15,375 Reasons Why the Draft Will Not Be Re-instated

What if we had a war and nobody came ?

That may be the concern of the military as they have stepped up recruiting efforts, increased bonuses (from $6,000 last May to now up to $20,000) in an effort to keep the voluntary military in tact. But now, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, Bush's top military adviser on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that it "makes sense to certainly consider” reinstating the draft. Lute added
"It would be a major policy shift, not actually a military but a political policy shift, to move to some other course.”.

Ah, and that’s where the 15,375 come in to play.
See it is not a military question, it is a political question.

Currently with a volunteer army fighting a volunteer war, Joe Citizen is not affected. Bush has not asked any sacrifice, nor requested any taxes to pay for this endeavor. Being mum is part of the plan to not have people realize that potentially cost of the Iraq War will reach into the trillions.
[At the end of this fiscal year, the cost of Iraq War is set to reach $456 billion. The dollars include military and non-military spending, such as reconstruction. Spending only includes incremental costs, additional funds that are expended due to the war. For example, soldiers' regular pay is not included, but combat pay is included. Potential future costs, such as future medical care for soldiers and veterans wounded in the war, are not included. It is also not clear whether the current funding will cover all military wear and tear. It also does not account for the Iraq War being deficit-financed and that taxpayers will need to make additional interest payments on the national debt due to those deficits.
Nor does it include the mismanagement of this war that results in at least $8.8 billion in cash in Iraq, 190,000 weapons, and 135,000 body armor pieces being called “lost”.
For a listing of the Congressional authorization click here .]

But disguising the Iraq War is only part of the political gamesmanship going on. Raiding Social Security funds to mask other Governmental spending is another example. Any fiscal conservative can point out many examples of a government gone wild.

The scheme is to cut the pie so that you get a piece, but not let you realize how much larger other’s pieces are. The mantra is that low taxes keep the economy going … that may be true, but wouldn’t it be better to have tax fairness for all?

If knowledge is power, then to minimize power, minimize knowledge. Tell the public only what you want them to hear and spin any bad news to deflect the problem as someone else’s problem. That’s how you keep power. That’s how you keep tax cuts. That’s how you get subsidies. That’s how you get regulations written to favor your industry. And on, and on.

To maintain control, you must maintain elected officials. It does not matter how large you win an election, “it’s a mandate” regardless of the size of the victory. The size does not matter, it’s getting your voters to the polls and not the people that oppose you.

For example, why do Republicans hate unions? Because unions discuss the issues, foster their interpretation of the issue, and encourage voters. Since these issues may be at odds with the Republican policy goals, they offer alternative views as promoted by think tanks .

Why did Karl Rove ask religious volunteers across the country to hand over their churches' directories for the Bush-Cheney database and to distribute pro-Bush "voter guides ? Because the those were the voters that they wanted to vote.

And as there are efforts to encourage some voters to participate, there are also efforts to discourage others. Caging and efforts to require voters show identification are all efforts to control who votes.

But efforts to encourage and discourage may not really be necessary unless there is a reason for people to actually participate.
That’s where the Draft and the War comes in to play.
IF there is a draft people will be affected.
Potentially, even Presidential candidate’s sons would be eligible. And just like tax fairness, some may not like “Draft Fairness”.
When Joe Citizen’s sons and daughters are being affected, they will show up on Election Day.
And that’s what has been missing – voter participation.

So what are these 15,375 reasons … those are the voters that did not participate in Minnesota’s most recent election (MN House 28B). On August 7, there were 22,488 voters registered. 3,762 decided to vote for the Republican candidate Drazkowski while 3,333 voted for the Democratic candidate Pheilsticker and 18 voted for other candidates. Thus, there were 15,375 that decided they did not care to participate. This is sad. The margin of victory is small, yet policies will be made that affect all Minnesotans. Not only is this sad on its merits, but also because the voter participation is down. Heck, in the previous election, Steve Swiggum won with 9,677 votes … more than the total number of voters in the Special Election -- and where the total vote cast was over 16,000.

A military draft will encourage voter participation and that sends a chill down the spine of the established and entrenched power brokers. Lute's correct "It would be a major policy shift, not actually a military but a political policy shift, to move to some other course.”.