Let's Vote... On Everything!

Andy Rooney Wonders If We Are Voting Enough

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

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We like to think we have a democracy in this country, and we do, but we don’t vote on every issue. Our elected officials do that for us. We don’t always agree with them, of course.

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?

[dafitz16]

Mr. Rooney;
I hope you weren't serious when you said that people should have to take an IQ test to vote. That would be a truly undemocratic position to take. Setting a minimum level of intelligence to qualify to vote sets the stage for saying that only the most intelligent people could vote. Could there someday be a move to allow only people with IQ's over 100 to vote? Or 115?

But worse, is that your comments devalued people with intellectual disabilities. I know many people who, although they may have less cognitive ability, have greater interest in public affairs than a great many people with higher IQ's who have not the slightest awareness of, or interest in, national or international issues. They may be smart, but they are uniformed. People with intellectual disabilities are capable of determining what issues are important to them and where a candidate stands on those issues. Even if it is only one issue. Many people cast their vote solely on the basis of a candidate's position on one issue. The war, abortion, and gay marriage are just a few examples.

Surely you did not intend to devalue an entire class of people. But that's what you did by, in essence, saying that certain people with disabilities (cognitive or intellectual) should not be allowed to vote. It is being involved and informed that counts. Being "smart" shouldn't be the criteria. Afterall, even smart people, like you for instance, make mistakes.

[spacekowboy2]

Congress was created becuse the common citizen coulnt read and write and info was not available to them. Nowadays we have the internet and information is instant from around the world and available to everyone. We keep the Senate have them and the president decide the most important issues for the month(like your questions..very good ones) then have a lottery of registered voters to vote on issues via secure goverment internet connection. We dont need congress anymore we need to amment constitution get rid of em and save ourselfs billions of dollars

[maddiecout]

I wish we had more issues that were voted on than we do now. I think we would have more of a democracy if we did. I do know this country is growing by leaps and bounds and I don't think it can continue without compromising our way of life.

I also very strongly believe, benefits of any kind should not be paid out to illegal aliens. I think we are slowly wiping out the middle class. Soon, people in this country will be either very wealthy or struggling to get by. People who have worked all their lives AND PAID INTO THE SYSTEM, will have nothing left to get back. I truly believe in helping people who need help, but those who help themselves, not those who are always looking for a handout. Maddie

[chuy0822]

I think it would be great if we voted on everything...then we could do away with all of the legislators, which would do away with lobbyists, and special interests. And I also like the idea of the 80 IQ minimum...talk about democrats losing some votes!!!

[amywhite1126]

As a military spouse, I%u2019m deeply offended by the question of reducing the military in half. That would mean that my husband would be out of a job and that $700.00 of extra money in your pocket, would also be in the pockets of terrorist that are here in the US which means we would be "funding" terrorist, all because we wanted to have an extra $700.00 in our pockets. And then what%u2019s going to happen when the US becomes yet another target for a terrorist attack and the military can%u2019t do anything about it because they got cut in half, all to have an extra few hundred bucks in our pockets. Selfish, oh I think so.

[raellej]

Ontheroadto - what exactly do you have against people in uniform??? Since you lambaste the stupid and ignorant, I must assume that you do not consider yourself one of them and sincerely meant "uniformed" as opposed to "uninformed". So I ask you, what "uniformed" people are you so upset about? Police officers? Mail carriers? Soldiers? Workers in fast food restaurants? Bus drivers? And why do you think that most people who wear uniforms are democrats? Just wondering...

[michgander01]

Andy,
I fell off my couch watching this since it appeared you had bugged my co-workers and I. We work in the same office and have these lunch-time "discussions" that equate to debating the issues of the world. We are unique as we cover the proverbial political spectrum from far right to far left, libertarian, republican, democrat, independent. We have informed discussions in which we treat each other with respect and listen to each other. We find it really intriguing when we realize we agree with another person on a point, when we never thought we would never agree on anything. I also feel we are all more open minded and a little more centered because of these discussions. The last two questions you brought up are two issues we had just recently debated. We now plan on debating how you got our discussion topics! Thanks for inciting a great laugh and more thoughtful discussion.

[pepperwood2]

Beg your pardon I had one too many?

CORRECTION - How would you vote? Should Congressional pay raises, health insurances/care, travel expenses,.......other benefit packages be voted on by Congress OR BY THE PEOPLE??

[pepperwood2]

We the people, the average uneducated Joe six packs as Bill Clinton clearly labeled us as, are influenced by whatever preselected News comes across our screens.

Mr. Rooney opens his argument with a question an example that is meant to conjure up a negative response on the level of the average Joe sixpack without much thought. This is understandable and of course just an opinion.

The average Joe sixpack, is much smarter, than Washington & the News media would have us believe.

It is to their advantage to keep "The Grassroots Pilgrims" population in the dark and out of Washington.

How would you vote? Should Congressional pay raises, health insurances/care, travel expenses, other benefit packages be voted on by Congress without the knowledge of the people?

Will CBS or other News agency ever do a program to help us Sixpacks increase our knowledge?









For example: Congressional salaries, pay increases, travel expenses, health/dental
coverages/expenses,...... should be voted for by
Congress without the knowledge of the people?



All Congressional

[davidmonty1]

compudoc2: "did the repubs all whine and cry when the democrats won this last election for congress/senate races? Did we try to accuse your candidates of stealing the election?" To the first one yes!!!!!! Your party made Bill Clinton's life a living hell with their constant investigations and accusations! That is hardly what I would call a good attitude when he won fair and square twice! So quit your belly-aching and whining! To the last one yes again! My husband is a registered Republican but always votes Democratic! I don't know how many message's your party has left on my answering machine during election time! They all encourage him to vote because the Democrat's are going to steal the election! Most of their hate literature received in the mail says the same thing! Don't you think it's time for you Republican's to practice what you preach! Grow Up!!!!!!

Posted by grumpas at 09:38 AM : Feb 19, 2007


All clinton had to do was answer the truth and the investigation would of been over. BUT he tried to lie and got caught.

[davidmonty1]

I would love to be able to vote on everything, would that include when a certain news commentator retires. I use to love to watch Andy Rooney till I seen how far left he is and not very fair to people that do not hold is position on something like the war.

[dallison7]

I VOTE WE TAKE THIS TRAITOR DOWN, REMOVE HIM FROM OFFICE, CONVICT AND HANG!

[japerry40]

Ok, let's try this. How about we all stop spewing out the chewed up facts the media feeds us and do something for ourselves. I challenge everyone to read the Constitution, the real one, not the one the media has invented that includes separation of church and state ( this is not in the official documents of our county). Also, find out what really happened in Vietnam. Especially if you were born after 1980.
How sad we forget the mess the Clinton's made in the White House. We also forget that the situtation we're in now didn't begin when President Bush took office just as Pres. Reagan inherited the Iran Hostage affair, so our Pres. inherited Clinton's blunders and massive mistakes.
God help us if we bring everyone home and close down. Unless we move to the moon, terrorism is here to stay and I'd rather be on the offensive then being on the defensive after thousands of Americans have died.

[cboersie]

Mr. Rooney - You hit the nail on the head. What happened to "We the People"?? Funny we all knew there was no "weapons of mass destruction" before they declared war. Did you ever have the opportunity to be in Iraq? I'm sure we wouldn't be in all these disatrous mishaps if we could only voice our opinion. This is OUR country. Let us have a say over what happens here.

[fascistusa]

Yet, strangely WE THE PEOPLE have NO VOTE in our FASCIST COUNTRY.

THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT REPRESENT US.

OUR GOVENMENT DOES NOT REPRESENT US.

OUR GOVERNMENT IS A FASCIST TYRANNY RULED BY THE ELITE.

FREE AMERICA!!!

[zoroastor]

Further, Rooney's comments are clearly labled as opinion and commentary. Not to be taken as "fact". News organizations are supposed to serve three primary functions 1. To report facts 2. To entertain 3. To provide a public forum for the expression of different opinions engineered to spark discussion and thought.
From the begining of journalistic history, very few outlets have been truly "unbiased". The best one can hope for is the objective reporting of facts in the "news" portion.
I don't like everything I see on the news - particularly in the opinion portion. It's just the way it is. I have to live with John Stossle (sp?) and you have to live with Andy Rooney. Neither indicates a conspiracy on the part of the media toward one political leaning or another.

[zoroastor]

Surfsup,
I particularly like your reference to Fox News "fair and balanced". Fox is, by far, the most biased, unbalanced "news" network going. It just happens to fit your point of view, so you say to yourself "oh yeah, that seems about right."

Who cares if he is biased? Are you afraid of watching someone who has a different opinion than you? CBS should fire him because he doesn't agree with you? Personally, I find his segments very interesting. He brings up subjects that others do not. Anyway, he never even answered the questions he brought up. Is he against legal immigration? Does he want to double the number of troops? How are those questions biased?

[surfsup_23]

I created an account here on cbs just so I could comment on what I saw last night. Andy Rooney's comments were ridiculous. It was a gross misuse of a primetime slot to try and put across his bias views.

And it's simply not true that we wouldn't be in Iraq if the public had voted on it. We had full bi-partisan consent in the mobilization of troops. Pulling out all our troops right now would not only be foolish, it would disastrous to that region and consequently to our own nation.

All I wanted to do was watch Amazing Race, but instead I was met with liberal agenda...again. Is fair and balanced such a hard concept for the media to grasp?

[surfsup_23]

I created an account here on cbs just so I could comment on what I saw last night. Andy Rooney's comments were ridiculous. It was a gross misuse of a primetime slot to try and put across his bias views.

And it's simply not true that we wouldn't be in Iraq if the public had voted on it. We had full bi-partisan consent in the mobilization of troops. Pulling out all our troops right now would not only be foolish, it would disastrous to that region and consequently to our own nation.

All I wanted to do was watch Amazing Race, but instead I was met with liberal agenda...again. Is fair and balanced such a hard concept for the media to grasp?