From Katie Couric's blog:
Friends come up to me wondering if I'll ask [during an interview with Sarah Palin this week] about the rumors online, all the gossipy stuff that seems to sell magazines and mean so little in terms of Palin's preparedness for the job.This election is too important, and we have only a few precious weeks left to get to know who these candidates really are. With 7 percent of women undecided, I want to serve the sisterhood (and the brotherhood, too, btw) by helping all of us make informed choices.
Couric is, however, taking question suggestions.
Here's one: Remember when, during your 60 Minutes sit-down with then-candidate Hillary Clinton, you asked, "Someone told me your nickname in school was Miss Frigidaire. Is that true?"? No need to similarly "serve the sisterhood" this time. (Sarah Barracuda. We know.)
Here are some questions I would like to see asked of all the candidates:
1. How would you seek the advice and consent of the Senate in making treaties and appointments?
2. Under what circumstances do you consider a declaration of war necessary before ordering troops into combat or the launching of weapons against foreign territory? In those cases where combat is initiated by an outside power absent a declaration of war, at what point would you seek from Congress such a declaration?
3. A recent practice has arisen of Presidents appending “signing statements” to laws at time of signature. Do you consider these signing statements to have an effect on the faithful execution of the laws? Would you continue the practice?
4. Do you consider confiscation of property used in performance of a crime, in absence of a court finding the owner of the property person guilty of that crime, a violation of the right to due process? Discuss the relationship between your views on this subject and the limitations on property use applied by environmental regulations.
5. How should we handle persons suspected of terrorism given the guarantees “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
6. What do you consider to be the proper federal role in local affairs, including education and law enforcement?
7. What is your definition of citizenship? What should the possibilities be for paths to citizenship on the part of non-citizens? What rights should non-citizens have? What obligations? Should non-citizens who are in the United States without the benefit of passports, visas, work permits, and other documentation be accountable for their lack? What sanctions, if any, should be applied to such persons? Which, if any, of the various privileges and immunities enumerated under the Constitution as the birthright of U.S. citizens should be granted to non-citizens lacking such documentation?
8. Although the Constitution assigns legislative power to Congress, there has been an ongoing trend toward greater and greater delegation of rule making power to administrative agencies and courts. These rules then have the effect of law. Some have argued that this undermines the democratic basis of government, inasmuch as voters have no control over either Federal agencies or judges. Do you consider this to be a problem? If so, what actions would you take to correct the problem? If not, why not?
9. National prohibition of alcohol was initiated by the 18th amendment, later repealed by the 21st, in large part because of the failure to interdict supplies and the rise of criminal organizations funded by smuggling. Discuss how the lessons learned from this might be applied to the “War on Drugs”. Given the interrelationships between parties involved in profiting from the drug trade and those involved in terrorism, discuss possible changes to current strategies that might reduce the funding available to these groups from trading in illicit drugs.
10. The current President has stated that we are fighting a war on terror. What do you see as the nature of this war? With whom is the nation at war? What countries do you see as significant allies? How would victory be recognized?
11. What is your strategy for preventing future terrorist attacks on the United States? How would you coordinate strategies with allies?
12. In the event of a terrorist attack or major natural disaster, what would be the strategy for recovery? What role would the various agencies of the federal government, state governments, and local governments play? If aid were offered by another country, how would you respond?
13. During the Cold War and the Second World War, the United States employed many tools beyond military power in its strategy. These included providing humanitarian assistance and relief to citizens of other nations, advocating and supporting application of the standards of the Bill of Rights in international fora, supporting international institutions, training and equipping armed forces of allied nations, disseminating information in areas where freedom of the press was curtailed, and correcting injustices at home that had been highlighted by opposing propaganda. What mix of strategies outside direct application of military power would you apply to current antagonists?
14. What role do you think government can or should play in managing a modern national economy? How would this affect your proposed budgets and other legislation?
15. What mechanisms should the President use in communicating with the press and the public?
16. Project Apollo has been variously described as a boondoggle of cosmic dimensions; an industrial policy for the South; a demarche against the Soviet Union; and as "the last great act of national optimism." Which, if any, of these characterizations do you agree with? Do you believe there is a place in today's world for such large-scale (some would say "grandiose") acts of national optimism? If so, what sort of comparable project--lasting a decade or more--do you believe we should undertake, if any?
17. There has been a movement for the past quarter century to make government work like private business. This has included adoption of management tools and software from the private sector and extensive contracting out of functions formerly performed by civil servants or uniformed personnel. In Iraq, this has resulted in the presence of large numbers of inadequately supervised contractors. How would you balance the roles of the civil service and uniformed services with the role of contractors? How would you ensure adequate management of contractor efforts, especially supervision of contractor personnel deployed in a combat zone? Discuss the differences in responsibilities, duties, and motivations of a contractor employee from those of a member of the civil service or uniformed services.
18. Among the changes in the civil service over the past two presidencies has been the replacement of the old compensation systems with “pay for performance” systems. In these systems, a bonus pool is allocated across the employees of an agency based on their performance ratings. The size of the bonus pool set at the beginning of the year and is not affected by agency performance. Discuss the impact of this arrangement as a motivational tool.
19. A significant percentage of the federal workforce can be expected to retire during your administration. How would you plan to train replacements and avoid a permanent loss of institutional knowledge? In those places where shortages of qualified, trained personnel already are affecting performance, how would you improve performance?
20. What philosophies and strategies would you apply to balancing the needs of an open society with the need for secrecy for certain government operations? What operations do you consider to require a high degree of secrecy?