According to his
press release, Congressman Charles Rangel has reintroduced his legislation to reinstate the draft. He first introduced this legislation in 2003, however the bill was defeated in October 2004. Even Rangel voted against it. So why is he introducing it again now?
Congressman Rangel claims that the:
decision to reintroduce his draft legislation now was prompted in part by the growing crisis in military recruiting, which in recent months has suffered a 30 percent decline in enlistments, endangering the long-term viability of the U.S. military.
In 2004 when his bill was defeated, the Republicans used it as a chance to show America that they would not reinstate the draft if Bush won. It also made the Dems look kind of bad, since they were the party to introduce it.
So what is Rangel doing this time and how can the Democrats use this to their advantage? If he is using this bill to call more Americans attention to what is happening in the war, that's fine (even though I think it's an odd way to do it). But if he really feels this is the only way to save our military, not only is the Democratic Party in trouble, but the whole country is as well.