Questions for the Republican Candidates

I think we’ve had more debates in the past few weeks for the Republican candidates so far than are typically held in the entirety of an election season, but the questions have generally been completely obvious, yielding only the usual expected platitudes.

In hopes of both making the debates more meaningful and encouraging the selection of the best possible candidate to rise to the top, I’ve been regularly tweeting out questions during the various debates, usually under the #GOPDebate hashtag.

At the behest of a few Twitter followers, I’ve collected many of the questions I’ve asked so far on this post. I’d love to see more of your questions along similar lines, but please note: I’m interested in asking sincere questions which could actually be posed to candidates on television, and am trying to predicate my questions on actual positions held by actual candidates. In that spirit:

Military & Foreign Policy

  • Do you pledge not to pursue war crime prosecution against the Taliban when they waterboard our soldiers?
  • Why does it make America safer to find new ways to discharge soldiers who voluntarily served our country with honor?
  • Why was President Obama’s handling of Libya so much better than Bush’s handling of Iraq?
  • Why is it a bad idea for Muslim nations to practice theocracy but good for the U.S.?
  • Why would your foreign policy be the opposite of President Obama’s plan which killed Bin Laden?

Immigration & Citizenship

  • Why would the U.S. be better with an immigration policy which would’ve kept Steve Jobs from being born here?
  • Do you believe our lack of federal requirements for gun registration is a magnet for undocumented immigrants?
  • Why do you think the English language can’t compete in the free market & requires a socialized language policy to subsidize it?
  • Will you support liberty by making the identification requirements for employment and gun purchase the same?
  • How much will it cost to deport all of the undocumented immigrants you’d like to kick out of the country?
  • Would you support a deterrent tax of 100% of all income on CEOs of corporations which employ undocumented workers?

Values & Ethics

  • When your oath of office is in direct conflict with the Ten Commandments, as when “Thou Shalt Not Kill” contradicts our current war policy, which commitment will you keep?
  • What Sharia laws do you support other than criminalizing homosexuality, shaming assault victims & legalizing theocracy?
  • When you order the mass execution of women who’ve had abortions, should the death trains be run by state or fed governmentt?
  • If you believe the death penalty is moral & effective, will you support the death penalty for corporations which break the law?
  • Are you strong enough in your faith to say you don’t want the votes of those of us who are atheists?
  • Will you pledge that your administration will not buy any oil from companies that believe Earth is >6000 years old?
  • What is an issue the Heritage Foundation is incorrect about? What is an issue Rush Limbaugh is wrong about?
  • Will you defend marriage with a 100% tax on all revenues for publicly-traded corporations whose CEOs break their marriage vows?
  • When you slash funding for the NIH, how will you notify parents that their children’s cancer treatments are being ended?
  • If Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima all happened at nuclear plants that had regulatory standards to meet, how will eliminating the Department of Energy make our nuclear plants safer?

General Knowledge & Qualifications:

  • What is the difference between Shia & Sunni Muslims?
  • How much does an average family of 4 pay for health insurance in a month?

That’s it so far. Please do let me know when you hear one of these questions being asked to the candidates.