Idiots.  They still think this is the 1960s.  Imagine if this were to 
pass.

============================================

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rangel-to-reintroduce-military-draft-
measure-2009-01-14.html

Rangel to reintroduce military draft measure  
By Susan Crabtree  
Posted: 01/14/09 07:24 PM [ET]  

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) likely will introduce his controversial 
legislation to reinstate the draft again this year, but he will wait 
until after the economic stimulus package is passed.


Asked if he plans to introduce the legislation again in 2009, Rangel 
last week said, “Probably … yes. I don’t want to do anything this early 
to distract from the issue of the economic stimulus.”



Rangel’s military draft bill did create a distraction for House Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) soon after Democrats won control of Congress 
after the 2006 election.


In the wake of that historic victory, Pelosi said publicly that she did 
not support the draft and that the Democratic leadership would not back 
Rangel’s legislation. She also said Rangel’s legislation was not about 
reinstating the draft but was instead “a way to make a point” about 
social inequality.


Reintroducing the military draft bill, which would attract media 
attention, will be trickier for Rangel in 2009 than it was a couple 
years ago because the Ways and Means Committee chairman is now under 
investigation by the House ethics committee.


Democratic leaders have given Rangel a leading role in helping craft the 
new economic stimulus bill despite an array of ethics allegations that 
have surfaced over the last several months. The charges have ranged from 
failing to report rental income on a villa in the Dominican Republic to 
an alleged quid pro quo involving a legislative favor for a donor to an 
education center bearing Rangel’s name.


Always eager to be at the heart of the action, Rangel clearly is 
relishing discussing the high-profile stimulus package. During the first 
days of the 111th Congress — and for the first time in months — 
reporters have been swarming around Rangel to discuss policy matters 
rather than ethics.


 Republicans are likely to seize on the reintroduction of Rangel’s 
unpopular military draft bill. When they controlled the House in 2004, 
Republicans scheduled a vote on the Rangel measure, which was defeated 
402-2. Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Pete Stark (D-Calif.) supported it, 
while Rangel voted against his own bill, claiming the GOP was playing 
political games.


But Rangel told The Hill that he recently heard talk about rewarding 
mandatory service with two years of college credit.


“That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to join the 
military to get an education.”


A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, 
Rangel argues that the burden of fighting wars falls disproportionately 
on low-income people and that cost should be borne more broadly.


If a draft had been in place in 2002 when members were making the 
decision on whether to support the war in Iraq, Rangel has said, 
Congress never would have approved the war resolution, because the 
pressure from constituents would have been too great.


With the Iraq war off the front page and the economic crisis taking 
center stage, nerves are not as raw on the topic of strain on the 
military as they were a few years ago, so Rangel’s legislation may not 
make as many waves this time around.


But some Democrats — even one who supported Rangel’s efforts in the past 
— are a little perplexed about his plans to reintroduce the legislation, 
especially now that President-elect Obama is poised to take over the 
White House.


“That was really a political statement at the beginning of the war that 
we continued,” said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), one of only two co-
sponsors of Rangel’s draft bill. “I’m not sure we’re going to do that 
this time.”


Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y) was the only other co-sponsor during the 
110th Congress. She could not be reached for comment for this article.

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Democrats --  The party of economic obstruction ....


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