should kids get to vote?

aol news ^ | Sept. 17 2003 | Geraldine Sealey

[Prysson]

My personal experience is that most 18 year olds arent mature, astute or responsible enough to vote...let alone 16 year olds.

This is just another lefty method to increase their votes.

They cant really win on issue so they have to allow emotionally charged, hormonally motivated children who respond to emotional pleas and have NO CONCEPT what it really means to have to pay for things like rent, mortgage utilities, insurance etc.. Just what parents need their 16 year old kid who is still living under their roof and eating their food and wearing the clothes that they provide voting to raise their taxes to pay for saving the North American Hiccoughing Squirrel or the Muddy River Bottom Sucker Fish from extinction.

The very idea of it is ludicrous I hope ration minds persevere.

[A.J.Armitage]

How many actual voters would it create? Not potential voters, but people actually showing up at the polls?

Not enough to matter. It's a non-issue either way.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Lowering the voting age is the worst thing that has happened to this country in my lifetime. It's one of those essentially irreversible mistakes, since both the members of the affected age group and the entire benefitting end of the political spectrum (e.g leftists) will fight to the death not to reverse it. 35 would be a good minimum voting age -- old enough to have some sense, but not so old that a majority would be biased toward the AARP "more for us" socialist agenda.

[weegee]

Minors can't sign contracts, consent to sex, or get tattoos (legally) in many places until they turn 18.

They also get more leniant sentencing in crimes because they are "children".

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[A.J.Armitage]

Members of the House only have to be 25.

Immigrants can't run for president. Should they not vote either?

[Fraulein]

Post #31: ROTFLMAO!

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - POLITICS

[weegee]

Baltimer, Md and Cambridge, Mass are also considering this. Expect it to be pushed in the regions of the map that went blue (for Algore Jr.) in 2000.

They were the high population density parts of the country (some of the major cities and mostly on the coasts).

More Dumbcrap voters. This is nothing but a power grab. 17 year olds are not held accountable for their actions.

If the voting age is lowered, lower the age for "juvenile courts", age of consent, driving age, marriage age, drinking age, and the age the parents can kick their kids out of the house.

[exile]

"I say raise the voting age to 35. If you're not old enough to run for President, then you shouldn't be voting for one."

As a 28 year old, I think (not that anyone cares what I think, but what are you going to do?) that there should be an IQ test required to vote. If you eliminate the people with room temperature IQ's, the democrats will have to make do with their dead voters.

[weegee]

One of the arguments for lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were elligible for the draft at age 18. Are we going to lower the age to register for selective service?

Got to show some responsibility in order to get voting rights in this country.

At one time, this was the property owners.

These kids say that they "pay taxes". How many of them get their taxes back in the Spring as a refund (taxes paid for a part time job that earns then under $12k a year)? Oh sure they don't get the Social Security dollars back but as the program has been explained, that is not a tax (although candidate Jerry Springer wanted to exempt low income people from paying in and soak the rich for extra SS dollars).

Tell the parents that they won't be able to deduct their voting children as "dependents" anymore either. After all, if they are mature enough to vote, they are mature enough to provide for themselves.

[TheBigB]

Excellent analysis seamole, thanks! I figured out what WAG stood for before I even got to the bottom of your post. ;)

[weegee]

Someone should tell the kids how much that tea was taxed that got the colonists upset and then tell them what the tax rate is in America today (and then tell them how high the tax rate has been in America and then tell them how high it is in Europe today).

Those who earn an income and pay taxes will start to question just where it is that their money goes and why some people are saying that the government needs to take in even more.

[weegee]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[becounted]

Good for you on your early participation in the political process.

I personally don't believe an age, any age, should qualify a person to vote.

In the colonial tradition, and that of our fledgling states, we can do better. What is missing from our present day society is not the right to vote, but ongoing participation in government. The lack of participation at the local level is the primary reason the federal has gained control over every aspect of our lives.

The right to vote should be earned by attending at least 25% of local government meetings. These could be the weekly town hall meetings, city hall meetings, or county board of supervisor meetings.

Neither age, nationality, gender, IQ, property ownership, military service, bearing arms, education, business, religious denomination, nor social status bound our forefathers together. PARTICIPATION BOUND THEM!. And not just participation, but participation at the local level. Without local participation a vacuum exists and tyranny fills that void.

Simply voting is not enough to bring, or assure freedom. Voting should be reserved to those that are informed in local government affairs, and participate in such affairs. Even our elected officials in state and federal office should come home for such participation.

[Fraulein]

exactly what is Elmo (?) offering to the sheep to suckle???

Geez, you're right...it is quite obscene.

[Viva Le Dissention]

Every once in awhile, I'm truly amazed at some of the things I read here, and some of the folks calling for an IQ in order to legally vote are some of the ones that just completely dumbfound me.

The hidden premise in this is that the people who suggest this will continue to vote, but the remarkable thing is that it is such a mind-numblingly bad idea--especially to those of us that like our government small and our liberties great--that this is truly irony writ large.

So what you're saying--and correct me if I'm wrong--that you want to give the government the power to subjectively test its citizens for "intelligence," and then let the government grade these tests and then the government will announce who has the "right" to vote. This is your great idea?

No, I can't imagine that there might be any abuses to this process at all. I mean, granted, there are some people in this world--of course not you--that can't logically follow the consequences of an idea to its rational conclusion and really have no business making any decisions at all in their daily lives, except maybe which clothes to wear in the morning.

But, this is the risk we run for protecting our rights from government intrusion. I have to put up with these people that can't intellectually go from point A to point B. In exchange, I get a rock-solid guarantee that I can walk into the booth and pull a lever.

[weegee]

If the voting age is lowered, the NEA will gladly educate the children on who to vote for.

Having seen teachers require their students to write angry letters to conservative politicians, I have no doubt that they would indoctrinate the kids to pull a straight Democrat ticket.

"Don't even read the names, just click that "D" at the top, it doesn't have legs like an "R" and make sure that you don't waste your vote selecting any Greens...."