These questions were asked on me by ProCon.org.
What follows are the first 10 questions they asked and my answers.
1. Education – Is the increasing cost of college and university tuition pricing America’s middle class out of higher education?
To a certain extent I agree that this statement is true, for while I believe that many public colleges are still within a reasonable grasp of the middle class, the cost of a private college education or even the experience of going away to college at a public institution is quickly becoming far beyond the means of most middle class Americans. As the father of two teenage daughters I am acutely/painfully aware of what it will cost me for their college educations depending on where they decide to go to school.
2. Election Reform – Should voter verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) be mandatory in elections?
It is always best when drastically changing systems to maintain an audit trail to ensure that the new system works as intended and to build the confidence of the user (public) in those systems. For those reasons, I believe it is important to maintain voter verified paper audit trails for the next several election cycles.
3. Energy – Should the federal government permit oil extraction in national parks?
Not at this time. Such a policy will not greatly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and it will deplete reserves we may need much more in the future. The government should instead concentrate all of its energy resources on getting new nuclear power sources on line and initiating a “Manhattan Project” for energy to eliminate our dependence on foreign sources of oil.
4. Gay Marriage – Should there be a Constitutional amendment or federal law defining marriage as only between a man and a woman?
No, this is a state issue. I also believe that all people should be treated equally in all matters.
5. Health Care – Should all Americans have a right to government or employer subsidized basic health care?
No, because I don’t believe that anyone has a “Right” to health care. I do believe, however, that the system has to be thoroughly reviewed to determine what changes can and should be made so that all Americans have the ability to obtain basic, affordable health care in this country.
6. Iraq War – Has the war in Iraq made America safer?
No, I believe that the war in Iraq may, in the long run have the opposite effect in that it has made us even more of a target. In addition, I also believe that because of the war in Iraq not as many people are willing to go out of their way to help us as there were prior to the Iraqi war. After 9/11 and through our invasion of Afghanistan, we had tremendous world support. That support was dealt a severe blow by our going into Iraq and it will take a long time for us to build it back up again.
7. Iraq War – Should the U.S. set a timetable for troop withdrawal in Iraq?
No, although we went into the war based on some very fraudulent and misleading intelligence data and analysis, to set a timetable now would be a tremendous setback for all the things that have been accomplished and continue to be accomplished every day. It is up to the Iraqi people to ask us to leave. When that happens, or our commanders on the ground tell us that we should get out because further positive gains are not possible, then we should leave as soon as practical at that point.
8. Medical Marijuana – Should marijuana be a medical option?
Yes, medical marijuana as a medical option should be made available to anyone to whom it will help. It is somewhat ridiculous that people with life-threatening or life-ending diseases are often forced into criminal activities in order to ease the pain of their daily suffering.
9. Religion – Should federal funds be given to faith-based (religious) organizations and initiatives?
I believe that faith-based groups should have the same rights to apply for federal funds as any other organization as long as those funds are to be used for purely sectarian purposes. Sometimes faith based groups are in the best position to help out in a given set of circumstances and they should not be immediately discounted just because they are affiliated with a certain religion.
10. U.S. Constitution – Should the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights be altered or updated in any way?
I believe that given our current illegal immigration problems that the time has arrived to review the process of allowing anyone born here to instantly become a citizen regardless of the citizenship of their parents.
Frank McEnulty
www.frankforpresident.org
