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Obama calls for mandatory voting in U.S. [W:166, W:190]

Renae

Renae

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By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Updated: 4:24 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2015President Obama, whose party was trounced in last year’s midterm election due to poor turnout among Democrats, endorsed the idea of mandatory voting Wednesday.
“It would be transformative if everybody voted,” Mr. Obama said during a town-hall event in Cleveland. “That would counteract [campaign] money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country.”
Mr. Obama raised the subject during a discussion of curbing the influence of campaign donations in U.S. elections. The president said he had never discussed the idea publicly before, but said Australia and some other countries have compulsory voting.




Read more: Obama calls for mandatory voting in U.S. - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
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For liberals, freedom is mandatory enforced behaviors.
 
As someone who abstains from voting if I do not like either candidates I have to say Obama is way out of left field on this one. I will not be forced to vote for person A or person B if I like neither of them.
 
CMPancake said:
As someone who abstains from voting if I do not like either candidates I have to say Obama is way out of left field on this one. I will not be forced to vote for person A or person B if I like neither of them.
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Then you will be fined, and jailed if you do it too much. You WILL vote, it's your "right".
 
CMPancake said:
As someone who abstains from voting if I do not like either candidates I have to say Obama is way out of left field on this one. I will not be forced to vote for person A or person B if I like neither of them.
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I sense a rise in votes for Mickey Mouse, if this ever manages to stumble its way into law.

I also abstain when the field is poor, as an act of non-consent for being presented with no real choices.

If Obama is so damn concerned about all the money in politics, maybe he could try actually doing something about it rather than having everyone endorse it by making them pick between the turd and the hairball.
 
I need to see a quote where he actually endorses mandatory voting. I've been looking at several stories on this online and haven't found one.

Obama floats idea for mandatory voting in the US - AP News 3/18/2015 4:25 PM (Town Hall link, but it's the AP story)

CLEVELAND (AP) — President Barack Obama is floating the idea of making it mandatory to vote in the United States.

Obama is discussing voting rights and campaign finance in an appearance at the City Club of Cleveland. He says the U.S. should be making it easier — not harder — to vote.

The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map.

Obama says it would be "transformative" and would counteract the influence of money in politics more than anything else.

Obama also says he thinks it would be "fun" for the U.S. to consider a constitutional amendment to decrease the role of money in elections. But he says that would realistically take a long time.
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Where here is he actually advocating this?
 
"Floating is idea" is still a weak form of advocating
 
Kobie said:
I need to see a quote where he actually endorses mandatory voting. I've been looking at several stories on this online and haven't found one.

Obama floats idea for mandatory voting in the US - AP News 3/18/2015 4:25 PM (Town Hall link, but it's the AP story)



Where here is he actually advocating this?
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From the article, "The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map."

Our President is a politician. While not directly saying it, some readers will make the link.

Seems to me he would like to see it.
 
I thought freedom meant the freedom to actually not give a damn about voting.
 
Crovax said:
"Floating is idea" is still a weak form of advocating
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You are saying here that merely mentioning an idea is advocating that idea.

You can't be serious.
 
mike2810 said:
From the article, "The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map."

Our President is a politician. While not directly saying it, some readers will make the link.

Seems to me he would like to see it.
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If we were to institute a poll tax on voting, it would completely change the political map.


Now that I've said that, and I do believe the statement to be 100% true, do you think I'm in favor of a poll tax?
 
mike2810 said:
From the article, "The president is noting that countries like Australia have mandatory voting. He says if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map."

Our President is a politician. While not directly saying it, some readers will make the link.

Seems to me he would like to see it.
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He said if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map, which is true. He also notes that some countries have mandatory voting, which is also true. However, at no point in the article is there a quote where he actually advocates making voting mandatory here. At best, it's a very misleading headline; at worst, it's an outright lie.
 
roughdraft274 said:
You are saying here that merely mentioning an idea is advocating that idea.

You can't be serious.
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You're saying that introducing this idea was just idle chatter. You surely can't think that after six years in office, a President doesn't realize that his every word is taken seriously.
 
Crovax said:
If he didnt support it even in the slightest why did he bring it up
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Because he was talking about the effects of a larger electorate and making it easier to vote.
 
MrVicchio said:
Then you will be fined, and jailed if you do it too much. You WILL vote, it's your "right".
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Ah ah ah.... not "fined" that would be unconstitutional... "Taxed", by the IRS. :wink:
 
roughdraft274 said:
You are saying here that merely mentioning an idea is advocating that idea.

You can't be serious.
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Im saying bringing up an idea out of the blue and talking about the merits of it and not talking about the downsides is similar to advocating it
 
Kobie said:
Because he was talking about the effects of a larger electorate and making it easier to vote.
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And how would forcing people to vote make it easier to vote?
 
SmokeAndMirrors said:
I sense a rise in votes for Mickey Mouse, if this ever manages to stumble its way into law.

I also abstain when the field is poor, as an act of non-consent for being presented with no real choices.

If Obama is so damn concerned about all the money in politics, maybe he could try actually doing something about it rather than having everyone endorse it by making them pick between the turd and the hairball.
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Well i voted for "donald duck" in the midterm, despising both candidates. Compulsory voting would only make me despise them more

Although i've always contested obama is not liberal at all, this seems more self-serving to me than anything, as most who do not vote are working class and would vote democrat

Things he can actually "do about it" to increase voting, without undermining the whole point of democracy: make it easier! It's absurd to have to show up in person in long lines and frigid weather on a weekday to vote in 21st century, and what if god forbid you get sick or injured on that day? Electronic voting, longer periods in which to vote, or making election day a national holiday all come to mind
 
roughdraft274 said:
If we were to institute a poll tax on voting, it would completely change the political map.


Now that I've said that, and I do believe the statement to be 100% true, do you think I'm in favor of a poll tax?
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Don't know,
Now take your statement and add first.
Country X has a mandatory poll tax. If everyone paid a toll tax, it would completely change the political map.

Depending what else is said before or after the comment, one possible could determine if you were for it.

The article did say, "The president didn’t commit to pushing a mandatory voting initiative at the federal level but said, “that may end up being a better strategy in the short term” than finding a solution to curbing campaign donations..

Read more: Obama calls for mandatory voting in U.S. - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Like I said, he is a politician. While not saying it directly, seems Obama would be for it.
 
Kobie said:
He said if everyone voted in the U.S., it would completely change the political map, which is true. He also notes that some countries have mandatory voting, which is also true. However, at no point in the article is there a quote where he actually advocates making voting mandatory here. At best, it's a very misleading headline; at worst, it's an outright lie.
Click to expand...

The president didn’t commit to pushing a mandatory voting initiative at the federal level but said, “that may end up being a better strategy in the short term” than finding a solution to curbing campaign donations.

Read more: Obama calls for mandatory voting in U.S. - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

So what did that statement mean to you?
 
Crovax said:
Im saying bringing up an idea out of the blue and talking about the merits of it and not talking about the downsides is similar to advocating it
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No, it's not.
 
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