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Be Part of the 2008 Presidential Youth Debate

We participated in this project back in 2004. This year it's hosted by Walden University, and the format is a little less cumbersome than it was four years ago. So go ahead, ask some questions you'd like to see McCain and Obama answer, and they'll go into the pot along with questions submitted through other channels. Later this week you'll have a chance to help moderate the final questions chosen from all sources, and on October 20 you'll be able to see video responses from the two major party candidates. Please limit to yourself to one question per post, and note that questions must be posted no later than 4 p.m. US EDT on Monday, September 29, to be considered.

13 of 513 comments (clear)

  1. Varying royalty rates for offshore drilling by Kligat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Currently the Minerals Management Services in the Department of the Interior has companies pay between 12.5% and 18.75% royalties to use United States public land, depending on the mineral being harvested. Senator, do you believe that the amount of royalties they pay should also vary depending on environmental sensitivity, such as when drilling offshore?

    This is not a question as to whether we should, and it is addressed to both candidates.

  2. Evolution/Creationism by pumpkinpuss · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do you support the inclusion of creationism alongside evolution in high school curricula? If so, how can you justify teaching a science class with creationism's Christian slant? Also, how can you justify the potential unequal representation of Christianity's story when compared to creation stories told by other major religions?

  3. Re:Gun Control by SoapBox17 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hardly deadlier. That article is comparing the deaths of (mostly) unarmed civilians with the deaths of armed troops. If anything, that could be used to highlight the potential of widely adopted gun ownership to save lives because criminals are deterred by the possibility of getting shot.

  4. Re:Very telling Slashdot editor by Everyone+Is+Seth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hear, hear! It always annoys me when my choice of candidate doesn't get the bias he deserves. I am a registered [pointless political affiliation], and I will of course be voting for [same recycled trash seen every four years]. I mindlessly eat whatever my comrades feed me and stand on that as my own principles. Without divisiveness, what else could we devote our time to in this great country? Science, education? Why? The TV contains all knowledge! Thank [Object/deity I worship] that they put the little letter beside the name. Otherwise, I would collapse in the voting booth from actually applying my brain.

  5. question: by larry+bagina · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Where is the congressional accountability for the subprime loan mess? The Bush administration, as well as democratic members of congress, pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to make more loans to poor people, inner city hispanics, african americans, etc. Not surprisingly, they defaulted (maybe that's why they weren't given loans in the first place?) and everyone is suffering as a result.

    All I hear is complaints about greedy wallstreet types. What about the people who signed up for loans they couldn't afford? What about the congress that ignore Allan Greenspan's 2005 testimony that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac were a serious problem? What about the congress that didn't believe poor credit meant an increased risk in defaulting on a loan?

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  6. Copyrights terms by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, known as the Copyright Clause, states:

    To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

    Currently, copyrights last 50-70 years after the creator's death. How does this advance Science and useful Arts?

  7. Voting system by KDR_11k · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Do you plan on making changes to the antiquated voting system, especially its tendency to give minority voters (whether third party or just the unfavoured party in their state) no ability to influence the outcome of an election? Do you think the voting system does or does not have an influence on the feeling of disenfranchisement among voters and the low voter turnouts?

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    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  8. The Iran Issue by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Iran is the second most vibrant democracy in the Middle East, and the USA's invasion of Iraq has allowed Iran to make a shot at becoming a regional power. How do you plan to broker friendship between Iran, the USA, and Israel?

  9. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by BungaDunga · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've submitted the following: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legally binding set of basic rights for minors (http://www.unicef.org/crc/). The only two countries which are not signatories to the CRC are Somalia and the United States. Somalia has not had a functioning government for some time. As President, would you seek the ratification the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

  10. Debates by mqduck · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Do you believe that including third party candidates - such as the Constitution, Green, Independent, Libertarian and Socialist parties - in the presidential debates would improve the debates and make our election more democratic?

    If no, why not? If yes, why have you not announced that you support the inclusion of third party candidates at any point in the primary or presidential campaigns?

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    Property is theft.
  11. Mandatory National Service by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To both candiates:

    At times both of you have expressed support for the idea, and organizations promoting the idea, of Mandatory National Service, whereby all adult citizens under a certain age would be forced to work for government agencies or government-approved entities for a certain period of time. Senator McCain, you've stated your agreement with the idea that we should re-institute a draft to go after Osama bin Laden.

    Could you both please clarify, for the record, the conditions under which you believe a government has the right to conscript its citizens, and the degree to which your administration would do so?

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    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  12. Signing orders by zymurgy_cat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To both:

    The Constitution says that a President shall sign or veto a bill (or not sign it, and it will become law after ten days). Since it says nothing about "signing orders", do you promise to comply with the Constitution by either signing, vetoing, or refusing to sign all bills that come before you and nothing more? Will you refuse to issue "signing orders" since they are not a power specifically given to the President by the Constitution?

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    -- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
  13. Re:Very telling Slashdot editor by plasmacutter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    (in many cases, the bias of the mainstream media has been only mildly left, no worse than Fox's bias rightwards).

    nice, trying to sneak this by.

    MSM has a bias toward corporations, but is otherwise neutral.
    If you think the MSM has a liberal bias, I refer you to the colbert quip about reality having a well-known liberal bias.

    Fox deliberately distorts, and often times fabricates, the stories they present. The obama muslim kick, the deliberate mischaracterization of palin's crusade against the library as false, simply because she didn't do it as mayor (but as city councilwoman), the oreilly factor's invented statistics, the "balance" of the dingbat-right hannity and the cowed, confrontation fearing moderate, colmes.

    The list goes on and on.

    Fox news is a propaganda arm of the extreme right, it is NOT to be compared with the MSM, which is center-right because it's neutral on social issues and parrots corporate and political press releases whenever it can to avoid actual investigative reporting.

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    VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!