UPI’s Voice of Young Voters will be hosting a Live Blog, December 30, on the controversial “rights of conscience” ruling. This rule, recently issued by the Bush administration, enhances the abilities of health care providers to refuse services, such as abortion, based on their personal religious and moral beliefs.

The ruling has spurred contentious debate, with 13 state attorney generals joining Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal in opposing the rule. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt defended the ruling, saying that “doctors and other health care providers should not be forced to choose between good professional standing and violating their conscience.”

Join the Voice of Young Voters featured bloggers, for a rousing live discussion of the rights of conscience. The Live Blog will begin at 6 pm EST on Tuesday, December 30.

Click here to Join the Live Blog!

Posted on December 30th, 2008 by Aram Zucker-Scharff
Filed under: Mason Learns, Mason Votes, Opinion | 2 Comments »

According to a poll earlier this month, 61 percent of Americans oppose an auto bailout, 70 percent believe that a bailout would be unfair to taxpayers and another majority of those surveyed did not believe that the bailout would help the economy. Only 15 percent believe that bankruptcy in the auto industry would immediately affect them. Considering the wide majority by which President-Elect Obama won the popular vote, a significant number of those polled had to have voted for him.

That means that if Obama were to put the full force of his administration behind an auto bailout in January, he would be going against a significant number of his supporters, not to mention the 52-35 Senate vote. The bailout in the Senate may have failed because of the Republicans, but the American people seem to be against the Democrats on this issue.

If Obama were to enact economic policies that he considers necessary against the inclination of many who voted for him he may face backlash in the early days of his presidency. I know that among the young voters I know, most of whom voted for Obama, I’ve yet to meet one who supports giving money to the automakers.

Why should they? As the government digs itself deeper and deeper into debt, it’s the young voters who will have to cough up the dough. It’s no wonder everyone is hesitant about handing out billions more dollars, in the short time since the first $350 billion in rescue funds were allocated in October, the Treasury has spent $335 billion, leaving a mere $15 billion left. The proposed auto bailout was $14 billion. The amount is barely enough for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. to pay up, should Bush follow through with his apparent change of heart on using Troubled Assets Relief Program to help the auto industry.

Paulson is likely wary of using the funds for automakers, It doesn’t look like the other half of the money will be coming down the pike any time soon. Already, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and a number of his fellow congressmen have said that they would likely oppose signing off on the second $350 billion, leaving most to speculate that the Treasury won’t see a dollar more until Obama has been sworn in.

President-elect Obama needs to take a step back and consider what’s going to happen to his man of the people image when he goes against his own voters and members of his party. Detroit is not worth the trouble.

The Big Three (GM, Chrysler and Ford) don’t innovate, can’t do good business, and work against their customers. In fact, they sometimes work against innovation and their customers.

GM alone is losing 4.4 billion each month and the rest of the automakers are not far behind. Throwing money on the fire isn’t going to help them. Either they are going to shrink down, restructure, and come out as completely different companies or they are going to fail. To innovate their business they need incentive, and if they go down, they shouldn’t take the taxpayers with them. Giving them more money would just allow them to prolong the pain.

Most commentators seem to be looking at this issue in black and white, as if a failure to pour taxpayer cash into Detroit would mean every auto worker would loose their job and end up on the public dole forever. Talk about fear-mongering… Do we really expect that 2,201,955 people would just throw their arms in the air and give up?

Yes, if we don’t bailout auto industry now it will be hard on the economy, but it would only be worse later on. On the other hand, if The Big Three go down in flames, as they claim they will without public subsidization, it creates precisely the type of environment in which competition and innovation thrives.

If a big hole were to open up in a field that has been locked in by a small number of large companies for years, some of those out-of-job workers will start thinking about going into business for themselves. These businesses will be smaller, with less fat, more agile, and better able to innovate. As a result we will end up with a competitive field that is friendly to exactly the type of green technology Obama supports and better for consumers.

To quote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to subsidize failure.”

Originally posted on UPI’s The Voice of Young Voters Presidential Transition Forum.

Posted on December 16th, 2008 by Aram Zucker-Scharff
Filed under: Mason Learns | 2 Comments »

Hello Folks,

Please note that I will be writing opinion blog posts for UPI’s The Voice of Young Voters Presidential Transition Forum.

The posts that I am writing over there will be cross-posted here for your pleasure. Please remember that these posts are my personal opinions and in no way reflect the position of Mason Votes.

Have a happy holiday.
-Aram Zucker-Scharff

Posted on December 15th, 2008 by Aram Zucker-Scharff
Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

From Broadside:

Northern Virginia was at the center of the nation’s electoral process this Tuesday, and Mason’s Arlington campus was right there with it. Mason Arlington’s Original Building was the official polling location of those living in Virginia Square, Arlington’s Precinct #040, and many Arlington residents were exercising their right to vote on Mason’s grounds.

“We had a very strong turnout this morning,” noted Cheryl, the Assistant Election Officer at Precinct #040, who requested that her last name not be printed. “Over 1,100 people had voted in this precinct alone by about lunchtime. We were very excited by the turnout.”

Outside the polling place, the atmosphere was upbeat on both sides, despite the rainy weather. Large numbers of volunteers for both the Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin tickets were busily handing out sample ballots and making last-minute pitches for their candidates. The Democratic Party’s volunteers looked cheerful and confident as they encouraged those passing by to vote for Barack Obama. Those advocating for the Republican candidates handed out “Joe” stickers, a reference to John McCain supporter Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, also known as “Joe the Plumber,” McCain’s symbolic representation of an aspiring middle-class American.

As with polling locations throughout the region and the country, election officials in Arlington expected a large turnout. “We were expecting the turnout to be substantial, and we think we handled it well,” said Kaye Anne Helmich, the Chief Election Officer for the precinct, and a 1980 graduate of Mason. “We expected the biggest rush to be in the morning, before work, and we were right. We moved them along quickly though, and processed the lines by 10:00.”

Asked about the increased number of younger voters in this election, she said it was a byproduct of the increasing population in the county. “Well, younger people have been getting more interested in politics over the past four years, I’d say, since more high-rises have been built in Arlington,” Helmich said. “The more people that move here, the more young people that seem to become interested in politics.”

Second-year Mason Law School student George Parker was more intrigued by the national media’s coverage of an election in Virginia. “I voted in the 2004 election as well,” he stated, “But this is just so much different. There were two massive news crews reporting from the polling place when I voted. It’s unreal, to see an election possibly decided by Virginia.”

As Helmich summed it up: “I worked the polls in 2004 as well. This election… you can’t compare this election to 2004. They’re just too different.”

Posted on November 5th, 2008 by Rachael Dickson
Filed under: Mason Votes | No Comments »

by Courtney Erland

Barack Obama, senator from Illinois, has been elected to the Office President of the United States.  Moments after Virginia’s Electoral College votes were called for Obama and the polls closed on the west coast, all major media organizations called the election in his favor.

In his concession speech, Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain said, “the American people have spoken and they have spoke clearly.” Boos erupted when Obama’s name was mentioned but McCain responded by holding up his hands in protest of their reaction.  “His success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance,” said McCain of Obama.

After Obama was announced as the next president of the United States, an estimated 400 students gathered in an impromptu celebration rally outside Chesapeake. The rally moved across campus and gathered participants on it route to Presidents’ Park, Patriot Circle, and ending in the Johnson Center to hear Obama’s acceptance speech.

by Courtney Erland

Students, many of whom were overcome with emotion, were screaming with excitement and chanting phrases such as “yes we can,” “Obama,” and “no more Bush.”

Live Video | Live Blog | Vote Vans | Student Reactions

Posted on November 5th, 2008 by Christian Yingling
Filed under: Mason Votes, Top Stories | No Comments »

by Kevin Loker
Mason Votes Correspondent

On a rainy day after a marathon two-year campaign race for the White House, George Mason University students registered on the Fairfax campus finally boarded vans to cast their vote.
“We’ve been running vans to and from W.T. Woodson since the polls opened,” said senior Student Government member Andrew Roth, who volunteered to drive one of the MasonVotes three shuttle vans, “and so has Students for Barack Obama.”
Though their name may sound partial, Students for Barack Obama did take non-Barack Obama supporters to the polling place. “We all have the same goal,” said Roth. “We just want to make it easier for Mason students to vote.”
During midday, many students said their long-awaited poll experience at W.T. Woodson High School ran rather smoothly.
“I didn’t have to wait very long at all,” said first-time voter and Mason student Brittany Higgs, “and they had some great little arrows to point you to the right place.”
Other students using the vans have responded similarly.
“Most of the students I have asked have gotten in out within around ten and fifteen minutes,” said Roth.
“I actually waited longer for the van than to actually vote,” said Higgs

Posted on November 5th, 2008 by Christian Yingling
Filed under: Mason Votes | No Comments »

In the early hours of Election Day, a person hacked into the e-mail system of George Mason University, sending out an e-mail to the student body that claimed Election Day had been moved to Nov. 5.

The message was sent out at 1:16 a.m. from Provost Peter Stearns’s e-mail account. It read, “Please note that election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

Stearns addressed the issue in a later e-mail that said, “It has come to my attention early this morning that a message was hacked into the system fraudulently stating that election day has been moved. I am sure everybody realizes this is a hoax, it is also a serious offense and we are looking into it.”

A Student Government member volunteering with the Voters Van project, running students to the local voting precinct, said that volunteers already had had to field questions about the e-mail.

“We just got one guy. He was like, ‘Wait, I thought voting was tomorrow,'” freshman Nicola Anderson, a native of Scotland, said. “We’re just putting it down by saying Election Day is always the first Tuesday in November.”

Student Government President Zack Golden thinks there will be consequences for the hacker.

“Whoever did that, when they get caught, they’re going to be in major trouble,” Golden said.

Posted on November 4th, 2008 by Rachael Dickson
Filed under: Mason Votes, Top Stories | No Comments »

Some students who registered on campus at George Mason University were not allowed to cast a vote today.

Freshman Katie Bredholt, 18, said she registered to vote on campus with a group of Obama supporters in early September. She was only allowed to vote provisionally today.

Bredholt, whose permanent address is in Texas, said after not receiving her voter registration card in the mail, she called the Virginia registrar.

“The registrar said, ‘You’re in the system- don’t worry about it-just bring your ID,'” Bredholt, a freshman, said.

At Woodson High School, the polling site for students registered at Mason, Bredholt waited and filled out forms. She said an official had a list of at least 15 other people that were able only to vote provisionally, and almost everyone on the list was registered at Mason.

“I feel like now my voice might not be counted and Virginia is a swing state,” Bredholt said. “My vote should count because I was registered.”

Bredholt’s vote now will only be counted if an Electoral Board meeting tomorrow determines that she is qualified to vote. Though Bredholt has the option of appearing in person to plead her case, she said she will not be able to attend because of her classes at Mason.

“I feel like if it happened to a lot of Mason students, they’ll recount it,” Bredholt said. “Everybody has the same story.”

From: UWIRE

Posted on November 4th, 2008 by Rachael Dickson
Filed under: Mason Learns, Mason Votes | No Comments »

With less than eight hours before polls open and 24 hours until the polls close around the nation, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama made his final campaign stop. The choice of Manassas, Virginia for this event is a testament to how important the state is to the campaign.

As expected, Obama touched on health care, the economy, taxes and rallied the crowed to continue their energy through to the end of the campaign. “We are less than one day away from bringing about change in America. In the last 21 hours…we can’t stop now, not when there is so much at stake. We are going to change America, Virginia, starting tomorrow,” said Obama.

To hear Obama’s entire speech click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Posted on November 4th, 2008 by Christian Yingling
Filed under: Mason Votes, Podcasts | No Comments »

Below is the text of Mason Vote’s Interview with Gerry Connelly, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 11th District.

Q: As people go to the polls what do you want them to think about?
A: I want them to think about the future of the country. this election is a big deal. We have the opportunity to make history and to change the course of the country and I think we’re going to do both of those things tomorrow.

Q: How are you feeling about your chances for a win?
A: Um, cautiously optimistic

Q: What would be your first priority if elected?
A: Well if think our first priority for all of us, should we be elected tomorrow, would be righting our economy. This is the worst economy melt down since 1929.

Q:What kind of affect do you expect George Mason University students’ votes will have on the outcome of the election?
A: You know I have never seen the campus as energized as I have this year. For example, I don’t know if you knew that the head of young democrats is a part of my campaign structure.

I was on campus the night of Barack Obama’s accemptance speech in August and we had 200 students plus on a summer night.

Q: How will you help students if you are elected?
A: One of the things I certainly want to do is make college more affordable and student loans more available. We also, obviously, the Federal Government needs to put a premium on higher education especially if we want to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Posted on November 4th, 2008 by Christian Yingling
Filed under: Mason Votes | No Comments »