Guest From the Left: S.W. Anderson

Questions GOP candidates should be, but aren’t being, asked by reporters by S.W. Anderson

Given what Republican governors like Scott Walker (Wisconsin), Rick Snyder (Michigan), Rick Scott (Florida) and John Kasich (Ohio) have done but did not campaign on doing, it’s reasonable to expect reporters to grill Republican presidential candidates about their intentions in certain areas.

So far, despite numerous debates and saturation coverage of campaign appearances and talking-points dumps, media types are busy as can be not asking fair, pertinent questions that might reveal what Willard “Mitt” Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul would really do as president.

We think that no matter how many Sunday-morning talk shows, press conferences and interviews Republican primary candidates do, or the eventual GOP nominee will do later on, you won’t see reporters ask these . . .

16 obvious questions for Republican presidential candidates:

1) Will you do things, or sign legislation, to make it difficult or impossible for workers to form a union or to join one, such as a national right-to-work law?

2) Will you do things, or sign legislation, favoring charter or other private schools at the expense of public schools?

3) Do you intend to privatize or eliminate Social Security?

4) Do you intend to privatize or eliminate Medicare?

5) Do you intend to privatize or eliminate the U.S. Postal Service or any other federal department or agency?

6) Will your administration directly or indirectly seek to cripple or destroy Planned Parenthood?

7) Have you ever discussed, or pledged, in person or through an intermediary, what you would or wouldn’t do as president with any of the Koch brothers?

8) Have you ever discussed, or pledged, what you would and wouldn’t do as president with a trustee, CEO, executive or other representative of Goldman Sachs, or of any of the country’s 10 largest banks and brokerages?

9) Do you believe taxation should be progressive, with the heaviest burden falling on the wealthiest?

10) Do you believe the risk-taking for personal gain of an investor has greater virtue or benefit for the country than the efforts of someone who uses his or her muscles and mind to produce goods or a service, yes or no?

11) Have you pledged to Grover Norquist, or any person or group, that you will not raise taxes on a particular income group, and if so what income group?

12) Would you put in charge of watchdog agencies such as the Mine Safety Bureau and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau persons from the industries and interests those agencies are charged with monitoring?

13) Do you support efforts in several states with Republican administrations to make it more costly and difficult for the young, old and poor to vote, and would you make similar efforts at the federal level?

14) Would you sign legislation requiring mass drug screening of individuals for whom there is no reason to suspect, or evidence of, illegal drug use? In other words, would you employ drug screening to discourage people in need from seeking unemployment benefits or public assistance?

15) Do you believe war with Iran would be good for business and/or the economy generally, yes or no?

16) Do you believe going to war is a winning strategy for a president seeking a second term, given that voters have historically been unwilling to change presidents in time of war?

For any reporters or broadcast personalities who happen by: Please note that these questions concern public policy matters exclusively. They are not personal. They’re not about the horse race, polling or gaffe.

(You can read S.W. Anderson daily at Oh!pinion)