Warner addresses students
Posted on January 14, 2008
So many people came out Thursday afternoon to see former Virginia Gov. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner, they had to be moved to bigger room.
After being greeted by a room of approximately 120 people and after making a couple of jokes about beer and naps, the Harvard Law School alumnus got down to business.
If elected, Warner plans to create a “new radical centrist coalition” of bipartisan senators to deal with issues like alternative energy and health care more rapidly and effectively.
“It has all been about partisanship. It’s all been about demonizing the folks that you disapprove of. I hope I can be…less about scoring partisan points,” he said.
Besides the environmental benefits, Warner said finding alternative sources of energy will help national security, America’s global reputation and job creation.
The lack of the United States’ recognition of global warming until recently has not only hurt the environment but America’s reputation, according to Warner.
“If we were able to step up on the next generation in terms of grappling with this energy crisis it would do an amazing amount, I believe, to restore America’s standing with the rest of the world,” he said.
Warner also addressed questions about health care.
“It’s an embarrassment that in the richest country in the world, we’ve got a sixth of our population that doesn’t have health insurance,” Warner said, noting that he has a five-part solution to reform the system.
Under his plan, the integration of information technology into the health care system will increase efficiency through the use of electronic medical records. He plans to lower drug prices and remove long-term care costs like nursing home expenses.
Instead, he proposes that people begin to purchase long-term care coverage when they turn 21. Warner pointed out the high proportion of adolescents with Type-2 diabetes as a result of obesity and stressed the importance of prevention. Finally, he plans to require those who can afford it to purchase health insurance.
When asked about the war in Iraq, Warner said he believes that solving the energy crisis will in turn alleviate problems in the Middle East.
“We have to start bringing our troops home so we can put pressure on the Iraqis to step up,” he said about the current situation.
As governor from 2002-06, Warner was named in Time magazine’s“America’s Best 5 Governors” list in 2005 and Virginia was named “the best managed state in the nation” by Governing Magazine during his term.
