Terrific Questions
Today’s New York Times features a number of questions that readers would pose to the Democratic candidates in this evening’s debate.
Here are three I found intriguing:
Senator Obama, in a speech in Chicago you joined the call for negotiations toward the global abolition of nuclear weapons. Senator Clinton, you have called for maintaining United States nuclear forces in “enough strength to deter others from trying to match our arsenal,” which would seem to mean nuclear superiority. Senator Obama, why do you favor changing our nuclear policy? Senator Clinton, why do you believe nuclear superiority will keep others from building up their arsenals?
— DAVID KEPPEL
Bloomington, Ind.The personal savings rate in this country is lower than it has been at any time since the Great Depression. No wonder: the banks offer very low interest and the government then taxes the small yield, making it even smaller. Would either candidate support the idea of making the interest earned from passbook savings accounts tax-free, thereby encouraging people to save?
— JOHN PILLAR
Hamilton Township, N.J.To be informed, voters need to know the advisers our future president may be listening to. Who do each of you think are the two or three best qualified people to hold the positions of attorney general, secretary of defense, secretary of commerce, secretary of labor, national security adviser and secretary of energy?
— LORRAINE WOOD
Naugatuck, Conn.
What other questions strike readers of dotCom? What would you ask?
I’ll sing an old favorite of mine. A recent poll of Pennsylvanians found that a large majority of people acknowledged that global warming is a serious problem. But an equally large majority expressed unwillingness to support action to deal with the problem that would cost them more than $100. My guess is that Pennsylvanians are pretty much like the rest of our country in matters like this.
Dearly beloved candidates, what policies would your administration promote to deal with this issue?
Of course, Mr. McCain should not get a free pass. How would his recently expressed enthusiasm for no new taxes and for a smaller government deal with this issue?
Here’s one: Senators, would you work for the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, the single greatest legislative obstacle to union organization in the North Atlantic world? If you’re serious about raising wages for Americans, nothing would go farther to advance that goal than enabling workers to organize unions, something slowed down or throttled altogether by the Taft-Hartley rules.
What will you do if Senate Republicans try to filibuster a Supreme Court nomination?
My question for Obama is stolen from a recent David Brooks column:
If you value independent thinking, why is yours the most predictable liberal vote in the senate? A People for the American Way computer program would cast the same votes and would be cheaper.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/opinion/19brooks.html?em&ex=1203742800&en=a5b44851f61bf3bc&ei=5087
# 1 Senators, the Democrats for Life of America (DFLA) organization has a proposed a “95-10″ initiative comprised of a comprehensive package of federal legislation and policy proposals aimed at reducing the number of abortions in the U.S. by 95% in the next 10 years. The cornerstone of the initiative is the “Pregnant Women Support Act,” recently introduced in the Senate by Senator Robert Casey as a bill with the potential to find common ground towards the goal of substantially reducing abortion in our country. Would you support the passage of the Pregnant Women Support Act and, more broadly, the DFLA’s 95-10 initiative?
# 2 Senators, it is indisputable that human life begins at conception and that embryonic stem cell research, as it presently stands, results in the destruction of human life. Will you support the ban on the use of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and instead work to direct federal funding to stem cell research that does not result in the destruction of human embryos?
I started reading the questions and got to number 156 before I had to quit, although I may go back to them. What struck me was the hostility to Senator Clinton from readers of the NYT whose editors have endorsed her candidacy. I know Bill M. has an explanation for that with which I do not agree.
This is my question:
Senator Clinton do you or your husband feel any remorse over the destruction of the reputation of Monica Lewinsky, considering the difference in age and position in life between the two? Do you have any ideas about why it was not possible for Bill to have “just said no,” as teenagers are advised to do with drugs?
Carolyn,
Do you really believe that Hillary Clinton was one of the “bad guys” in the Lewinsky scandal? I can’t imagine any reporter in his right mind asking Hillary an accusatory question about why her husband was unfaithful to her! I just can’t imagine on what grounds you can blame Hillary for her husband’s infidelity.
David:
I think we went over this once before, and I don’t want to repeat myself. I do not blame Hillary for anything Bill did. I wonder why she did not see that, in my opinion, he was suffering from an addiction, or maybe she did, I really do not know. His behavior was self-destructive and lasted over time. That is one symptom of an addiction.
My question was not as a reporter, which I am not. If I were asking it would be as a woman seeking understanding of Hillary’s ability to emphasize with Monica, who in my opinion was the victim in the situation. No one needs to agree with me, although I don’t think my question is an indication of not being in my right mind. Anyway, let’s just let it go at that.
Carolyn,
Apologies. If I had remembered the past exchange (as I do now), I wouldn’t have covered the same ground again. And I didn’t mean to suggest you weren’t in your right mind!
To Senator Obama,
In the light of the outcry over Mr Clinton’s sexual doings and the blaming his wife for tolerating, not leaving him, etc.., how do you justify in your oratory pointing out two philanderers, King and Kennedy, as role models and examples of the highest ideals. Since such events seem to be a part of Hillary’s negatives, how long do you think you can get away with this comparison?
Further, do you think that Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. King avoided negatives because they were docile wives who avoided the limelight?