Home > How They See Us > Archives > 2008 > March > 31 > Entry
Will they pay taxes, too?
Non-Americans should be allowed to vote in the U.S. presidential election. Or so says Damian Lanigan, a blogger for London’s Telegraph newspaper
He said that the people of Afghanistan, Israel, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, and any number of other places have much more at stake in the upcoming election than do U.S. residents.
Lanigan said there are a number of reasons for this. “Firstly, whereas the president has severely limited ability to make progress in domestic policy, he is relatively untrammeled when it comes to affairs abroad. George W. Bush couldn’t get close to reforming Social Security, for instance, despite a Republican congress. No president has much influence over the course of the economy. In contrast, as commander-in-chief of the military the president has enormous power overseas. Who would have thought it would be easier to invade Iraq than to get Harriet Miers on to the Supreme Court?”
So how should the foreign vote be represented? Lanigan suggested: “What about an Internet-based vote of 10 million people from all the countries of the world with as many electoral votes, as, say Michigan?”
Now how’s that for a controversial idea?
Comments
By js
April 2, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this
My wife has lived in the U.S. for a dozen years, as have several of our friends. Every single one is a professional in either research, computer fields, academia.
All of a sudden, out of the blue, their immigration status, i.e. green cards, citizenship, depending on where they where on Jan 1 of last year, was halted. Attorney general cannot find out, no govt. official will say anything, even though we are entitled by law to know….our rights are being trampled on by Bush…..I feel like puking when I think of what he is doing to this country…
Remember, immigrants are not “illegals”..they are the backbone of our economy…..
Still, Bush proposes to ignore thirty plus environmental laws, use eminent domain to go over private lands, destroy habitat and migration corridors for endangered species to keep out some hispanics…
Remember, before Bush, there was no immigration problem, because people came her to pick crops, knowing they can go back and forth…now they are scared to go back so they stay…bush has created his own nightmare….
I am a white, formerly Republican, male from the South. I moved to NY State. I am outraged at injustice everywhere in this country. I already experienced racism. Now I know what disenfranchisement means, from personal experience, as my vote for Barack Obama on Super Tuesday was thrown out by my local election committee, as were many others. It was reported on NPR, but failed to make it to the national conservative media. Keep in mind myself and my friends all just voted in November for local elections. It was tampering by our pro-HRC county board. It didn’t matter since she still “won” NY State.
As my Haitain colleague says, it is no longer black and white, or any other racial or ethnic variation. Bush has declared a battle defending the rich against the poor…..all of his policies ignore global warming, housing crisis, credit crisis, independent energy policies….
I am very sick and disgusted at this administration and deluded Americans, mostly from one ethnic group (white) and mostly older, who still support Bush policies, while they eat soup and crackers from their dwindling social security and still think there are WMDs (they just haven’t found them yet!!!!)…..
McCain is plain evil……and senile….he will destroy all of us…
I live in NY, but I cannot vote for HRC after she promised every child born in America when she gets elected $5000 (google it if you think I am lying)…the national medial largely ignores this and other “misstatements” by Clintons…..but I know how she lies for votes….
Finally, I feel media (and Bush) are lying to us….how about the explosion in Stone Mountain last month???? Did anybody get to the bottom of that???? Why the media blackout on this and a similar incident at the same time in Illinois????? Is Bush afraid his failed policies at “defending us” by attacking the wrong country for oil will be exposed???