Tuesday’s debate between Young Democrats President John Morreale and College Republicans President Gary Yambor covered issues on the trade deficit, the budget deficit and education.

Other issues covered in the debate included abortion, the strategic defense initiative and America’s roll in world affairs.

Yambor said free trade would help decrease the trade deficit. “We (U.S.) need to hold a trade summit with our trade partners,” Yambor said. The trade deficit is the largest in the nation’s history he added.

Morreale said the Reagan administration has not done anything about the trade deficit because the deficit does not affect the big businesses in the country.

On the budget deficit, Morreale said, “History won’t forget Reagan’s defense build up.” He said it was the Reagan administration who proposed to balance the budget in 1983 and will go down in history as the biggest deficit spender.

Yambor said the democratic plan to get out of a crisis is to tax people. “When you tax something you take something away,” he said.

Yambor said when the worker is taxed, spending power is decreased and when businesses are taxed, buying power is decreased. He proposed the government should be run like a business. Not to make money, but not to lose it either.

He said the answer would be to utilize a flat tax so it would not punish the companies or individuals increasing profits and wealth.

Yambor said he disagrees with the tuition raise, “but I’d rather pay $150 next semester than higher taxes for the rest of my life.” He said the answer is for NIU to find a way to generate higher revenue.

“Education in this country has gone to hell,” Yambor said to open his stance on education. “There are people graduating (from high school) who can’t read.”

He suggested teachers’ pay should be placed on a merit system, and teachers should be tested yearly to prove they know the subject matter they are teaching.

Morreale said, “The thought of the Republican party being a fan of the education system is ridiculous. We (Illinoisans) have a republican governor (James Thompson), and he has slashed education funding.”

He said Illinois ranks 40th in education funding. “We have the money in this state, we need to pay for the education.”

Morreale also addressed the topic of merit pay. He said the problem of merit pay to teachers is that it is a substitute for giving teachers more pay as a whole.