The Issues Explained:
Iraq weighs on the minds of voters

Lately, I’ve been hearing students say, “I don’t think I am voting for anyone in the election.” I urge you to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 7, for someone, but of course only if you know the issues at stake. With a slew of negative ads hitting the airwaves and the mudslinging, I understand it may be hard to decide whom to vote for.

I cannot run through every candidate’s stance on each and every issue, but what I can do is generally explain the main issues college students should consider. The main issue is the war in Iraq. By now it is common knowledge that President Bush led us into the war under false pretenses because no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. October 2006 was one of the bloodiest months in Iraq with 104 U.S. soldiers killed. Reports have come out within Bush’s own administration saying terrorism is actually worse than before the war. This is an important issue for college students because the price of the war is raising the cost of things such as the rates on student loans.

Some argue that the poor judgment President Bush and the Republicans practiced by leading us into Iraq is enough to vote their party out of power. Others ask, “Well, what are the Democrats going to do that is any different?” Republicans overall believe that we should keep the same strategy and stay the course in Iraq with no timeline. Democrats are more likely to move the job along so we can get our troops home safe in a timely fashion. Some Democrats have said the reason why terrorism has worsened is because al-Qaida is now in Iraq and they weren’t before. So if we start withdrawing our troops little by little, perhaps the violence will lessen. It is up to you to decide if you want to give “the other guys” a shot.

If that is not enough reason to vote, how about the growing national debt and deficit? The debt is rapidly approaching $9 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. On average, each citizen in America now has a share of the debt ­­— $28,500. When Bush took office, President Clinton left him the biggest surplus in U.S. history but he and the Republican-controlled Congress have created a gigantic deficit. If you are hearing in campaign ads that a candidate in your district is going to raise taxes, that may be false or it may be the only way to finance this war and ballooning fiscal policy. If people had more of a personal connection with the war financially, maybe they would pay more attention to it. Bush has said the deficit has been cut from roughly $400 to $300 billion. Our generation will be faced with the burden to pay that off. On the campaign trail, Democrats say they will be more “fiscally responsible.”

What this election has come down to is if you are satisfied with the direction of the country then keep the current party in power. If not, vote them out.

—Nicholas Ballasy