Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thanks For...

With a crazy year of election cycle politics, the question of what to be thankful for politics is relevant thanks to the never ending campaign circuit.  While it may seem as if a year of partisan bickering and campaigning would lead to total gridlock, Congress did manage to pass quite a few key bills that were pipe dreams a year ago.  So here's a quick rundown of what to be thankful for this year:

1. SAFRA:  Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.  This isn't the first time I'll mention it and it definitely won't be the last, but in my mind the greatest achievement of the past year was passing this bill.  SAFRA goes beyond keeping college affordable, it reformed an outdated model of loaning and truly can make a difference for many students.  This bill raised Pell Grant aid to $5,795 which had fallen far behind the necessary amount.  It also tied Pell Grants to costs-of-living to ensure Pell Grants won't lag behind raises in tuition.  It also eliminated an outdated model of bank subsidies that were no longer needed.  Instead of paying banks to give students loans, the government is now using those funds to hand out competitive loans of their own, saving the government money and using the savings to help send more kids to college.

2. Healthcare:  The new healthcare bill passed by Congress will give many people something to be thankful for.  First, it gives an additional 4 years on your parents health care plan so you can stay on until you're 26.  With extended college degrees delaying how soon people can get jobs to cover their health care, this provision is important to making sure people have access to health care until they can afford it their own.  Second, the bill prevents preexisting conditions from being a barrier to healthcare.  Previously, people could be denied for medical conditions that they desperately needed insurance to help cover the costs.  With the new bill, people can now access that health care insurance that could save their lives.

3. Saving the Chesapeake:  Locally, preserving the Chesapeake Bay is an important condition to ensuring Maryland's economic survival.  Many people in the Bay area rely on the Bay as their economic livelihood, whether it be through tourism, oyster farming, or crab harvesting.  Not only are these important economic commodities in the state, they are also one of the largest exports of Maryland.  With the previous Chesapeake Bay restoration plan expiring this year, the EPA is working to coordinate with all six states in the watershed to rededicate themselves to fixing the Bay up.  This renewed effort could be the push needed to make the Chesapeake a livable place for wildlife and restore it to it's natural beauty.

Still Need Seconds:  A list of things that I hope I can be thankful for next year.

1.  Environmental Legislation:  With the anti-scientific push of several members of Congress this legislation looks in serious jeopardy but is crucial to ensuring the survival of the American environment as well as to ensure future energy stores.  With rising urban sprawl, a focus on roads over public transit, and hazardous chemicals and carbon emissions damaging our environment, serious legislation is needed now to preserve the future of the environment.

2.  Economic Turnaround:   While there is not much that can really be done by politicians, an economic turnaround would make next year much better.  While the economy seems to be stepping back from the brink, there is still much work left to be done.  With any hope, job markets will have improved, unemployment will be lowered, and more people will be back at work by next Thanksgiving, especially when I'll be needing a job in just a few months.

3.  Restored Budget:  A serious problem facing America right now that will have a great impact on my generation's future is the ability of Congress now to reduce the deficit.  Without a comprehensive plan, the economic future of America will be in jeopardy with rising costs and bloated budgets.  Hopefully, by next year a plan to reduce the deficit to manageable levels will be in place, relieving the burden from the backs of my generation.

    

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Youth Election Results

A lot of talk was made over whether young voters could build on the previous years of turnout and increase youth voting again.  While it is clear that they did not break the previous record of youth voting in a midterm of 2006, the decline if youth voters is far less than what most news organizations have been saying.  According to the most recent CIRCLE estimates, the percentage of youth voters was around 22.8%.  While it will still be a few more weeks before official results are in, this estimate is similar to the 23.5% that showed up in 2006.  But the important question is what do these totals represent?

For one thing, youth vote still remains the most liberal of any of the age groups.  As noted by many newspaper outlets and blogs, a large factor in the shift in Congress is a result of the enthusiasm gap where many Democrats stayed at home compared to 2008 while Republicans energized by the last few years showed up to change the makeup of Congress.  This is doubly true for young voters where they experienced a similar enthusiasm gap but also were not courted by most politicians.  While this clearly helped the Republicans gain control, if President Obama wishes to stay in office, the youth vote must be a priority in 2012.  But politicians seem lost in what ways youth turnout can be increased.  While this isn't a comprehensive list here are some easy ways to energize young voters:


  • Election Day Registration:  Being able to register to vote on election day and then voting is one of the single biggest ways to increase youth turnout.  One of the main reasons is the problems and confusion surrounding voting at a college campus.  I'll do a rundown on the benefits of Election Day Registration in a later post but with many problems regarding proving residency, many students are given provisional ballots on election day which usually don't get counted.  At the University of Maryland, over 1/3 of the voters were given provisional ballots.
  • Touting Accomplishments:  While this Congress did help out young people with the student aid financial reform, many students weren't aware of the changes that occurred.  By making the accomplishments of your party known to young voters, it can prove that their vote wasn't wasted and the issues affecting young voters are getting the attention they deserve.
  • Focusing on Youth Issues:  A large problem is that despite the results of the 2010 election, both parties still ignore the issues young people want.  While college is certainly one issue, many other issues such as climate change legislation, raising minimum wage, and public transit are important to young people.  Additionally, as the most diverse age group, issues such as "immigration, violence in urban cities, and public education" are important to many youth voters of color and still have not given the attention they need.      
  • Appealing to Young Voters:  One of the final pieces is simply making the dialogue about young voters. The news cycle and ads largely ignored any issues that interested young voters.  Most ads that I saw were focused on kicking out incumbents, the stimulus, and repealing health care.  The first two are not a priority of young voters and health care, while allowing young voters to stay on a plan until 26, bill mostly focused on reforms for older people.
If you're still in need of more facts and analysis here are a few good articles about the results:

Peter Levine the director of CIRCLE, asks what the youth turnout means?

CIRCLE also has a really good breakdown of young voters in 2010 if you have the time.

Ezra Klein of the WaPo shows how important young voters were to Democrats in 2008 and 2010.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Election Countdown 7 Hours Left

Well unfortunately my efforts to post every day about the election have failed but that doesn't make today any less important.  In just a few hours (I started this at 1 AM, there will be even less hours until voting time by the time I finish), polls will be opening up on the East Coast.  In many races, tightly contested seats will be won and lost based on who shows up.  The Eastern Shore District (MD-1) is an example of why your vote matters.  In 2008, Frank Kratovil beat Andy Harris by only 1,000 votes on election day.  Any surge for either party could have easily decided that election.  And it's still tight this year with the possibility of the district going either way.

But candidates alone aren't the only reason to go to the polls today.  In Montgomery County, a hotly contested ambulance fee is being put on referendum.  This fee would charge $300-800 for ambulance rides to provide additional funds for the County budget.  This issue will likely be one of the largest draws for people to show up to the polls today in Montgomery County since most of the seats are already locked up.

However, Montgomery County is the only county to have a major referendum coming up.  Anne Arundel County will be voting on another contested issue of whether there should be slot machines at Anne Arundel Mall.  This issue was already voted on by Maryland voters to allow the legislature to constitutionally allow slot machines but this referendum could decide the fate of slots in Maryland.

One of the most interesting ballot measures going on in Maryland is the Constitutional Convention.  Every 20 years, Maryland is required by law to allow voters to vote on creating a constitutional convention.  This is rooted in the idea of the Founding Fathers that the constitution should be reexamined every generation.  So this election could decide the state of the constitution for the next 20 years.

There are several other ballot measures going on in the state of Maryland and the counties which are all listed here.

Of course the biggest election in Maryland will be that of the governor.  Current governor Martin O'Malley is entering a rematch with former governor Robert Ehrlich.  In 2006, O'Malley won 52-46 but this year it looks to move farther in favor of O'Malley with current polls ranging from +5 to +14.  However, that isn't any less reason to vote as any motivated electorate base could swing the race more towards Ehrlich's favor.  For a quick rundown of what the different candidates are offering check out this Washington Post article about the candidate's messages.

Finally, if you don't know where you are registered to vote or where your polling location is, head over to your state board of elections.  Here's Maryland's for those of you that need it.

And for those of you that are interested in elections nationwide, here's some election day excitement for you.