Voting: A right or responsibility

A week ago I was at McDonald's ordering lunch. It was very busy and there was a large crowd present. I ordered the food and waited around for a few minutes. While I was doing so, a manager and another crewmemeber were getting ready to put the flags up on the pole. The manager showed him how to fold the flags up and they folded up old glory into a nice triangle with loving and patriotic care. While they were folding the McDonald's flag, a funny looking woman in her thirties with two tots in a carriage walked up to the counter where the US flag was and exclaimed in a squeaky and stupid voice, "Oh! That lookth jutht like the flag they give to famlieth of veteranth after Bush sendth them to die in Iraq and take away their benefits!"

Everyone nearby looked at her for awhile and then paid no attention to her. I began to ask myself, just where is the father of her kids and what does she do for a living anyway? From what I gather this dingbat is another one of Maine's many welfare recipients who can't amount to anything and are either too poor or too stupid to leave to get a better job and instead cancel out my vote and suck on the tit of Maine's enormous government. This woman was completely ignorant that the reason we are scaling back veterans benefits is to make way for massive social programs for lazy bums and housing projects filth like her who are idiots. I started to imagine just how the kids are going to grow up and cancel out the votes of my own children as well.

With that in mind I began to lay out the plans for this essay and thought, its time we go back to making voting a responsibility and a privilege rather than a right. One of my writers pointed out an 18th century quote from an English gentleman he overheard on a PBS TV show that also sums it up:

Give stinking morons like him the vote and we'll all be back to worshiping druids, death by stoning and eating dung for dinner.

Jokes aside there is some meaning in this. If we continue to allow people who are uneducated, immoral lazy byproducts of government schooling, secular humanism and pop culture to vote, we will be going bankrupt and have less freedom than we have now. Its already happening. The politicians and judges we elect share the same sentiments as the people before mentioned.

Long ago in America the founding fathers, men from different backgrounds were political and philosophical geniuses who recognized the necessities of religion, morality and responsibility and freedom against tyranny and dependence on government. They did little to debate on who should be eligible to choose their leaders. There were certain regulations such as the poll tax and literacy tests but it was found that they were biased towards certain groups and they didn't last. One of my friends pointed out debates on other blogs that only those who pay taxes who are not mentally incompetent or of certain privilege be allowed to vote but also pointed out that Pelosi and Obama could use that to make conservatives ineligible to vote and take over the courts, the congress, the senate and oval office and drive this country to the ground. Just keep raising taxes and have the American psychiatric Association define conservatism, defenders of the constitution and opponents of large government and taxes to be a mental disorder and that's that.

There is naturally a better way to sort it out. Sensible solid criteria that can be given out to filter out those who are moral, educated and responsible from those who are corrupt, immoral and ignorant regardless whether they are rich and poor.

First of all, recipients of welfare, and government subsidies as well as certain people who work for the government should be excluded. If you are a single mother with 12 bastards living in public housing, you should not get to vote. Get a job, a husband, get your act together, and put some of your brats up for adoption then you can vote. If you are a business executive, CEO, manager, or employee of a company that receives subsidies, no vote. Get your act together, plow more of your profits into your companies and hire more workers, create more innovations and then you can vote again. If you are a case manager, bureaucrat, agent or politician, no votes for you. You can keep your job and work for the taxpayers, or you can get a new job and vote again.

This should also apply to others on the government payroll. Police officers, Firemen, doctors, teachers, public defenders, judges, District attorneys ETC. You are receiving taxpayer money to do a job for we the people. You are receiving funds from our hard work. We don't trust you to vote for politicians who will give you a raise while our cities and communities are in the pits. We the people will decide if you deserve a raise.

The only exception I believe to this rule is the military. These men and women are doing more than receiving money they are putting their lives on the line to stay free. We don't want uneducated lazy parasites taking from defense to fund their laziness.

Second of all people who are ignorant of facts should not be allowed to vote. I recall Sean Hannity interviewing college kids in Marxist universities who don't know a damn thing about how the world works. They know nothing about history, they don't even know what happened on December 7th or what the constitution says. They do believe that socialism is best, that 80% of the wealthiest Americans (Or for that matter anyone who works) Should be taxed redistributed to those who won't work, they believe that no one should be allowed to protest or publish without government approval, they believe religion is a mental disorder and that anyone who does not agree with them in even the tiniest way is a racist sexist fascist Nazi who should be put to death.

People from other countries such as Mexico, Brazil, China, the Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Japan, Algeria, Yemen, Portugal, Britain and Togo land and who become citizens are required to know, and many of these people go on to becoming outstanding citizens in the community. Meanwhile our own children grow up stupid, lazy and the most they can land is cleaning up puke, flipping burgers and mopping aisles. These kids who work retail use cash registers that tally up numbers for them since they are too stupid to count add and subtract, paid for by us thanks to Public school. Yet they get to vote for idiots who ruin our nation.

There should be a test given before anyone can register to vote. The test will be a sensible one, multiple choice. You need to know about how the government works, how our constitution works, why we have the freedom we have ETC. People who support gun control, speech codes, protest zoning, socialism, compulsory public schooling won't be eligible. When they get educated, when they learn to be wiser, then they can vote.

Third, Individuals part of organizations that are openly hostile to our way of life such as the Communist party, the Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, Islamic Jihad, Christian reconstructionists, La Raza, Mecha and other trash should also not get to vote. Instead they should be considered dangerous individuals and a threat to freedom. There is a way to differentiate between which group is not of that criteria. Keep in mind I'm talking people who are openly hostile to us and our way of doing things. I'm not talking people who show some leftist views that some people disagree with like Food not bombs or the council of conservative citizens or some other nutcase groups. Were talking people who openly hate us and preach for our destruction. In the olden days communists and other people couldn't vote or work in government. We should go back to that.

Fourth people who commit certain crimes should not be permited to vote. People who are dishonest, who are unscrupulous and who harm innocent people should be barred for a long period or for the rest of their lives. A lot of felons don't want law abiding citizens to be armed or to be protected by the law. The reason criminals have more rights is because we let them vote for evil people who want to "understand them" or "have sympathy for them."

I read some other suggestions that people diagnosed with certain mental disorders or who come from certain backgrounds also should not be eligible. We at MainestateGop are against Psychiatry since it is a leftist junk science that supports eugenics and contributes to holocausts and great acts of injustice. The left can use it to declare libertarians, conservatives and others of being mentally incompetent and take over. We should not be concerned if someone appears to be unusual or comes from a certain background. If he or she is responsible and knows how the system works, they can vote.

Please keep in mind this is not totally full proof. We planned this out to be fair and decent in allowing those who are qualified to vote without allowing for loopholes for evil to use to take away someones freedom. But if we did use this, we would have better people in office, less taxes, more freedom and more jobs while people like the stupid woman I mentioned would be staying in their public housing or at Starbucks on election day fuming about Ronnie McBushitler, complaining that America is the worst place in the world, and how people of different races and backgrounds are of Satan.

Good. Because Last time I read an article about voting rights here on FR, a lot of people wanted to bring back poll taxes and other mechanisms that do not help.

I don't care if their rich or poor. You can be homeless and work at Walmart and still make an informed vote and you can be a filthy rich CEO and vote for some schmuck just because he's going to give you taxpayer subsidies so you can get a leg up against competitors and not work harder to compete with other people.

I think some sort of on the spot testing would be acceptable, for instance reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights before you vote. I don’t know, I’m just throwing something out there. I haven’t really thought about solutions much. JMO

mainestategop, I believe in the right of every person to vote, regardless as to how stupid he or she is. I suspect that you really do as well, but that you find this person annoying.

The good news is that many others find her annoying and she will accomplish the inverse of her goal.

By silencing a free human being, that is something that runs afoul of the inalienable rights as defended vigorously by the Founding Fathers.

If you have not had a chance to read David McCullough’s biography of John Adams, I recommend it.

There are some good points, but I’m not sure preventing people from voting is inherently a good thing. The problem with deciding who gets to vote and not is it would be decided by the government which gives a conflict of interest. If the government WANTS more power, it will somehow exclude people who are likely to vote against it obtaining more power (i.e. preventing conservatives, libertarians, and constitutionalists from voting). I think some sort of on the spot testing would be acceptable, for instance reading the Constitution and Bill of Rights before you vote. I don’t know, I’m just throwing something out there. I haven’t really thought about solutions much. JMO

Exactly... People should just be informed about basic things about this country and our constitution and what our founders intended. You don't have to be a history buff or a genius to figure it out. These people who work for government and who take welfare are plundering our tax money to do no work.

One thing I forgot to mention was social security. I think people who collect it for physical injury or being elderly or something else like that should still be eligible. But people who get it because they are too stupid to understand basic common sense and basic responsibilities probably shouldn't. Again, I was very loose with this. We have to be very careful lest the government abuse this.

Wouldn’t that eliminate employees of most big business in the US, including the defense industry, banking, construction, agriculture, petroleum, coal, etc.?

My idea is to give everyone over 18 a vote as it is today, and then set some sort of income standard for additional votes, eg, for every $100,000 in income you get an additional vote.

So, someone who makes $250,000 would get three votes. A person earning $90,000 would get one vote. There would have to be some sort of upper limit cut-off so Bill Gates doesn’t get 50 thousand votes.

Of course, these are utopian ideas and would be impossible in the US as it is today. Maybe if there is another revolution and a new constitution created, these kind of ideas might be realizable.

Here’s the awful truth, as I have witnessed it: the sacred responsibility of voting is a right like any other - it is taken for granted by too many who haven’t had to sacrifice for it, or haven’t experienced the places that don’t have it. Our country’s success has, to a great extent, contributed to our nation’s vulnerability. To turn a chestnut on its head, too often “one man’s treasure is his children’s trash.”

Colonel, USAFR

mainestategop, I believe in the right of every person to vote, regardless as to how stupid he or she is. I suspect that you really do as well, but that you find this person annoying. The good news is that many others find her annoying and she will accomplish the inverse of her goal. By silencing a free human being, that is something that runs afoul of the inalienable rights as defended vigorously by the Founding Fathers.

Agreed, but what I was saying is that she might be a welfare recipient and vote Democrat because she wants extra money to be lazy. I also pointed out that her ignorance may be a factor. Remember that a lot of liberals feel rather than think. Were not talking about silencing free people, this is not universal. Someone who might not be eligible now could be eligible later.

FYI, A lot of states such as Kansas and Missouri do not allow incompetents to vote. These laws came about in early times because these kinds of people cannot differentiate from right or wrong or learn responsibility. I think it is a bit rough though. These two guys with bipolar and Aspergers were disqualified because they needed a guardian to manage their property and medical decisions. That is wrong. But people are receiving massive welfare or corporate subsidies are sucking us down. That is also wrong.

I have my own problems with universal sufferage which I have discussed before, but this makes no sense: “If you are a business executive, CEO, manager, or employee of a company that receives subsidies, no vote.” Wouldn’t that eliminate employees of most big business in the US, including the defense industry, banking, construction, agriculture, petroleum, coal, etc.?

that's because most of these companies are lobbying with their wallets instead of their conscience. How would you like it if you ran a business and your competitors were getting taxpayer funds from your business to get a leg up over people like you? This happened to an IGA owner in Ohio. A Super Walmart moved in with help from taxpayer dollars. They got 5 million just to move in not to mention big bucks in federal money they get every year. The local IGA got nothing and couldn't compete against them as a result and the IGA went out of business. They had no money from the big government. It gave only to that Walmart.

Here, take a look at this you tube video to see my point http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDEO9ipned0

They lobby for these dumb congressmen and in exchange they vote for all these programs that go to benefiting the companies that bribe them. The Rinos and the Dems do it all the time. Think also pork barrel projects.

I do like the idea of giving voting power to certain people but it should be based on something other than financial worth. People who are citizens, who are veterans, who contribute to society should get more power.

Why should someone who makes more get more votes? I’m curious to understand the logic there. Obviously I realize we’re talking about hypotheticals, but there’s already a perception that money buys power.

The argument could be made that they have paid more taxes...hence have a bigger investment!

Sadly, if they get automatic tax exemption for being very rich while the rest of us pay up their nose, it defeats the purpose.

Question; didn’t the Founding Fathers originally reserve voting “rights” to white, land-owning people? I’ve heard that thrown around a few times, once by a man well-known for his Conservative beliefs and who seems to have a good deal of knowledge on the Founding Fathers.

I believe he said that while the Founding fathers believed everyone was created equal, they didn’t want an ignorant majority to take away the rights of the minority.

I suppose so, but if one rich person wanted welfare subsidies for his business and he had say 30 votes, it would take 30 decent people to cancel him out. I don’t think anyone should get more than one vote. I might entertain the idea if someone could present a very well though out and detailed plan on who would get how many votes and why, etc. but it’s kind of a moot point. The chances of it happening are almost nil.

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