The draft is coming back to America!

The draft would be a good thing!!! ok hear me out!

Instead of a lottery sort of version however ... all Males leaving High school should immediately just be directed to compulsory military service. This will do several things - no exemptions for gay, handicapped etc. they just have to billet them to jobs they can do. If this happens then more citizens will be trained and indoctrinated --

Better yet all young males of age 11/12 should be placed in boarding military schools for preparation just like they did in Sparta. Followed by the compulsory service for 4 years.

This will help with common bonds of the young people, provide the needed economic stimulus while allowing them to be paid at a lower wage since their room and board is taken care of. It reduces young people from having unwanted pregnancy and uniform education.

They will be much better well adjusted adults as well as more self reliant.

The people are not property of the state. Hopefully if they re-instate the draft so many people will be pissed off that America is turned upside down.

At least every man and woman should have to perform some kind of public service whether it military or working in hospital or parks, for eveyone needs to pay for the benefits many have assumed they are owed in this country.

When the draft was in effect, we had less gangs, less drugs, less crime in that age group and of yeah, the discipline made up for the poor parenting that is rampant now.

As well I do belive this is the first ever, close to sensible patriotic muttering that ever came out of Rangel's mouth. huh?

Off course you have guys like Bill Clinton who are gonna dodge it anyway.

The people are not the property of the government. The government thinks they can pluck young men off the street and send them home either in a box, with PTSD, or with missing limbs.

I can understand in the case of something such as World War II, with our freedoms greatly at risk, but re-instating the draft in this state of government corruption is giving every young man in America a death certificate, because they'll likely die for America's stance as police of the world, rather than die so that millions of Americans can have their freedom. The constitution should better protect the people from the government, before anything such as this can be implimented.

If the draft is re-instated, the government will just have some pawns to use for more of their wars. Was the Vietnam War important for our freedom? No, it wasn't.

My dad was drafted and now he has health problems caused by Agent Orange, and he has a tiny little bit of PTSD. Many people died in Vietnam, but they died for the government and it's war against an ideology.

i'm all for a draft. in fact, i'm all for universal conscription. the military shouldn't be a specialized segment of society. we should all be responsible for our wars, and we should all be responsible for resisting them.

Good idea for defense, homeland security and to reduce crime ... get 'em off the street and give them a job to do ... And, if you don't want to fight for this country, please leave before it is defeated by a foreign force because of folks like you ... !

i thought Congress was supposed to pass the declaration of war first

Since when is mental deficiency a "get out of the draft" card...& YES, Let's remember the "60"s, & the disproportionate number of Financially Challenged & Middle Class draftees Who couldn't afford a College Deferment, ( & don't ever think those deferments wouldn't exist, were the draft brought back)
Historically The Rich have ALWAYS been able to buy their way OUT of Military Service, & OFFICERS' COMMISIONS(REMF's!) are purchased,(College Tuitions) not earned by Ability.

A military draft would be a deterent to war. If we had a draft we would probably not be in Iraq today. No one wants to send their kids to war. The only deferment would be to allow people to finish whatever semester that they are in at college. Compare the feeble protest against the war in Iraq to the immense public protest against Viet Nam.

Rangel has been talking about mandatory military service for years. While I think it's a great idea, forcing Americans to not only consider, but participate in the TRUE cost of war, it is an idea that isn't going to happen. And ultimately, Rangel needs to worry about keeping his own house(s) in order right now.

This article is a pathetic distraction from a failed presidency and a country overwrought with self inflicted problems.

It's sad to say but starting the war was easy for Bush. No draft, a volunteer military and the delusion that it would be over quickly. As the article indicated, if there was a draft, similar to the one during the Vietnam War the outcry would have been so loud that Bush would have been impeached if he pulled what he did in Iraq.

It is also a sad commentary on our society that most peoples concern about the war is only a function of the possibility of their or thier childrens forced participation. Do you think if the children of all the congressional chickenhawks stood even the remotest chance of being on the front lines that they would have voted for this war? Nope.

Atleast they'll have job security!

misleading title = down vote

ya wouldnt want to take most of u ppl from your precious pot and freedoms of complaining to help win this damn war in afghanistan.

maybe if u were next to your best friend when he gets shrapnel all his face and neck and you cant do anything while he bleeds out u could possibly understand wat its like over here, but i doubt it

What a dumb proposal

This is against the 13th amendment to the constitution... I believe something about indentured servitude, conscription and slavery?
Americans are the most productive, innovative and satisfied when we're free... its a win/win to keep the military volunteer.

haha.. nobody is going to fight this governments wars anymore. FUCK THAT.

Does anyone seriously think this would pass?

Our all volunteer force is way better than a drafted army

This is a publicity stunt and an attempt to make a point. There is no serious effort to reinstate the draft.

A draft with absolutely no exception other than physical or mental deficiency would do more to stop war than anything else. People are more interested when all of their sons or daughters are in the shit rather than mostly poor kids and minorities. No college exemption. No more hardship cases. no more I need to stay home on the farm to take care of my widowed mother. Two years mandatory military or government service.

What is this man thinking. We do not need another Draft to send more young men out to kill more young men they have no reason to kill. We need men here. Roosevelt said it the way it is. "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" and if our government gives us reason to fear it, then we are in trouble and need these young men to protect us here at home. So far noone has even attempted to invade the USA from afar and inspite of how the size of the earth has shrunk over the years, there is still no danger from outside of our own nation. Since we have a brigade here in the USA to keep us under control, we too need a deterrent to balance the forces brought to stand us down. The military has received more volunteers than they need, so unless they have some greater national plans I do not understand why Mr. Rangel needs a draft. Our nation was founded to make us free, then why must we cater to a governing element that wishes to take away more of our freedoms. The draft is putting men in the military against their wishes and that is taking away their freedom. If they are so patriotic and wish to volunteer fine. But dont force men in this day and age to fight for what they do not believe in. Just because this Washington may find it necessary to start another war for oil or just for another step in globalization, does not mean the public will support it. Bush willl be in the minds of the people for a long time and if this administration does nothing to account for the last eight years, I do not see the people supporting it. Our government has been acting onits own for too long without the peoples concerns being addressed, Now it is time for then people to be heard. We need to standup and be counted. Mr Rangel does not need more men, He does need ton do the job he was elected to do, and that is serve his constituency and not himself. So far he has proven himself as defined "self serving".

This will definately receive opposition reaction....

Nope--no way--won't pass--and Rangel won't make any point at all.

Seeing as I'm above the draft age now (and I have health concerns, and I'm an only child... and I'm gay, so I've all the get out of jail cards); but even before then, I felt that a draft is a horrible yet somewhat necessary thing. I doubt we'd have stayed in this failed war for so long if everyone's kids -- rich and poor -- were forced into service.

remember the sixties indeed.

there is no way no how i am going into the army

From the article:

"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."

Some of you should take the time to read and learn about things before you go making fools of yourselves.

we had anti-war everything in this country for the past couple of years and it ended nothing. re-introducing the bill for whatever reason he is doing it is a bad idea, because it still puts the bill on the table in the first place. i keep hearing the cynics say read, well if you are so well read then you know that our military is stretched extremely thin, and that numbers for people volunteering to be in the military are dropping rapidly. wake up and use your brains.

you also know that we are BFF's with Israel. we (USA) helped found that country 60 years ago, they depend on us. we gave them the go ahead to slaughter people in gaza.

YOU put those people in the white house, YOU let people run this country down, YOU cant complain

The lack of a draft is exactly why the youth of America has been relatively blase about these illegal wars in in Afghanistan and Iraq. Remember the sixties?

Social Contract. Question is what are the terms of the Social Contract. One could argue that far too many have ignored the terms of that contract.

apparently nobody reads...the whole point of the bill is to make a point. he knows that if passed the antiwar/draft outcry would end the war within months. i've never been so disappointed in the comments on current before

i would agree with that statement of another war around the corner. unless someone can stop israel from "defending" themselves. since when is defending killing 800 children?

are we getting out of a war though? i'm not so sure about that. we may be getting out of one war but it looks like another is right around the corner...

WW3 is around the corner and once again the poor and middle class will kill each other off, while the elite sit back in their recliner and watch it unfold on their Big screen.

This is why they are going to do away with "Don't ask, Don't tell". The draft will never work as long as there is a get out of jail free card.

whats the point of reinstating the draft if we are getting out of the war. instead of moving in a positive direction away from war this idea of a draft will just keep us still involved

No it's not. There will be riots in the streets if they DARE try that. Count on it.

people you have nothing to worry about. The man is a democrat. they are more concerned with the 2 % of the population that want to see the ten commandments removed from courthouses than the 98% that want them there.

I know Bush tried to do this during the Iraq war with me by reintroducing a bill that would call up old reservists and former military personnel that retired. With the war in Afghanistan becoming more hostile I wouldn't be surprised if this happens again.

i'm jumping ship if thats the case...if we get in another war its our stupid fault...

"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."

It'll never happen.