[Vision2020] What Republicans Believe

Sun Oct 24 06:52:13 PDT 2004

Mike,

I was paying tax when I was 6 years old, I did yard work, got paid and 
bought candy and pop, I paid sales and excise tax. I was paying income taxes 
when I was 11 years old. Should I have been given the right to vote then?

It is a proven fact that teenagers think with different parts of the brain 
than do older adults, particularly males. They think with the emotional 
part, not the logical and reasoning centers of the brain. It doesn't't mean 
you are stupid, arrogant, or not able to make decisions. It just means you 
have not fully matured and emotions and hormones get in the way of thinking 
clearly.
There is a reason why young males are more likely to, crash a car, steal, 
rob, rape, murder, start smoking, do drugs, etc. It is because their brain 
operates differently than someone older and mature. Males don't fully mature 
until after 26.

I think the older you get your outlook changes. When I was 15 I was a genius 
and knew everything and my parents were stupid. Now that I am 30, I am 
stupid, and my parents are geniuses.  I really wish that I was not allowed 
to vote until I was 21. I really regret almost every vote I cast between 
18-21.

I do think also that most teenagers are capable of voting, but many still 
are not.

Donovan J Arnold

>From: "Mike Weatherford" <fueledbyramen at hotmail.com>
>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] What Republicans Believe
>Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 14:34:16 -0700
>
>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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