by Brian
I have struggled whether to write anything about politics on my blog, but my conscience has gotten the best of me. I will not endorse or slander any of the candidates here, but instead I thought I would look at campaign promises of candidates and write some questions that I would like to have TV or radio journalists ask, so that we as voters know exactly what the candidate is planning to do. Of course, if they are an incumbent we can go to votesmart.org and see how they ACTUALLY voted on issues that are a concern to us.
Anyway, my first post will be about Obama, because I just got a piece in the mail from his campaign. I will print EXACTLY what the piece has written and then follow with my questions. The piece starts "Barack Obama deserves your vote because:"
"1.Iraq: Showing vision, foresight and judgment. Barack Obama opposed the war from the beginning."
My questions: What exactly are you opposed to? as the President opposing "the war" will no longer cut it.Be specific. Why do you call it "War" when we are fighting terrorists who represent no country in particular? To whom, or to what actions, do you give credit for the fact that we have not been attacked on U.S. soil by terrorists since 9-11? How will you fight terrorism?
"2.Health Care: Barack Obama is committed to ensuring that all Americans have health care. His plan will save a typical family up to $2500 per year."
My questions: What exactly is your plan? Who will pay for your plan? If the government runs the health care system, who can compete with them to insure that we are all paying market prices? What is a typical family? What do you mean by "save the typical family up to $2500?" Does that mean we will be able to put $2500 in our savings account? Up to $2500, does that mean some of us will actually save less than $2500? How do we know if we are the lucky ones who actually will save the whole $2500?
"3.Education: Barack Obama is committed to our public schools. He supports paying teachers like professionals and making college affordable for all Americans."
My questions: How will you measure the results of the public school system? Why do you want to commit more money to public schools when throwing more money at them has not worked in the past? How much exactly do you want to pay teachers? How will you measure the value that each teacher brings to the marketplace? If people couldn't afford to got to college wouldn't colleges all be out of business by now? Exactly how many people who want to go to college cannot afford to go? How do you know how many? Do we have to pay for them to go to Harvard or would a community college suffice? Do ALL Americans want to go to college? If not, why do we want to pay for them ALL to go? By The Way- every politician gets away with this "ALL Americans" rhetoric in all political discussions. I mean seriously, there are 300 million of us.
There are four more so called "plans" on this flier. I'm sure there are more and better questions that could be asked. I watch some of the news shows and even the debates. Journalists are giving all of these politicians a free pass. Politicians all talk about "my plan for (insert here) would: blah, blah, blah.... They are never asked exactly what their plan is and if we are lucky enough for them to share a plan, they don't mention how it will get paid for.
If you have a McCain or Romney campaign flier, I would like to ask them questions as well. You can call or e-mail me to make arrangements for me to get it from you. Trust me though, the questions will end up being eerily similar to those asked above.
I am held accountable to my clients for my actions. Isn't time that our journalists hold those running for office accountable to there plans, promises and statements?
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