Peak Idiocy – Obama Suggests Making Voting Mandatory

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The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do.
– Joseph Stalin

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.
– Emma Goldman

Of all the idiotic things Obama has muttered during his almost inconceivably painful 6 years as President, the following may take the cake. It’s as if he’s just completely given up. Back to the golf course man, please.

From CNN:

The president whose major policy achievement is mandatory health insurance thinks maybe voting should be mandatory, too.

Asked how to offset the influence of big money in politics, President Barack Obama suggested it’s time to make voting a requirement.

“Other countries have mandatory voting,” Obama said Wednesday in Cleveland, where he spoke about the importance of middle class economics, and was asked about the issue during a town hall.

“Other countries are doing it”…has it really come to this? Yes. Yes it has.

“It would be transformative if everybody voted — that would counteract money more than anything,” he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.

Of course it’s the first time anyone’s shared the idea publicly, because it’s so fucking stupid.

The notion that forcing people to vote for one of two dynastic political families entirely owned by powerful corporate interests (Bush vs. Clinton) would solve the money in politics problem is incomprehensibly stupid.

At least 26 countries have compulsory voting, according to the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine in countries such as Australia and Belgium; if you fail to pay your fine in Belgium, you could go to prison.

The one trait that unites all authoritarians is the love of coercion and force. Obama, as usual, doesn’t disappoint.

Interestingly, Brazil is one of those nations with mandatory voting. Let’s see how that’s been working out for them lately. From the Wall Street Journal:

BRASÍLIA—Political opponents of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff are pressuring authorities to investigate her in connection with a widening corruption scandal that has sunk her approval ratings and threatens to engulf her government.

Opposition leaders are asking Brazil’s Supreme Court to give the green light to prosecutors to determine whether the president played a role in a ring that allegedly looted millions of dollars from state-controlled oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA and funneled bribes to politicians.

More than a million Brazilians took to the streets in dozens of cities on Sunday, many of them calling for the president to resign or be impeached.

Boosting public opinion will be a challenge for Ms. Rousseff, whose approval rating has fallen to a record low. Just 13% of Brazilians say she is doing a “good or excellent” job, while 62% rate her performance as “bad or terrible,” according to figures published Wednesday by the Datafolha polling firm. Corruption was a top grievance in the protests, according to pollsters.

Many Brazilians also blame Ms. Rousseff for her handling of Brazil’s economy, which is teetering on recession and suffering from high inflation and rising unemployment.

Yes, it’s becoming quite clear that mandatory voting creates positive outcomes.

Let’s also recall Joseph Stalin’s quote at the top. All authoritarian leaders throughout history knew that there’s no better way to claim false legitimacy than with sham elections in which everybody votes. Perhaps this is exactly what Obama is thinking.

For related articles, see:

Former Aide to Bill Clinton Speaks – “My Party Has Lost its Soul”

Neither Republicans nor Democrats Top 40% Favorability in Latest Gallup Poll for First Time Ever

Thoughts on Election Day: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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13 thoughts on “Peak Idiocy – Obama Suggests Making Voting Mandatory”

  1. Hey, I’m all for it… however, I would like to amend it slightly… Only people who NET PAY federal income taxes, CAN/MUST VOTE… all those on the dole, who do not meet that simple requirement for the prior tax year, should face a jail sentence if they vote!

    Reply
    • All those on the dole? Does that include every single multi-national corporation, Wall Street banks, oligarchs, etc.?

      No one is on the dole more than Wall Street. 0% interest rates and QE is the biggest welfare program in U.S. history.

  2. I don’t think this idea is ‘stupid’ per se as I’m damned tired of being ruled by leaders elected w/ voter turnout of 20% or less. Maybe sending folks to jail for not voting is a non-starter but how about some kind of perk, say $10 for showing up & voting? There will never be a viable 3rd party until we have much higher voter turnout, mock folks for voting & you only guarantee demublican/republocrat oligarchy from now till forever..l.

    Reply
    • We can simply look to countries with mandatory voting to see that it does nothing to improve outcomes. Voting is mandatory in Brazil. This is happening in Brazil now, http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-opposition-urges-probe-of-roussef-1426711361

      BRASÍLIA—Political opponents of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff are pressuring authorities to investigate her in connection with a widening corruption scandal that has sunk her approval ratings and threatens to engulf her government.

      Opposition leaders are asking Brazil’s Supreme Court to give the green light to prosecutors to determine whether the president played a role in a ring that allegedly looted millions of dollars from state-controlled oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA and funneled bribes to politicians.

      More than a million Brazilians took to the streets in dozens of cities on Sunday, many of them calling for the president to resign or be impeached.

      Boosting public opinion will be a challenge for Ms. Rousseff, whose approval rating has fallen to a record low. Just 13% of Brazilians say she is doing a “good or excellent” job, while 62% rate her performance as “bad or terrible,” according to figures published Wednesday by the Datafolha polling firm. Corruption was a top grievance in the protests, according to pollsters.

      Many Brazilians also blame Ms. Rousseff for her handling of Brazil’s economy, which is teetering on recession and suffering from high inflation and rising unemployment.

      Oh, and Argentina has mandatory voting as well. Take a look and check out their current situation.

    • Mike referenced CNN at the top of the article, not Fox. From my reading of the transcript, the gist of the story is true, even though the reporting was sloppy – more likely carelessness rather than an anti-Obama rumor.

      And Mike is right – this is peak stupidity. Mandatory voting contradicts the essence of a free society. Fewer and fewer areas of life rely on voluntary participation. Not voting is a definite protest against the establishment, which is perhaps why the Republicans took the state of Nevada to court to remove “none of the above” from their ballots (an option they held since 1976.) Rather than reform their actions, they create another requirement to preserve the appearance of normalcy.

  3. Here is the exact quote being used to discredit this claim:

    “In Australia, and some other countries, there’s mandatory voting. It would be transformative if everybody voted.”

    He may not have said we should have mandatory voting. Much like his usual syntactical skirmishing, he won’t be pinned down that easily. However, read it again from the perspective of neurolinguistic programming–of which speech he is very accomplished– and it is obvious the idea was being planted. Anyone who doesn’t understand this will miss about 85% of what this guy is shoveling.

    I know one sure effect mandatory voting would have. It would give the elite, who already steal elections,–see Diebold voting machines–the opportunity to claim outrageous mandates with 100% of the voting public participating.

    No thanks. I really don’t mind when the goobers prefer to stay home on election day, eat Cheetos and drink Big Red. All decent Americans would see with mandatory voting is a higher percentage of fuckupery.

    Reply
  4. Personally I think election day should be a national holiday and that we need to go back to the paper ballot. As for who should vote, every American citizen should vote, even those in jail. If you want to place restrictions, then I vote for using the I.Q. I’m tired of you morons electing the morons we now have.

    Reply
  5. Making voting mandatory? A cynical joke from Obama. How about this, Mr. President? Let’s reform the balloting laws and make it easier for 3rd, 4th and even 5th Political Parties on the ballot? Give voters some REAL choices. Still want mandatory voting, Mr. Obama? Didn’t think so

    Reply
  6. Give us Optional Negative Voting – the ability to cast our same single vote either FOR a candidate, to increase his total, or AGAINST, to decrease it, and we’ll most surely use it.

    Reply
    • We can simply look to countries with mandatory voting to see that it does nothing to improve outcomes. Voting is mandatory in Brazil. This is happening in Brazil now, http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-opposition-urges-probe-of-roussef-1426711361

      BRASÍLIA—Political opponents of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff are pressuring authorities to investigate her in connection with a widening corruption scandal that has sunk her approval ratings and threatens to engulf her government.

      Opposition leaders are asking Brazil’s Supreme Court to give the green light to prosecutors to determine whether the president played a role in a ring that allegedly looted millions of dollars from state-controlled oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA and funneled bribes to politicians.

      More than a million Brazilians took to the streets in dozens of cities on Sunday, many of them calling for the president to resign or be impeached.

      Boosting public opinion will be a challenge for Ms. Rousseff, whose approval rating has fallen to a record low. Just 13% of Brazilians say she is doing a “good or excellent” job, while 62% rate her performance as “bad or terrible,” according to figures published Wednesday by the Datafolha polling firm. Corruption was a top grievance in the protests, according to pollsters.

      Many Brazilians also blame Ms. Rousseff for her handling of Brazil’s economy, which is teetering on recession and suffering from high inflation and rising unemployment.

      Oh, and Argentina has mandatory voting as well. Take a look and check out their current situation.

      To your point, look at who Australians have as Prime Minister. Tony Abbott, perhaps the biggest imbecile as a world leader on planet earth, and that’s saying a lot. We can add Australia to the list of failures.

      Video of the Day – Meet Australia’s Creepy Prime Minister, Tony Abbott: http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/06/12/video-of-the-day-meet-australias-creepy-prime-minister-tony-abbott/

      Thanks for playing.

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