This weekend Hillary Clinton took political pandering to new heights of absurdity, as she promised to do everything possible to obtain voting rights for the people of Guam.

“It seems to me that it is long past time that we remedy this inequity,” Clinton said. “It doesn’t reflect American values; it is out of step with the move toward equality and full citizenship rights, and I will do everything I can to make sure the people of Guam’s votes are counted. It seems to me that it is long past time that we remedy this inequity. It doesn’t reflect American values; it is out of step with the move towards equality and full citizenship rights, and I will do everything I can to make sure the people of Guam’s vote are counted.”

Although citizens of Guam are not entitled to vote in the general election, nor do they have voting representation in Congress, they do have 4 delegates and 5 super delegates in the Democratic primary, which explains Hillary’s ridiculous statement. The idea on the surface is ridiculous if for no other reason than the fact that citizens of Guam do not pay federal income tax. This would almost assure extra votes for Democrats who wish to raise taxes, as the people represented by these new voting members would not be affected by the increased federal tax.

Looking at the idea more closely we see another obstacle in the way, namely the United States Constitution. The 14th Amendment states “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed”. It clearly says that only States shall have Representatives, therefore in order for Hillary to follow through on her promise she would either need 3/4 of the States to ratify a Constitutional Amendment, or convince Guam to become a State themselves. Neither is likely to happen.

Clinton went on to declare that she vows as President to provide reparations for World War II to Guam:

“All these years later we still haven’t provided the reparations that the people of Guam were promised. As your president, I will work very hard to remedy this injustice. I am committed to doing so.”

Just as a reminder, I had written about war reparations for Guam last year, and these reparations are not for acts we committed, but for acts the Japanese had committed. The bill stated:

(a) Recognition of the Suffering of the Residents of Guam- The United States recognizes that, as described by the Guam War Claims Review Commission, the residents of Guam, on account of their United States nationality, suffered unspeakable harm as a result of the occupation of Guam by Imperial Japanese military forces during World War II, by being subjected to death, rape, severe personal injury, personal injury, forced labor, forced march, or internment.

(b) Recognition of the Loyalty of the Residents of Guam- The United States forever will be grateful to the residents of Guam for their steadfast loyalty to the United States of America, as demonstrated by the countless acts of courage they performed despite the threat of death or great bodily harm they faced at the hands of the Imperial Japanese military forces that occupied Guam during World War II.

As Democrats claim we are in the midst of a recession (although we are not), this bill asked for $126 million to be paid to citizens of Guam as reparations for acts we did not even commit. Keep in mind, these are reparations to a territory which does not currently have voting rights, could you imagine how much the Democrats would have offered if Guam could vote for President?

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Constitution, Dumb Dems, Election 2008, Features, Fourteenth Amendment, Hillary Clinton, Taxes