Hyphenated Americans should get half a vote

What do we do with the people who still hold onto the fact that their ancestors were Confederates do we call them Traitor- Confederate -American and give them no votes as in zero.!

 

Yeah but the current system only rewards those that use their money for political favors with power. My system could change that. Someone that pays a lot of taxes may get their voted weighted but maybe it will be the same as someone that has had a career of service in the military or a doctor or a teacher. Whatever society believes is important. Essentially we create a system where your contribution to the welfare of society is rewarded with a greater say in the direction of the country.

 

Immigrants that embraced being Americans

 

OK. Let me throw this out there for you. Teachers are the only people outside immediate family that spends the most time with our children. Yet, many are barely earning a wage about the national poverty line. They often do extra work in grading papers, setting up assignments and preparing lesson plans after teaching all day. Conversely, professional sports players make millions of dollars to play a sport and rarely have any direct impact on children other than being someone famous they might hope to be like somebody (solely for playing a sport and being famous which is statistically improbable).

My question is...how do we decide who is REALLY contributing to society and how are those designations weighed to ensure the "valuable" contributors are fairly represented? Further, how would a weighted system avoid disenfranchising those whose occupations and/or contributions are lower on the list?

 

I wouldn’t disagree but it’s political poison and the left would scream racism so it won’t happen

 

Teachers make decent money so you need to pick another occupation.

 

SOME teachers make good money. Many live just above the poverty line.

 

I didn't receive that as a rant at all. Very well stated.

 

Very good point and questions. I am going to kind of answer your last question first. A weighted voting system is not directly tied to the fiscal compensation of occupations. Those occupation that may not command as much voting weight can still command high wages and rewards. Lawyers come to mind. Also remember that occupation is only one of the variables of the weighted system. There could be many others factors such age, education level, constitutional knowledge, volunteer and social work. I am hoping it would start small with a few categories and expand with time. With technology we could easily track things like this. Also remember that we would eliminate the electoral college and at the same time eliminate the focus on high population states. Politicians will listen more to teacher if collectively their vote has a higher weight. This could lead to higher wages and better working conditions. The same would be true with veteran pensions and health care. If veterans earn greater weight with years of service their collective voting weight would be much higher.

The how we decide the weight is the biggest problem and I have not come close to working out the details. My preference lies with taking any responsibility for it away from politicians and give it to some type of council of scholars and scientist. I imagine a type of system where the top universities across the country would appoint members for very limited terms of service. We need to make this system unbiased so a type of algorithm my need be the create to rate eligible members.

 

Will they only have to pay HALF the taxes your "real " Americans pay?

That would be fair since they only have half the representation.....

 

One person one vote. I'll stick by the Constitution

And really?

Irish-American
Italian-American
Polish-American
German-American

Half a vote? Only Indigenous people get a full vote?

 

Highly judgmental. How do you know who does and doesn't? The mere fact that they came here, many times under dangerous conditions and risk of death, should be more than proof enough that they want to live the American dream. Only xenophobes and bigots would blanket entire swaths of people with such a juvenile statement.

 

What does that mean? How does one embrace being an American?

 

Are you going to dodge this inconvenient question, TOO ???



Will they only have to pay HALF the taxes your "real " Americans pay?

That would be fair since they only have half the representation.....

 

The first time I ever saw it was in a positive, community sense with Italian-American. (Their cooking is a hell of a sales tool.) Then the hyphen-cascade (cited above).

Some of us who grew up on true ethnic humor just dropped the hyphenated part and kept using, for example, Jewish, Italian or Lebanese --- all well loved for their cooking. If we can't agree on politics, at least let's agree on what's a good meal.

 

If reservations are treated as independent nations, why allow their votes at all? They're outsiders, right?

 

Probably just like NON-white American expats. It's cheaper and pensions go farther. As for voting? Are you saying they should be denied a full vote?

 

Actually they the Native Americans are the ultimate insiders on this continent.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with their race. It's about how they identify themselves. That's a choice, not an ethnicity.

While I don't agree with the OP, I do agree that deliberately separating yourself from your fellows via these kinds of divisive moves, is obnoxious as hell.

 

Good. Since they own the casinos, I can use an insider's tip on the best slot machine payoffs.

 

So when we see white nationalists carrying Confederate and Nazi flags we must take away their votes entirely because there is no doubt whatsoever that they are NOT giving their full allegiance to America?

 

Ranked voting is superior to weighted voting because it does not diminish the votes of those who are less fortunate than others.

Some states have already introduced ranked voting because it allows for instant runoffs when no candidate achieves a majority. It also promotes the election of independent and 3rd party candidates to a greater degree thus moving us away from the fossilized two party winner-takes-all failure.

 

People generally don't label themselves. That's done by others to put everyone in a neat little box. Nobody is born saying "I'm X" and you're "Y".

And, I agree. It's obnoxious that all people of a subgroup is labeled and considered to be "one type" (ie share the same ideals, morals, values, etc.).

 

sure he was 'unaware' of it, lol