As a college student, this is what I need to know about Kerry

[LiveWire]

Ok, I'm really fed up with the media right now. I honestly believe that more of my generation are taking politics seriously. Why? Because we are more directly affect by decisions of this administration than any other age group. Heres my questions:

Is John Kerry in favor of a military draft if it becomes necessary? If so, what kind would he implement?

What is John Kerry's stance on internet file-sharing?

What is John Kerry's views on education?

Will John Kerry increase Federal funding for scholarships/grants etc. for college?

What area of the nation will John Kerry focus his attention on the most? Not which region, I mean areas in which we could improve (econ, edu, transportation, etc).

What is his stance on campaign finance reform (If any, it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore)?

What his plan for the "War on Drugs"? A war that seems to be all but forgotten, but no one in my generation really cared about from the beginning.

What is he going to do for me, as a college student, to lower the price of gas (its 2.39/gal here, and I seriously cant afford it)? Ive heard talk of of backing electric/hybrid vehicles, is this true?




I know everyones stances on the "war on Terror" already. Frankly I' getting tired of it. I've put my pants on one leg at a time before 9/11 and after 9/11. So you could say terrorism hasn't really affected me (accept for what I pay at the pump). And I'm frankly just plain tired of their stances on gay marriage. I don't know if anyones done the math, but the vast majority of my generation is for it. Most of the issues they talk about on TV are non-issues for me.

[mark414]

1. check his website

he may have something, i'm not sure. i'm in the same boat as you though.

as far as financial help with college, i know that he wants to give i think $2000 a year to any student who works for something like americorps or another national service organization for a year or two...something like that

[Killarney]

2. go to www.johnkerry.com and go to the issues section

and read the material.

There is a lot there. Some basics and some you can drill down for details. Pick the issues that are important to you and read up on them from the horse's mouth.

[LiveWire]

3. Ive already read Johnkerry.com...

I was just curious if DUers have heard anything that I havent.

[Bill McBlueState]

4. the viscious cycle of youth and politics

First, take everyone else's advice and go to Kerry's website.

As a recent college grad, I'm still of the age where I notice how national politicians and presidential candidates deal with youth issues. The youth don't vote in large numbers, so politicians don't address issues that are important to us. Which of course doesn't really inspire any youth to go out and vote.

That's why there's this big national debate over prescription drugs and Medicare, but things like regulation of the internet and stupid policies toward illegal drugs are seen as fringe issues.

Kerry will win if we can turn out the 18-25 vote!

[DaveinMD]

5. Kerry

does not favor a draft. He would fight terrorism by building alliances so we don't have to put as many of our troops into combat.

On Education,Kerry will put real resources into educations. He also proposes to guarantee a college education to anyone that puts in two years of community service.

Kerry supports investment in new technologies that lesson our reliance on fossil fuels and would encourage higher cafe standards. This means cars will burn less gas per mile.

[sandnsea]

6. Kerry isn't Nader, isn't a Libertarian

He's a Democrat trying to win the Presidency. It's a choice between unregulated scorched earth capitalism and fair policies for business and workers. It's a choice between unregulated scorched earth environmental laws and clean air, water and land. It's a choice between unrestrained militarism around the globe and thoughtful, respectful foreign policy. It's a choice between theocracy and democracy.

This isn't an election about your pet issues. I have mine too. It's an election about the future of the world. This election, more than any in my lifetime, is about thinking of someone besides yourself.

[1gobluedem]

9. Exactly

Very well put. Yes, you are a college student now but you're not going to be forever. This election will set the course for you for the future a member of a much larger community. Is a candidate's stance on file-sharing more important than his stance on jobs and the environment? Is file-sharing going to affect your future life to that degree?

Sure I understand that these issues are vitally important to you as a student, but look at your questions, think about where you will be four or five years from now, and decide which issues are most important. That's how you should pick your candidate and Kerry will do a lot more for you now and in the future than the current administration.

[oasis]

10. "It's an election about the future of the world". I would have to agree.

[mikehiggins]

7. He's not George Bush

If you need more incentive than that, I suggest you break out some history books and look up Europe from, oh, say 1929-45.

Kerry's stance on the issues no longer really matter. No matter what he says, Bush's REAL positions (as opposed to what he says) are many degrees worse AND we face getting a Supreme Court that'll make this one look like pinko twits.

These are interesting days indeed, as a Chinese philosopher allegedly once said.

[Zero Gravitas]

20. Exactly!

There is so much more at stake in this election than policy details. Our very Democracy is at risk if Bush gets another four years.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

8. Pot Policy

From the Rolling Stone interview:
RS: You have talked in the past of smoking pot when you returned from Vietnam. What do you think of the way the pot laws are prosecuted today?

JFK: We have never had a legitimate War on Drugs in the United States, ever, and we won't until we have treatment on demand for addiction and until you have full drug education in our schools. The mandatory-minimum-sentencing structure of our country is funneling people into jail who have no business being there.

RS: And every year, the number of people arrested for marijuana offenses goes up.

JFK: I've met plenty of people in my lifetime who've used marijuana and who I would not qualify as serious addicts -- who use about the same amount as some people drink beer or wine or have a cocktail. I don't get too excited by any of that.

RS: Would you favor decriminalization?

JFK: No, not quite. What we did in the prosecutor's office was have a sort of unspoken approach to marijuana that was almost effectively decriminalization. We just didn't bother with small-time use. It doesn't rise to the level of nuisance, even. And what we were after was people dealing with heroin and destroying lives, and people who were killing people. That's where you need to focus."
http://www.rollingstone.com/features/nationalaffairs/featuregen.asp?pid=2454



On Medical Marijuana:
Kerry would stop the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids on seriously ill medical marijuana patients as president. Kerry has previously said he favors federal legislation to allow people with cancer, AIDS, and other serious illnesses to have medical marijuana, with their doctors' approval.

Kerry recently co-authored a letter asking the Drug Enforcement Administration to approve a proposal from the University of Massachusetts Amherst to manufacture marijuana for FDA-approved medical marijuana research. In the October 20 letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, Kerry criticized the National Institute on Drug Abuse's "unjustified monopoly on the production of marijuana for legitimate medical research." The letter also notes, "Federal law makes clear that the ... bulk manufacture of Schedule I and II substances must be provided `under adequately competitive conditions.' ... The current lack of such competition may well result in the production of lower-quality research-grade marijuana, which in turn jeopardizes important research."

On July 2, responding to a question from Linda Macia, Kerry said, "I'm in favor of" medical marijuana. Kerry added that he wanted "a full analysis of it" and continued, saying, "I've been in favor of its prescription, its prescription for people. We even passed a bill in Massachusetts to allow that to happen."
http://www.mpp.org/candidates/guide/kerry.html


NORML on Kerry: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5900

[JohnKleeb]

13. thanks thats what I was gonna use

I think its pretty good. Federal legislation for medical marijuana? well John gonna have to give you two thumbs up again. Really, I wish people would study more, and they'll find Kerry in agreement with a lot despite his somewhat moderate rhetoric.

[Dems Will Win]

11. On the Draft:

The major media cover hardly anything that John Kerry says, especially if it is about the draft. So you would never know it, but John Kerry has a No-Draft Plan, a plan to strengthen the military in key areas yet draw down U.S. troop levels in Iraq by internationalizing the situation and then getting out as soon as possible.

Here are the five main points of Kerry’s No-Draft Plan:

1. Move some paper-pushers to combat (lots of potential there)

2. Increase enlistment with real scholarships, benefits and pay raises

3. Let troops know Special Ops will hunt al-Queda, no more invasions needed, so re-up rate goes up. "Primarily a law enforcement effort, not a full military effort", said John Kerry on Meet The Press.

4. Start a "Civilian Stability Corps" that would help in reconstructing Afghanistan and Iraq and relieve military pressure. It would be kind of like the Peace Corps—but on steroids.

5. GET FOREIGN TROOPS TO COME INTO INSTEAD OF LEAVE IRAQ.

Kerry gave some details about the proposed Civilian Stability Corps, made up of volunteers:

"...I propose that we enlist thousands of them in a Civilian Stability Corps, a reserve organization of volunteers ready to help win the peace in troubled places. Like military reservists, they will have peacetime jobs; but in times of national need, they will be called into service to restore roads, renovate schools, open hospitals, repair power systems, draft a constitution, or build a police force. A Civilian Stability Corps can bring the best of America to the worst of the world—and reduce pressure on the military."
- Source: Kerry, John. "Protecting Our Military Families in Times of War: A Military Family Bill of Rights." March 17, 2004. http://johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0317.html >

In April, on a conference call with 130 College Newspaper Editors, Kerry said “No Draft”, that he would have a sensible foreign policy that would not require reinstatement. And in June, Kerry told a Wisconsin high school that if elected, a draft would be "absolutely unnecessary".

Kerry’s plan calls for increasing active-duty troop levels by 40,000 people. He also doubles the number of Special Ops troops. Half the 40,000 being added are civil engineering/reconstruction specialists and half are combat, costing an extra $7 billion, but it relieves the pressure on the Guard and Reserves for overseas deployments and essentially saves the Volunteer Army. $7 billion is well worth not having to bring back the draft!

Kerry charges that Bush is ruining the Volunteer approach with long Guard and Reserve deployments and numerous stop-loss orders, which Kerry says is a “Back-door Draft”. Since Kerry will increase pay, benefits, scholarships and reduce long deployments of regular troops and the reserves, if he is elected the re-enlistment rates and recruitment rates will return to normal. Recently, troops returning from Iraq are reportedly leaving the Service in huge numbers, although denied by DoD (see David Hackworth, Voting With their Feet http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38644).

With this No-Draft Plan, Kerry will not have to resort to conscription, even after Bush has made such a mess of it in Iraq. Kerry has also pledged that he will push renewable energy development and true energy independence, “so that we never again have soldiers dying for oil”.

[AP]

12. Here's all you need to know: Bush wants fewer people to go to college

and Kerry wants more people to go to college.

They both know that education is the way people who have nothing to sell but their own labor maximize the value of their labour.

Bush represents the interests of a few large corporations which want an underpaid workforce, with few options, and a consuming public which spends all the money ti makes on consumer goods (wether they need them or not) in a very uncompetitive marketplace. They don't care if the economy is weaker, so long as there are guaranteed outcomes for a few very big pleayers who are on the inside.

Kerry believes that there are no guaranteed outcomes for the oligopoly and that the best way to create wealth is to give all Americans a chance to maximize the value of their labor and their opportunities to apply their unique talents in the marketplace.

So, get on the boat.

[wildeyed]

14. You ARE more affected

by decisions than any other age group. And politicians mistreat you guys because they can, because young people don't vote.

It sounds like you are taking the time to become educated and will vote on November 2. Now grab a stack of voter registration forms and make sure that your friends are registered. Help them get the info they need to make an intelligent decision. Make sure they get to the polls on Nov 2.

If young people vote in large numbers in this election, there will be no draft. The powers that be will know they can't get away with it b/c you guys will punish them at the polls. Voting is your power.

[AP]

15. Even if Kerry didn't feel the way you feel about pot...

...I just don't understand how any college student could vote for Bush over Kerry (or not vote at all) over just that issue (or on ANY single issue).

If the Democrats lose, you'll be poorer, stupider, and have fewer opportunites, but you'll be able to get high and file swap on your terms? Some consolation.

[Terran]

16. I don't mean to sound...mean...but a less parochial viewpoint

is what you should cultuvate. Truly, "He's not Bush" is the only answer you need. You should look around yourelf and see that there are issues vastly more important than file-sharing and scholarships and drugs. I question the survival of our nation if Bush is elected--have you thought about things like the environment, and the economy? These things affect your "generation" a lot more than those micro-issues you listed.

[wildeyed]

17. Why shouldn't college students

have pet issues? I agree that they are probably not the most important issues on anyone's list, but if smoking pot and file sharing are really important to this guy, why shouldn't he explore the candidates views on them? If college students voted in any great numbers, I guarantee these issues would get some attention.

Funding for higher education and the draft are important issues for me, too and I am many years past college.

[JohnKleeb]

18. we all have our pet issues

frankly, I think this poster would agree with Kerry's positions, Kerry isnt a drug warrior, read about how he was as DA and his views, dont know his views on file sharing honest, he is for higher funding of education and a program that will pay the tuition of those who do service for two years, he will reduce the tutition rate. He's not gonna be a censorer like Lieberman would have been. Education issues are some of my pet issues but my big one is labor, Kerry has a good record on that actually, though if I were to want an exclusively godo guy on labor I would want Kucinich or Gephardt as the nominee but Kerry's pretty good on it as well.

[beyurslf]

19. The problem is the people of our generation (the under 30 crowd)

are not voting is larger and larger numbers. The sad fact is, every year, fewer of us vote. Fewer 18 yo's vote than when I was 18 and so on. Our issues will not be at the forefront of any debate until we vote like our grandparents.

Ever wonder why politicians will talk forever about senior's health care and never mention ours? Our grandparents vote and we do not.

The war on drugs will continue to be fought until people (young people) stand up and say enough is enough. I don't blame politicians at all when they ignore my age group. Why should they listen to us? We are the least likely to vote. We are the least likely to tell others to vote or who to support. We are the least likely to consistently support any candidate. We are the lieast likely to "help" the politician.
With the same time and money it takes to reach 100 or us, they can reach 1000 of our grandparents.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JPJones]

22. Bush is the real flip-flopper

And by the way, buh-bye.

[blondeatlast]

23. It's about "we," not "me." Wait until you raise a family,

experience a layoff, have a desperately ill family member, are drafted.

Life changes bigtime after college.

[George_Bonanza]

24. Kerry is firmly against a draft, and wants to pull some U.S. troops out

And put in international forces like from NATO and the UN in.