By the Equality in Forensics Contributor Team
Every argument in an LD case is backed up by a ‘card,’ a uniquely prepared and cited piece of evidence that is read directly in the case. This page will teach you how to research and cut (prepare) cards.
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“Cutting cards” is a method of organizing your evidence. You cut cards for the evidence used in your case and the evidence in your block file.
When cutting a card, bold and underline/highlight the part of the evidence you use in your argument. Minimize the text that you don’t use in the argument as surrounding “context”. At the top of the card, put the author, date, title of the article, institution, and link at the top of the card.
<aside> <img src="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/star-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> BE PRECISE: only bold and underline the parts used in case and bracket in any words you add.
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| Bradley Thomas, 5-21-2019, "The Unseen Costs of "Medicare for All"," Mises Institute, https://mises.org/wire/unseen-costs-medicare-all
| Basic economics, and common sense, tells us that when the marginal cost to the consumer for a good or service at the point of sale is reduced to zero, demand will increase significantly. Under Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, there will be no payment made by patients when they receive treatment. Medical care consumers will no doubt make more frequent visits to doctors, specialists and emergencies rooms – often times for unnecessary treatments – because, after all, it won’t cost them anything. Moreover, because people will be taxed to help finance the plan and pay the same amount of tax regardless of their usage, people will feel obligated to “get their money’s worth” and flood doctors’ offices with more frequent check-ups and testing. Doctors are already struggling to keep up with current demand. According to this 2018 survey by the Physicians Foundation, a stunning 80 percent of physicians claim to be “at capacity or overextended. |
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Your opponents and judge can always ask to see your evidence, and it should always be in cut-card format to show them. All of your evidence you cut for your constructive should be at the bottom of your doc in case your opponents/judge ask for it, and all of your blocks should be cut cards.