Obomba wants you to vote, by force

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Vivide

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/18/obama-calls-mandatory-voting-us/

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Wednesday, March 18, 2015

President Obama, whose party was trounced in last year’s midterm election due in part 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.

SEE ALSO: Obama hits GOP for ‘trickle-down’ budget plan

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.

Australia is one of 11 nations worldwide with mandatory voting. Australians who fail to vote can be fined, or even jailed for repeatedly not casting a ballot.

The president repeated his frequent complaint that Democrats tend to stay home in midterm elections. Last November, Republicans regained control of the Senate and added seats to their majority in the House despite Mr. Obama’s massive fundraising efforts for his party.

SEE ALSO: Obama humiliated as top allies rush to join China’s development bank

“The people who tend not to vote are young, they’re lower income, they’re skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups,” Mr. Obama said. “And they’re the folks who are scratching and climbing to get into the middle class and they’re working hard. There’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls. We should want to get them into the polls.”

General election voter turnout for the 2014 midterms was 36.4 percent, the lowest in any election cycle since World War II, according to the United States Election Project.

In the presidential election year of 2012, about 58.2 percent of eligible voters went to the polls. Mr. Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney, 51.1 percent to 47.2 percent — a margin of about 5 million votes.

But in House races nationwide last November, about 5 million more Republican voters cast ballots than Democratic voters.

The president, who raised $1.1 billion for his re-election, said the “blitzkrieg” of campaign spending is “bad for our democracy.”

“I speak as somebody who has raised a lot of money,” Mr. Obama said. “I’m very good at it. It just degrades our democracy generally.”

Referring to the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling that resulted in increased campaign spending by third-party advocacy groups, the president said it would be difficult to change the law with a Constitutional amendment.

“We have to think about what are other creative ways to reduce the influence of money,” he said. “There are other ways for us to think creatively, and we’ve got to have a better debate about how we make our democracy better and encourage more participation.”

Mr. Obama also said the process of gerrymandering is harmful to democracy.

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comicace3

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*Obama

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Cream_God

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Jeez i wonder if this has to do with the 2014 election

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mysticmedivh

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#4  Edited By mysticmedivh

Obomba

LOL.

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Cream_God

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Comicdude360

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Cream_God

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#7  Edited By Cream_God
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StardustCrusader

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Damn that Obomba, Barrack should really do something about him.

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deactivated-5e3b7f04aeb74

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No gracias Obama. Though I agree that campaign fundraising and spending is a questionable practice in some ways.

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Transformers1024

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K.

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ThanosRulz

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obama want to make r nation comunist and take away our guns and undo all the stuff our founding fathers fought for. so this just icing on the cake.

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FirestormFate1919

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I'm not old enough to vote, but I feel like I'd be too lazy regardless. I'm quite bored by politics, and mandatory voting would be terrible.

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Cave_Duck

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obama want to make r nation comunist and take away our guns and undo all the stuff our founding fathers fought for. so this just icing on the cake.

You've worked out the Master Plan!!! Communism is founded on the basic idea that everyone votes for a democratic leader...

Some countries already have compulsory voting, its not that bad you know.

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deactivated-5bf70359d2dd1

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Who the hell is Obomba?

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ccraft

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I'm for it, the reason why I'm not involved in the voting process is because there is so much money in politics, I feel my vote doesn't mean squat.

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algorhythm511

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Obomba...is that a play on words OP? :)

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lesterlawton

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Give us somebody worth voting for.

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rocketraccoonthingy

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OBOMBA!

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ComicStooge

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We have mandatory voting here. It's not a big deal.

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Joe_Chill

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Obomba? Hahahah omg

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Vivide

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Outside_85

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While I am sure many republicans will now attack him because they will see it as an attack on 'free choice'... it would be good to remember that (unless its not possible with the screens US uses now) you should still technically be able to vote blank.

That said, considering how low turnout is for those midterm elections (it's so low I wonder if they would be considered valid internationally), which are also hugely important to how the US government works, I can understand why it would be a good idea to have mandatory voting. The House of Representative and the Senate are, after all, also supposed to reflect the entirety of the population.

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Rubear

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#24  Edited By Rubear
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King_Saturn

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Obomba ? Is that like the Skrull version of President Obama ?

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DarthManhunter

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Ridiculous.

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amazing_webhead

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reminds me of that South Park episode, the one with the "giant douche vs turd sandwich" ordeal

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deactivated-5c901e667a76c

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#28  Edited By deactivated-5c901e667a76c  Moderator

Who's Obomba? Is he related to Barraco Barner?

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Vivide

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@xwraith: xD

Should have voted for barraco barner

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magnablue

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Bad idea

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BatWatch

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#31  Edited By BatWatch

Nothing helps the nation make better decisions more than forcing everyone too lazy to vote on their own to vote. Those who spend zero time considering politics always make the most informed political decisions.

Seriously guys, mandatory voting is supposed to combat the corporate money flooding Washington? That money goes largely to the ads that flood the airwaves every two years, and do you know who those ads influence? The stupid vote. People who actually have well thought out ideologies and carefully considered principles are not swayed by smear campaigns and thirty second political promises, but the idiots who don't know the difference in an Elephant and a Donkey are.

Mandating voting would be a boon to every politician who wants a large group of gullible voters to manipulate. If you are too lazy and disinterested to vote, then we don't need your vote.

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TheAmazingImmortalMan

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Never heard of this Obomba.

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Cave_Duck

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#33  Edited By Cave_Duck

@batwatch:

Stupid people need political representation too...

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Saint_Sophie

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I don't live in the US ehehehehe.

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Noone301994

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antithetical

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I don't live in the US ehehehehe.

lucky you... :S

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Vivide

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Noone301994

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Vivide

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willpayton

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If it came to a vote it would never pass. Republicans know that when people turn out to vote in large numbers it's bad news for them. Hell, just look at how hard they try to keep minorities and the poor from voting. Now, imagine that x10.

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BatWatch

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#42  Edited By BatWatch

@willpayton:

If you believe the people too lazy and disinterested in civic responsibility to vote on their own would vote for Democrats if given a vote or die command, that would not fill me with great pride in the Democrat Party.

The Democrats - "Where the stupid and lazy find a political home...when someone forces them to be responsible!" Good slogan.

Keep in mind that I do not think Democrats are stupid and lazy in general. I'm just following your assertion that stupid and lazy people like Democrats.

@cave_duck:

Ha! Stupid people have plenty of representatives in Washington.

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sesquipedalophobe

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This will mean only one thing: no Republican president ever.

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johnfrank120

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"The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men" - Plato

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AlphaQ

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@batwatch said:

Nothing helps the nation make better decisions more than forcing everyone too lazy to vote on their own to vote. Those who spend zero time considering politics always make the most informed political decisions.

Seriously guys, mandatory voting is supposed to combat the corporate money flooding Washington? That money goes largely to the ads that flood the airwaves every two years, and do you know who those ads influence? The stupid vote. People who actually have well thought out ideologies and carefully considered principles are not swayed by smear campaigns and thirty second political promises, but the idiots who don't know the difference in an Elephant and a Donkey are.

Mandating voting would be a boon to every politician who wants a large group of gullible voters to manipulate. If you are too lazy and disinterested to vote, then we don't need your vote.

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vance_astro

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#46 vance_astro  Moderator

Leave me alone, Obama...

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Superguy1591

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#47  Edited By Superguy1591

When did he say he wanted to force people to vote?

I'm tired of this guy

Man, everytime I read one of his threads my IQ drops.

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willpayton

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@batwatch said:

@willpayton:

If you believe the people too lazy and disinterested in civic responsibility to vote on their own would vote for Democrats if given a vote or die command, that would not fill me with great pride in the Democrat Party.

The Democrats - "Where the stupid and lazy find a political home...when someone forces them to be responsible!" Good slogan.

Keep in mind that I do not think Democrats are stupid and lazy in general. I'm just following your assertion that stupid and lazy people like Democrats.

@cave_duck:

Ha! Stupid people have plenty of representatives in Washington.

I never said the words "stupid" or "lazy" or even implied it. I said "minorities" and "poor". The fact that you read what I wrote and understand "stupid" and "lazy" says something about you and your mentality, not about Democrats.

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dngn4774

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#49  Edited By dngn4774

@johnfrank120 said:

"The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men" - Plato

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary" -James Madison, Federalist No. 51

@superguy1591 He didn't. You could also tell in the first half of the first sentence that the source was biased and the writer probably exaggerated all claims to their most polarizing effect to entertain his readers.

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BatWatch

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@batwatch said:

@willpayton:

If you believe the people too lazy and disinterested in civic responsibility to vote on their own would vote for Democrats if given a vote or die command, that would not fill me with great pride in the Democrat Party.

The Democrats - "Where the stupid and lazy find a political home...when someone forces them to be responsible!" Good slogan.

Keep in mind that I do not think Democrats are stupid and lazy in general. I'm just following your assertion that stupid and lazy people like Democrats.

@cave_duck:

Ha! Stupid people have plenty of representatives in Washington.

I never said the words "stupid" or "lazy" or even implied it. I said "minorities" and "poor". The fact that you read what I wrote and understand "stupid" and "lazy" says something about you and your mentality, not about Democrats.

What you said was that if voting were mandated, it would benefit the Democrat party. Those who don't vote now are either too lazy or too politically stupid to vote on their own initiative. Those are the people you claim will rally to your side.

You also made a comment about how Republicans are trying to suppress minorities and the poor, an inaccurate statement I was not addressing.