12 questions for candidates in 2012 who think they are fit to lead

Ryan Streeter

Wanted: Republican policy activists.

The United States faces long-term structural deficits. We have an economy that seems disinclined to add jobs even when we show signs of growth. We haven’t for at least a decade been a nation able to fulfill its promise as a land of opportunity for middle class families. We face growing global economic and security threats that are truly new and daunting. A significant share of our states are in fiscal crisis and are looking to the federal government to help.

All of these share a common element: solutions we’ve relied on in the past are insufficient to address them.

I’ve made the case before that we need a new crop of policy activists as we head into the 2012 political cycle. Policy activists show a willingness to confront challenges in fresh, original ways. They rely on received, proven conservative orthodoxy (limited government, personal responsibility, individual liberty, free markets), but they do so creatively with solutions fit for our era, not a previous one. They are not party-line, sound-bite types. 

As we look to 2012, and especially at the presidential race, we as Republicans need to hold candidates to a high standard in this regard. We need a candidate who is a strong leader, has charisma, is disciplined, can communicate effectively, and can raise a lot of money. But he or she also needs to be a policy activist. Voters are aware we face unique challenges. The candidate – and candidates for other high offices – should be able to show they have what it takes to address these challenges.

So, for aspiring policy activists, here are 12 questions you should be able to address:

1. How will you use tax reform to spur growth?  Personal income tax cuts won’t have the effect on growth that they did under Reagan.  So channeling Reagan won’t cut it. A new era of tax reform awaits, and America needs to hear your ideas.
2. How will you address the long-term deficit crisis?  Non-defense discretionary spending is only a little over a third of the federal budget, so don’t emphasize cuts in that part of the budget. We need to hear your thoughts on entitlements, since they are the real drivers of our long-term deficit problem.
3. What should we do about stagnant wages among America’s middle class? Wages in the middle were stuck before Obama, Obamacare, and the current recession. So undoing Obamacare and everything else Obama has done isn’t enough. Let’s hear your 3 ideas on restoring hope to America’s middle class.
4. What will you replace Obamacare with? Republicans have had some good replacement ideas for awhile, and yet it usually takes 5 minutes to explain them. Let’s hear your 20 second version that every household could more or less repeat.
5. What’s the next best idea in education? America’s schoolchildren are competing not just against each other when they graduate, but against children from around the world in today’s global economy. If No Child Left Behind is flawed, as most candidates will say it is, is rolling back the federal role the most responsible thing to do? What’s your best policy?
6. What is your positive vision for alternative energy? Yes, we should drill more. And no, we shouldn’t embrace the subsidization of renewable energy technologies that have tempted Republicans from time to time. But that’s not enough. So let’s hear your ideas on how we produce energy in a way that makes us less reliant on non-renewables.
7. How do we make immigration policy rational? Pushing back the entire discussion until we build the fence is not a policy. Let’s take fence-building as a given. And let’s also declare that remaining silent on what to do with the illegal population is really, if we’re honest, a kind of soft amnesty. We need to hear what you plan to do about that sizable group of people, and while you’re at it, let’s hear about how we smarten up our policy for legal immigration overall.
8. How do we know when we’ve won the wars? This is a fair question. In WWII, we knew the war was over when the bad guys surrendered. Can most ordinary taxpayers explain what we’re trying to achieve in Iraq and Afghanistan anymore? It's been awhile since they've had a commander-in-chief explain this very well. You need to give the American people clarity and direction.
9. What do we do about our ailing infrastructure? Our roads, bridges, and technological infrastructure aren’t exactly keeping up with us. And yet in today’s era of fiscal restraint, we have precious little to spend on it all. Spending nothing seems irresponsible, but so will spending something given the public's weariness of botched "stimulus" dollars of late. We need to hear what you will do on this one.
10. What’s your human dignity agenda? This is a broad question, and intentionally so. America has served an important role in the world advocating for those who want freedom but are oppressed. This is rooted in the sacrosanct view we have of the individual and his or her inherent rights. Here at home, it means having a policy on poverty beyond just scaling back the Great Society. Let’s hear yours.
11. What will you do about terrorists and WMD? Let’s face it, even though we’ve made tremendous headway against the bad guys, Iran is close to the bomb, and the likelihood of terrorists groups getting their hands on nuclear weapons is as high as ever.
12. And, finally, saving the best for last: what is your pro-family policy? Intact, two-parent families are the greatest source of social mobility and wellbeing for children. We need to hear your agenda for supporting families, especially as it means restoring a culture of the family in the parts of America where it is in the greatest decay: America’s lower and middle classes.

Comments

[Ronald E. Gascon]

Normally I would jump on the challenge,
to answer questions, but the subtext of each of these questions suggests, that you want only answers that fit into the Republican Agenda. The answers we need are not in a box labeled Republican tricks...
Today's problems are like none before in known history. They are completely out of the box and so must the answers be out of the realm of Classical thinking. I could write what you want to hear, but I'd rather address answers, that will help the problems.

If the reader wishes to see out of the box answers please visit my website at
http://webstation19.8k.com/44quest.htm

ps I love the we will only post your message if we agree to it terms. out of the box we call that Censorship

Ronald E. Gascon