On Demand
Help Us Produce Great Election Coverage!
Step Three: The Final 30
Our presidential election series 30 issues in 30 Days is now underway! You've helped us nominate issues (see your comments below), voted on the final 30, and now it's time to help shape the series. Read on to find out how you participate in our 30 Issues Wiki.
Below is the 30 Issues schedule (subject to change, if necessary.) Each segment will aim to compare the records and positions of Obama and McCain and debate who's got it right.
The Wiki
Each Friday throughout the series, we're doing a "30 Issues Wiki." For these six segments, we've created an easily edited page where you can collaborate with others to help produce the segment. On this page you'll be able to suggest angles; do research; write copy and questions; suggest guests; and suggest audio to be included in the on-air segment. In other words, you'll do everything a normal Brian Lehrer Show producer does every day. So check out the schedule below, and click on the links to be taken to the wikis and start collaborating!
Week of September 22nd
1. Will Your Vote Be Counted?
2. Campaign Finance and the Candidates' Special Interests
3. The Post-Bush Constitution (#3 Most Voted Issue)
4. Partisanship and Democracy
5. 30 Issues WIKI: Internet and Broadcast Regulation (Click here to see the WIKI!)
Week of September 29th
6. K-12: Should The No Child Law Be Left Behind?
7. Russia and China
8. Iraq: What's Worth Fighting For?
9. Iran, Israel, and the Middle East
10. 30 Issues WIKI: Immigration (Click here to view the WIKI)
Week of October 6th
11. The Tax Code: Whose Plan Rules?
12. Sense of Entitlement: Social Security and Medicare
13. Globalization Inc.
14. Technology and Infrastructure
15. 30 Issues WIKI: Drill Baby Drill: Oil vs. Alternative Energy (# 1 Most Voted Issue) (Click here to view the WIKI)
Week of October 13th
16. Banking Regulation after Fannie, Freddie and Lehman
17. Poverty: Global and Domestic
18. College Affordability (Live-Audience Event from Hofstra University)
19. Affordable Housing: Public and Private
20. 30 issues WIKI: Health Care: Whose Plan Rules? (#2 Most Voted Issue) (Click here to see the Wiki!)
Week of October 20th
21. Equal Pay For Equal Work
22. American Exceptionalism: US Leadership In The World
23. The Culture Wars: Is There Common Ground?
24. Do We Need A War on Terrorism?
25. 30 issues WIKI: Arts and Culture Funding (Click here to see the Wiki)
Week of October 27th
26. Race: Affirmative Action and Beyond
27. McCain and Obama: Management Styles and Decision Making
28. Commander in Chief
29. Afghanistan and Pakistan
30. 30 Issues WIKI: Urban Policy: Who's the best Prez for NY and NJ? (Click here to help produce!)
Comments
CREDIT CARDS
Some are predicting credit cards will be the next financial meltdown (http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/11/10921). During this economic downturn, Americans increasingly use credit to meet living costs; they're discovering the punitive practices sanctioned by the current administration (Rep. Carol Malony, D-NY, proposed a Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights to address this.)
Lobbyists spent outrageous amounts on both sides of the aisle to change the statutes. Obama's VP-nominee, Sen. Biden, has been a good friend to one of his state's major companies, MBNA (e.g., see his vote on the bankruptcy bill).
Thank you.
THE SANCTITY OF ALL LIFE
The religeous right believes in the sanctity of life BEFORE birth. What about the sanctity of life AFTER birth? Excellent education for all; wages worth living for; clean, sustainable enviornment; healthy food?
IS NUCLEAR POWER ANOTHER CIGARETTE?
Cigarette companies said cigarettes were safe. They worked hard to convince us of their safety, to deny their harm. What about the evidence of cancer, nuclear companies and government deny?
EVOLUTION AND/OR CREATIONISM IN THE 21stCENTURY
Is it important in the 21st Century to understand and accept the theory of evolution? What of creationism? Does creationism have a place in our government?
Farm Bill and Farm Subsidies: Relates to #61 #63
Farm Bill and Farm Subsidies:
Why do we still pay them to millionaire farmers? Obama voted for the continuation of Farm Bill - WHy? McCain didn't/ I support Obama - but don't like seeing this support for special interests like this. Topics #63 and #66 relate to this. Please cover on your show - include assessment of impact of our tariffs on the agricultural business of smaller countries and the cost of the subsidies to american taxpayers.
TEMPER TANTRUMS VS. REASON IN THE OVAL OFFICE
What kind of person do we want as President? One with temper tantrums or considered reason? Temper tantrums prevent reasoned thought and judgement. Will McCain's tantrums affect his judgement?
let the platforms do the talking
saying overturning R v W would leave the issue to the states ignores the intent of the candidates. Let the platform speak for itself or is this an issue to get single vote religious conservatives to stay Republican.
Workers need the right to form and join unions without being fired. the right to join a union is guaranteed by the NLRA, since the 1930's.
Should Congress be made more responsive by (1) increasing the number of Representatives (it's been 435 since the time when the population was half what it is now), (2) reducing Senate terms to 4 years, and (3) providing for recall elections in federal law?
Who are the "special interests"?
Republicans claim they'll fight against the "special interests". Democrats claim they'll fight against the "special interests". Are these the same for Republicans as for Democrats? Or do Democrats fight against special interests dear to the hearts of Republicans,and Republicans fight against special interests the Dem's love?
Military draft: What do we owe our military personnel?
Both candidates are pledging more demands of our military. Internal military assessments say they are overstretched using stop-lost (backdoor draft) & the use of a national guard that was not trained for the combat required of them in Iraq. PTSD, alcoholism & suicide already evident in returning vets are alarming & are just starting. This situation cannot continue status quo, let alone adding new deployments.
Obama is pledging more troops in Afghanistan and approving crossing into Pakistan when needed. As I write this, McCain says he is not afraid to fight and is imploring "stand up and fight". It has been widely reported that on September 12, 2001 McCain had Iraq, Syria, and Iran on his list. Are we going to get straight talk about the need of a draft to fulfill these promises? When candidate McCain says we are all Georgian's we are challenging Russia. These questions must be put to and answered by the candidates and we need to know how would it affect the military.
thanx for great programing
gt
Worker rights to form and belong to unions
Presently workers who try to form a union are being fired because there is little chance of the employer paying any penalty. We need card check recognition of workers rights to form and join a union
Military draft: What do we owe our military personnel?
Both candidates are pledging more demands of our military. Internal military assessments say they are overstretched using stop-lost (backdoor draft) & the use of a national guard that was not trained for the combat required of them in Iraq. PTSD, alcoholism & suicide already evident in returning vets are alarming & are just starting. This situation cannot continue status quo, let alone adding new deployments.
Obama is pledging more troops in Afghanistan and approving crossing into Pakistan when needed. As I write this, McCain says he is not afraid to fight and is imploring "stand up and fight". It has been widely reported that on September 12, 2001 McCain had Iraq, Syria, and Iran on his list. Are we going to get straight talk about the need of a draft to fulfill these promises? When candidate McCain says we are all Georgian's we are challenging Russia. These questions must be put to and answered by the candidate and we need to know how would it affect the military.
thanx for great programing
gt
The Electoral College: Does it have a place in the Elections of the 21st Century?
History of the elections of 1876, 1888, and 2000 and how the EC can swing the election of the unpopular candidate.
Healthcare and Personal Responsibility -
While affordable healthcare is the right of every American, personal responsibility also plays a part. Sen. Obama in particular has spoken about the themes of personal responsibility during this campaign. The American Cancer Society states 80% of chronic disease is lifestyle related. Given that, what is the role of personal responsiblity in healthcare provided by the government and how does one 'enforce' it in order to keep costs reasonable?
Mavericks and Barracudas
Why are mavericks good? I understand it to be a neutral term.
Palin is nicknamed "barracuda". Barracuda are cowardly fish that viciously attack their prey from the rear.
Comments to topic 21 on abortion
Would a reversal of Roe vs Wade by the supreme court end legal abortion in this country or would the issue just go to the statres to decide? We need to stop all this needless rhetoric if in fact this is really going to come down to state by state decisions.
Commonality!
After all the divisive, two-party polarization, I would like to see again what it is we all have in common. There is a basic Buddhist tenet that says everyone wants to be happy and wants to not suffer. We all have that in common. Simple but profound. That's a good starting point. The pundits could talk about how Democrats and Republicans can reach common ground and how the politicians would achieve that.
My suggestion for "30 issues" is a comprehensive look at the rank criminality of the last 8 years of the Bush administration, and an effort to punish the culprits. The outing of a CIA officer, a gay callboy receiving full press credentials, firing of US attorneys, unqualified people given major contracts for the Iraqi reconstruction...the list is endless. The only person receiving any kind of official sanction is the former chief of staff to the vice-president.
Will there be an effort to bring these people to justice, or will it be decided that that is just too divisive?
The next nefarious crew will just push the envelope even further unless an example is made.
THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
I would be interested to hear what the candidates have to say about this daily recited ditty. Iraq and the economy are on the front pages every day, and rightly so, but I would like to know the future President's take on the role of religion in our society and government. In other words, which candidate will make policy decisions WITHOUT consulting the Good Book?
Consumer spending and national economic policy. One week you might read in the papers the housing market is "overheated" but if housing starts begin to lag, the financial markets worry. A story in the WSJ might discuss our low savings rates and how consumers are overextended on credit cards, but a dip in retail sales the following quarter sends the markets into a tailspin. Is it possible to achieve a balance between spending and saving, and which candidate's tax and economic policy is more likely to achieve this? And are Americans prepared to take the remedy?
There appears to be total agreement on both sides of the political aisle that America must prevail (and is capable of doing so) militarily in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Analysts such as Andrew Bacevich (BLS guest on 08/20/08) take the view that we cannot win that war and more importantly do not need to to maintain our securuty. Is this the sleeper issue of the 2009 campaign?
Childcare. One of the uppermost issues in the minds of working mothers. The lack of affordable childcare options is an almost impossible obstacle for poor and lower middle class families (and middle class ones too), and often an additional income must be sacrificed because there is no one to watch the children. This is an especially difficult predicament for single-parent households. An equally important issue that goes hand in hand is the availability of public early childhood education for all children. I'd like to know if either candidate has a comprehensive plan to address these issues and I hope it's not through tax credits.
I would like to nominate an issue.
It is a question that I had the opportunity to ask John Kerry during his run for the democratic nomination .. but to which i didn't get a satisfactory answer.
The issues/Question is:
What policies should the united states adopt under the next administration which would lead us to a set of appropriate and effective responses, short of going to war, to the kind oppression and crimes against humanity that we saw in pre-Iraq war Iraq, and we see today in Darfor, Burma and Zimbawa- and what variation of these responses would be appropriate in situations such as Tibet, Chechnya and other "internal" disputes in countries that we are not in a position to threaten with military action.
For 30 issues:
Topic: Would overturning Roe vs Wade end legal abortion in this country or just send the question to each state to decide? Let's get practical and limit the needless debate.
Marge Byers
Who should take ultimate responsibility for raising our children? Who has an interest in how the next generation of Americans is raised?
Under what, if any, circumstances should the US President set preconditions on meeting with the leaders of other nations?
What is the government's job?
Wars
Obama wants to get out of Iraq but go into Afghanistan. McCain wants to Surge indefinitely. Neither of these approaches can be sustained with the current volunteer army. How will each candidate address this?
Supreme Court
How will the two candidates choos SC justices? How will McCain square his personal ideology with his pandering to the right as well as his differences with what the Republican party just adopted as its platform, when making nominations.
As a constitutional scholar, what will Obama do?
Ending homelessness for individuals and families in the tri-state region. This is the most important challenge for our generation and is a subject that is not adequately discussed.
Fitness for office: has McCain's mental health been questioned? This is not a facetious question. The former POW was in a North Vietnamese prison for 6 years. Shouldn't we seriously question the long-term effects of that trauma? We hear more and more about PTSD, but does anyone connect McCain's reputed temper and anger to it? If so, such volatility should deeply concern us.
What is at stake in the Supreme Court? The next president will have far-reaching power in his choices for Supreme Court nominees. What changes are likely under McCain, under Obama?
Is it likely that the Republicans will again work on loading swing states with "liberal" referendum items to lure conservative voters to the polls? Once there, they will oppose gay marriage (for example)-- and vote Republican! This was an effective strategy in the 2004 election.
Immigration: At what point do we stop and ask "is unlimited immigration doing us any good?" in light of population and natural resource pressures, illegal alien and immigrant crime, issues of assimilation and the multi-billion dollar annual pricetag for our open door policy?
How should we measure the value of service? Who does more to protect American values, a teacher or a soldier? Who develops better leadership skills, a mayor or a community organizer?
What's Our Responsibility to the World's Poor?
Every day more than 20,000 people die from causes that are preventable. This should be the top story in the news every day, but we rarely hear about it. Why?
Government secrecy
Since we ("the people") hire the government, shouldn't we know what it does in our name? What should be kept secret from us, why, and for how long? Who should decide the level of secrecy of any particular item?
Title: Human Rights
At what point does a baby have human rights?
The long, continuing journey of America since Sept.11 has emboldened the nation’s control freaks, who have used the threat of “terrorism” to see bogeymen everywhere and thus call for expanding police powers, dismissing torture and constitutional rights, rounding up illegal immigrants and labeling anyone in social assistance program a reject who lives on off the government.
We are becoming a “meaner” nation, in the process forgetting the “meaning” of the country: “that we are one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
As a campaign issue, how can the USA return to the aims of the Founders while living in an internationally uneasy time?
Pro-Choice Christians
When did faith become so concrete?
Is all this faith talk a way to cloak intolerance, bigotry, sexism and racism? Will progessive Christians make a difference in this campaign cycle?
For many years, as an older woman, and with unfortunate first hand experience on the difficulty of obtaining a safe abortion, I am very concerned about the fate of RvW. I fear that once again the religious right will impose their philosophy on the rest of us, and am particularly concerned about the make-up of the Supreme Court.
The national debt
How big is it? How did it get that big? Who do we owe it to? How will we get the money to pay it off? WILL we pay it off? If not. will the owners of the debt foreclose onn us?
Sexism: the new attack dog.
The attacks on the media over sexism remind me of the attacks on one's patriotism in questioning the evidence to go to war in Iraq, or questioning the methods of prosecuting the War on Terror. Remember Senator Kerry being ridiculed for suggesting a more sensitive approach to the War on Terror? How forthcoming should a campaign be on details of its candidate's background? What if the press does not properly 'vet' the candidate? How can/should the voter actively seek out information on a candidate from one source, or many? Whose responsibility is it to make the voters comfortable with their choice?
How important IS experience?
Let's have a discussion of the relative historical importance of various qualifications: Do candidates with prior executive experience actually make better presidents? What about military experience? Heck, what about government experience? Are there, in fact, any dependable predictors of successful presidencies? (Ask Michael Beshloss?)
Executive Power and the DOJ-
Good posts on the topic of Bush/Cheney's expansion of executive power already, but I'd add the issue of the increased ideological division in the Department of Justice. It's the task of the DOJ to regulate and restrain executive power, but ideological and political ties amount to party affiliation within the justice system even at the highest levels.
Both parties are talking about helping families with special needs children.
As a single mother of a boy with autism I would like to know what exactly they are planning to do for us.
Tax:
At the moment in addition to being the only provider for my son I am also taxed higher because I am single.
John McCain is planning to put some money back into my pocket though increasing the deductions for the dependants.
Obama does not have any specific plan on helping me.
Healthcare:
I do have a health insurance through my work.
Problem is not that you can not get insured, it is that most of the biomedical treatments for autism are not covered by any insurance. The out of pocket expenses are astronomical. Most parents have to borrow the money and get into the depth to give their children a chance.
There is also an issue with the services for adults with autism.
The fact that they are entitled to the services does not guarantee that they will get them or when.
Thank you,
Ninel Kotlyar
What can be done to limit the further expansion of executive power and can those that have been usurped during the Bush/Cheny years be revoked?
What's A President?
What does a President do. What kind of decisions will he be asked to make. Do you have to have a lot of money to be president? ...and any other questions that might be regarded as 'assumed knowledge'...
Less of who will make the right president; more of what the presidency will make of the right candidate (including the citizens of America).
(please offer insight on this simple, yet meaningful topic as the elections move closer) *revise*
Topic: Media Coverage of the Campaign - Is the Press Getting Its Voice Back After Giving Bush a Pass?
Sarah Palin was a member of the media as a sportscaster. She now paints the media in an extremely negative light, but what does she think the media should really do? How do Obama and McCain see the function of the press?
Cheney and Friends Doing Business With Iran while failing to support political sanctions.
"Despite allowing more than a tenfold increase in trade with Iran, McCain and the Republicans continue to attack Senator Barack Obama for supposedly being insufficiently tough on Iran." --AARON KEYAK
Topic: Health care: Sarah Palin claims parents of special needs children would have a friend in Washington if the Republican ticket were elected. What kind of friend - true-blue or fair-weather? What are the health care policies of both tickets?
What's A President?
What does a President do. What kind of decisions will he be asked to make. Do you have to have a lot of money to be president? ...and any other questions that might be discarded as 'assumed knowledge'...
Less of who will make the right president; more of what the presidency will make of the right candidate (including citizens).
(please offer coverage on this simple, yet meaningful topic as the elections move closer)
Human Trafficking Used to Build US Embassy in Baghdad under US Contracts
and other underreported stories from Iraq.
http://www.smalllinks.com/5O0
Iraq War Profiteering: Who benefits most from the Iraq war and continued occupation?
Cheney's stock options in Halliburton rose from $241498 in 2004 to over $8 million in 2005. Cheney recently filed disclosure reports that show he is valued at $94 million. But there are others:
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/41083/
The NY Society for Ethical Culture recently asked passers-by our building on Central Park West at 64th St what questions they had for the presidential candidates. Here are some of those question:
On your inauguration, will you close the torture camps of the US forces and stop the abduction of People to these camps?
Andra Miller
How are you going to address the issues with the Federal Reserve? Why is our money issued by a privately owned bank and not our own government? Would you fight to change this?
Frumiesha Brown
How would you solve the economic crisis?
Anonymous
Criminal Justice – will you back and encourage efforts to make prison sentences match the crime – and to better train those incarcerated for productive lives on release?
Janice Buzby
Issues about seniors and low income persons and housing.
Charles Borges
To Both Candidates:
1. What do you plan to do regarding the onslaught on civil liberties during the Bush years by signing statements, eavesdropping on American citizens without court orders, rendition, torture, etc.? Will you consider continuing these policies or rescinding them?
2. How will you work with Congress to get your policies passed?
Helen Mecs
Obama,
Where do you stand on responsible sexual behavior by men, to not impregnate women, and if there is a child to take responsibility for the care and upbringing of the child?
Anonymous
Why should religion and public education be kept separate? Stephen Herbst
People with Disabilities:
How can we create Affirmative Action for PWD and change policies that encourage PWD not to work?
The FDA Must Be Restructured to Actually Protect Public Health
-Prescription drug sales have soared nearly 500 percent since 1990.
-The FDA compiled reports from 1998 to 2005 and finds that dangerous side effects and deaths from prescription and over-the-counter medications almost tripled to nearly 90,000 incidents.
-The very structure of the FDA prevents it from protecting the public from deadly pharmaceuticals.
http://www.smalllinks.com/5NZ
http://www.thoreau-fda.com/
How will you curtial "corporate socialism":
Government bail-outs of failing/failed companies
Government subsidies for wealthy Americans and corporations
Use of eminent domain for private interests
As a Cuban American, I am not allowed to visits my relatives in Cuba because they are not immediate family. The Bush administration does not consider my aunts,uncles and cousins as family and I have not been alllowed to visit Cuba since 2004 when they changed the rules. I would like to see all Americans be able to visit Cuba and this should be a major topic for discussion in this coming election.
Topic: Educational Core Curriculum
We all complain about our national educational problem but which candidate is addressing it better? New thinking about core curriculais a must. History needs to be reintroduced with an emphasis on the Decaration of Independence and the Constitution as all American rhetoric, values and laws (i.e. our way of life stems from it. Environment and respect for the Earth needs to central as is math and science.
One way to frame and focus the sex education issue: Resolved: The federal government has a legitimate role in promoting the reduction of teen pregnancy.
Perhaps some believe it should have no role. If this is true, that viewpoint should be exposed and discussed. If there is general agreement that teen pregnancy reduction is a legitimate policy objective for federal government, we can discuss what are the most effective approaches.
Protection of Individual Privacy:
Curtailing government surveillance of individuals and erosion of privacy rights
Government oversight to limit the ability of corporations to collect, aggregate, and sell private information
I'd like to suggest a thorough discussion of US defense policy, touching on such topics as: what is the primary focus of the military? Should peacekeeping operations be equivalent to traditional military ops? How do we be prepared for both "small wars" and "world wars"? Is the current worldwide distribution of US forces optimal or necessary? Does the current structure of the military meet current and evolving needs? Do there need to be closer relationships between the military and civilian diplomatic / intelligence bodies? How should the military be staffed: draft, volunteer or outsourced?
Cuba: Right to travel of all Americans
Obama promises unrestricted Cuban American travel to Cuba. McCain supports Bush's 2004 limit of one family visit every three years. Neither speaks for the 2/3 of Americans who favor normal relations and freedom to travel or even for restoration of the non-tourist people to people and educational travel that Bush also blocked in 2004.
Marriage Equality: Can party leaders get with the program?
Isn't it time for the leaders of all political parties to legalize marriage, nationwide.
Religion and Politics: A very dangerous combination
Throughout history, we have learned that running a country based on the religious belief of a certain group leads to intolerance and genocide. Other than vote pandering, why is religion still so prevalent in our current election? Why are they so certain about the righteousness of their belief? What makes them hink that the USA will not end up in the same path of violence and intolerance that every other country with a religion-based government has?
Retaining Older Workers
To ease strain on Social Security and Medicare, how do we encourage employers to retain and hire older workers? Florida reduces health insurance premiums.
Georgia:
Bush has never treated Russia with respect and now we’re seeing the effect. US news coverage has glossed over Georgian provocations for the invasion – and who knows how much behind-the-scenes encouragement has come from Bush? Imagine the roles reversed on our border? Just remember Cuba to see how seriously we’d take that local threat.
We are heading quickly back into a cold war with Russia. The consequences of that are enormous – and will once again drain the treasury like it did the last time. There are just a few more months for Bush, but these things can advance at a very quick rate. The next administration may inherit a bigger problem than Iraq and al Qaida.
The basis for positions on reproductive rights
Palin (matching the Republican platform) says no choice with no exceptions, seemingly based on the idea that childhood begins at conception. McCain says exceptions for rape, incest, and mother's life. Does that mean childhood begins at conception except in those cases? Will miscarriages have to be investigated for evidence of negligent manslaughter if a woman drank, smoked, or took an amusement-park ride during pregnancy?
Villification and Racism
Even before 9/11, but much more after, many especially on the right wing and conservative sides are spreading fear, racism, and villification of Islam, Muslims, Arabs, Southeast Asians, and Immigrants. The majority of the mainstream media is also on the same track. What is the way out of this?
Individual's carbon footprints: 7 houses?
Urban issues: mass transit, education, housing, jobs, etc.
US Prisons: prison population, economy of, sentencing, etc.
Will we subscribe to Wellington Declaration against the use, development, stockpiling and trade of Cluster Munitions? 120 other countries have. We are one of 28 still manufacturing.
Will we finally sign the Ottawa Treaty against the use, development, stockpiling and trade of landmines? 155 other countries have. We are one of 12 still manufacturing.
Which party actually favors"big government"?
Most Republicans say they oppose "big government". How has government grown (and what does that mean?) under Democratic as compared to Republican administrations?
Will we become a member of the International criminal Court? 104 other counties currently allow the world to hold their leaders and military accountable for their crimes.
"Democracy's Ghosts"
It's the name of a documentary produced by the ACLU and describes the phenomenon of the 5.3 million Americans who will not have a voice in choosing our next president because of state laws that prevent people with felony convictions from voting.
What do the candidates have to say about the over 500,000 people who return to their communities each year from prison, and how will disfranchisement laws affect the upcoming election.
Farm Subsidies vs National Health
"...current agricultural and public health policy is not coordinated—we heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer."
(from The 2006-2007 Annual Report of the President’s Cancer Panel at NCI.)
Can you examine the state of informed participation in the democratic process?
Around this time last year, how many citizens knew about the primary process or what a super-delegate was? And it seems that the level of civic awareness or knowledge about pertinent sociopolitical/ economic/ health/ tech issues is still low, despite the increased attention garnered by the current political contest. In fact, Pew polled public knowledge levels last year and found it unchanged and even somewhat decreased despite technological advances...
Of course, only an informed and activated constituency will produce any kind of significant change, particularly given how nuanced issues are today.
Election fraud is rampant throughout the United States, and it played a big role in the 2000 and 2004. It will also play a part in the game of 2008. What are you doing to handle election fraud in your town?
These are some websites to check out (I got this off AfterDowningStreet.org:
bushstole04.com
National Voting RIghts Institute (NVRI)
blackboxvoting.org - by Bev Harris
wheresthepaper.org - by Theresa Hommel
Thanks.
Agriculture: Should we continue our commodies based subsidies? Should we reward local agriculture and make it's products more accessable to everyone? What role should nutrition play?
"What about the future of American wars?": Where do the candidates stand on the War Powers Act and the constitutional Declaration of War?
"Presidential power or Presidential power separation": Will the prospective presidents maintain the power of the previous presidency (signing statements, executive orders, executive privelege, restriction of information), or will they parse Presidential power differently?
Raising disabled children from birth through adulthood:
I'd like to hear a discussion of how families handle life with a child who has constant need. I'd like to hear a woman's point of view regarding staying home or working as well as from a man's point of view.
How will all this impact politics and policy?
Space Exploration for Fun, Profit, and Defense
Further understanding of weather, SETI, searching for resources, finding a future home for man, tourism, satellite communication, protecting Earth from collisions, making future war. All touch space utilization and space exploration. American love of and funding for space projects has gone back and forth. What's the future under each party?
My topic would be "travel to Cuba." Where do these condidates stand regarding the unconstitutional restriction/prohibition of travel to Cuba by American citizens?
What can we do to contain Iran's nuclear ambition?
Title: Temporary Workers and Health Care
With more and more companies hiring and using temporary workers at a record pace to offset their budgets, how and who would cover these workers health care expenses?
welfare to red states
why do red states take so much money from blue states and then claim they don't like welfare or government handouts?
How can two equally true statements be compared and discussed:
1) John McCain's entire life was spent in public service
2)John McCain's entire life has been spent on the publlc payroll,
Compare liberal (e.g., Democratic party) values with conservative (e.g. Republican party) values? What values are common to both? Can survey data identify which values most Americans hold?
On the balanced but ill-informed media
I agree that most media now are in it for sensational, personal stories and for balanced reporting, even if one side has no data or has distorted the data. Are we doomed to have a media just like this or can we have a media that is trained to learn about complex issues, do research (!) and find the truth? For many years I have hoped that the presidential debates would have detailed questions about environmental issues and the energy crisis. In 2000 we had a stark choice to make for President just on these issues, but hardly anyone knew the depth of their differences and the importance for the country. If we had an intelligent media, schooled in history, science, and how to research, and whose prime mission is to expose the truth and not perpetuate the lies that some people create to further their own goals, the American people would be more likely to have better governance. What we have now is corrupt journalism for the most part.
Political issues are not nearly as importnat as political emotions. Republicans are selling political emotions. They are are selling the structure and confidence and pride, and the sense of personal power, that come from religion, and patriotism, and guns, and race. Their chief marketing tool is clever phrases that can be repeated over and over again like a mantra.
Title: Election Fraud
Many people are convinced that electronic voting machines are hackable and have been hacked in previous elections. Can we pass a law making it the law to have a paper trail in all elections for national office?
education and science.
how can we compete against the European Union, Japan and others in the 21st century when there is such resistance to investing in education and science. today's students are falling further and further behind the students of the other industrialized nations, China India and Brazil are on the rise. Can we afford to waste so much brain power?
Keep religion out of politics. Tues. night at Pres. Bush's speech, he stood in front of a panel that seemed to have a wooden cross embedded in the design, slightly blocked by his body.
Scapegoating illegal immigrants. We have a local politician (Greg Ball) whose vicious attacks are obvious attempts to rabble-rouse uninformed public. No real suggestions to solve this problem.
I would like to nominate an issue in the vain of above topic "On trains, planes and automobiles".
-Our Physical Environment
-Can we build smarter cities and towns? Would either candidate prioritize the issue of land conservation and promote walkable cities composed of buildings that use less energy?
-Data from the US Energy Information Administration illustrates that buildings are responsible for almost half (48%) of all energy consumption and GHG emissions annually; globally the percentage is even greater. Seventy-six percent (76%) of all power plant-generated electricity is used just to operate buildings.
Treatment of Scientific inquiry by the government
This covers topics from evolution / creationism taught in the schools to freedom of scientific investigators to collect environmental data (the City's Intro 650 would abridge that), and USEPA's science staff making unprecedented complaints about being muzzled and their science being distorted for policy purposes. Of course, the granddaddy of this is the government lying surrounding the 9/11 twin environmental disasters (the 100 days of gigantic fires burning uncontrolled and creating toxics in the proximity of hundreds of thousands, and the collapses, creating toxic and carcinogenic dusts that permeated open and closed windows and which was never cleaned up properly.) The deaths and illnesses caused by this were predicted in testimony November 2001 by me and others, but the governments (Mayor and PResident) have tried hard to avoid the consequences. And EPA still has not even started to change procedures on cleanup in such circumstances, nor started rulemaking for ambient air quality standards for dioxin, PCBs, PAH, most metals, etc. so they were able to say that all standards were met. People need to know.
THE ENVIRONMENT: What steps will you take to make the Hudson River clean and safe enough for me to go swimming?
I hope the urgent need to control global warming won't cause us to neglect cleaning up our lakes, rivers and wild places. And I hope our next President will stop the foot-dragging by corporations to clean up the toxic messes they've made.
How can the public get an unbiased, objective understanding of the policy issues from the (primarily TV) NEWS media? Why is the news media so easily hijacked by distracting buzz topics that have no substantive impact on policy or our country's future? Why do they chase the spin? What ever happened to investigative journalism - sticking to important topics and getting the facts? When a person is interviewed (on TV) and they misrepesent facts, they are not questioned; Why? (or if they do question (Campbell Brown of CNN), they are attacked for doing so.
Do the candidates understand what a scientific theory is and do the candidates accept the theory of evolution?
Topic: Eminent Domain Abuse
To which national party do we go to address this issue? According to polls up to 90% of Americans disagree with the Kelo decision but protections are not in place in New York, on the federal level or many other places. Abuse usually involves big corporations trampling on individual rights in pursuit of profit, the kind of thing for which we often instinctively blame republicans but democrats seems to have largely ceded this emotional issue to libertarian and republican candidates and, ironically, it is the conservative republican judicial appointees who have been willing to uphold individual constitutional rights- The same justices who might overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a federal as well as a state issue because federal funding could require no abuse. Ratner is spending hundreds of millions to lobbying against this.
On Alternative Energy
Dyers comment scratches the surface of what needs to get into the American mind: as with transportation and waste, there is a hierarchy of methods of producing energy that rank from best to worst impacts on the environment. 1. Conservation 2. Renewable (solar, wind, geothermal, hydrogen (from water), tidal, waves, ocean thermal differences, etc. 3. Natural gas, 4. petroleum, drilled environmentally, 5. petroleum, 6. coal, 7. nuclear. Most people know little about the environmental impacts of any of these! AS far as they are concerned, one is as good as another. If we don't wisen up, we'll get the ones at the bottom. (BTW, uranium is also a limited resource.)
The debt and deficit.
How to reconcile a record breaking defict, tax cuts, spending increases, and the future payments. Platitudes from the candidates are nice, but action is better.
Mental Illness: The Forgotten Health Care Crisis
For the average American, the prohibitively high costs for mental health care prevent access. Our criminal justice system is full of offenders who have untreated mental illness--the treatment of which could mean prevention of future transgressions. How can we as a nation adress this crucial and basic need for universal mental health care?
Title: The Uniting American Families Act
The Family Research Council says “we would rather export homosexuals that import them”. That is what is happening. LGBT Americans do not have the right to sponsor their partner for immigration benefits and as a result are forced to leave the US or end their relationship. Obama support the bill to fix this, McCain pretty much opposes it. Regardless of where you stand on LGBT rights, is it fair to force Americans to leave their country?
The End of Organized Labor, or a New Beginning
Unionization in the private sector has declined to the point that another 4 to 8 years of an administration that is hostile to Labor could effectively mean the end of unions in America. Would destroying unions be good for the economy? Would increasing private sector union density reduce poverty? Reduce inequality? What should the government do to strengthen or weaken the right to organize and join unions.
On Greening the Tax Structure
I forgot one big aspect of how ungreen the current tax structure is. We pay people to have more children. While this might have been a good idea when the country had few people, our natural resources - food, water, energy, materials, are starting to run out. We should do what we can to preserve them before it is too late.
1) Military industrial complex
Ever since Eisenhower layed out his prophetic commentary on TMIC, we have seen this country's economy become more and more dependent on the business of war, to the point that we now have a VP who was a former lobbyist for a Defense contracting company. I'd like to hear how and if the candidates are interested in responding to Eisenhower's warning.
Cuba: Right to travel of all Americans
Obama promises unrestricted Cuban American travel to Cuba. McCain supports Bush's 2004 limit of one family visit every three years. Neither speaks for the 2/3 of Americans who favor normal relations and freedom to travel or even for restoration of the non-tourist people to people and educational travel that Bush also blocked in 2004.
Is it too late to impeach Bush, Cheney & Co.?
On Trains, Planes and Automobiles
Adding to Steve Mark's idea, the lid should be blown about how much the government subsidizes each of these, including, of course, highway subsidies and airline assistance. Also we need to compare these same statistics with Europe and Japan. How do they manage to have such good train systems?
Workplace Discrimination: the invisible GLBTI issue.
While same-sex marriage is clearly important, it gets a great deal more press than workplace discrimination. It is appalling that in the 21st century there is no federal law in place to protect people from being fired for not being heterosexual.
Green the Tax Structure
One side takes the status quo, another discusses alternatives to taxing income that tax individual and corporate behaviors that are bad for the planet and for people - tax consumption of excess packaging, disposables (where reusables exist), toxic products, cars, foods that aren't organically produced, nonrenewable resources, as well as sins like smoking, drinking, reckless behaviors like noise production.
CHECKING CORPORATE INFLUENCE IN AMERICA
corporations and other fictional entities exert significant influence on American social/political policy in many spheres (food; healthcare, etc). Unlike many other countries, fictional entities have been endowed with "civil rights" as natural beings. Many would attribute this situation as problematic. Do the candidates have a position on these issues, and if so, what is it?
1) Completion of the Border Wall.
2) Deportation of/Zero Tolerance for Presence of Illegal Aliens.
3) Abolition of Birthright Citizenship for Children of Illegal Aliens.
4) Abolition of Mandatory Free Education and Health Care for Illegal Aliens.
5) Punishment of Employers of Illegal Aliens.
Topic: Trains, Planes and Automobiles
How will the candidate reexamine the transportation infrastructure? Do we need more highways or a reconstrcuted rail system for both people and freight? How do we bring efficiency back to air transportation without sacrificing security? How much should the federal government contribute to public transportation on local levels? Do we mandate manufacturing requirements for mileage, non-fossil fuels, etc.
Water Policy in the West
Economic and Environmental impact on water policy proposals in the West.
see blog for more
#1) Create A Living Wage
With ability for a single parent to support their child on 40 hours per week.
#2) Single payer Healthcare
#3) Mandatory 3-4 year draft
(or alternate service)
undo Cheney/Rumsfeld "private" contractor army.
#4) Federally paid Day Care starting at six months Will help for retraining for next generation and "head-start" educational opportunities.
#5) Implement Tax Reform on the ULTRA Rich
undo remove the Alternative minimum tax.
It then becomes the Alternate MILLIONAIRE tax
1% MINIMUM payment due on INCOME.. Not deductions.
#6)Lobbying (Political Reform)
Lobbying has broken our country. We need to fix it.
#7) Education
Education and job training go hand in hand.
Job training is also taken up by the alternative mandatory service policy # 3 above.
#8) Infrastructure (road /bridge/Systems repairs)
A massive program, paid by federal government, and staffed by job trainees, and alternative service folks.
#9) Lack of Training/futures
The "leisure" or under-employed inner city former drug dealers will learn a new trade in construction.
#10) Truth and Reconciliation Commission
In order to come clean (issue 6) on political problems (alberto Gonzalez, torture=treason, etc) Come clean, get pardoned, else get prison!
#11) A new "Manhattan" project, focusing on Energy INDEPENDENCE
starting with immediate credits for solar, financing, as well as the MASSIVE investment we made to get the atomic bombs.
Energy
In order to have a sound discussion of energy you need to understand some basic scientific facts. There is no such thing as "making American Energy" as some congresspeople have said on NPR. Check out the first law of thermodynamics. We must inprove the scientific literacy of the electorate before sound decisions can be made. And, yes, that goes for Congress, too.
Income Inequality
The disparity between the wealth of the richest Americans and that of the average American seems to be increasing and this increase seems to have been exacerbated by the current administration's policies. How big a problem is this and what should the government be doing about it?
1) Felony Voting Disfranchiesement
Felony disfranchisement is a policy that bars citizens from the ballot box upon conviction of a felony. In the United States, over 5.3 million Americans cannot vote due to a felony conviction. Felony disfranchisement laws vary from state to state, but 48 states bar incarcerated individuals from casting a ballot, with only Maine and Vermont allowing all inmates to vote. Eight states permanently ban certain individuals with felony convictions from voting and two states bar all persons with felony convictions from voting.
The vast majority of disfranchised individuals are no longer incarcerated, but are living in their communities on probation or parole; 2.1 million of the disfranchised population have fully completed their sentence. These disfranchised individuals are tax-paying citizens, involved with the issues in their community, but unable to vote to affect them.
The impact of felony disfranchisement falls disproportionately upon communities of color. Close to 1.5 million black men are disfranchised due to felony convictions.
In a democracy voting is a right, not a privilege. But for over 5 million Americans, that is not the case.
Election Reform!
Important for any democracy is how it handles its elections. Some believe America should make Election Day a national holiday, others think the polls should be open for an entire weekend or via the web. Also relevant to the discussion is:
--proper identification required to vote
--functionality and safety of voting machines (and their results)
--partiality of election judges and secretaries of state
What can the next President do for Cities? How much can and should the Federal Government be involved in solving urban problems? Particularly discuss the 10-point plan recently introduced by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. (www.usmayors.org)
How do we contain Iran's nuclear ambitions?
Question:Will you assist in the creation of and sign a bill to federally fund Stem Cell Research?
-In the face of extraordinary advances in the prevention, diagnosis & treatment of human diseases that continue to deprive people of health, independence & well-being. The US can set our effort as a global example and be a scientic leader in this new frontier.
I agree with Nila. I believe that the single most important discussion should be about protecting the voting system from theft. In swing-state Colorado, the Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives .
In New Mexico, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a voting contractor.
In Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.
ASK CANDIDATES TO ENFORCE:
• SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT, 1890 to prevent having corporations too large to let them go under when poorly managed. They are saved at the expense of tax payers.
• Eliminate legislation that provides for government bailout of corporations (at tax payer’s expense), but not benefiting from profit (example: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the Price Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act that protects catastrophic nuclear power events at tax payer’s expense).
+++++++++++++++
DEBATE IF CORPORATIONS ARE “PERSONS”:
• If the Supreme Court has in fact ruled in favor of corporation personhood (there is evidence to the contrary)
• How the concept has been utilized to favor corporations, overlooking the responsibilities “persons” have, such as: persons die, corporations do not; persons cannot own other persons (that is slavery), corporations can buy other “person-corporations”, etc.
SEX EDUCATION:
The fact that Bristol Palin became pregnant is less a reflection of her mother's morals than a reflection on Bristol's inability to use or lack of access to or lack of knowledge of condoms and why they are important in protecting one from sexual transmittable diseases like AIDS.
I doubt that she or her boyfriend had AIDS tests before their sexual activity.
It is our duty in this day and age to use condoms, whether we are of age or not. Republican or Democrat, pro-life or pro-choice. All children should be taught about it. All adults should be reminded about it.
Democrats should support sexual education and the distribution (and instruction for use) of condoms in high schools.
Funding for the Arts and Arts Education
Public spending on the arts helps position our nation to be competitive globally. Arts Education also increases students' cognitive development, discipline, confidence and hones communication and problem-solving skills. Supporting funding for the Arts should be a priority to our leadership.
Immigration Detention - a little known disgrace
Among many important immigration reform issues, few people know that over 30,000 immigrants are incarcerated in the US, neither accused or convicted of a crime -- they are accused of CIVIL violations of immigration laws. Long detentions, poor medical care, no right to a lawyer, etc. Many are asylum seekers, fleeing persecution to seek safety, detained upon arrival, often deported. There are better alternatives for our democracy.
Voting Rights
Prior to "Will your vote be counted?", we must ask "Will you get to vote?" Do you know your rights? Many citizens don't, and should. This is especially true for minority communities, people who have been convicted of crimes, and other vulnerable groups. When/how to register, the right to a paper ballot if you are not in the book or a machine breaks down, and MANY other issues.
what is patriotism?
Our exponentially-growing prison system - according to the NYTimes this past spring, 1 in 100 Americans are behind bars. The impact on our schools, our economy, and our communities is staggering, yet politicians are fearful to even touch the issue, lest they be seen as "soft on crime." Do either of the candidates offer any real political solutions to ease the process of reentry for folks leaving the system, or to combat the systemic problems that cause people to become ensnared in the first place?
The overturning of Roe v. Wade's impact on the cost of healthcare.
Does forcing women to bring pregnancies to term without universal healthcare constitute a violation of human rights?
With McCain's pledge of selecting judges with anti-choice credentials it would seem ridiculous to assume that Roe v. Wade would not be overturned. Costs of prenatal care/maternity/premature births & social costs for teen births alone in 1996 were over 7 billion dollars (according to a study by the Robin Hood Foundation; these cost would only balloon.
The issue of universal healthcare is a nonstarter with conservatives. Can their claim of moral authority and family values be squared with banning abortion?
If life begins at the point of conception does that mean that birth control that prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb is also outlawed as abortion or tubal pregnancy?
The Republican platform and the state of the supreme court are questions all of us, especially McCain voters, need to resolve before the election.
"The Egg as Metaphor"
We are running our of oil. Our production/consumption economic life is threatening to exceed the capacity of our planet to sustain itself.
Is this not the experience of a chick still within the egg, once the supply of nutrients in the egg white is near exhaustion?
Is there an analogy to be found to breaking out of the egg shell into life as a bird?
What would it be like for humanity and the rest of life to be aware of itself as a single organism?
ASK CANDIDATES TO PROPOSE:
• Elimination of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that has allowed a the media to be owned and controled by a few corporations. Citizens are now deprived of sufficient fair and diverse media.
• Reinstating the The Glass-Steagall Act that kept banks and securities firms apart. Repealing this act has led to the subprime mortgages debacle.
HOW TO HAVE FAIR ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER 2008 by eliminating:
• Voter supression tactics
• Electronic machines with no paper proof
• Insufficient and deficient voting machine in poor areas
+++++++++++++++
STOPING THE EROSION OF THE CONSTITUION:
• Respecting SEPARATION OF POWERS
• Developing mechanisms to have Attorney General’s that will respect and apply laws
The Experience Switcheroo... When It Comes To Technology
Barack Obama walks around with a Blackberry.
John McCain says he's computer illiterate.
How will this stark technological difference inform each candidate's administration?
What is McCain's relationship w the Neocon faction? It is public knowledge that in January 1998, John McCain signed the now infamous open letter to President Bill Clinton cooked up by the neo-conservative "Project for a New American Century" (PNAC). The letter urged the president to take unilateral military action against Iraq. McCain and his neo-con brethren were literally cheerleading for the United States to attack and overthrow the government of Iraq long before the 2000 election.
Is Birth Control Abortion?
To a pro-live candidate who believes that a human being, with rights, is created at the moment of conception. Would you support the criminalization of birth control pills that possible prevents a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus? If not why?
If government is organized, can we not use RICO laws to prosecute government mismanagement?
If we are living in a kleptocracy, shouldn't we be able to get back some of the petro-profits, fine the poor management, shame the embezzlers?
Civil Liberties-
What is the point of protecting America, if we gut the constitution in the process?
Why is it OK for the US to torture and how does it make us safer? (Please do not use any ticking bomb scenerio from "24" as a defense.)
Why does the gov't need the ability to eavesdrop on American citizens and why did Congress allow Telcomms immunity before they heard wht crimes they committed?
Birth Control and Sex Education
Want to improve literacy? The environment? Quality of life in Third World countries? I want the candidates' views on this: Figure out how to remove the barriers preventing all children in the US and worldwide from being taught, in age-appropriate ways, that sex is a natural, inevitable human function to be handled responsibly, always. Begin in preschool and discuss the subject honestly in every grade. Help children understand that choices they make as teens will truly impact their lives forever. Concomitantly, help them find value in themselves, so they'll want to go on to college and work without the burdens of teenage parenthood. What will it finally take for us, as a nation, to realize that teaching morals and religious values are wonderful things, but that sex education and readily available birth control are what we need to help life on earth survive? If there's no human life left in 500 or 1000 or 2000 years, what good will all the moralizing have done? With international population control, so many problems could, over time, be positively impacted to some degree: depletion of natural resources; providing better pre-K-to-12 education (because there would be fewer kids to educate, and fewer from unmarried-teenage-mother households); AIDS and other STDs; other diseases caused by unsanitary, overcrowded living conditions...the list could go on.
What will climate change mean for New York in the next 25 years?
Building on contributions about climate change and New Orleans from other commentors here ....
Climate change scientists agree that an immediate effect of climate change will be more frequent, more devastating hurricanes in unusual waters. Does this threat extend to New York, and if so, are we prepared to face it?
"Abolish the Federal Reserve"
Since the Fed was established in 1913, the value of the dollar has decreased by 95%. No wonder people are having financial troubles!
The Fed is not a part of the government, but rather is a private entity, owned by banking interests, that meets in secret to manage the financial future of the nation.
Why should this be tolerated?
Federal Referendum Process: Twenty-seven states have initiative or referendum mechanisms to allow direct voting on various measures. Would a Federal referendum process be good? How would it work?
The Electoral College: a practice that has out-lived its usefulness?
Why not proportional representation (e.g. Maine)?
Why not simple popular vote with a "50%-plus-1" rule that calls for a run-off between the top two vote-getters in the event no one gets a 50%-plus-1 win?
High Quality Education For Poor Children
I believe that we need to focus our energies on funding and finding initiatives that would increase the equality of education in poorer schools and districts.
Mountain Top Removal
The dirty secret of "clean coal" is the ecological destruction in the southern Appalachian mountains. In West Virginia and Kentucky, tops of mountains are blown away to expose the coal underneath, and then tons of debris shoved into creeks and rivers in the narrow valleys or "hollows' below.
Apparent in aerial photographs, the devastation is affects not only the wildlife and its habitat--these mountain areas are home to a huge diversity of plants birds and other animals--but also to the people who live there, many of them for generations, affecting their health and livelihood.
Thi