Let's Vote... On Everything!

The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.

For example, we didn't vote to go to war in Iraq. We elected our leader, George W. Bush, and he and his advisers decided that was the right thing to do. If it had been put to a vote, we probably wouldn't be there now.

It would be interesting if we all voted on the issues that come up before Congress.

For example, how would you vote on these things if you had the chance?

Iraq: Take all of our troops out of there immediately. Yes or no.

Where would you stand on this: Double the number of soldiers we have in Iraq so we can win the war in a hurry and get out. Yes, or no.

Next question: Of the 1.4 million soldiers and sailors we have in the U.S. Army and Navy, 325,000 are stationed outside the United States. Do you know what they're all doing out there? If we brought them all back home and then reduced our military by half, that would save us about $220 billion. That's about $700 for each of us. If you got the money in cash, would you vote for it? Yes or no?

Immigration: Last year about 700,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the United States. Legal not illegal, we don't need more people and we should stop all immigration now. Agree or disagree?

Pennies: There are now 140 billion pennies in circulation and you can't buy much of anything with one penny. Should we stop making pennies? Yes or no.

IQ: Every American should have to take an IQ test. Anyone who scored under 80 would be considered too dumb to vote. Yes or no?

I wish we could all vote on everything, but I know it's not practical. I don't think it's unreasonable, though, for us to expect both Congress and the president to find out what we do think and to pay attention to that.

Maybe we don't vote often enough. We only vote for who'll be president once every four years. That's a long time if we get a bad one. Agree or disagree?
Written By Andy Rooney