McClatchy + PFAW: Making you Vote where you claim residency, pay taxes = Tax Increase | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton exhibits an uneasy peace with McClatchy in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

People for the American Way objects to tax increase for students' voting

    The Crayon Corps in the newsroom at The McClatchy School of Creative Writing's Raleigh Campus never ceases to amaze me. The good soldiers of the Corps reported this morning on a release issued by People for The American Way, even going as far as including PFAW's language in the headline:

    People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group, opposes a bill that would erect financial hurdles to families of college students when the kids vote in the cities and towns where they attend school.

    Senate bill 667 would prevent parents from claiming their children as tax exemptions if their children are registered to vote at an address other than their parents' address. Voting addresses would have to match vehicle registration addresses.

    It blows my mind hearing PFAW express outrage over a tax increase. Especially when we're not talking about a tax increase.

    Let's see here. Parents are claiming these kids on tax returns as "dependents" at a specific address in North Carolina or another state. In other words, they are declaring that the kids are residents of a specific address in that specific place. The cars are registered there. That address is on the driver's license. If you are claiming residency somewhere for tax purposes, you need to utilize all of the rights and privileges that come with residency there. Everybody else has to vote where they maintain their permanent residence. So should college kids. Lefties are upset with this bill because it is going to deprive them of a lot of sheep -- er, lemmings, um, "followers" on election day.

    In a letter to bill sponsors, Sens. Bill Cook, Norman Sanderson, and Ronald Rabin, PFAW said the bill "puts the rights of North Carolinians under attack."

    Really? Who's being deprived of their right to vote? Get an absentee ballot from your home county -- like I did, and like MILLIONS upon MILLIONS have before.

    "Youth and student voters who move frequently already have to navigate a confusing patchwork of voting laws. Those choosing to reregister while living and learning at institutions of higher education should not face a tax penalty for participating in our democracy, nor should their parents."

    Wow. Just -- wow. If you are taking a tax credit by declaring a kid as a dependent in your jurisdiction, you can't very well have them voting and claiming residence in another city, county or state. This legislation is a NO-brainer. Pass it. Sign it. Make it SO.