After receiving their driver’s license, could their next stop be the voting both?
Well in the nation’s capital at least, 16 year olds may be getting the vote.
Washington D.C. Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen introduced a bill on Tuesday, proposing that the district lowers their voting age requirement to 16 years of age for federal elections.
The “Youth Voting Amendment Act of 2015” aims to amend the District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, which currently parallels the constitution, giving citizens who are at least 18-years old the right to vote in federal elections.
Proponents of the bill say that 16-year olds already have major responsibilities and decisions that they are accountable for, so the movement to lower the voting age is warranted.
For example 16-year olds are able to operate a vehicle, have a job, pay taxes and even get tried as an adult in some criminal cases, so voting, to express their opinions, would be the next logical step.
The act also hopes to get young people excited about the political process. There was only a 38 percent voter turnout in the district’s last mayoral election, so the in the interest of increasing voter presence at the polls, this legislation could have a major impact.
Washington D.C. has a long history of progressive change, but this legislation is the first big movement towards shaking up a decade old debate.
It is worth noting that a few D.C. area municipalities have allowed voting for 16 year olds in local elections for a few years.
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If Trump Wins, It Won’t Be Because Of His Insults
By Geoff Blades
A top headline said, “Trump plans to insult his way to victory over Clinton.” While it is true that Donald Trump is a skilled insulter, in believing that he crushed sixteen of his GOP rivals by slapping a few labels on them, many observers fail to see the true source of his winning.
In the debate in Nevada last December, Jeb Bush said to Trump, “You’re never going to be president of the United States by insulting your way to the presidency.”
Trump replied, “Well, let’s see, I’m at 42 (percent) and you’re at 3 (percent), so so far I’m doing better.” In thinking that Trump was insulting his way to the presidency, Bush failed to see how Trump was thumping him, and those who make the same mistake will keep missing Trump’s real threat to Hillary.
It is of course true that Trump is already insulting with his favorite phrase, “Crooked Hillary,” but that’s only a small part of Trump’s winning playbook, and the way that he plans to beat Hillary.
And, the truth is, like tuning into a chess match that is already half way through, most of the game has already been played, and Trumps has already made most of his winning moves. Here’s five of his most crucial ones:
1. Trump’s insults are the rifle shot:
Trump insults his rivals as a way to easily disarm their attacks on him, as well as to destroy their campaigns. Consider that by labeling Ted Cruz, “Lyin’ Ted,” no matter what Cruz would throw at Trump, including legitimate accusations, Trump simply redirected to his form of character assassination. An example being lines like, “No, no. You’re the liar. You’re the lying guy up here.”
It’s a savvy move that Trump uses exceptionally well, but his insults are merely the smoking gun in his winning campaign.
2. His campaign isn’t about his rivals:
Every time a politician focuses on attacking their rival, they fail to keep driving their own messaging.
A reason that Donald upstaged all of his rivals in the debates was that, prompted or unprompted, they kept focusing attention on him. This handed Trump what he most desperately sought: More airtime and the most potent weapon of his campaign: the mic.
Of course, with mic in hand, Donald cleverly insulted a number of his rivals out of the race, but they’ve never been the target of his winning campaign.
3. Trump targets voters:
In a boxing match, the winner is the fighter who successfully beats down their opponent, but in an election, the winner is chosen by the voters.
While one way Trump beat Jeb Bush was having voters associate him as “Low Energy,” Trump’s hasn’t built his campaign on beating down his rivals, but by offering voters a more compelling vision and message.
Trump, by far, developed the best messaging of any candidate, and won the nomination by bringing millions of voters along with his campaign.
4. It’s about America:
Whereas Jeb Bush was running based on his name, exclamation point included, and Hillary is running as a woman, Barack Obama took over the country running on a platform of “Hope,” “Change,” and “Yes we can.”
Trump has done the same. Despite having a powerful brand and personality, perhaps ironically, Trump’s campaign has never been about him, but about his rally cry to “Make America great again.”
While a number of his rivals have stood for themselves or “not Trump,” Donald stands for America, and, of course…
5. How we can be great again:
Of the many lessons to be gleaned from Barack Obama’s masterful 2008 campaign, perhaps the greatest lesson is the way in which he moved voters with his optimistic vision for the country.
Optimism sells. And beyond Trump’s attention-grabbing insults and controversial comments that he has used to masterfully hog the spotlight, Trump has built his movement the same way.
I’m told that Jeb Bush still believes that Donald thrashed him with his school yard taunting, and by failing to see that he lost because he entered the race without an optimistic vision and powerful messaging, we all fail to learn the lesson.
If Trump wins, it won’t be through insults, but because he has offered American’s something they desperately want more: A leader who can make us great again.
Geoff Blades is the author of the new book, “The Trump Presidential Playbook”. A former investment banker at Goldman Sachs and investor at the Carlyle Group, Geoff Blades is an advisor to CEOs and other leaders on all topics related to winning and getting what they want. For more information, www.geoffblades.com.
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Mike Tyson Just Endorsed Donald Trump Because Of Course He Did
How’s this for an October surprise? (Yeah not really.)
Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion of the world endorsed Donald Trump in his campaign for President today.
The endorsement came during a HuffPost Live broadcast where Tyson was promoting his Adult Swim television show, “Mike Tyson Mysteries.”
“He should be president of the United States,” Tyson said said in the interview. “Let’s try something new. Let’s run America like a business, where no colors matter. Whoever can do the job, gets the job.”
Watch the interview below in a Huffington Post video:
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Report Says That 40% Of Girls In Juvenile Detention Are LGBTQ. But Why?
There are few topics more depressing than that of crimes committed by young people. But a shocking study regarding the make up of the children in the American juvenile delinquency system has come back in the public consciousness.
A report for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency says that 40% of girls in the juvenile delinquency system fall under the LGBTQ umbrella. Shocking.
The report was authored by Dr. Aisha Canfield and Dr. Angela Irving.
“New NCCD research findings from a sample of 1,400 girls in juvenile jurisdictions around the country show that 40% of girls in the juvenile justice system are lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or gender-nonconforming (LBTQ/GNC), and 86% of girls in the system are of color.[i]” Irving explained in a blog post.
She further went on to elaborate that these girls would end up there due to committing what she called “survival crimes” such as prostitution.
OZY commented that falling under the LGBTQ umbrella set these girls up for further discrimination and harsh treatment, which leads to them being placed in juvenile hall.
“‘LGBT of both sexes are also three times more likely to receive disproportionately harsh consequences at school, while also being the target of harassment. Perhaps surprisingly, LGBT girls are more likely to get in trouble for fighting; for boys, it’s disruptive behaviors in the classroom.”
This information means that people who work in juvenile halls should probably have to adapt their training and practices to learn how to address issues that girls who fall under the LGBTQ umbrella could face.
“I think statistics like that really identify the importance for us to think intersectionally…A lot of times when we think about the criminal justice systems it’s often directed at young black men… this is not only about young black men, it’s about young black trans women, it’s about young cis women, it’s about the LGBTQ population also,” Jonathan Lykes, policy analyst of the Center for the Study of Social Policy told the Huffington Post. “So really understanding how all of these different populations are impacted by these oppressive systems.”
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