After GOP suppresses poor and minority voter turnout with picture ID, what's next -- a poll tax?

Probably not. Not only is it unconstitutional (which wouldn't necessarily stop some of these guys), but it would also be a new tax. They hate new taxes. They'll just keep pursuing the same goals by other means.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones looks at the nationwide Republican drive to enact voter picture I. That there are virtually no cases of voters fraudulently posing as someone else is beside the point. It's not about fair elections, it's about voter suppression. And guess what groups would be suppressed?

In Indiana, which implemented a voter ID several years ago, a survey showed that blacks, the young, and low-income voters had access to picture IDs at significantly lower rates than whites, the middle aged, and the middle income. A quick look at the exit polls from any election in the past few decades shows that the most loyal Democratic demographics are blacks, the young, and low-income voters — exactly the groups targeted by voter ID laws.

There's a level of loathsomeness and naked corruption to all this that's hard to take even for those of us who follow politics closely and have few illusions about Marquess of Queensberry rules. But the goal of voter ID laws could hardly be more plain.

As for that poll tax thing, maybe they'll try to get it passed with another name. They love "user fees." Maybe they could call it a "freedom user fee."

Maybe we should double-check -- sounds just like the sort of thing that might be hidden away in the fine print of Scott Walker's budget "repair" bill.