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Fall for the Book Presents “2012 Election Panel: Choices for November”

With the presidential election looming, Fall for the Book welcomes four scholars to offer in-depth perspectives on the issues at stake for the politicians, the parties, and the voters:David Maraniss, author of the new biography of the president, Barack Obama: The Story; Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center and co-author of A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen; Linda Killian, journalist, senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and author of The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents; and Elizabeth Price Foley, professor of constitutional law at Florida International University College of Law and author of The Tea Party: Three Principles. Sponsored by Gale Cengage.

The event is free and open to the public. The event will be held on the George Mason Fairfax campus on Friday September 28, at 1:30pm in Research Hall, Room. 163.

Ryan’s VP moment caps off a night of stars

Last night was the second night for speeches at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay, and the stars sure shined bright.

The three main speakers of the evening kicked off with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She delved into her expertise of foreign affairs and critiqued the Obama administration for “leading from behind” among other acts that lowered America’s stature in the world. She then pivoted to a personal story of overcoming obstacles of birthplace and circumstance by saying, “”In America, it does not matter where you came from, it matters where you are going.” Rice, who is a college professor at Stanford, also touched on education and the poor quality of it in inner cities. She called the topic, “the civil rights issue of our day.”

Following Rice came the first female Hispanic Governor in American history, Susana Martinez (R-NM). As a daughter of a small businessman, she again torched President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comment and explained some of her biography. The convention was brought to their feet when she explained that after a lunch with friends, she turned to her husband and exclaimed, “I’ll be damned, we’re Republicans!”

Finally, it was time for the Vice Presidential nominee, Paul Ryan to take the stage. He once again showed why he is the best explainer the conservative movement has to offer. It’s his primary appeal and it’s the reason he’s Mitt Romney’s running mate. He emphasized a key point that the campaign earlier had trouble articulating. No one blames President Obama for causing our original problems. The issue is the fact that he hasn’t fixed them. Ryan asked, “”Without a change in leadership, how would the next four years be different than the last four?” Ryan lit into Obamacare and through that defended Medicare in a more powerful way than many Republicans have since the program’s adoption in the 1960’s. In fact, Ryan said Obama is really Medicare’s biggest threat. But his main critique of the President was on the topic of leadership. He said, “”We have suffered no shortage of words from the White House. What’s missing is leadership from the White House.” He also emphasized Romney as the one who can solve America’s problems, “”Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems.” “You are entitled to the clearest choice possible,” Ryan claimed. In framing this choice, Ryan didn’t throw bombs or attack the President personally. He simply laid out the competing visions for America.

Paul Ryan pretty much laid out the GOP’s rationale for governing. A clear, sober, problem solving team that promises no less than an American comeback. Ryan ended the night on a crescendo of “We can do this!” It’s that bright eyed optimism paired with determination that will be the draw of this Republican ticket. Come January, Mitt Romney may be the Commander in Chief, but Paul Ryan will be the explainer in chief and will be the administration’s intellectual core.

Ann Romney and Chris Christie fire first salvo at RNC

It was a case of the velvet laced glove as the first punches of the 2012 Republican National Convention were thrown tonight in Tampa. The convention officially got underway following a suspension yesterday due to Hurricane Isaac.

Earlier in the day the convention officially nominated Mitt Romney as their Presidential candidate by going through the roll call vote. The final tally was Romney with 2,061 delegates to the other candidates collective 202. Speakers included former Romney competitor Rick Santorum, as well as House Speaker John Beohner, and a whole host of newly elected Republican Governors. They touted their early successes in the wake of President Obama’s failure.

Later in the night, the convention featured former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) who tore into President Obama after being one of the men who helped nominate Barack Obama in 2008. He said he had been at “the wrong convention”. He also indicted today’s Democratic Party as being more extreme and too reliant on government programs. He said, “John Kennedy asked us what we can do for America. This Democratic party asks what can government give you.”

The highlights of the night, however, were the back to back speeches by Ann Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Mrs. Romney spoke of a more personal side to her husband. She vowed, “You may not like all of Mitt Romney policies but no one will work harder to make America a better place to live.” She also emphasized all the good works Mitt does often go unnoticed due to his viewing the help as “a privilege, not a political talking point.” Mrs. Romney did make reference to the President, as she concluded, “We’re too smart to know there aren’t easy answers. But we’re not dumb enough to accept that there aren’t better answers.”

The finale of the evening was the keynote address by Chris Christie. His speech focused on some broad leadership principles he used in New Jersey. Foremost among these is his conviction to rather be respected than loved. He said, “Our current leaders say yes, even when no is what’s required.” He reiterated his focus on being supportive of teachers, just not their union. He attacked President Obama for a lack of leadership and a cow towing of his agenda to polls and interest groups. In his most stinging critique, he said, “Mr. President, real leaders don’t follow polls, real leaders change polls.”

As was mentioned above, the combination of Ann Romney and Chris Christie was that of a velvet outer layer covering an iron core. If Mitt Romney can himself show these same qualities on Thursday and throughout the next couple months, he may very well win this election.

UPDATE: Republican National Convention

"Podium" by Tom LeGro, PBS Newsroom

Get Involved with Mason Votes

Are you interested in politics, journalism, or both? Mason Votes is looking for reporters, writers, researchers, photographers, and videographers to help cover this year’s elections. It’s important as students and young people to be aware, get educated, and vote.

Mason Votes is a place where students can come and learn where each candidate stands on the major issues. We offer a non-partisan evaluation of their positions and let the facts speak for themselves.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7dRGASt3k[/youtube]

Visit studentmedia.gmu.edu to find out more on how you can apply to get involved. You can also visit the Office of Student Media on the ground floor of the Hub (formerly known as Sub 2).

Young Progressives Come Together

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCjjISpixq8[/youtube]

Apathetic, tuned out, disengaged; these are just a few adjectives often associated with the younger generation of Americans. Even as these adjectives persist there is a large group of young Americans who have taken the initiative to organize, mobilize, and make their voices heard. This group of young progressive Americans found themselves gathered together in Washington D.C. for the Campus Progress National Conference.

Campus Progress, part of the Center for American Progress, is a national organization that works with and for young people to promote progressive solutions to key political and social challenges. Attendees at the national conference had the opportunity to hear from policy makers and activist, network, and discuss the issues facing them as young Americans.

Speakers at this year’s conference came from many different backgrounds. Anne Johnson, Director of Campus Progress, politicians like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) California, Senator Dick Durbin (D) Illinois, and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Administration officials Jack Lew President Obama’s Chief of Staff and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis also spoke. Young activist like José Antonio Vargas founder of Define American and Zach Wahls who’s passionate speech to Iowa House of Representatives defending what he believed to be his lesbian mothers right to marry, stressed the importance of activism. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke about the importance of labor in America and the values that young progressives and American workers share.

The youth vote was a key constituency for President Obama during the 2008 campaign. He will again need the youth vote energized. The polls continue to show the race for the White House is close, but young progressives activity during this election could be the determining factor.

A Week for the History Books

This week in Washington D.C. was one that won’t soon be forgotten.

The week began with the United States Supreme Court striking down three of the four major provisions of SB 1070 Arizona’s immigration law, while upholding it’s most controversial provision, the so called, “show me your papers” law. The law states that Arizona law enforcement has the right to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect to be in the country illegally. Critics of SB 1070 argue that such a law is or will lead to racial profiling of Hispanics and other minorities. Arizona has one of the highest populations of illegal immigrants in the country, however reports have shown the number of illegal immigrants in the state have fallen dramatically over the past few years. Even though the Supreme court upheld the controversial provision critics of the law were pleased that the court left open the possibility for further hearings on the law if racial profiling results from Arizona’s implementation.

That was only the beginning of what was a busy week in the nations capitol. Another historic moment came Thursday when the House of Representatives voted to hold United States Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa called for the vote, accusing the Attorney General of deliberately withholding documents relating to the botched operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms known as Fast and Furious. The contempt vote marked the first time in United States history that a sitting cabinet member has been held in contempt of Congress. Republicans in the house voted unanimously, with 17 democrats joining them in finding the Attorney General in contempt of Congress. The remaining Democrats, led by the Congressional Black Caucus, staged a walk out as a sign of protest. Many Democrats felt the vote was political for a variety of reasons. Some clamored that the unprecedented move was an attempt embarrass the White House in an election year. Others claimed the contempt vote was payback against the Attorney General, whose Justice Department is challenging a number of voter I.D. laws across the country. Some Republicans even floated the theory that Fast and Furious was an attempt to push what they called the president’s anti-2^nd Amendment agenda.

As historic as the contempt vote was, it paled in comparison to the other notable event that took place Thursday. In the last session of the year the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision on the controversial “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”, also referred to in the political lexicon as “Obamacare”. The decision was one that many experienced court watchers were not expecting. The Supreme Court upheld the law by a 5-4 vote. The court upheld a majority of the law including the individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance. However, the court did strike down the provision forcing states to expand Medicaid programs. Instead, the Court ruled that states should have the ability to opt-out of the expansion. Four of the five votes came from liberal justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. It was the fifth and deciding vote that came as a surprise, especially to conservatives. Chief Justice John Roberts, who was appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush in 2005, was the deciding vote. It is worth noting that during his confirmation hearings then Senator Barack Obama voted against his nomination to become Chief Justice. In the end it was Roberts who saved the president’s most notable legislative achievement.

The implications of the health care ruling on the 2012 presidential election are still unknown. It will be interesting to see what political ramifications come from the law being upheld, and the political calculations made by the campaigns over the next five months. The presumptive Republican nominee for president, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, has vowed to “repeal and replace Obamacare,” but President Obama and his re-election campaign have already begun to reiterate how the bill will help all Americans. President Obama has said in the past that much of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” was based off a similar law Mitt Romney passed as Governor of Massachusetts, especially the individual mandate. As Governor, Romney called the individual mandate “essential for bringing the health care costs down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they need.” Nothing is certain in politics, but what we can expect for the next five months until the election is for the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” to be debated vigorously.

False Profits: Rand Paul and Government Spending

How do you measure success?

Ask a fiscal conservative like Rand Paul, and he or she will tell you that success is measured in nothing but dollars. Rand Paul expressed this sentiment in the Senate when he suggested that the United States Postal Service should not be bailed out with government money.

“I always ask people would you like to buy the Postal Service?” Paul joked. Then he lamented, “If we could just sell it to somebody.” According to Paul, a public service should be completely privatized, or else abolished, simply because it isn’t making a profit.

Last time I checked, the purpose of a national Post Office is to deliver mail, not to impress shareholders. Paul claims to be a strict constitutionalist, and yet he ignores the fact that the Constitution’s Postal Clause doesn’t require the USPS to be profitable.

Paul acknowledged his idea would be politically unpopular. But his suggestion, that a public service as crucial as the Postal Service should be made into a private company, betrays his elitist attitude: Paul thinks that nothing is successful unless it is profitable. To him, unprofitable government spending always equals failure.

But Paul’s profit-first standard is really elitism of the worst kind. Privatizing or charging more for public services on the grounds of saving money is the worst thing a government can do.

For example, if the Post Office were privatized, many people would stop getting mail.

This is because it’s impossible to make a profit delivering mail to poor, rural areas. Costs outweigh the earnings to be had providing small towns or farms with this service. No private company would do it unless the residents of those places paid a fee to cover the costs. Requiring the Post Office to make a profit would mean extorting some Americans, or else cutting them out of the loop altogether.

If you don’t think a for-profit Post Office would be so cruel to the poor, let me recount the far crueler madness that goes on near South Fulton.

One year the City of South Fulton, Tennessee, was having trouble funding its fire department. The fiscally conservative state government refused to raise taxes to help South Fulton. The city didn’t want to raise taxes on its own people either. Consequently, the city decided that outlying rural areas would have to pay an annual fee if they wanted to keep their fire protection.

Two years ago, a rural man’s house caught fire. He had not paid the year’s fee. South Fulton firefighters showed up—and watched as his house burned.

Yes, really. The firefighters only came to protect the property of neighbors who had paid the fee. Though the poor man begged, the firefighters refused to help him; if they did help, they said, other poor people would stop paying the fee.

The rural man and his family lost their house and everything they owned. Their pets—three dogs and a cat—died in the flames. Another home near South Fulton suffered a similar fate in December last year. There’s no sign South Fulton will put humanity before profit any time soon. One might wonder if Rand Paul ever asks people whether they’d like to buy Kentucky’s unprofitable fire departments.

But let’s pretend for a moment that you don’t feel any empathy for the poor. What has profitless government spending done for you?

You’re a Mason student. Did you apply for any cheap federal loans? Be careful with your answer. According to a 2008 Cornell University study, 53% of students given low-interest student loans from the government claimed they have never benefitted from a federal program. Unless you were born into the Paul family and have thousands of dollars for an up-front payment every semester, you probably did.

Next time your economics-majoring friend complains about government spending, ask him if his family took out any federal loans. If he says no, ask him which iPhone app he invented to cover his $4,000 tuition.

The next time Rand Paul complains about government spending, remember that he’s really annoyed that poor and middle-class people are being helped without a concern for profit.

To be fair, not all government spending is helpful. The grossly inflated defense budget is one such expense. However, most fiscal conservatives aren’t complaining about this years’ $1.4 trillion defense budget.

Maybe the Libertarians are complaining, but they seem to think post offices, fire departments, and student loans are as wasteful as foreign wars. They measure success in dollars, so it’s probably hard for them to see a difference.

GMU Study on Primary Coverage Misconstrued

Mason Asks: Tim Kaine

Photo courtesy of: kaineforva.com

In November, Virginians will go to the polls to elect a United States Senator to fill the seat left by retiring Senator Jim Webb. Tim Kaine is hoping Virginians will elect him. As Governor, he improved Virginia’s economy and made education and environmental issues a top priority. In addition to Governor, Tim Kaine has served as Mayor of Richmond, Lieutenant Governor, and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee—Kaine is now hoping to add Senator to that list. Governor Kaine took time from his busy campaign schedule to sit down and answer a few questions for the George Mason community—and for that, we thank him.

1. Your senate race is promising to be one of the most expensive of the 2012 cycle. What steps, if any, is your campaign taking to blunt the impact of out of state money?

There is no question this will be a close election that will require substantial resources to win, but those competing to be Virginia’s next Senator have a responsibility to run races that honor Virginia’s tradition of transparency and accountability in campaign finance. In the very first debate of this campaign, I offered George Allen a chance to run a no-outside money campaign, and he refused. When I gave him a second chance, and asked him to sign a pledge to keep secret money of this race, he turned me down again. Already, outside groups have spent over $1.5 million in our race on false TV ads.

But we have a secret weapon of our own, and that’s our incredible grassroots support. I am fortunate to have a strong base of grassroots support – since the start of this campaign we have received support from more than 20,000 individual donors. We will work hard to continue to build on this momentum, as every phone banker, door knocker and small dollar donor will be critical to win this race.

2. The amount of student debt incurred by today’s graduates continues to grow and has many wondering if college is even worth it. What are your thoughts on this?

Whether students choose to enroll in a university, a community college, technical school or a workforce training program, it’s important that we do more to ensure high school graduates have access to high-quality, affordable options to continue their education and increase their skills. As Lieutenant Governor, I helped shepherd $900 million into expanding the state’s higher education system, and as Governor I led passage of an additional $1.4 billion bond package in 2008 to construct state of the art classrooms and labs. I also allocated millions to need-based tuition assistance for Virginia’s students. As Senator, I will work to increase access to higher education and preserve programs that increase the affordability of higher education, like the Pell Grant program.

But the bottom line is, students should not have to incur extraordinary debt to develop the skills they need to compete in an increasingly tough global job market. We have seen in Virginia that when we invest in education, improve its quality and lower its cost, our students develop skills that attract businesses and contribute to the talent economy that is critical to secure the United States’ position as an economic leader. I will take this Virginia lesson to Washington and pursue the same strategies at the national level, to make sure we have a national talent strategy that matches and exceeds our global competitors.

3. Recent college grads are having a hard time finding good jobs. What is your plan to get Virginia’s young people working?

I am committed to ensuring that Virginia’s higher education system adequately prepares its graduates to find jobs in an increasingly competitive job market. All Virginia students deserve access to affordable higher education, but it’s equally important that the degrees they earn give them the skills necessary for the jobs open today. As I travel around the Commonwealth meeting with business leaders in every region of the state, I hear time and again that they have jobs available but can’t find workers with the appropriate credentials. Improving our workforce training and technical education is absolutely essential to ensuring that today’s workers are prepared to compete for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

4. Everyone seems to agree that something needs to be done about the soaring national debt. Obviously, this is a very complicated issue, but could you give us some insight into the type of debt reducing legislation that you would support as a senator?

The federal deficit is a pressing problem, and I would support legislation that balances significant, targeted cuts with strategic investments to bolster our economy. During my term as Governor, we faced the worst national economic period since the Great Depression. In order to balance Virginia’s budget, we cut over $5 billion in state spending, including my own salary. I made major spending cuts as Governor and left office with a smaller state general fund budget than the one I inherited four years earlier. I know how to make spending cuts. But, we will never get to balance through budget cuts alone.

5. Assuming guaranteed success, what single piece of legislation would you introduce tomorrow?

I would introduce legislation that would expand opportunities for students to afford and access workforce training, community college programs and higher education – investments in our talent would help us attract businesses, grow our economy and create more jobs. For the last century, the United States has been the world’s largest economy and a leader in innovation, but we must continue to invest in education to ensure we remain the most talented nation on earth. If we fix everything else, but do not return America to its status as the best-educated nation, we will cede our role as the most dynamic economy on earth.