Representatives from the College Democrats and the College Republicans faced off in a fiercely ideological debate last Friday in a Week of Welcome event designed to increase student awareness and participation in politics.
The debaters were given questions in advance and also took questions from an audience of about 20 students. The prepared questions touched on Iraq, health care, the cost of higher education, and global warming. Most of the students asked about health care policy.
Representing the College Republicans was Nikolas Antovich, a senior and the club’s vice chairman. He said he supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, opposes increasing federal aid to students, and opposes Measure 50, which would increase the tobacco tax and provide health insurance to uninsured children.
Sara Bean Duncan is a junior and the president of the College Democrats. She took the opposite side on almost every issue, but said she didn’t go as far as some in her party on many issues. She said she supports incremental troop withdrawals from Iraq and incremental changes in the nation’s health care system.
ASUO President Emily McLain opened the event, saying that both the ASUO and the debate stressed the importance of civic engagement. When students turn out to vote in high numbers, she said, legislators are more likely to listen to their concerns.
The topic of Iraq came up several times, with questions of how and when to withdraw U.S. forces.
Antovich said the U.S. went to Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and to establish a democracy, and “the job is only halfway done.” He cited Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of multinational forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker in saying that leaving Iraq would lead to genocide and the possibility of “another strong-armed dictator.”
Christian Morris, a sophomore political science major, asked for definitive positions on when the U.S. should leave Iraq. Morris was often in agreement with Antovich, but is not a Republican.
“If there were a college Libertarian club, I’d definitely join that,” Morris said.
“If we’re going to withdraw troops we should just do it now,” Antovich said. He said he doubts giving a year’s notice to the Iraqi government would make much of a difference in terms of political progress.
Morris asked if there should be a timetable for withdrawal. Antovich said yes, but he didn’t want anyone outside of the government to know what that timetable would be.
Duncan said while some in her party want the U.S. out of Iraq tomorrow, she does not. She even expressed some discomfort with a hard date for all forces to be gone, instead opting to withdraw incrementally with the goal of a full withdrawal by next summer.
When asked their positions on dealing with global warming, Duncan talked about ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases. Antovich, however, disagreed with the premise of the question.
“Climate change is present, but I think it’s misunderstood,” he said. “Trying to control the Earth’s temperature is very dangerous.”
He said the planet goes through natural heating and cooling cycles.
“It sounds to me like a lot of people are just crying wolf,” he said. “You’re basically capping economic output” when trying to cap emissions, he said.
“The idea that scientists are crying wolf is absolute bullshit,” Duncan said, adding that organizations that question global warming are “actually just funded by oil companies.”
“It has been proven time and again by reputable sources” that global warming is “caused by humans,” she said. She said changes must occur before the world is “hot, barren, and devoid of life, including ours.”
Antovich and Duncan both agreed that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, though Antovich was more willing to strike suspected weapons facilities than Duncan was.
When asked what the federal government should do to make higher education more affordable, Antovich said, “I don’t think anything should be done at the federal level.” He said federal aid to students is “not a crisis worth the federal government’s time.” He also cited a study from the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative thinktank based in Washington, D.C., that states when the government increases money to students, colleges increase the cost of tuition.
Duncan said, “I have yet to see a reputable source say that once universities get more money they raise tuition.”
She talked about restoring Pell grants so students can pay for school without high interest credit cards or loans.
Nearly half of the debate focused on how to best reform health care. The students in attendance seemed as divided and passionate about the topic as the debaters, with some calling for more privatization and others calling for universal coverage.
Duncan said she would like to see reform begin by making health care available to all children.
“There is no reason that a child under the age of 10 should die because they had a toothache and it went to their brain and abscessed,” she said.
Antovich said, “The role of the United States government should be to get out of the way of the U.S. health care industry. What people need is choice and competition. Hillary Clinton wants to tell you what plan you can and can’t have.”
This was the second time in the debate that the Republican evoked the Democratic senator from New York and presidential candidate.
“First of all, I’m kind of curious as Hillary Clinton is not the chairman of the (Democratic National Committee) and she’s not the only Democrat in the world, so I’m kind of curious why my opponent always uses her as his Democratic touchstone,” Duncan said.
“The reason I reference Hillary Clinton is because she’s going to be the Democratic presidential nominee,” Antovich replied.
Duncan said she wasn’t proposing socialized medicine or even a massive overhaul of the healthcare system.
“That’s not going to be done overnight,” she said. She said she wanted an incremental approach starting with covering all children.
Antovich said he wants everybody to have health care, and isn’t opposed to a safety net for people who cannot afford any coverage. In general, however, he’d like to see more privatization and less bureaucracy.
Robert Clark, a political science major and independent voter, pressed Duncan on health care, saying more should be privatized.
Duncan said that without regulation some health care providers could charge $200 for a flu shot, and that no one would charge $10 for one just to be kind.
The debate format digressed quickly into an argument about free market economics. Antovich, an economics major, said fewer regulations would cause prices to fall.
Antovich compared his ideal for the health care industry with buying a car, where consumers have hundreds of choices on dozens of lots.
Duncan didn’t appreciate the analogy.
“I don’t want health care to be the difference between buying a Mercedes and buying a Honda,” she said.
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