Here we go already.....Rangel and the draft

I bet you thought they'd actually take their chairmen seats before proposing their nut-ball bills. Not so. Charlie Rangel, incoming chairman of Ways and Means, said on Face the Nation that he plans to introduce legislation to reinstate conscription. While saying his bill is intended to bolster current troop levels. However, out the other side of his mouth he betrays his true intentions:

(AP-via FoxNews.com) "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

Rangel appeared this morning with Republican Lindsey Graham of SC, who dismissed Rangel's assertion that only from the lower socioeconomic levels serve.

Graham said he believes the all-voluntary military "represents the country pretty well in terms of ethnic makeup, economic background."

This is not the first time Rangel has proposed bring back the draft. See what he was doing in 2004, 2003, and 2002. (there are others)

Here are some excerpts from a 2003 address at the Harvard Kennedy School:

Americans "must think seriously" about "who will be doing the fighting and who will be doing the dying" if the United States goes to war in Iraq. "I don't think we want to believe that this is the kind of country where we take those who need the money to fight the wars, and others don't have any sacrifices to make," he said.

John Kerry has been taking much deserved heat for his comments about those serving. This is what Rangel has to say:

"Am I raising the class issue? You bet your life I am. Am I saying that the affluent and those that are hooked up politically are excluded from serving? You bet your life. When the incentives are to pay people to join the military, people who don't find better opportunities join the military," he said.

Here's a little more:

"I often speak with supporters of the war and I ask them the question: Would your enthusiasm about this pre-emptive strike against Iraq be the same if it was your kid that was being placed in harm's way, or if it was your grandchild that you're talking about?"

See video from this morning and commentary at HotAir.