Yes! "We Should Be In a Rage"

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Thursday April 10, 2014 · 10:10 AM PDT

2014/04/10 · 10:10

Today's NY Time's Charles M. Blow Op-Ed column
This column should be required reading! We must all make every effort to revive our democracy. Here are two important steps: 1) Automatic registration upon reaching voting age and 2) mandatory voting (with election day becoming a national holiday). These moves will go further in taking the money out of politics than anything else we may legislate. And once implemented, these actions will significantly reduce the power of the oligarchs and the political parties they so assiduously pay to control.

Automatic registration need be no more complicated than registering for Selective Service (Yes, still required!) or applying for or replacing a Social Security card . And mandatory voting should hardly be more difficult to enforce than is the ACA-required insurance mandate.

Just consider a few of the benefits. An end to costly and time-consuming "get out the vote drives". No more congresses elected by pluralities of a readily manipulated 20% or 25% voter turnout. No more invidious "voter id' laws since states will be require to assure that voters have access to the voting places and sufficient time in which to vote.

Political parties can concentrate on messaging their respective ideologies rather than imploring voters to show up. Voter apathy, now driven to new heights by the failed gerrymandered system now in place, will become a distant memory.

So come on, people. Let's get a movement going to add a real right-to-vote amendment to our constitution. (And to state constitutions as well.)

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