Charlie Rangel Feels a Draft

Another story that caught my eye this morning was the announcement by Charlie Rangel that he will introduce a bill to reinstate the military draft:

New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, who is in line to chair the House Ways and Means Committee next year, has renewed his call for the draft, saying the war in Iraq is being fought by American soldiers who disproportionately are from low-income families and minorities.

Over the weekend, Rangel said he would seek passage next year of the universal draft legislation he has long sought. "If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft," Rangel said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Rangel, as the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has already stated that he can't think of a single Bush tax cut that's worth extending, so in addition to raising your taxes and taking your money against your will, he's also in favor of taking your son against your will. A great example of the Democratic Party in action.

Of course Charlie's draft plan is dead on arrival. He won't even find much support within his own party:

A reinstatement of the military draft, being pushed by a senior Democrat, will not be slated for consideration in the House of Representatives, the chamber's newly elected top leaders said on Monday.

"We did not include that" in legislative plans for early next year, said Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who will be House majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January under Democratic control for the first time in 12 years. ...

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters on Monday that she does not support reinstating the draft, which was suspended in 1973 near the end of the Vietnam War and replaced by the all-volunteer army.

This has just got to drive the Dem leadership up the wall, and certainly has to make all the new moderate freshmen nervous. The more people like Rangel spout off, the wackier the Dems look and the less they're likely to shed that image. There will, after all, be another congressional election in less than 2 years.