Chrissy Gephardt, daughter of Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt, made a trip to the Boston College Law School last Wednesday to discuss her father's positions for the upcoming elections. Gephardt's presentation, sponsored by the BC Law Democrats and the Lambda Law Student Association, was followed by a question- and-answer session that touched on topics from her father's plans for stimulating the economy, to gay and lesbian rights, to dealing with the situation in Iraq.
Chrissy Gephardt combined political ideas with family anecdotes and placed a large emphasis on her father's plans for the economy.
"Everything that my dad has proposed on the campaign revolves around the economy," she said. Gephardt went on to tie this idea to her father's proposed healthcare plan.
"His healthcare plan is really an economy-stimulating package and essentially it's designated to get the economy going again by putting money back into businesses so they can provide health insurance for all their employees," she said.
Also covered during this discussion were her father's positions about investing more in renewable energy sources while ending America's reliance on foreign oil, establishing an international minimum wage, and working on creating more jobs for the unemployed.
Gephardt focused on her father's comittment to education and placed particular importance on his intention to launch a Teachers Corps that will recruit approximately 2.5 million new teachers by the end of the decade and will pay off all college loans for students who commit to teaching for five years.
Continuing on the theme of education, and of particular interest to families of college students, Gephardt said her father wants to make college more accessible.
"He wants to make the first $10,000 on your higher education tax deductible."
In addition to this, Dick Gephardt wishes to better security at schools throughout the nation and improve after-school programs for younger students.
The controversial issue of gay and lesbian rights was addressed during the program. Gephardt, an openly gay woman, commented on her father's devotion to increasing legislation aimed at augmenting these rights. Part of this campaign would include ending the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of gay individuals in the military.
Before the program ended, the issue of the situation in Iraq was brought up. Of all of the criticisms Dick Gephardt levied on George W Bush during the war, one stood out.
"He's been very critical of the fact that Bush didn't bring in the United Nations," she said.
As far as Dick Gephardt's own policies on Iraq, he believes in supporting the troops and giving money towards rebuilding Iraq, according to his daughter.
"We need to get the troops out of there as soon as we can but you also don't want to leave the country in shambles," she said.
She explained her father's intention to get the United Nations back together again and ask for help with the rebuilding of Iraq - something she believes Bush cannot do because of his actions concerning the war.
Be the first to comment on this article!