Voters of all ages gathered at Plumb Hall on the ESU campus Monday night to hear Democratic senate candidate Jim Slattery talk and answer questions.
About two dozen people attended the talk, and many of them had questions to ask the candidate on issues ranging from the economy to energy policy to the war in Iraq.
Slattery is running for the Senate against longtime Republican incumbent Pat Roberts.
Slattery spent the day touring college campuses across the state, primarily to speak about issues concerning young voters. During his talk, he unveiled a plan for a $5,000 tuition tax credit for college students.
“We’ve had a very interesting day today. We started out in Kansas City, we went to Pittsburg, we’re here, and then we’re going on to Wichita this evening, so we are really out carrying this message all over Kansas, and our crowds are getting bigger and bigger as people start to focus on this election and how big the issues are.”
Slattery went on to explain his tax credit plan for college students.
“We had a really nice turnout this morning in Pittsburg, where I announced an idea that I think we should pursue at the federal level, and that is to give a $5,000 tuition tax credit to students who are attending college all over the country. ... At a time of an economic downturn when there’s so much pressure on middle-income families to pay for tuition, and great concern on whether students are going to be able to actually borrow the money to put into their educations, the idea is to give families a $5,000 tax credit to cover some tuition costs.
“My idea is that during a time of economic slowdown, it is a great time to be in school,” Slattery said. “And let’s try to make it possible for students to really further their educations so that in a few years, when the economy is up and going again and job opportunities are readily available, that you all will have obtained the kind of training and educational backgrounds that you will need to take advantage of the opportunities that will be out there. ...
“I think this is an idea whose time has come,” he said.
According to a press release, “(t)he difference between a high school diploma and a college degree can mean more than $1 million over the course of a person’s career.” The proposed $5,000 per year per student tax credit would be available for the taxpayer, spouse or dependent for any post-secondary education for four years. The credit would pay 50 percent of qualified expenses up to $10,000 and would simplify the tax code by replacing the tuition tax deduction, the Hope Credit, and the lifetime learning credit. It would be available to families earning less than $200,000 a year.
Slattery then spent an hour answering questions.
One member asked Slattery how he would have voted on the financial bailout bill last week.
“I will say that I am, again, extremely upset with this pork that’s been included in this bill,” Slattery said. “... I mean what is on your mind when you read about these extraneous things being thrown in this vitally important piece of legislation? It’s sort of like somebody doesn’t get it.
“Now having said that, the federal government has to do something. They cannot go home and do nothing. And that is the easy thing to do, is to vote ‘no.’ And what’s really amazing is the people that voted for the policies that caused the problem, then don’t want to vote for anything to solve the problem. ...
“Let me tell you something. We are in dangerous political and dangerous financial times right now, and a global financial crisis that we are incapable of managing will affect the lives of everybody in this room in profound ways, and don’t think for a second that it won’t.
“... I say all of this to tell you that these are difficult and dangerous times that we are in. They require thoughtful, straightforward, responsible leadership that is committed above all else to two things: restoring our financial stability and reducing our dependence on foreign oil, because these issues are all interrelated.”
Explaining his view of the war in Iraq, Slattery said he does not want to see a sizeable long-term military presence in Iraq. “I believe we are perilously close to being viewed as occupiers in Iraq. ... The Iraqi government is already telling us ‘We want you to go home.’ We’re just negotiating with them about when to leave, and the Iraqi government wants us out sooner rather than later. ... Now it seems to me we should be listening very carefully to the elected government in Iraq. ...”
Discussing energy policy, Slattery said we should take “decisive action across a large front” to deal with dependence on oil. He said we need to consider nuclear energy, biofuels, drilling and the development of wind and solar energy as parts of an overall solution.
Slattery served six years in the Kansas Legislature before being elected to Congress, where he was a representative for 12 years.