Three passionate UNC professors explained to a group of politically minded students Tuesday three important issues in the presidential campaign: foreign policy, economics and health care.
Mark Crescenzi, professor of political science, called himself an "equal opportunity debunker" as he tried to explain the catchy yet often confusing one-liners used by both candidates to describe foreign policy.
Crescenzi argued that President Bush's claim that the world is safer after Saddam Hussein's capture is not true. He said the logic behind Bush's statement is based on the assumption that Hussein had ties to terrorist organizations.
"There is no evidence that Hussein had ties to terrorist groups of any kind," Crescenzi said. "There is no reason to have a close relationship with someone who will eventually kill you."
Crescenzi also addressed Sen. John Kerry's platform, which calls for a multilateral effort to jump-start a resolution to the Iraq conflict.
He said that concessions must be made to France and Germany. "They will not join a Kerry-led America just to save the world," he said.
Boone Turchi, an economics professor, said that when the presidential debates turned to economics, the candidates' answers were slogan-filled and poorly served the issue. He discussed issues including monopolies, Social Security, fiscal policy and the outsourcing of jobs.
"Without question, this is the most important presidential election that I've ever voted in," he said.
Joel Schwartz, professor of political science and public policy, tackled the issue of health policy. The issue has two facets: proposals to provide health benefits to uninsured Americans and proposals to lower costs of prescription drugs.
