Blue Skirt: 10 questions I’d like to ask McCain
Posted by Alice Lieberman on Apr 23rd, 2008
The debates preceding the Pennsylvania primary were notable for the questions that did NOT get asked. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, can we at least stipulate to the fact that Senator Obama can probably say no more than he already has about Reverend Wright? Can we also agree that, whatever you think about his comment that the working class folks in Pennsylvania are bitter over the loss of their livelihoods and thus turning to guns and religion, it is less important than, say, what he might DO about unemployment?
This is not to say that so-called “character” questions ought to be off-limits, nor should questions of association be ignored, especially if those associations have turned out to be of the back-scratching variety. However, given the importance of our next election, I’d like to see the ratio of “character” to policy questions at about 1:5. So, with that in mind, here is what I would like to ask Senator McCain:
(1) You have had several bouts of cancer. If you win the presidency, you will be 72 years old. Why have you not released your health records in full, so that they may be independently evaluated, and when will you do so?
(2) You say that the surge has worked, and that there has been real (meaning enduring) progress in Iraq. This is based upon your own observations, as well as your conversations with the military. Now, we read in the New York Times that “military analysts” from whom the public gets information (through their appearances on network news programs) are simply tools of the administration, rewarded for positive analysis of the war with access to people at the highest levels in the administration. If you are the military expert you say you are, then you must have known about this. Where has the Straight Talk Express been on this issue?
(3) Your health care “program” is intended to reduce cost, but does nothing to reduce the number of uninsured. In fact, it’s a smoke and mirrors tax maneuver. You furthermore voted against the expansion of S-CHIP, which covers health insurance for children. What meaningful steps do you intend to take to help the uninsured get coverage?
(4) Apparently you were against tax cuts for the wealthy before you were for them. Now you say that tax cuts are more important than balancing the budget. Since cuts must go hand in hand with reductions in spending, tell us exactly where you are going to cut spending. We know one place: Veteran’s education assistance. You have repeatedly failed to verbally support Senator Jim Webb’s updated GI Bill. Explain why veterans don’t deserve this support, as well as greater periods of rest between rotations.
(5) As a transplanted Kansan, I was dismayed when Boeing, based in Wichita, lost its tanker contract to French manufacturer Airbus. Now I understand that employees of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Council are big donors to your campaign, and that you were instrumental in ensuring their ability to get the contract. Sure looks like a quid pro quo, and we are the big losers. Care to explain?
(6) The campaign finance reform law we now have in place is called McCain-Feingold. Obviously, you were committed to its passage. Now, you seem to be doing everything you can to circumvent it. For example, according to the AP,
This is a clear violation of McCain-Feingold. Why does this law, for which you fought, not apply to you?
(7) I watched my former Republican Senator, Bob Dole on television, talking about your famous temper on Larry King Live, in March. When questioned, Dole said that he cut you some slack because of the torture and deprivations you endured in the Hanoi Hilton. "I always sort of rationalized that the poor guy had been locked up," Dole said
That’s very generous of him, and I’d cut any friend of mine slack too, under those circumstances. But I’m not sure I can cut the President of the United States the same slack. Eyewitnesses speak of your hair-trigger temper, actual physical altercations between you and others that had to be broken up, and a verbal assault on your wife that was so offensive it cannot be repeated here. The country has been victimized for eight years by a President whose impulsivity and poor judgment is legend. What can you say to assure us that this behavior is behind you?
(8) Gen. David Petraeus recently testified on Capitol Hill. When asked to define success, or to provide a plan for getting out, he was more evasive than even Alberto Gonzales, when he testified on the US Attorney firings. You have been quoted as saying that we are going to be in Iraq for one hundred years, but complained about being taken out of context by your opponents. So here’s your chance: tell us precisely what success looks like in Iraq, and when we can reasonably expect to be out. The American people deserve no less.
(9) You say that in the interest of protecting your children, you will not release your wife’s tax returns, along with your own. But it is widely reported that she has put her considerable resources at your disposal, and that her money has bolstered your career. Given that, don’t you think the people have a right to know how you - and she - are using her money?
(10) You have repeatedly misspoken about the threats we face, most famously about Iran, Iraq, and Al-Queda. Joe Lieberman (no relation to me) has had to publicly correct you. But you persist in this misspeak. You are either willfully misrepresenting the issue, or you are confused. No disrespect here, but many people at your age experience diminished cognitive skill. Would you be willing to have yours tested?
at 2:12 p.m.
I have voted Republican since George H.W. Bush and I have to agree with Blue Skeirt's concerns about McCain's age. I have also read that he has an unpredictable, quick-to-fire temper (which I would speculate will be written about, in depth, after the conventions). Both concern me greatly.