debatable

Here are the questions I would like to see Obama and McCain have to answer in the debates this fall:

To OBAMA:

George Bush has held up release of the presidential papers of both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. If you are elected President, would you, as one of your first acts in office, order the release of these papers?

To MCCAIN:

You have said that your dedication to your Country began with your oath as a midshipman upon entering Annapolis. If that is true, can you explain your graduation as fifth from the bottom of your class? Were you simply unable to manage the academic rigors of the Naval Academy, or did you just not work very hard?

To OBAMA:

You have said that the resent FISA vote was problematic, but that it was the best possible compromise in the current circumstances to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens while insuring the security of the United States.

If you are elected President and have a Democratic majority in the House and Senate in January 2009, what would you ask Congress to do to improve the FISA bill?

To MCCAIN:

You have said that “We’ve got to drill now and we’ve got to drill here” and that the U.S. should open itself up to offshore/coastal drilling.

First, do you think the oil companies should first have to get to work on the more than 60,000 permits and more than 44 million acres of public lands already leased for oil and gas development, and 68 million acres open to leasing, of which only a small fraction are under exploration or production?

Second, you say the U.S. needs to become independent of foreign oil, but according to Reuters News Service:

A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.

Should the oil companies be allowed to export oil from U.S. public lands, as they currently do, or should that oil be kept at home for domestic consumption?

To OBAMA and MCCAIN:

If you are elected President, what would you do if your administration discovered that its predecessors in office had committed serious crimes?

What are yours?