Don't Need a Congressman to Know Which Way the Draft Vote Goes
House votes down draft bill
Washington (PRWEB) October 7, 2004 -- It started out as a cheap publicity stunt by US Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY) -- a bill to revive the military draft in America. Then House Republicans pulled a stunt of their own, bringing the bill to the House floor with limited debate so that they could vote against it. The bill went down, 402-2.
But Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik isn't fooled. And he doesn't believe most Americans are, either.
"Sure, they voted it down today," says Badnarik, 50, of Austin, TX. "No politician with the brains to wangle a National Guard slot or a 4F rating during Vietnam is going to come out in support of the draft a month before the election."
"It's how they'll vote in January that worries me."
With America's armed forces stretched thin in Iraq and recruiters hard-pressed to meet their goals, it's not difficult to foresee conscription in the near future. The National Guard announced last month that it is 10% behind on its recruitment quota. Numbers are sketchy on the active duty side, but troops at Fort Carson, Colorado, recently complained that they were being threatened with transfer to units bound for Iraq if they didn't re-enlist.
"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has already announced his intention to increase the size of the Army by 30,000 next year" says Badnarik communications director Stephen Gordon. "And aside from the more than 1,000 American military men and women who have died in Iraq, nearly 20,000 have been medically evacuated. That makes the US Army light by about 50,000 troops ... and General Abazaid is calling for more soldiers in Iraq."
"All that stands between America's young and induction into the military," says Gordon, "is next month's vote. And neither of the 'major parties' or their candidates for president seem willing to abandon the policies that will make a draft necessary."
Badnarik's solution? "It's time to admit that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, and start getting our troops out of there. We owe it to our men and women in uniform to use them pursuant to the oath they swore -- to defend the United States. And we owe it to America's parents not to draft their children and sacrifice them in foreign military adventures."
Americans in 48 states and the District of Columbia will be able to cast their votes for Michael Badnarik, who hopes to join the more than 600 Libertarians now serving in public office nationwide. Last week, Libertarians in Arizona filed a lawsuit to halt the October 13th Bush -- Kerry debate to be conducted in Tempe, Arizona.
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