Should children have the right to vote?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As things in Washington go from bad to worse, here's an idea that could really shake up the way politics is done in this country: Let children vote.
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It may not be as crazy an idea as it first sounds.
Politico.com has a piece about a recent report in the Economist on the problem of Japan's aging population.
The median age of the voting population in Japan will soon be 65. This gives older voters a huge amount of political power - and means it's highly unlikely they'll support cuts in entitlement programs. Sound familiar?
The United States is facing a similar problem: As baby boomers age, entitlement spending is taking up a larger and larger portion of our budget - and growing our deficit exponentially.
Well, one expert who wrote to the Economist suggests an answer to this dilemma is to let kids vote. In practical terms, this would mean giving parents an extra vote for every child.
This would take away some of the voting power from seniors in the United States, who traditionally vote in large numbers. It also could give the future generation, which will have to pay off our massive debt, a say in the decisions being made today.
However, it would also put the responsibility on parents to use those votes in the best interest of their kids.
During the Vietnam War, when young Americans were fighting and dying for their country, the voting age was lowered to 18.
Now that the country is starting to die under the weight of its debt, maybe it's time to lower the voting age again.
Here’s my question to you: Should children have the right to vote?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
States deny citizenship to children born of illegal immigrants?
(PHOTO CREDIT: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
14 states are considering passing laws that would deny citizenship to children born of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Arizona - ever at the front of the immigration debate - could take the first step when it comes to the issue of "birthright citizenship."
Arizona lawmakers plan to introduce model legislation in Washington tomorrow that would force the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue.
Lawmakers from more than a dozen other states plan to be there too - that includes everywhere from other border states like Texas to Utah, Oklahoma, Michigan, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
This all goes back to the 14th Amendment - which states that all persons "born or naturalized" in the United States are citizens of the U.S. The law was initially meant to give citizenship to freed slaves.
Those behind this new push say it wasn't meant to apply to children of foreigners. They say illegal immigrants and their children are draining taxpayer-funded services, and that they're attracting more illegal aliens to this country.
And they have a point... any of our states are drowning in budget deficits - estimated to top $140 billion in fiscal year 2012. They're making drastic cuts to all sorts of services - like education and health care, police forces, state workers, you name it...
Critics of an effort to end birthright citizenship say these attempts to take on the 14th Amendment could cost big bucks in legal challenges. They also say the issue is a federal one.
And we all know how serious the federal government is when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration.
Here’s my question to you: Should states deny citizenship to children born of illegal immigrants?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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