Occupy the Debate

With Herman Cain’s announcement Saturday, we’re now down to seven Republicans vying for the opportunity to challenge Barack Obama for our top office. As much as this crop of presidential candidates seems to prefer attacking our current president’s record, attacking one another’s records, or talking about issues such as not raising taxes or repealing the health care bill, none of those things is going to turn our country around. At best, a focus on those issues will maintain the status quo. So what sort of questions should we be asking these politicians in order to determine if any of them have any real solutions or if any would be a more capable Commander in Chief than the one we have now? If I controlled the next debate, my questions would look something like this.

1. The U.S. unemployment rate has not been below 5% since 2008. What steps would you take as president to reach that benchmark in your first term and specifically how would you boost employment in the manufacturing and customer service segments that have steadily migrated offshore in the past decade?
2. Congress is currently debating several bills which would provide a tax break to American corporations that repatriate profits in the hopes it will encourage job creation here in the United States. Studies have shown that the last time this was attempted in 2004, corporations simply pocketed the profits and no rise in domestic job creation was realized. Do you support any of these bills and if so, which one and why do you think its provisions will drive a different result?
3. The American deficit has now reached $15 trillion. As president, would you support a balanced budget amendment and what specific steps would you recommend for reducing government spending and by what amount or percentage? For instance, would you cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid?
4. Banks judged “too big to fail” nearly destroyed our economy between 2008 and 2009, resulting in a taxpayer funded bail-out of “troubled assets” totaling over $300B. HR 1489, the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011, is aimed at preventing such a catastrophe from reoccurring by reviving the separation between commercial and investment banks that was first introduced by the Glass-Steagall Act in 1933. As president, would you support this act and if not, why not?
5. Despite the current economic crisis, the U.S. is spending hundreds of billions of dollars supporting Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.  As president, would you dramatically reduce these spending levels and if so, by how much? If not, can you explain to the American public why their taxes are better spent on foreign citizens rather than our own?
6. The most optimistic forecasts suggest the world’s oil reserves will be depleted within the next 50 years. As president, what will you do specifically to develop alternative fuel sources for our country’s transportation and energy needs?
7. In the past 20 years, American middle class incomes have remained stagnant while the cost of a college education has risen by 130%. As president, how would you turn this trend around?
8. The flow of illegal drugs from our southern border has reached epidemic proportions and brought increased violence with it. As president, what measures would you take to stem this tide? Specifically, would you consider stationing troops along the border, building a fence across the entire border, or legalizing marijuana?