Honor Reagan's Promise and Abolish the Selective Service

[bluestateguy]

In 1980 Ronald Reagan ran for president against President Jimmy Carter, and promised that if elected he would end Selective Service registration. President Carter had reinstated Selective Service registration in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, several years after President Richard Nixon had ended the draft.

Reagan condemned conscription, saying in 1979 that it “rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state…. That assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”

But once elected, Reagan kept the Selective Service intact.

In September of 2003, a Defense Department web page called for applicants to man the draft boards. After receiving negative publicity, the page disappeared. The Selective Service now states that, “notwithstanding recent stories in the news media and on the Internet, Selective Service is not getting ready to conduct a draft for the U.S. Armed Forces.”

http://www.antiwar.com/orig2/gregory3.htm

[bluestateguy]

1. I should point out one more thing

While Reagan opposed the draft, he signed the law in 1982 that makes young people ineligible for most federally backed financial aid for college. Since the government almost never prosecutes draft registration evaders this law works to make draft registration inequitable. Young men who are from wealthy families and do not need financial aid can blow off the draft registration free from penalty, while men who need financial aid must register, meaning they are a little more likely to be called.

[Mnemosyne]

2. fantastic points! blue! n/t