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U-hr Daily dar Drrl Proven leader to bring change A fcii I JPL AMANDA VAUGHN DIRECTOR. HEEIS FOR HIUARY When I graduate I'll be thrown into the "real world" that the Bush administration has left for me. What does this mean for us as students? It means we are going to have an unprecedented amount of student loans to pay off. we might not able to afford health care for ourselves, and we re going to feel the burden of the larg est national debt in our history. It means we're going to feel the ostracizing effects of our foreign policy in Iraq as we travel abroad, and we’re eventually going to be faced with an environmental and energy crisis that currently has no solution in sight. It’s looking like a pretty bleak future, and to make matters worse* we have a Congress paralyzed by partisanship, unable to solve any of it In the midst of what seems to be an impossible situation. I'm ready for a president with solutions and the will and ability to stand up for what is right and necessary to get this country back on track. That is why Hillary Clinton must be the next president of the United States. Sen. Clinton understands the diverse needs of this country. She has devoted her life to public service, from working with the Children's Defense Fund after law school to being one of the first |x*ople in Washington to recognize the need for universal health care. She has proven time after time her desire and ability to help people forgotten by our system. I’ll never forget the woman I met front New York who drove five hours to Sen. Clinton’s office in a last chance cry for help when the health insurance company refused to pay for her husband's chemotherapy. After two hours of talking with Sen. Clinton, she walked out of that office with a fax from the insurance company guaranteeing payment for the treatments. As much as we all despise spe cial interests, such as insurance companies, they will not disappear overnight. We need someone with a proven record of standing up to them, someone who can fight for us instead of money . If this woman's story isn't proof of a can didate who cares about every single American and is willing to fight special interests head-on. 1 don't know what is. As students, many of us are frus trated with the politics of today. We see how reluctant either side is to put aside their partisan bickering and find real solutions. However, we also understand that the strict partisanship this administration has encouraged and that has stained this country for the last seven years will not dis appear with a speech. We under stand that we need a leader who realizes this and will work hard to find a consensus for progress. Clinton's legislative accomplish ments demonstrate that she is such a leader. She has proven her abil ity to rise above the partisan fray and collaborate with any leader. Republican or Democrat to find solutions that work. She has teamed up with Republican Lindsay Graham of South Carolina to expand health care for our troops, as well as worked with a Republican-con trolled Congress while first lady to get important legislation passed like the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). To make progress in todays politics, this ability to work with all people across all party lines is essential. There is no other candi date who has done it to the degree that Clinton has during her 16 years in the national spotlight. In a time when partisanship has frozen progress at home and our reputation abroad has been shattered, we require a president with the judgment, knowledge and, dare I say, proven experience to return us to the country I know we can be. Wrth Hillary Clinton as presi dent of the United States we can rise again to be a country of stable judgment, compassion and leader ship. YOU DECIDE Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are championing the cause of change. But which change is right for America? VIEWPOINTS CARTOON By Mason Phillips, mphil@email.unc.edu A BREAKDOWN OF THE KEY ISSUES In January, when the dust was still settling after the first presidential primary contests, the idea that North Carolina's May 6 primary would matter was laughable. The Democratic race is still undecided, with Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama still engaged in a knock-down campaign for the nomination. Now, with May 6 a mere two and a half weeks away. North Carolina has risen to the big time, becoming a campaign battleground HILLARY CLINTON'S STANCE Clinton wants to increase border security. She wants to crack down on employers of illegal immigrants through anew employer verification system and strict penalties for employ ers. She also wants to work with neighboring countries to address the problem and increase aid to state and local municipalities. Clinton opposes a guest-worker program and favors heavily modifying existing guest-worker programs. Clinton wants to create a plan for immediate withdraw al of combat forces from Iraq, to be completed within 60 days of her taking office. She also wants to switch the focus of the diplomatic effort from propping up the Iraqi government to stabilizing the country. She will push for noninterference of Iraqi affairs, mediation between Iraqi factions and increased focus on reconstruction. Clinton is proposing tax cuts for middle-class families, including ones for college and health care. She advocates trade policies to protect American workers, as well as the environment, and programs that help restore power to labor unions. She also supports increased fiscal responsibil ity and the passage of laws requiring spending increases to be met with revenue increases or budget cuts. Clinton's plan stresses affordability, quality and consumer choice. Under this plan all working families would get tax credits based on their family income to help pay for their premium. Another tenet of the plan is to give tax credits to small businesses that provide health care to their workers She also promises to make insurance companies offer and renew coverage to anyone who applies and pays their premium. Clinton will push for the reduction of America's reliance on foreign oil and the establishment of a green, efficient econo my. Her plan focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levets by 2050 using a cap-and-trade system, cutting foreign oil imports by two-thirds from 2030 projected levels implementing stronger energy and auto effi ciency standards and increasing green research funding Clinton plans on extending health care so that it is affordable to all. She wants to expand the Early Head Start program to give younger children access to education. She promises to allocate Si billion to affordable housing trust funds across the country. Clinton commits to creating new job opportunities for 1.5 billion 'at-risk' youth. She plans to raise the minimum wage to 59.50 by 2011. Clinton says she will spend S1 billion to help ’at-risk’ youth earn a high school diploma and to cut the minority dropout rate in half. She plans on encouraging higher edu cation by offering more Pell Grants and providing $3,500 tuition tax credits. Clinton wants to invest SSOO million to improve community colleges. She also wants to create 'Green Schools' that will save on energy costs Viewpoints and a virtual must-win state for Clinton. This page is meant to give an in-depth look into the plat form of each candidate, broken down issue by issue. Along the sides are columns from the directors of each respective student group that supports the candidates. This aims to provide a student perspective for why each candidate is a good choice to be the next president of the United States. Immigration Iraq Economy Health Care .The environment Poverty Education BARACK OBAMA'S STANCE Obama wants to make it harder for immigrants to enter the U.S illegally and easier to do so legally. He wants to increase the number of agents patrolling the border, give agents more technology and infrastructure and fix the immigration bureau cracy. He wants to help crack down on employers of illegal immigrants and work with the Mexican government to make the country a place people are less eager to flee. Obama's withdrawal plan is to bring one or two combat brigades home a month from day one of his presidency, with all forces to have left Iraq by 16 months. He wants to bring Iraqi factions to the bargaining table and to get Iraq's neighbors to agree to secure Iraq's borders and not to interfere in Iraqi affairs. He will appeal to the international community to jointly bear the burden of rebuilding Iraq. Obama plans to cut income taxes by SI,OOO per working family. He supports free trade policies and the opening up of new markets to American products, as well as reforming NAFTA. He wants to strengthen labor unions and pass laws banning the replacement of striking workers. Obama plans to raise the Earned Income Tax Credit and the minimum wage to provide a living wage for workers employed full-time. Obama's plan would create a national health insur ance program for individuals who don’t have employer provided coverage and do not qualify for other plans, but it mandates coverage only for children, not all Americans Obama's plan hinges on a belief that people will buy insur ance if it becomes affordable, so the government should not mandate universal coverage. Obama will work to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, invest in dean energy, improve the energy effi ciency of buildings by 50 percent by 2030 and set America on the path to oil independence through the reduction of oil consumption by 35 percent by 2030. He also plans to work constructively within the U.N. Convention on Ciimate Change to ensure that the U.S is a leader on climate change. Poverty is one of Obama's top campaign issues. He says he will commit $1 billion over five years to ’transitional jobs and career pathway programs." He also wants to cre ate a Green Job Corps to work for energy efficiency to benefit their communities. Obama also plans to provide tax relief to America's poorest, as well as raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. Obama plans to reform No Child Left Behind by fund ing the program. He plans to double funding in support of federally supported after-school programs. He will estab lish a 'Zero to Five' program to assist parents and children with child care and educational opportunities. Obama will decrease the dropout rate through funding to school districts investing in earty intervention strategies FRIDAY, APRIL 18. 2008 United, we can deliver change © VIVEK CHILUKURI DIRECTOR. UNC STUDENTS FOR BARACK OBAMA In the upcoming primary. North Carolina faces a critical choice. The votes we cast will help resolve a contest that has ca|>- tured the attention not only of our country but also of the world. The extraordinary interest in this election is a testament not only to the grave Issues at stake but also to the hunger of Americans nation wide to move beyond a politics that has valued divisions, distortions and special interests over real lead ership and solutions. That is why I support Sen. Barack Obama for president. I don't support Obama because he has the best buzzwords, the most Faeebook supporters or the sweetest logo (he has all three) but because I— along with millions of Americans am tired of settling. I’m tired of settling, year after year, for politicians who themselves settle for the conventional think ing and practices of our national politics. I'm tired of a system that is unable or unwilling to challenge itself. I'm tired of pundits and poli ticians who embrace the circus of our electoral process where dis tortions. innuendo and sound bites pass as meaningful discourse and moneyed interests buy access at our expense. I’m so tired of study ing. but never expecting, the great ideals of my country. I support Obama because this moment demands anew kind of leadership, one rooted in judgment and courage. It requires a leader with the judgment that Obama showed when he opposed the ill conceived invasion of Iraq back in 2002, long before it was popular to do so. This moment requires the kind of courage Obama has shown by standing alone in refusing money from Washington lobbyists. From energy and health care to college loans, lobbyists have bought access and influence at our expense. From campaign donations to lavish trips, their money has skewed policy to favor narrow special interests over the common good. As students we feel the influence of Washington lobbyists everyday. The lending industry has given money to stall relief for our student loans, pharmaceutical companies have paid to escape FDA scrutiny, and oil giants have spent millions to ensure inaction on global warm ing. If we do not stand up to these entrenched interests, we will never realize the progress we seek. Leadership measured by experi ence in Washington is not what we need to change Washington. To truly change our politics, to break out of the petty divisions and distractions that have kept us from getting things done, we need some one who can bring us together. As an Illinois State legisla tor, Obama brought both parties together to expand health care to 154,000 uninsured, to give tax breaks to working families and to reform controversial death penalty legislation. In the US. Senate, Obama has led the fight to curb the influence of special interests, passing what The Washington Post called “the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet." Obama has also worked to raise student Pell Grants to $5,100. expand initiatives to secure loose nuclear weapons and increase gov ernment transparency with new federal disclosure laws. Obama’s ability to bring people together is rooted in his uniquelv American story. As the son of a white Kansan and black Kenyan who spent time as a child living abroad in Indonesia, Obama offers a mature and layered perspective that could help us build bridges at home and in die world. At this moment of war. reces sion and complex global trends, America remains paralyzed by the pettiness and division of today's politics. At this critical juncture, our generation needs a president who can take us beyond yester day's political battles and today's partisan gridlock to achieve the change we need, the change we seek and- with Barack Obama the change we can finally believe in. 6
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 18, 2008, edition 1
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