In my opinion, the current occupant of the White House is morally, temperamentally and intellectually unfit to be president. That said, the eventual Democratic presidential nominee should be assessed on more than not being Donald Trump.
Here are seven questions regarding domestic policy for Democratic nomination contenders. Most of these questions are not frequently asked, at least in televised settings.
Questions for President Trump will appear in a future column.
1.Constitutional amendment. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has advocated changing the First Amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court. Do you support a constitutional amendment in this regard? Are there any other Supreme Court rulings that you would like to overturn by constitutional amendment?
2. Economy: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Household Survey Data, the unemployment rate held at 3.7 percent in July 2019. The 2018 annual inflation rate was 1.91%. Can you improve on that record? How?
3. Identity politics: Will your gender, sexual orientation or ethnic identity make you a better president?
Also, please explain your understanding of “white privilege.”
4. National Debt/Annual Deficit: According to the Pew Research Center, our national debt stands at about $22 trillion, including money owed to the Social Security trust fund. Our national debt is now larger than our gross domestic product. Net interest payments on the debt are estimated to total $393.5 billion this fiscal year, or 8.7% of all federal outlays.
As annual deficits mount up, the national debt will grow. In the first eight months of this fiscal year alone, the U.S. budget deficit widened to $738.6 billion.
Do you have a realistic plan to balance the annual federal budget? Perhaps even more challenging, do you have a plan to reduce the burden of our national debt on future generations?
On a related matter, Bernie Sanders’ economic adviser, Stephanie Kelton, advocates a theory called Modern Monetary Policy. It states that federal deficits and debt don’t really matter. According to Kelton, “ … the United States currency comes from the United States government. It can’t come from anywhere else. And therefore, it can never run out of money. It cannot face a solvency problem, bills coming due that it can’t afford to pay.”
Do any candidates agree with MMT?
5. News Media: In an op-ed written by Sen. Sanders and published in the Columbia Journalism Review, he blamed “Corporate media organizations,” like news outlets owned by Disney and Jeff Bezos, for not providing sufficient coverage of topics he considers important. The senator also blamed Facebook and Google for reducing the advertising revenue news organizations need to operate. “(They) control 60 percent of the entire digital advertising market. They have used monopolistic control to siphon off advertising revenues from news organizations,” he wrote.
Do you think that the federal government should regulate what the news media cover? Should the federal government regulate ad revenue at large social media companies?
6. Student Debt: Senator Warren has proposed a $1.25 trillion plan that would wipe out most student debt.
Is that fair to those who attended a less expensive college that they could pay for; borrowed less by working hard to pay for more of their expenses; went to work after graduating high school; or borrowed to start their own small business rather than attend college?
If people receive something (i.e. a college education) why shouldn’t they pay for it? Since a college diploma generally leads to higher lifetime earnings, isn’t it an investment that benefits the borrower?
By the way, if college student debt should be wiped out, how about home mortgage debt or small business loans?
In formulating your answer, consider that the pay gap between college graduates and everyone else is at a record.
Also note that the average amount of student debt and monthly payments seems to be manageable: According to CNBC, the average cumulative student debt balance in 2017 was $26,900 for graduates of public four-year schools and $32,600 for graduates of private nonprofit four-year schools.
Of those who are currently making payments, the average monthly payment is between $200 and $300 …,” according to the College Board.
7. Wealth Tax: Sen. Warren has proposed a wealth tax to pay for some of her proposed programs. In 1990, there were 12 countries in Europe that had a wealth tax. Today there are only three. In an NPR interview, Sarah Perret, a tax economist at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, said that wealth taxes didn’t work that well in Europe: “they didn’t work for a lot of reasons. Among other things, it costs a lot to enforce. It pushed rich people out of the country, and the wealth taxes didn’t raise a lot of revenue.”
Is it good policy to depend on a flow of revenue from a tax plan that has already failed in Europe?
The policies the next president pursues will have a major impact on our country whether the issue plays a prominent role in the election campaign or not.
The public should insist on meaningful answers to serious questions, not just responses that make good rhetoric.
Richard Fein writes about national and international issues. He has an independent and sometimes controversial perspective. He holds master’s degrees in political science and economics. Nine of Richard’s books on employment topics have been published.