Following the example of a letter in today’s newspaper, I thought I should write a list of the most important questions to ask all the political candidates in the fall election. I also included a list directed to candidates in my own state. Illinois has some unique problems, but the questions might spur relevant questions for other states as well.
1)
Will I uphold the law of
the land? You are free to want to change
them. Tell us what you would change. But will you follow the laws that exist. Immigration is one example you can give.
2)
Will you work for the benefit
of the citizens of the United States before the citizens of other countries? This doesn’t mean that you hate the citizens
of other countries. It’s just that you are
elected to take care of the citizens of your own country. That is your job.
3)
Will you stop spending
money you don’t have? Debt is only acceptable
for purchases that you can reasonably pay off, like a mortgage or a car. Government debt is never paid off, and what we
spend in interest keeps getting higher, and that is just wasted money.
4)
Do you believe it is the
role of government to solve every problem, meet every need. And we will go (further) into debt to do these
things.
5)
Do you believe America is a
good country, the freest country in the world with the best opportunities for
success for any person living here, or do you believe that America is irredeemably
flawed and must be completely reworked?
6)
Do you believe in the Declaration
of Independence and the Constitution?
More specifically, as examples,
a)
that human beings are
endowed by God with unalienable rights.
If our rights come from God, then we cannot live as if there is no God.
b)
that the role of government
is to secure these rights for its citizens
c)
that the role of government
is to form a more perfect union and to ensure domestic tranquility, to unite
us, meaning, not to force controversial things on the American people before
reaching a consensus on them.
7)
What reforms will you try
to implement while in office? I can
suggest a few.
a)
Term limits
b)
No pensions for elected
officials, though if they had one before going into office, we could fund that
pension while they are away from their last job.
c)
Short bills, so that they
can and will be read and debated before voting on them.
d)
Political contributions
will be held in a blind trust.
Essentially, no candidate should know who gave what to his campaign.
e)
Politicians should be
forbidden from work as lobbyists after leaving office. Their public service should not be a stepping
stone to a paid position influencing legislation. And lobbyists will have no place in creating
legislation.
8)
Do you believe in what is
unfortunately called meritocracy? Like
in sports, where people are evaluated solely on their abilities and not on
their demographics,
9)
Will you focus on what
unites us or on what divides us? How we
are alike or how we are different?
Questions for state candidates:
1)
Will you fix the pension
crisis in Illinois? I don’t care what
promises somebody made 70 years ago.
Those were not wise promises, and they are bankrupting the state. They can be modified, and most state retirees
will still make off like bandits. If you
don’t want and work toward fixing that, we don’t need you in office. You are part of the problem.
2)
Property taxes are the most
absurd tax there is, because it is the only tax that does not take into
consideration a person’s ability to pay for it.
Do you believe in property tax reductions, and what will you do? I can think of several needed changes.
a)
Two-thirds of property
taxes goes for public education. Fund that
through the income tax. This would need
to be a distinct income tax with all funds kept separate from all other funds.
b)
Any person who is retired
on a fixed income should have their property taxes frozen.
3)
Will you help parents who want
to send their kids to schools different from public schools? There are two ways this can be done.
a)
You can give parents
vouchers toward any private school, or
b)
you can give a tax break
for private school expenses up to the amount they would have paid in taxes for
public schools.
4)
Do you think the government
in Illinois is too large? (We have more
governmental agencies than any other state in the country. By far.) Will you try to reduce it?
These are by no means all the questions I would want to
ask. I suspect that, in order to get all
the right answers, I would have to run for office myself.
