By: Jim McConnell 

March 9, 2016

Sen. Mark Warner held a town hall with high school juniors at Monacan on Monday. James Haskins/Chesterfield Observer

Virginia’s senior senator, Mark Warner, held a town hall meeting with a group of Monacan High School juniors Monday morning, exhorting the students to remain engaged in the political process despite the “embarrassing” level of discourse in the 2016 presidential campaign.

“I hope young people don’t simply tune out because that won’t help anything,” said Warner, who met with the students for about an hour in the school’s library. “You can get so frustrated that you want to turn off the TV or throw a shoe at it. But when you don’t participate, all that does is turn the keys over to the wing nuts in both parties.”

Warner, a Democrat, struck a centrist tone throughout his remarks. Rather than attack Republicans, he said that America’s $19 trillion debt and many other problems are the product of politicians on both sides of the aisle who refuse to put country ahead of party.

He called out his fellow Democrats for refusing to consider reforms to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. He also chided Republicans who take public pledges not to raise taxes under any circumstances.

“You have people on both sides who think they are 100 percent right, and if they don’t get 100 percent of what they want, they’re willing to shut down the government,” Warner said. “Guess who’s left holding the bag? You guys.

“Neither political party has a monopoly on the truth,” he added. “It takes a willingness to give a little on both sides. Too many times, we only listen to our own people.”

Warner acknowledged that one of his party’s two remaining presidential candidates, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, wants to give everyone a free college education. He called it “a good idea,” but said “it’s hard to figure how we can pay for that.”

Instead, Warner is currently working with fellow senator and GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio on legislation to address the skyrocketing cost of higher education and a corresponding $1.2 trillion nationwide in student debt.

The bill emphasizes financial literacy – specifically, understanding future salary expectations for certain majors, the length of time it takes to earn a degree and how long it would take to pay off student loans – and encourages students to strongly consider starting out at community college before transferring to a four-year institution.

The bill also provides for income based repayment, which would increase the amount of student loan debt that must be repaid as a borrower’s salary increases.

“There’s no better time than when you’re coming out of school to take some chances that you might not get to take later,” Warner said. “But so many people are coming out of college with so much debt, I’m concerned you’re not going to be able to pursue your dreams.”

Warner’s message resonated with Monacan student Jackson Holland, who described the country’s current political climate as “immature” and “not very professional.”

“He was very inspiring because he wanted to hear our views, not just to tell us what he thinks,” Holland said.

School Board Chairwoman Dianne Smith said she was pleased to see the students remain engaged with Warner throughout the town hall.

“You can teach it to them all day or read about it on the Internet,” she added. “To have him stand here and talk to them promotes a greater understanding of the issues.”