Charles Rangle kills Democratic Party before the party begins

Not that I neccesarily disagree about the draft, but if the Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee seeks to bring back the draft, it's must be part of the Party Platform.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_go_co/military_draft_4

 

Rangel has been on this kick since before the war began.

It has no chance of atually happening, but it does make for an interesting discussion.

 

If I'm not mistaken, he proposed the same thing a couple of years ago mostly as a way to make a point about how it's usually the less priviledged who end up serving in the military, because they see it as the only way they can pay for college and/or make a better life for themselves and their families.

And you're right that the reinstitution of the draft will never happen. It would require an act of congress, and the politicians don't want the backlash that would result from the current generation of baby boomer parents who lived through Vietnam. When soldiers get killed now, the politicians can just say that "hey, they volunteered for this."

And the military brass doesn't want to spend valuable time and money training people fresh off the street who don't really want to be there and buy into the cause.

 

Doing it as a member of the minority party is one thing, making a point, that at the time, needed to be made. However, he's no Chairman of THE major committee in the house. Besides, the casualty rate in Iraq and Afganistan is not weighted towards any obvious minority. In fact, the lack of complaints from the usual left wing race baiters, like Jesse, Al or Maxine, makes me think that the casualty demographic is at least reflective of the population at large.

It won't pass, but the fact that it's being introduced by the powerful Democratic Chairman makes the loss a real campign issue in '08.

 

No, it doesn't. If Rangel was on the national ticket or the idea comes even remotely close to passing, it's a possible issue. Neither of those things will be occurring. Rangel being a crank on this will carry as much weight as Jesse Helms did when Democrats used to complain about some of his loopier utterances.

 

I think that Rangel is 100% correct.

 

Charlie Rangel's district has recruiting stations in it.
The affluent one next door to it has none.
Must have been hard to find a storefront, I guess.
Throw this out there. Make the chickenhawks vote on it. (42 as the top end on age is six years beyond the top end of the WWII draft.) Put the war in "war of terror" and watch the think-tank cowboys and Young Republicans run.

 

Exactly.

Charlie's played this riff for a long time, but now it has bait value, essentially placing a dare directly
on McCain's plate. Feeling lucky, John?

Rangel's timing is impeccable, as well. The boys can all chew the fat on this one all winter,
try to embarass each other, and watch any potential legislation die its almost-certain death.

 

Before we turn this into a Dems vs. GOP issue, let's remember McCain is suggesting more troops are needed. Exactly how we accomplish that without a draft is a bit of a mystery, though.

 

so you want your daughter sent over to the iraq (or the next iraq, wherever that is) when she grows up? heck, when she's 18, which is far from grown up.

 

alley --
He's going to have to walk that one back somehow. There are no more troops, no viable political way to get any, and no sign of an end to the chaos over there. McCain's a lot of things, but he's got to realize that this war is in every sense a loser already.

 

It's not just the armed forces. Rangel wants to draft people to work in disadvantaged schools, airport and border security and other public works projects. Sort of like involuntary servitude for a couple of years.