If you’re reading this on Friday, September 24th, there are 41 days until the election. Forty-one days until the voters of this country – the 20% who are truly qualified to cast a vote, the 60% who aren’t and the 20% whom you just can’t really get a handle on – will chose the next Commander in Chief of the U.S. armed forces; The next wartime Commander in Chief.
As you can tell from the first paragraph, I get a bit antsy just before major elections. On the morning of November 2nd hoards of people who haven’t had a working relationship with a clue since they took their first driver’s test are going to be participating in a decision-making process that will have profound implications of my life and the life of my child long after I’ve been tucked in for the eternal, celestial dirt nap.
Frankly, I’m scared to death.
I think that it would be a safe bet to say that somewhere around 35 to 40% of the voters who manage to find their way to the polling place on November 2nd are going to be voting with one thought in mind: Which one of the people on this ballot will take the most money away from people I don’t particularly like and then either give that money to or spend that money on me. If you want to talk about suppressing the vote … these are the people I would like to see locked in their homes on Election Day.
I am now and have been for years a firm advocate of developing a system to limit the people who can vote in this country. We need to find a way to restrict the number of people who can vote. If we don’t weed out the chaff soon it may well be too late.
Don’t give me that “democracy” nonsense. In spite of what you hear from your government school teacher, your leftist college professor, or that smiling talking head on television, we are not a democracy. Never were. Weren’t supposed to be. You won’t find the word “democracy” in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States or in any constitution of any of the 50 States. There’s a reason for that. Our founding fathers hated the idea of democracy. They knew that a government of majority rule would dissolve into a tyranny of plunder and chaos.
In anticipation of yet another knee-jerk response to my proposal that we limit voting, let me remind you that there is absolutely no constitutional guarantee of your right to vote in any federal election. Do some reading. It isn’t there. A latte to the person who can find anything in our Constitution that sounds remotely like “each citizen shall have the right to vote in a federal election.” Happy hunting.
Suggestions? OK, here you go. Chose the one you like the best and let’s start a movement.
1. Welfare recipients. Those who depend on government forced income redistribution should stay at home on election day and enjoy the fruits of plunder. With all the opportunity that America offers, if you haven’t managed to obtain some level of self-sufficiency by the time you’re a young adult then you should leave important decisions, like who’s going to lead this country, to more qualified citizens.
2. Voters without a clue. Less than one-fourth of Americans can name the two Senators from their home state. The majority of Americans can’t tell you who the Secretary of State or the Vice President is. As voters enter a polling place they should be given a simple short quiz. Name your congressman, your two Senators and the Vice President. Those who successfully answer ALL the questions get sent to a voting machine that actually works. Those who can’t pass this simple citizenship test get shuttled off to a voting machine with no innards. They can punch buttons to their heart’s content, but all they’re getting is some rather lame exercise. They voted, they’re happy. We know their votes don’t count. We’re ecstatic!
I have more ideas, but not enough space. For those of you who do believe strongly that everyone should be able to vote, I have an alternate proposal. President Calvin Coolidge once said that “The business of America is business.” Let’s put that concept to work at the voting booth. Let’s treat America like a business and make every American a shareholder.
Shareholders get to vote their shares at the shareholder’s meeting every two years.
Did I say shares? Plural? Yup. Just as with any business corporation, not everyone has the same number of shares. Just how do you acquire shares in America, Inc.? Well, you have one share issued to you just by virtue of your being a citizen. You buy additional shares by paying income taxes.
Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?
We can work on the numbers when we get closer to implementing the plan, but for now let’s just say that you get one additional share in America, Inc.
for each $25,000 in income taxes you pay during the tax year preceding the election. If you paid $24,999.00 or less in income taxes in 2003, you get one vote in the 2004. Taxpayers forking over between $25,000 and $49,999 get two votes, and so on. A taxpayer who pays $200,000 in income taxes will be casting eight votes on election day. To keep Hillary from controlling an election the next time she gets a huge bonus to write a book we’ll go ahead and make eight the maximum number of votes any individual can cast.
Don’t you just love it? The people who actually fuel our economy with their hard work and attention to decisions will get a greater voice in the direction our country takes! What a concept!
Neal Boortz is a lawyer and nationally syndicated radio talk show host.
