Thursday
Nov062008
Are youth voters political game-changers?
Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 3:42PM
On Tuesday, young voters showed that their generation is "moving from revolutionary to solutionary," said Hip Hop Caucus President, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. at the Campus Progress event discussing youth voter turnout. Also in attendance was Kat Barr, Political Outreach Director for Rock the Vote; Amanda Carpenter, National Political Reporter for Townhall.com; and David Madland, Director of the American Worker Project for the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The panel discussed the major issues for youth voters such as the economy and the war in Iraq, as well as how to keep the youth civically engaged.
The panelists all agreed that this was a "fundamentally progressive election," and Madland said that this generation is ideologically more progressive than any generation before them. Yearwood compared the election to the Civil Rights Movement because he said that "it became a movement" itself. To keep youth involvement high and in order to "make government transparent," he said all American citizens must become civic teachers to the up and coming generations. The Campus Progress event concluded with the thought that Kat Barr began with, that regardless of future youth involvement, it must be said that in this election,"young people made the difference."
The panelists all agreed that this was a "fundamentally progressive election," and Madland said that this generation is ideologically more progressive than any generation before them. Yearwood compared the election to the Civil Rights Movement because he said that "it became a movement" itself. To keep youth involvement high and in order to "make government transparent," he said all American citizens must become civic teachers to the up and coming generations. The Campus Progress event concluded with the thought that Kat Barr began with, that regardless of future youth involvement, it must be said that in this election,"young people made the difference."
Pelosi Touts Legislation To Insure Young Americans
During a press conference Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) touted U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper's (D-PA) Young Adult Health Care Coverage Act as one way to insure young Americans.
Dahlkemper's health care reform provision extends young adult's access to their parent's health insurance until age 26. The House provision passed the Senate HELP committee, and if it passes as part of the larger Senate health care reform, it could present yet another way to insure "Young Invincibles," or that section of 18 to 34-year-old Americans who are uninsured whether by choice, hence their invincibility, or by financial situation.
Dahlkemper's proposal would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act, allowing a dependent child access to their parent's insurance if they are unmarried, without dependents and a citizen or national of the United States.
Pelosi was joined by members of the collaborative groups Young Invincibles and Campus Progress.