[Vision2020] What Republicans Believe

[Mike Weatherford]

Pat,

  While I appreciate your wish to have educated voters, there is a problem 
with your idea. See, I am currently 19 years old. I have been paying taxes 
on my paycheques since I was 16. I was only able to vote after I turned 18. 
This offended me. I was a tax-paying citizen starting at age 16. And I, with 
no say in my representation, simply forked it over.

  I don't have any problem paying taxes. They are a necessary evil. But I 
have a problem not being allowed to vote on how my money is spent, even in 
an indirect fashion. At age 16, I was old enough to drive, to work, to give 
blood, even, had my parents not been the loving and understanding people 
they were(and are), to sue them for separation and find my own place to 
live. But I could not vote.

  The voting age used to be 21. Were that still the case, things would 
change slightly. I still wouldn't be allowed to vote. I am old enough to 
smoke, attend college, live wherever I chose, and, should it become an 
issue, die for my country. I can own a gun. But I wouldn't be able to vote. 
Dropping the voting age to 18 was a good thing, in my opinion. Why?

  Your argument that people should not be allowed to vote until they are 30 
and/or well educated does not hold water. Being 30 does not make someone 
smarter than me. I knew people in western washington who were 30 when I was 
16, and I was far and away the smarter individual between the two of us. I 
know people who are retirement age, and I cringe every time I think of them 
casting a vote. Being well-educated is a step in the right direction. But 
how shall we enforce that? High school transcripts? College transcripts? A 
test at the polls? Perhaps that would be the best solution - we can make 
prospective voters take a test a the polls. Of course, in order to prevent 
unfair disenfranchisement after the fact, we could make it so that you could 
still vote if you could prove that your grandfather had voted. That might be 
nice. To make it easier on everyone involved, the test could be an in-depth 
survey of important names and dates from american history. In multiple 
choice format. Then only the smart and the lucky could vote. Never mind the 
fact that the date of Garfield's assassination has nothing to do with the 
current situation. It would prove that prospective votors were /well 
educated/, and that is all that matters.

  I have a suggestion, though. If we are going to start taking away people's 
right to vote until they are old or smart enough, let's also take away their 
right to pay taxes. I think that would be nice. "Mr. Weatherford, your 
yearly income taxes are due." "Oh, I'm sorry sir, I failed my voter history 
test and am currently not represented in our lovely government." "Well then, 
I'm very sorry to have wasted your time. Have a nice year!" I was never a 
fan of paying taxes without getting a voice in my representatives, the ones 
that would determine how my hard-earned money was spent. Perhaps you, with 
your superior age and education, can remember a similar situation in our 
nation's history?

  But I'm only a kid. I'm just 19 years old. I'm not even old enough to 
drink yet. I'm not old enough to remember how things were back in the good 
ole' days. I'm not well educated enough to be boring at parties. What do I 
know?

-Mike Weatherford.



>From: "Pat Kraut" <pkraut at moscow.com>
>To: "vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] What Republicans Believe
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:34:00 -0700
>
>"How can arguments based on fact prevail in a nation where so many people
>know so little?"
>
>I couldn't agree more. I have come to the conclusion that people shouldn't
>be allowed to vote until they are 30 and have finished serious classes 
>about
>the two parties and the candidates. AND about our history and what the
>different parts of our government actually do. I really am coming to 
>believe
>that some people just shouldn't have the vote. All these kids that Ophra 
>and
>others are getting registered only know what people are telling them. They
>have not yet paid enough taxes, tried to start a business or gone far 
>enough
>in life to learn who they really are and what they really think. I know 
>that
>because I was one of them. When I talk to people about our history and form
>of government I am well aware that too many people weren't listening in
>History classes.
>PK

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