I wrote this last election cycle and edited it a bit.
First of all, both Mr. Presidents, will you swear right here and now that if you are elected you will uphold and defend the Constitution as you will be swearing to God to do?
Traditionally information collected by our intelligence agencies could be used for one purpose and one purpose only: the protection of national security. We seemed to have expanded that directive considerably.
• Do you believe such information when collected on American citizens should ever be shared with domestic law enforcement agencies for purposes other than national security?
• Are you comfortable with the collection of so much information being partly subcontracted to private corporations?
• Define national security: definitions range from as broad as the threat of a nationwide ‘flu epidemic or as narrow as a threatened attack on a military installation? How do you define it?
• How do you propose to protect the right of an American citizen to express dissent – and not be persecuted by any public or private actor for doing so — without inadvertently permitting “lone wolf” terrorists and other menaces to wreak havoc?
Secular law is traditionally about protecting people and property; religious law is about morality. Do you believe secular law can ever impose a standard of morality? If so, in what way and why; if not, why not.
Tell me, what version of the American dream ought to be available to each of the following people:
• a hard-working young man with an IQ of 85?
• a gifted poet whose work while sublime is likely to be enjoyed by only a few?
• a divorcee with three children who’s crippled by multiple sclerosis and cannot work?
• a veteran whose shattered mind will need years to recover from the horrors of wartime?
• a sixty-year-old who’s just lost his life savings to a pension swindle?
What may a corporation reasonably do to protect its interests? What may it not do?
Do you think multi-national corporations – those with no loyalty to or vested interest in the well-being of the United States – should have the same rights as American corporations on our soil?
Agriculture is still a vital part of our national interests, but a much-neglected one in debate. Please tell me how you see the future of American agriculture.
Where do you believe the line should be drawn between business interests and environmental concerns?
• Do you have a plan for replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy?
• To what extent should industry be held responsible for health problems and their attendant costs when caused by polluting?
How do you balance the rights of the consumer with the rights of the vendor?
• How do we see to it consumers have the right to sue when they have been have been truly wronged, but at the same time protect corporations from excessive and exploitative litigation?
• Do you believe consumers should have to consent to binding arbitration to do business with a corporation, especially if that corporation is the only game in town?
• Do you believe mega-mergers are good or bad for consumer choice? Explain.
• Bonus question: it simply isn’t possible to keep everyone safe from everything all the time – yet we increasingly demand just that, and feel a need to blame and sue someone when anything goes wrong. What is a sensible and reasonable standard for safety?
Do you believe the profit margin ought to be capped on any or all of the following: life-saving medicine and medical care, basic utilities (and only the portion necessary for human life), and basic housing – or that these things ought to be subsidized in any way? Why or why not?
If you will, please address any plans you have to solve the following problems in education:
• Lack of parental time to participate in and encourage the educational process
• The distractions of television, the Internet and video games
• Overcrowded classrooms
• Rigid curricula and an over-emphasis on standardized testing
• Low morale due to a belief that no careers are available
• the student loan crisis
Would you have supported the bailouts of so-called “too big to fail” companies in 2008? Why or why not?
To what extent should money be a part of the political process?
Name five college majors you think are vital to America’s future; name five majors you think aren’t.
The Affordable Connectivity Program just ended, leaving millions of school students without access to homework and millions of the unemployed unable to look for work. How do we bridge the so-called “digital divide” and get everyone access to modern telecommunications and the Internet at a reasonable price?
How would you alter our revise our taxation system? Please address the following:
• large corporations
• small businesses
• the middle-class
• the poor
• the wealthy
Define “fiscal responsibility.”
Name three dangers you believe threaten our military strength today and how you would fix them.
What’s your stand on offshore tax havens / shelters? What if anything do you intend to do about people and corporations avoiding taxes by parking money offshore?
When should we give aid to foreign nations, why, and what if any should the rules be?
Tell me what we need to do to rebuild the following parts of our infrastructure:
• roads and bridges
• public transportation systems
• utility grids
• ports and airports
• natural disaster prevention systems (levees, floodbreaks, firebreaks)
• AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS?!?
Of previous presidents, whom do you admire most and why?
If you do become president again, what would you like your second term to be remembered for – what do you want your legacy to be?
ESSAY QUESTION (if you want it):
It’s 2076. On our three hundredth birthday, what does America look like? What are our greatest achievements? What’s different from now, and what’s the same? How does the world look? And what did you do – or not do – to make it so?
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