With the first votes ready to be cast Monday in the Iowa caucuses, how much do we really know about the positions of the Republican candidates. Sure, we know they all want to repeal Obamacare and undo virtually everything he has accomplished. But specifics are sorely lacking, at least to my general knowledge and perhaps to yours as well. So, with The Donald not on the stage Thursday night (at least as I write this), here are some specific questions I’d like to see asked to and answered by the Republican contenders (some might remember that I posed similar questions last September):
- Should worker health and safety be protected by OSHA? If not by OSHA what recourse would workers have under your administration?
- Which cabinet departments and government agencies would you eliminate? Would you replace any of their functions?
- Do you believe in a federal minimum wage? If yes, what level should it be at? Should it be pegged to rise with inflation?
- Do you believe in the Social Security system? At what age should workers be entitled to collect social security? How would you protect its solvency?
- In a global economy what incentives would you favor to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States?
- Should the federal government own any land, such as national parks or wildlife refuges? If not, how should the government dispose of that land?
- Are there any Defense Department programs you would eliminate?
- After scrapping the Affordable Care Act, would you replace it with a different form of health insurance available to all Americans? Are there any aspects of the Affordable Care Act that you would retain?
- How would you replace the non abortion-related health care provided by Planned Parenthood if you defunded it?
- Does the federal government have any obligation—legal or moral—to help its less fortunate citizens?
- Should there be any restrictions on voter registration such as producing a valid ID or driver’s license?
- Should medical marijuana be legalized in all states?
- Should marijuana for general use be legalized?
- Do you support stem cell research? Would you impose any restrictions?
- Would you build a wall along the border with Mexico?
- Would you restrict immigration from any country, region or religion?
- Should the federal government have any role in education?
- Is there a need for campaign funding reform?
- Do you favor any form of regulation for Wall Street, banks and the financial sector?
- What is your plan for rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure?
- Does ISIS or any Islamic fundamentalist group pose an existential threat to the United States?
- What and from whom is the greatest threat to our country?
- Are you in favor of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact as currently negotiated? If not, what changes would you want?
- Do you believe in “personhood,” the concept that an embryo has the same rights as a fully born person, such as the right of inheritance and the right to sue for damages if injured in an accident?
I am under little illusion that any of these questions will be aired but at least you know what I would want Megyn Kelly and her Fox News cohorts to ask.