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Potentially Good Ideas Buried in US House of Representatives' First Bill: HR1

posted by martyb on Sunday January 06 2019, @08:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the stopped-clock dept.

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

Securityweek has a look at the bits of HR1 with digital election security implications running:

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has unveiled its first Bill: HR1, dubbed the 'For the People Act'. It has little chance of getting through the Republican-controlled Congress, and even less chance of being signed into law by President Trump.

Nevertheless, HR1 lays down a marker for current Democrat intentions; and it is likely that some of the potentially bi-partisan elements could be spun out into separate bills with a greater chance of progress.

One of these is likely to include the section on election security. This has been a major issue since the meddling by Russian-state hackers in the 2016 presidential election, and the subsequent realization on how easy it would be for interested parties (both foreign hackers and local activists) to influence election outcomes.

I'm all for secure and accountable elections but the feds are going to need to be careful and deliberate in what they mandate vs. what they place conditions for funding on. They do have significant authority as far as election laws go but their power is more deep than broad; most specifics are legally up to the states. Just because something is a good idea doesn't mean they currently have the legal authority necessary to do it.

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 07 2019, @12:57PM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 07 2019, @12:57PM (#783143) Journal

    While its helpful that food is generally not taxed, clothing and vehicles are.

    You do realize that sales taxes vary wildly among the states? For instance, clothing is taxed, here in Arkansas. Sales taxes can also vary pretty wildly within the same state. 6% in one county, over 10% in another county. As a rule, I can save money by shopping in Texas - but I spend money on gas to get to Texas.

    But, I agree, sales taxes suck. I think the municipalities should get all their money from property taxes. Land owners can usually afford to be taxed, more than non owners. And, yes, I realize that I've expressed a willingness to pay higher property taxes. Income and property taxes both can be better justified than sales taxes.

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  • (Score: 2) by J053 on Tuesday January 08 2019, @01:26AM

    by J053 (3532) <reversethis-{xc. ... s} {ta} {enikad}> on Tuesday January 08 2019, @01:26AM (#783504) Homepage
    Also Hawaii - 4% nominal (actually, it winds up being 4.16% so the merchant doesn't have to eat much of it) General Excise tax on every transaction - food, clothing, medicine, everything. And it applies on each transaction (wholesale and retail), so it kind of stacks a bit like VATs do.