What FrumForum Would Ask at the GOP Debate
The next GOP debate is being held on Thursday, September 22nd, but it is never too early to draft the best questions to ask. FrumForum is asking its regular contributors what questions should be asked of the candidates. We will be posting them as they come in. If you have an idea for a particularly good question, please feel free to email it in, to editor[at]frumforum.com.
Questions from Zac Morgan:
1. Governor Perry, on your campaign's web site, you tout Texas' "loser pays" tort reform as a reason why Texas created so many jobs. As President, given your position in favor of state's rights, is there any conceivable way you could apply that to the country?
2. Governor Romney, you consistently praise Texas' zero percent income tax as a reason why it has created so many jobs. Why then don't you propose abolishing the income tax at a Federal level altogether?
3. Governor Huntsman, you say America's "weak core" prevents us from maintaining a presence in Afghanistan. How much weight would you give U.S. budget considerations before acting against Iran's nuclear program?
Questions from Noah Kristula-Green:
1. President Obama has left two seats vacant on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. What are the qualifications you would look for in a nominee to the Board?
2. Many candidates on stage have warned about the Federal Reserve's policies. Some alternative monetary policies that have been promoted include advocating a gold standard, and adopting a Nominal GDP target. Do you think the Federal Reserve needs to be reformed, and if so, how?
Questions From Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld:
1. What is your position on the Israeli “settlements”, do you view them as an “obstacle to peace”?
2. Do you view Jerusalem as a settlement or as the undivided eternal capital of the Jewish people?
3. What is your position on Jonathan Pollard? Many Jews think that his sentence should be commuted to time served.
Question from Telly Davidson:
Aside from tax relief, what is your strategy to help workers and small businessmen transition to a technology-based economy where one employee can now do the work that five jobs used to be created for? An economy where century-old business models (book/video stores, newspapers, specialty retail) are going under?
Question from Jim DiPeso:
The New York Times quoted Governor Mitch Daniels as saying the following: "The candidate I could get instantly excited about is someone who is willing to level with the American people and assume they are prepared to listen to the mathematical facts and agree that whatever other disagreements we have aren't as important."
Which of you is prepared to level with the American people about the facts in order to pass Governor Daniels' excitement test?
Question from Ken Silber:
One subject that’s been almost entirely absent from the campaign is space policy. The Obama administration scrapped the Bush administration’s plans for a return to the moon, and the end of the Space Shuttle program has left the U.S. currently without the ability to send astronauts to Earth orbit, let alone beyond. There’s little consensus about what NASA’s next steps should be or what role the private sector might play. Do you have a vision for what the United States should do in space, how to do it and how to pay for it?
Question from Howard Foster:
Are there is any areas of life you believe should not be regulated by the federal government? And if so, to name them.
Question from Hank Adler:
The President has indicated he would veto any deficit bill which did not include tax increases. What would advise Congress?
Question from Mark Yzaguirre:
For Rick Perry: Governor Perry, did you think that Social Security is a possibly unconstitutional Ponzi scheme when you were a Democrat? And if not, when and why did you change your mind?
The other candidates could put in their thoughts afterwards as followups.
Question from Cheves Ligon:
Will Rep. Ron Paul formally renounce the endorsement of that DUI guy from YouTube? America needs to know his stance on drunk libertarians.
