Author: Cay Smith

Tonight’s Presidential Debate to Be Aggressive

Tonight’s presidential debate is expected to be much more pointed than its predecessor. When asked recently when he was going to take off the gloves, Presidential Candidate John McCain answered, “How about Tuesday night?” And today, David Axelrod was reported by CNN as saying that Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is “prepared for a very aggressive debate.”

The debate, which begins at 9 p.m., will be shown in the Johnson Center Atrium. A pre-debate panel discussion featuring Mason Votes’ Aram Zucker-Scharff will begin at 8:30 p.m. During the debate, participate in Mason Votes’ interactive live blog.

Last Day to Register to Vote

Today, the last day to register to vote, over 100 students have registered or updated their registration on campus. Registration volunteers from Presidential Nominee Barack Obama’s campaign have been on campus everyday for weeks. According to those volunteers, students have been surrounding their registration table all morning; some have been experiencing problems contacting the Virginia State Board of Elections and came to the Obama volunteers instead.

Registered residential students who do not want to travel to their home polling center have the option of reregistering with their campus address or applying for an absentee ballot. Both application forms must be submitted by today.

“I knew that today was the last day to register. I had been contemplating whether to vote absentee ballot or reregister,” said freshman Ed Bennett. After discussing the options with his Father, Bennett decided to reregister today using his on campus address.

All voter registration forms must be postmarked today. Registration volunteers will be outside the Johnson Center until 4:30 p.m.

Johnson Center Full for VP Debate Watch

The Johnson Center Atrium was full Thursday night as students closely watched the live vice-presidential debate. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska crossed swords on issues such as the economy, international affairs, the role of the vice president and their readiness to lead.

Going into the debate, both candidates needed to overcome negative public perceptions. The bar had been set low for Palin due to recent interview gaffs and Biden needed to overcome an image of being condescending and rash.

“I expected Palin to make an a** of herself and she delivered,” sophomore Nicole MacCracken said.

Josh St. Louis, the second vice-chair of the College Republicans, agreed that Palin’s abilities had been in question. “I was really nervous coming into this debate especially because of the recent ABC, CBS interviews and the fact that Joe Biden is a beast.” But immediately after closing statements were made, St. Louis said, “I saw two things. . .Vice President Palin and Citizen Biden.”

During the debate, the crowed of almost 200, commented constantly on the debating politicians, cheering and clapping when agreeable comments where made. “I’m definitely reassured that John McCain made the right decision in picking her. You can tell by her closing remarks where she quoted Ronald Reagan, she’s ready to lead,” said freshman Vinny Prinzivalli.

Whether students liked or disliked Palin, after the debate most discussions revolved around her. “Honestly, I had a hard time focusing on [Biden] anytime [Palin] was on the screen,” said Tierney Kaine, a senior English major and Mason Votes official Blogger.

This was the first and only vice-presidential debate. The next presidential debate will be next Tuesday, Oct. 7.

VP Debate Watch Tonight

Mason Hosts Local Congressional Candidates for Health Forum

Virginia Congressional hopefuls gathered in Harris Theatre to deliver their proposals about healthcare and to respond to specific policy questions from panel members on Wednesday night.

The candidates were each given fifteen minutes to present how they would improve healthcare in Virginia and in the nation. Speeches were followed by five minutes questions formulated by healthcare experts.

The night began with a brief address by university President Alan Merten, about George Mason University’s community involvement and the importance of the work conducted by Health and Human Services.

Tim Henderson, active Deputy Director for the Center For Health Policy Research and Ethics, led the panel asking the delegates questions on health policy. He shared the results of a survey by Kaiser Family Foundation to set the mood for the forum. According to the survey, paying for healthcare remains a problem for one in four Americans.

Chairman Gerry Connolly of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors was the first to speak. The Democratic congressional hopeful for the 11^th District led off by telling an anecdote from his days as Chairman. He received a call from a woman, who said, ”I have a dead deer in my front lawn What are you going to do about it?” When he asked, ”Well, have you thought about calling animal control?,” she said. ”No, I didn’t want to bother them this early on a Sunday morning.” This story, he said, illustrates the accessibility of local politics that is lost on the federal level.

Connolly went on to address the issue of healthcare. We have to do something to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, Connolly claimed, but we cannot do that until concerns can be heard by legislators. He said that he could take that message to the federal level.

He also said that health insurance companies should not be able to cherry pick and exclude people based upon pre-existing health conditions.

“Insurance companies need a risk pool, and need to spread the risk across the board,” Connolly said. “I believe that there is a lot that can be done, I believe there is a lot that has to be done…We need to move to an electronic medical record system…the only caveat is that we need to be careful when considering rural healthcare systems and mandating an electronic medical record system because they have limited resources.”

Because of the event’s late start, Keith Fimian, the Republican congressional hopeful for the 11^th District, was only able to speak briefly before leaving for another event. He stated that patients should be in charge of their healthcare and families should have refundable tax credits to purchase health insurance but that he would make sure that every dime he spent if elected would be spent as efficiently as possible.

He also stressed that there is an urgent need to reform malpractice liability and that the healthcare system should convert to an electronic medical record system. A tax credit should be granted to health care providers to help relieve IT expenses when converting.

Fimian did not mince words when it came to the fiscal reality currently facing America, saying that the tumult on Wall Street came from foreign creditors calling on their debt and that days of free credit were over. He said it was crucial to recognize the economic reality of the situation.

Virginia Delegate Mark Sickles, of the 43rd District, spoke on behalf of Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, of the 8th District. Sickles said that Moran is passionate about expanding health care for uninsured and underinsured, and supports the statewide healthcare plan of Massachusetts.

Sickles then concentrated on Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) healthcare plan. Sickles said the plan would take away the deduction for providing health insurance given to employers and give a private tax credit of up to $5,000 for a family of four. However, Sickles said, if a family is not making enough money to pay $5,000 in taxes, it will not receive the credit.

Sickles stressed that Moran believes preventative healthcare would be the most efficient solution to growing costs and inefficiency. However, until people have guaranteed coverage and did not have to rely on the Emergency Room as a last resort, Moran does not think there would be much improvement.

The health forum was hosted by The Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics and The Department of Health Administration and Policy.

Mason Votes Shows Film about Abortion

1:30 pm
Wednesday, October 1

Johnson Center, Cinema

Abortion has been a deeply divisive national issue since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, pitting pro-life against pro-choice citizens. Mason Votes is proud to present Lake of Fire, a definitive documentary covering both sides of the abortion issue. The movie will be shown in the Johnson Center Cinema on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m.

Tony Kaye directed this film and spent fifteen years gathering information, shooting interviews, and compiling footage for Lake of Fire. He was the director of other politically charged films, such as American History X. A warning to viewers, there are multiple graphic scenes in the film.

Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice

By Noah Martin

As part of Fall for the Book, George Mason University hosted Eric Lichtblau, a journalist with the Washington bureau for The New York Times and the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner for national reporting. Lichtblau spoke about his new book Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice to students and attendees outside of the Johnson Center on Sept. 24.

Lichtblau began his address by drawing a parallel between the White House’s current proposal for a $700 billion bailout package to resuscitate major Wall Street firms and the White House’s passage of the Patriot Act and push for military funding prior to invading Afghanistan in 2001.

In both cases, Lichtblau claimed, President George W. Bush’s administration emphasized the urgency and necessity of the proposals. In the current financial situation, Lichtblau said, the Bush administration is pressuring Congress to pass the $700 billion bailout package without delay in order to avoid a total financial meltdown. The executive branch gained additions to its powers following Sept. 11 through the Patriot Act legislation that it demanded be passed for the sake of national security. The powers were requested so that the White House could act with greater speed and efficacy when making decisions in the nation’s best interest but has since been under criticism for infringement of civil liberties.

“The White House has used a ‘trust us’ mentality that has been dangerous over the past seven years,” Lichtblau said. “The go it alone mentality has been its Achilles’ heel… Where the White House really went too far, to its own detriment, was refusing to play ball with the other branches of government.”

Lichtblau’s book traces how the executive branch was able to extend its powers over the past seven years and how that led to the wire tapping program eventually uncovered by the investigative reporting of Lichtblau and fellow New York Times reporter James Risen.

The wire tapping program, initiated by the White House, was a massive data mining operation used to compile profiles of potential terrorists based on a suspect’s country of origin, ethnic and racial profiling, and financial transactions.

The New York Times began investigating when rumors spread that there was dissent in the Bush Administration about issues of surveillance on American citizens. Reporting revealed that there was a revolt in the Department of Justice over the wiretapping program. Many of the lawyers refused to sign off the program, feeling it may be a criminal act to approve the program. The lawyers in the Justice Department were not liberal either, claimed Lichtblau.

“It was a battle between conservatives and even more conservatives,” Lichtblau said.

Lichtblau asserts that when The New York Times went to publish the story about the wire tapping program, members of the White house went to the editors and told them to stop. They said U.S. citizens would die if the Times ran the story and that the program was vital to national security and the pursuit of terrorists.

“I, as a lowly reporter, thought that the story should run,” Lichtblau said. “The administration was doing it without going through the courts, that mechanism had been completely circumvented.”

The story finally ran, on Dec. 16, 2005, 13 months after the presidential election in 2004.

“Journalism regained its footing after a period of complacency following 9/11,” Lichtblau said.

Back in Business: McCain Agrees to Debate

By Christian Yingling

Caving to public and media pressure, Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has agreed to participate in tonight’s debate at the University of Mississippi.

This announcement comes over 48 hours after his controversial campaign suspension and request for the debate to be postponed until after the economic crisis has been fixed. Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama made an announcement Tuesday in response to McCain’s request stating that he would be at the debate even if McCain was not.

The two campaigns have agreed to move the debate to 9 p.m. and George Mason University’s pre-debate discussion will now begin at 8 p.m. Join Mason Votes, CSPAN, Cox Cable and Rock the Vote in the Johnson Center Atrium tonight for a pre and post debate discussion and a watch party of the debate itself. Free food will be provided.

Students React to Possible Debate Postponement

In Professor Janette Muir’s class on presidential campaigns the question of the day was: will the presidential debate go forward on Friday? The class, which has students who will help to moderate Mason’s debate watch party, had a lot to say about presidential candidate John McCain’s surprising request for the first debate to be postponed.

“There are 98 other capable senators. I just feel that [President George W.] Bush waited too long to deal with this,” said junior history major Kaitlyn Burrough. “It is important for us to know their plans for the economy and their platforms since the problem is going to fall in their lap.”

Sophomore Catie Dugan disagreed with Burrough saying, “Despite everything Bush has or hasn’t done, he’s trying to do something now.” Dugan also said it is important for the two senators to do the job in Washington they were elected to do.

Currently, the debate is still scheduled for tonight at 8 p.m. although McCain has not yet announced if he will be in attendance. Mason Votes is co-sponsoring a watch party in the Johnson Center Atrium starting at 7 p.m. with pre-debate commentary from Mason Professors Janette Muir, Steve Klein, and Stephen Farnsworth, in conjunction with representatives from local Republican and Democratic committees.