on the public dole are just leeches on the system and perfect targets for the democratic koolade.....So the words personal responsibility or accountability mean anything to them.....the answer is obvious....NO and that is why they make good democrats.......Everybody should hate lazy folks who feed off of someone else's labors.....it is not a party thing...it is a people thing.......
    nuggett
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:28 AM, 09/20/2012
    Only, the lazy and ignorant sheep are upset by his comments...It is no big deal...go get an ID or shut up...you need it to fly or oopen a bank account.....lazy is as lazy does....and those on the public dole are just leeches on the system and perfect targets for the democratic koolade.....So the words personal responsibility or accountability mean anything to them.....the answer is obvious....NO and that is why they make good democrats.......Everybody should hate lazy folks who feed off of someone else's labors.....it is not a party thing...it is a people thing.......
    nuggett
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:44 AM, 09/20/2012
    I think anyone living in Butler County should be denied the right to vote. What a dope.
    ghall1961
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:45 AM, 09/20/2012
    From what I am reading here, it is ok that we, the taxpayers, are paying 4.3 Million for a problem that is, percentage-wise, non-existent. Hmm...
    Garri
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:46 AM, 09/20/2012
    Romney was wrong to indict the 47%. But the Inquirer and liberals generally are just as wrong for excusing and covering for society's lazy parasites, whatever the number, who contribute nothing, take all they can get, yet are sucking taxpayers and the deserving poor dry. Not every poor person without id is 92 years old, most are of working age yet do not possess the necessary id to get a legal job, to pay taxes or contribute in any way. The least we can ask of people who receive government benefits is that they try. The liberal media who cover for them do society and them a disservice in return for their vote.
    tr88
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:48 AM, 09/20/2012
    A IDIOT!!!
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:53 AM, 09/20/2012
    Where exactly in this "article" or in the sound clip does he say that "lazy people don't deserve to vote"??!? It doesn't! It's just another example of this partisan rag of a paper/website lying to inflame this issue. He never said they don't "deserve" to vote! He said that if people are too lazy to get a free ID, there's nothing the state can do about that. There's a big difference there!
    Jdinccphilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:56 AM, 09/20/2012
    people like him are what turns me off about republicans. all the spout is hate, ignorance and elitism.
    black dog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:04 PM, 09/20/2012
    And your lazyness.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:58 AM, 09/20/2012
    Amen Metcalfe...100% right.
    mayfair_


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Commonwealth Confidential gives you regularly updated coverage of the state legislature, the governor and the workings of the state bureaucracy. It is written by Angela Couloumbis and Amy Worden in the Inquirer's Harrisburg bureau, based right in the statehouse, and by the newspaper's far-flung campaign reporters.

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