Suggested Town Hall Questions

• Do you believe that there should be a right to healthcare in the United States?
• Do you agree in principle with the creation of a public option?
• Do you agree in concept with an individual mandate, in which Americans would be forced to have health insurance?
• Do you believe that a universal health care system can exist without rationing healthcare?
• Do you believe that increased government involvement in healthcare will increase or decrease the quality of care in the United States?
• Why should we even consider giving the same government that messed up the response to Hurricane Katrina and can't run the Postal Service, Amtrak, or cash-for-clunkers?
• The United States already has three examples of government-run health care—Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA system.  Medicare reports around $60 billion in fraud each year and has a $37 trillion unfunded liability, Medicaid is putting a huge burden on state budgets while also seeing at least 10% of its budget spent on fraud, and the VA system is constantly having problems with safety and patient care, even potentially exposing nearly 11,000 veterans to HIV and Hepatitis.  Why should we even consider trusting the government with even the slightest bit more power or control over healthcare?
• Do you believe that a government-run health care program can compete fairly with the private sector?
• What would be your plan for reforming health care?
• Why did you vote for the stimulus package, given the estimates from the Congressional Budget Office that the spending would not occur immediately, and that even now less than 1/10^th of the money has been spent?  Did you honestly believe that it was going to stimulate the economy immediately, as was promised by the Obama administration and your party's leadership?
• (For Jim Marshall)  Despite your vote against cap-and-trade, you had no public position on the bill as late as one hour before the vote was taken.  Why did you refuse to make your position public, and then why did you wait until late in the voting period to cast your vote?  Did you act on orders from your party's leadership?  Would you have voted for cap-and-trade if your vote was needed to pass it?

• (For Sanford Bishop)  Why did you vote for cap-and-trade, given the fact that farmers are estimated to be among the hardest-hit professions and that farming is such an important part of your district's economy?