Questions for People in Power

[Summa]

I will be traveling to Washington D.C. with 11 other students to meet with heads of politics and media. Ultimately we will be writing a policy reform paper in the areas of campaign finance and media reforms, then submitting them to Washington D.C. We will be there from the 20th to the 27th. I tell you guys this because I will have an opportunity to question some of the most powerful people in our country, and I don't think that right should be reserved solely to me. So I want to know what questions you guys have. Now, I don't want bullshit, if you give me bullshit I won't even try to ask it. I am not going to defame my own character for your bullshit questions. I want substantiated pointed questions. I have put in a lot of work to get my questioning to the point where it will not get eaten alive in D.C., so I can work with some questions that have good ideas but aren't quite there in terms of direction or politeness.

Here is a list of people we will for sure be meeting with:
Rahm Emmanuel - Chief of Staff
Senator Maria Cantwell - D-Wa
Rep Dave Reichert - R-Wa
Wendy Macias - Chief Educational Advisor to the President of the United States
Max Baccus - D-Mont.
The Chief Editors of the Huffington Post
John Harris - Editor-in-Chief of Politico
Some Execs at Holland & Knight (big lobbying firm)
Deanna Marcum - Associate Librarian for the Library of Congress

Potential People we are meeting with:
Sen. Patty Murray - D-Wa
Rep. Norm Dicks - D-Wa
Sen. Mitch McConnell - R-Kentucky (this is the longest shot)
Kevin Magee - Executive Vice President of Fox News
Kenneth Estenson - .com VP @ CNN

(The other people aren't as important, not particularly noteworthy)

So yeah, let me know what you got. I will be flying out on Saturday, but while I am over there I will periodically check in, and maybe give some feedback. When I get back I will make sure to let you know anything exciting or if I got any of your questions answered.

Peace,
Summa

[Crescent Seal]

plz need 2 know...pretty sure entire nation need 2 know this 1 question





































y i on fire?

[Xog]

You REALLY need to get in touch with Jerome about this. I'm also sure Kthx has some good questions to throw in.

[TagMor]

Why is the federal government acting illegally outside of the constitution whilst systematically removing state sovereignty and individual liberties?.. Oh wait you said you dont want "bullshit" questions. I presume "bullshit" means anything controversial, and instead you want the standard ass-licking questions that demonstrates your ability to act descerning whilst ignoring the "bullshit" elephant in the room.
Faggot.

[kthx]

I think tagmor actually got this correctly, but a few questions I would like to ask most of the asshats on that list you wouldn't ask them anyways so. I am sure you have a bright future as an asskissing CNN reporter who can ask pre-approved questions to big named politicians and they can answer it as they were trained to because they knew the question first hand. And I am sure you will be more than happy to turn into a lap dog and not ask any follow up questions when they obviously lie to your face and the face of the American people.

[kthx]

But just for fun.


."Do you make it a habit of walking around naked in showers threatening members of congress to vote for a health care plan that has already been shot down wholeheartedly by a large majority of the constituents you are supposed to be serving?"

."Do you think it is ok to pass a health care bill without having the house of representatives voting on it by destroying the constitution?"

."Is it ok for the highest ranking politicians in America to be bribing members of congress with kick backs and special state to state deals in order to gain votes for a bill that a majority of Americans don't want?"

I could go on but since none of those will be asked anyways whats the point.

[Ilya]

"a/s/l/pics"

[Summa]

."Is it ok for the highest ranking politicians in America to be bribing members of congress with kick backs and special state to state deals in order to gain votes for a bill that a majority of Americans don't want?"
.

This one is already on our list.

And to the dipshit that said "I assume by bullshit, you mean anything controversial". We plan to ask the media heads about why television news is widely regarded as shit, and how their viewership is the least educated in America. I don't think that's exactly a neutral stance. What I mean by bullshit, is random hyperbole, talking points, and unsubstantiated claims. If you got an axe to grind and want me to ask about it, you better have some substance prefacing it.

As for the issue of my personal bias. I am a moderate leaning liberal, so yes I won't necessarily think as favorably of the conservative side of things. However, there are 11 others with me 2 of whom are staunch fucking republicans. I am writing down all of the good questions and we have meetings to collaborate and plan our questioning. I will be more than happy to put more conservative questions in the mouths of people who think of them more agreeably. This is an opportunity larger than me. I am not out to get a boner for politicians and suck their nuts for a recommendation for a hire in 5 yrs. We, as a class, are out to ask the big hard hitting questions (usually through the surrogate of a smiley shy white girl) and get answers. Then try and fix it in some statistically justifiable way.

So yes, I will ask the hard hitting questions.

As for your question on the showers wark, that's more of just heresay and a stupid minor event. I am shooting more for large issues with the system as a whole.

Edit:And honestly, fuck you tagmor. If I wanted to suck some dick of people in power, I wouldn't have even posted shit on these forums. I could do that on my own. I don't really log onto the forums anymore after wax ruined it (occaisionally for mafia) and I am not one to walk around tooting my own horn. I have an opportunity that most people will never get, and if I can get some questions, that concerned citizens have, answered; I think that is a good thing. If you don't believe that this is sincere and are one of those "there's no sincerity on the internet" kinda guys. Then go fuck off in another thread. I don't need useless trolls wasting my time and space.

As for your question on acting outside the constitution, cite examples, give me substance to package it with, and I will try to ask it.

[Summa]

Just got an expanded list of people we will be meeting with. Here are some of the noteworthy ones:
Tom Rosenstiel - Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism
John Burchett - Senior Policy Council, Google
Ron Elving - Senior Washington Editor, NPR
John Samples - Policy Scholar, CATO Institute
Rep. Jay Inslee - D-Wa
Christopher Berg - Communications Specialist, FEC
Craig Holman & Adam Lynn - 2 Big Time Policy Lobbyists

[kthx]

Yeah well anyone can ask a question, the thing that decides the bitches from the bulls is the follow up question and not letting the politicians get away with bullshitting their way through answers to which most reporters are too ignorant or starstruck to realize isn't an answer just a rambling five minute speech on absolutely nothing, and not letting them get away with shutting you up after you ask a real question. I think you will find that no matter what you say now that when the time comes you won't actually follow up the typical bullshit answer that you are going to receive. In fact I think you will probably come back from this entire thing disenfranchised with our government and politicians as most of America is. I don't have any axe to grind with you, but I do know that most journalists and reporters are pretty much jokes and lapdogs, and anyone who actually does have the balls to ask questions will generally be silenced anyways or be given rambling answers about nothing.

[Summa]

Perhaps I am disillusioned here, but I expected exactly the same. I walked into this entire thing thinking that the entirety of the media was a steaming pile of shit, that politicians are a bunch of corrupt dickbags, and that we were never going to get a straight answer from anyone. However, I have been legitimately surprised by what the statistics have shown and what our interviews have shown. Things aren't as bad as they often are perceived to be.

We essentially have done test runs for D.C. by going to KOMO4 News, The Seattle Times, meeting with the Mayor of Seattle, and meeting with a member of the State Supreme court. Now Seattle is far different from D.C. I understand that entirely. But we aren't a bunch of dumb monkeys with no agenda. We plan this shit out, and have contingency plans depending on how they start to respond. We have learned and are practicing interrupt methods if they get onto talking points. Also these are private meetings, often with "constituents" (hence all of the meetings with Washington State reps), there will be no other reporters there.

[kthx]

Well good luck, I actually hope you find something out but I wouldn't expect it. As you said.. people who live in DC are career politicians not some local jokers. But hey here is a real question I would like you to ask.

."When it comes to giving the people of America entitlements that will be impossible to remove from society once introduce, what is stopping one single party from gaining complete and permanent power over threatening the American populace that the other party wishes to take away the entitlements given to them?"

[Epinephrine]

Phrase it however you want, but here's a question:

Do you vote the way you do in power because you actually believe in it, or do you vote that way because you feel pressured to have your opinions a certain way?

Basically this question is asking, why are Republicans so against so many of the ideas now especially with the healthcare reform, when they themselves supported many of those same ideas just a few years ago. Is it because they have truly changed their minds, because people are pressuring them (i.e. special interests, tea party crazies) or because they feel as opposition they basically just have to oppose ANYTHING that governing party does.


Another question:
Do you feel the 24-hour newscycle has hurt democracy by making everything that can be said into some sound byte? Are politicians hampered by the fact that they cannot make any tough decisions or else they may be 'called out' by the media because the media has nothing better to talk about to fill their 24-hour news schedule?


And:
Would you support a bill denying all political contributions from corporations and interest groups and only allow individuals to donate. Do you think this would improve things?

[Summa]

Phrase it however you want, but here's a question:

Do you vote the way you do in power because you actually believe in it, or do you vote that way because you feel pressured to have your opinions a certain way?

Basically this question is asking, why are Republicans so against so many of the ideas now especially with the healthcare reform, when they themselves supported many of those same ideas just a few years ago. Is it because they have truly changed their minds, because people are pressuring them (i.e. special interests, tea party crazies) or because they feel as opposition they basically just have to oppose ANYTHING that governing party does.

So essentially you want me to ask about the pressures that influence their voting and if it takes precedence over personal values? What specifically would you want me to focus on, because it needs to be a bit more pointed than that. I mean do you want to know about lobbying, because I got data to back that. Tea Party is a bit hard. Media pressure I could stretch a bit. Party pressure would have to carefully worded or I could offend. I couldn't really get away with a general influence question, they would take the opportunity to rant my ear off.

Another question:
Do you feel the 24-hour newscycle has hurt democracy by making everything that can be said into some sound byte? Are politicians hampered by the fact that they cannot make any tough decisions or else they may be 'called out' by the media because the media has nothing better to talk about to fill their 24-hour news schedule?

So essentially, does the media impede your ability to govern? Is that the core question, because I will have to reword this a bit.

And:
Would you support a bill denying all political contributions from corporations and interest groups and only allow individuals to donate. Do you think this would improve things?

This one would be hard to ask, and may cause significant ranting, because of a few recent supreme court cases surrounding contributions. I will write it down and try and work with it, but not sure if I will be able to fit this in. Also I am interested in the thought process behind this.

There are some interesting arguments debating that there is not enough money in politics. I could point you to some of those if you're interested.

[soup]

plz need 2 know...pretty sure entire nation need 2 know this 1 question





































y i on fire?

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