UT Martin Democrats

John Lankford
UTM College Democrats

Since Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism has become a hot issue in the United States, but what has really been done to fight it?

We are waging a $200 billion war in Iraq, yet we pulled troops away from the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Is this an effective way to fight terrorists?

One thing is obvious - we need a clear and decisive plan to fight terrorism. John Kerry has one that will build a truly stronger America.

Some of the plan’s points include:

Double the Army’s Special Forces capacity and speed implementation of new anti-terror technologies. Create a National Intelligence Director’s post that has full control over intelligence funding and double the number of overseas intelligence officers. Make Afghanistan a priority again. Improve the security of and attempt to secure all global chemical and nuclear weapons, particularly those in the former Soviet Union. Seek a global ban on the materials needed to produce nuclear weapons. Open direct talks with North Korea concerning its nuclear weapons program. Hold Saudi Arabia accountable for terrorist group development there, and work to make the United States less dependent on Mideast oil. Strengthen and in some cases rebuild alliances with other countries. If ever the United States needed to reach out instead of alienating countries, it is now. Improve security at U.S. ports.
America will win the war on terror when we stop isolating ourselves and start isolating the terrorists.

For more information, please check out www.johnkerry.com or attend our meetings at 5 p.m. Thursdays in the UC. You can also e-mail us: utmdems@mars.utm.edu

James Downland
UTM College Dems

In the first paragraph of President George Bush’s Web page on environmental issues, he states that in the past four years our air and water have become cleaner, the national parks have been better managed and funded, and that the president has proposed new initiatives and sought serious funding of technology for environmental improvement. This is simply just not the truth.

Under President Bush, regulations on coal-burning power plants have been drastically rolled back or not enforced. The EPA simply does not act. President Bush is currently pushing to have mercury emissions removed from Clean Air Act jurisdiction. Every year, about 630,000 babies are born in the United States to mothers who have been exposed to unsafe mercury levels.

Under President Bush, funding cuts and the EPA’s failure to collect penalties from polluters have bankrupted the Superfund program, which (theoretically) forces industry to pay most of the cost for pollution cleanups. Taxpayers will fund 80 percent of the program in 2004, and all Superfund cleanups in 2005.

President Bush has fought to allow the oil industry to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as in protected national parks, monuments and public lands in the Rocky Mountains.

Four years along we see no progress on fuel efficiency or renewable energy. Meanwhile, President Bush is filling the Strategic Oil Reserve, driving up prices. Still no relief is coming from his Saudi friends, whom he assured us he could influence.

On the other hand, John Kerry proposes providing research grants and tax credits for those developing new technologies and cleaner energy sources. He further proposes to end our dependence on the OPEC cartel and our entanglement with the unstable nations its dictatorial governments rule by working with Canada and Mexico in further developing a more productive North American oil industry.

Under a Kerry administration, air and water quality standards would once again be enforced rather than weakened, public lands would be closed to private profiteering, and America would return to the otherwise uninterrupted trend of improving environmental quality our nation has experienced since Richard Nixon and a Democratic congress worked together to form the EPA.

John Kerry has what it takes to stand up for environmental rights. Don’t just take our word for it. See for yourself at www.johnkerry.com and make plans to attend our meetings at 5 p.m. Thursdays in the UC.

Wil Hammond
UTM College Democrats

During the next seven weeks we will be holding a series discussion of issues and ideas. In an age where it seems that the politics of personal destruction outweighs issues or ideas, we will attempt to remove some of the smoke and mirrors that politics has become and focus on the issues that will affect you every day. We believe that there is a clear line between John Kerry and President Bush.

Health care doesn’t affect me, right? Wrong. Health care costs, quality and choices affect all of us. Many of you will be graduating soon, going out into the world to start your professional life, or some may go back to school for that second or third degree. What ever you do or wherever you go from here, one thing is a must - health care.

Since George W. Bush took office, health care costs have spiraled out of control while drug company profits have exploded. Costs have increased at a rate of more than 10 percent each year and have accelerated faster each year in Bush’s presidency.

Despite a $400 billion gift for the pharmaceutical industry in the form of a Medicare prescription drug plan, that to this day only 6,000 Americans have signed up for, Bush has proposed no comprehensive solution to control the cost of health care.

We deserve a president who understands that, in America, regular check-ups shouldn’t empty our checkbooks - a president who will put people ahead of insurance and drug companies.

John Kerry and John Edwards will cut family premiums by up to $1,000. That’s real savings real people can use to buy groceries, pay the bills and save for their children’s future. And that will mean more jobs and more competitive American businesses.

The Kerry-Edwards plan will reduce prescription drug prices by allowing the re-importation of safe prescription drugs from Canada, overhauling the Medicare drug plan, ensuring low-cost drugs, and ending artificial barriers to generic drug competition.

Affordable health care is a right, not a privilege, for every American. John Kerry and John Edwards will fight for that right.

If you have any questions, I encourage you to attend our meetings at 5 p.m. every Thursday in the UC. E-mail us at utmdems@mars.utm.edu, or check it out for yourself at www.collegedems.com and see how your decision in this election will affect you for years to come.