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by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
News Reporter
The College Republicans and College Democrats at Appalachian State University met Wednesday to debate a variety of topics including healthcare, foreign policy, the economy and energy independence.
One side was given a five-minute chance to make their point on how to better the topic of selection, while the other side was allowed a two-minute chance for rebuttal.
On the topic of healthcare, the College Democrats said healthcare was a right, not a privilege.
“Americans
are largely ignored by the healthcare system. In the United States, we
spend more per capita on healthcare than any country, but are still
37th in overall performance,” Kathryn “Katie” Wingo, junior political
science major said. “Over 46 million people are uninsured. If we repeal
the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy, we can make $60 to $65 billion, so do
your research and if you think healthcare is a right, vote Democrat.”
The College Republicans countered the argument, and said the information given by the Democrats was false.
The number of people without healthcare was more around 10 million because studies counted illegal immigrants, they said.
“[With
universal healthcare Sen. Barack] Obama would want to grant healthcare
to illegal immigrants. Immigrants would flood the hospitals and people
would not get their healthcare on time,” freshman biology major Austin
R. Arrendale said. “[Sen. John] McCain’s healthcare plan would give
every family a $5,000 in tax credits that could help.”
According
to a census conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the national
average from 2004-06 of people without healthcare in the United States
was 45,102, or 15.1 percent of the population.
The
topic of the debate then switched to energy, where the Democrats pushed
for alternative clean energy, while the Republicans supported nuclear
power and clean coal technology.
Both agreed the United States relies too much on oil from foreign nations, and energy independence is key.
“We need
to invest in better energy. Nuclear companies make their own money, and
we need energy independence now,” freshman music education major Daniel
L. Bolick said. “Wind and solar power aren’t good enough yet; we just
can’t use it well right now.”
A
question and answer session ended the debate, with questions from the
audience being drawn and answered by the board of Democrats and
Republicans.
The first question asked the board to describe the differences between a McCain presidency and an Obama presidency.
“McCain
has served in the military,” Frank A. Magnotto, freshman business
education major said. “Obama wants to pull straight out of Iraq and
ruin what we’ve done.”
In
reply, senior political science major John B. Fortenberry said, “Yeah,
and Bush dodged the war; being a president isn’t just about military
experience. You can’t have the military as the only solution, we need
to have other ways.”
Both the College Democrats and College Republicans ended the debate by laughing and shaking hands.
A final reminder to vote was given, which received much applause from the audience.
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