Paul Davenport of MSNBC is reporting that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday vetoed a bill that would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names could appear on the state's ballot.
The bill would have made Arizona the first state to pass such a requirement. Opponents had warned that the bill would give another black eye to Arizona after last year's controversy over the state's illegal-immigration enforcement law.
Brewer said in her veto letter that she was troubled that the bill empowered Arizona's secretary of state to judge the qualifications of all candidates when they file to run for office. "I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," said Brewer, who was secretary of state until she became governor in 2009.
"In addition, I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on Earth to submit their 'early baptismal circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona secretary of state," she said. "This is a bridge too far."
Finally the GOP is standing up to this foolish Birther witch hunt against President Obama. Seriously, this horse is dead, and Republicans need to move on from it, because now the obsession looks like — ummm, an obsession. We're not necessarily buying that Brewer vetoed the bill because of an issue over too much power. We want to know which Republican wouldn't pass muster if this bill were indeed made into a law. At any rate, it's good to see Republicans tightening the reins on sheer and utter foolishness.
Read more at MSNBC.
In other news: Marilyn Davenport Apologizes to President Obama for Chimp Email.
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