The 1st 28 Questions For Kerry - (Snappy answers needed by the campaign)

[papau]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41071-2004Feb13.html

The 1st 28 Questions For Kerry


By George F. Will Sunday, February 15, 2004; Page B07


<snip>You abhor "special tax giveaways for the privileged and special interests." When supporting billions in ethanol subsidies, mostly for agribusinesses, did you think about corn-growing, caucus-holding Iowa?<snip>

Americans -- refuse to pipe down and mind their own business so that you can mind their business for them. Often they hire lobbyists to exercise their First Amendment right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances." Can you despise lobbyists without disparaging that right?

You say the rich do not pay enough taxes. In 1979 the top 1 percent of earners paid 19.75 percent of income taxes. Today they pay 36.3 percent. How much is enough? (THIS ONE IS EASY - IT IS EXPECTED THAT AS MORE OF THE COST OF GOV MOVES TO OUR KIDS THROUGH DEBT, OR IS PAID BY SOC SEC PAYROLL TAX - THE % OF THE REMAINING FIT PAID BY THE TOP 1%, WHILE LOWER IN DOLLARS - WOULD GO UP AS A PERCENT. INDEED ONLY BY DEFINING MOST OF THE INCOME OF THE RICH AS NOT INCOME TO BE TAXED AT A FULL RATE - AS IN INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL GAINS INCOME - ARE WE EVEN ABLE TO GET THE SILLY 36.3% OF "ADJUSTED INCOME" - ADD IN ALL THE HIDDEN UNTAXED INCOME AND COME BACK AND TELL US THE % THAT THE RICH PAY OF THEIR INCOME)

You say the federal government is not spending enough on education. President Bush has increased education spending 48 percent. How much is enough?

In January 1991, after Iraq extinguished Kuwait's sovereignty, you opposed responding with force rather than economic sanctions. Have such sanctions ever undone such aggression?.....On Jan. 11, 1991, you said that going to war was abandoning "the theory of deterrence." Was it not a tad late to deter Iraqi aggression?.....The next day you said, "I do not believe our nation is prepared for war." How did unpreparedness subsequently manifest itself?......On Jan. 22, 1991, responding to a constituent opposed to the Persian Gulf War, you wrote "I share your concerns" and would have given sanctions more time. Nine days later, responding to a voter who favored the war, you wrote, "I have strongly and unequivocally supported President Bush's response to the crisis." Did you have a third position?<SNIP>

and much more that Kerry will indeed need to have snappy answers to over the next 250 days!

[boxster]

1. Oh, good. George Will. Yet another conservative source.

Can we please, please, please post articles from non-RW sources once in a while?

This is obviously an article that asks questions that it already knows the answers to. That is the intent. All of the questions are meant to be rhetorical.

[papau]

2. yes - but our problem - the DU/liberal problem - is that John needs

really needs snappy answers -

without Dean in front of John, the answers John has given the last few days have gone back to long and nuanced and not snappy.

Will does us a favor in putting together these questions now.

peace

:-)

[boxster]

3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Dean was at the WI debate.

I have seen this "when Dean isn't there, Kerry sucks" argument posted an inordinate number of times in the past couple of days. Is this some kind of Dean talking point from the Blog or something?

I find it a little strange considering the apparent animosity the two campaigns would seem to have for each other. Not to mention that Kerry has managed to win a bunch of states without much help from Dean. And Dean's presence didn't seem to shorten Kerry's answer to the "do you take responsibility" question at the debate, as Edwards so gleefully pointed out.

Re: Will doing us favors. On the contrary, George Will is doing no one in the Democratic Party any favors. The questions he's asking are nothing new, and some of the questions he asks in that article are pretty asinine (Is "liberal lobbyist" an oxymoron?, Was it not a tad late to deter Iraqi aggression?).

He's just writing to see himself write. He thinks that he's being cute by phrasing his statements as questions, but it's pretty obvious that he's answering them to his satisfaction, as well.

[papau]

4. I agree Wills questions are pretty asinine - but for whatever reason

Dean leading in the polls made Kerry answers sharper - Kerry in last week has not been sharp.

And Dean in last Debate was not attacking - because the polls show him so far behind.

I do not know how to get that fear back in John - but we need to do so.

And Wills questions - asinine as they are - will not be questioned by the media -

John must develope snappy answers.

[boxster]

5. Dean's debate performance was a little strange.

He really needed to do something different obviously, since the polls were pretty bleak, but he just didn't seem willing to shake things up. I suspect that he hasn't gotten the best of advice from his campaign staff at critical points in this campaign.

You're right - it's easy to be complacent as the front-runner, so hopefully Kerry will not succumb to that. Though, I expect that once the nomination is solidified for Kerry (as it certainly seems is going to happen), he'll work on tightening up the "message". A tight race going forward would be a good thing, because it keeps him on his toes.

I'm sure Kerry's advisors are well aware of George Will - the WP is obviously a big newspaper. That's what campaign media managers are for! :)

[Ziggy_0253]

6. George Will is a notorious rable rouser.

And he knows it, too. That piece simply serves to get the ditto-heads worked up into a frothing-at-the-mouth level of stupidity.

For example, any good liberal knows you could tax the living bejesus out of Bill Gates and he'd still be a bazillionaire.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi Ziggy_0253!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: