As Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., spoke yesterday in Politics Prof. Larry Sabato’s Introduction to American Politics class, he repeatedly stressed the need for Republicans and Democrats to face the nation’s issues together.
Among these issues, he said, is healthcare reform and the current economic recession.
“[This is] an economic meltdown that might get as serious as the Great Depression,” Warner said.
Although the former Virginia governor took his Senate seat just more than 100 days ago, he said he has a good handle on the Obama administration’s plans for the country, including the stimulus package that allocated 40 percent of about $800 billion for tax cuts. Warner said he believes that the package is helping keep the economy from declining further, adding that without it, University students might have seen a significant increase in tuition.
One student pressed Warner to talk more about his position concerning market regulation, particularly in terms of stricter antitrust laws.
“We can’t allow this to happen again,” he said. “We need to rewrite the rules, but without stifling free enterprise or innovation.”
Other points of reform for Warner include making health insurance more efficient and more widely available. He also discussed earmarking, the practice of funding projects in unrelated legislation. Although reform in this arena is necessary, he said, giving the president line-by-line veto power would be too extreme.
“[Earmarks should] only be for public projects,” he said. “[If I earmark], then it should be up on my Web site. I should make it known what I’m doing.”
Outside of the domestic sphere, Warner gave his opinion about the United States’ foreign policy issues in Cuba. On this issue, Warner said he is on board with the Obama administration’s desire to loosen laws that prevent families from exchanging currency between the two countries. Because Obama has not called for a full lift of the embargo, Warner indicated, this policy seems like it could appeal to both Republican and Democrats.
First-year College student Christian Rolph said he did not agree with Warner’s Cuba policy and many other positions Warner took. But Rolph, who identified himself as a Republican, said he still liked Warner.
“He speaks extremely well,” Rolph said. “He may not have convinced me, but he had some very valid points.”
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