1. If you think the questions below make sense, print out this letter, put your own name on it (it's fine with me), and send it to your local newspaper. These days, many papers place highest respect for letters received by fax. Email and street mail are also OK.

2. The next time you personally see a politician, instead of asking about corruption, or how they're going to fund project X, memorize and ask them one of the questions below.

~~Alan

Dear Editor,

You may not have heard about this yet, but I support the idea of The Liberty Poll.

This refreshingly simple set of questions addresses major problems in the American political scene at once:

A -- It points out how much is lacking in interviews with candidates;

B -- It raises political awareness in the people who read it;

C -- It would probably improve your coverage if you tried it.

The Liberty Poll includes in-depth questions in its followup module, which you might want to avoid. But the front-page set is potent, and I ask you, as my newspaper of choice, to try avoiding the wedge issues and glossy funding promises that politicos are eminently more comfortable with, and run the candidates through The Liberty Poll.

POLICY QUESTIONS
POLICY QUESTIONS

1 - If you are elected to office what laws will you repeal?

2 - Would you support criminal penalties: a) for politicians who violate their oath of office; b) for bureaucrats who act outside the powers delegated to them?

3–When did you last read the state and federal Constitutions?

4 - Should someone who has sworn an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, but who then votes to allocate tax funds to programs or departments not authorized by that Constitution, be removed from office?

5 - Can you name any current areas of government operations that are outside the authority delegated to government?

6 - Can you name areas where government might serve the public interest, but where it has no authority to act? If not, is it still accurate to say we have "government of limited powers"? Does this matter?

7 - As a candidate for a state or federal office, can you think of any ways to improve enforcement of the 10th Amendment (the states and the people retain powers not delegated to the federal government)?

ISSUE QUESTIONS
ISSUE QUESTIONS

8 - With regard to jury trials, should judges be required to inform jurors that they have the power, in the sanctity of the jury room, to decide whether a law in question is just, or constitutional? Should schools teach this?

9 - With regard to due process, should judges be allowed to prevent defendants from presenting a defense on constitutional grounds if they so choose?

10 - With regard to the war on some drugs, is the war succeeding? When could it be declared a success, the expense of waging it cease, and the tax-based infrastructure surrounding it be decreased or dismantled? If it can't be declared a success, when might it be declared a failure and brought to a close?

11 - With regard to law enforcement, are you in favor of police being allowed to use deadly force when absolutely necessary to protect innocent lives from criminal attack? Do you believe that people, even people with no training of any kind, have less right to defend themselves than the authorities do?

12 - With regard to the right to keep and bear arms, would you support gun laws that would specifically disarm religious people, either on the way to or at religious services?

13 - With regard to establishing a federal ID number for every American, would you vote to enable or block such legislation if it were proposed? Which part of the Constitution would authorize such controls?

14 - With regard to asset forfeiture laws and policies, describe how these are permissible under the Constitution. If elected, would you do anything to change current asset forfeiture law?

15 - If elected to the office you seek, would you support legislation to license writers or register printing presses? Would you support legislation to license publishers to help control "hate speech?" Why would an honest writer or publisher object to such a program?

A followup module of The Liberty Poll, with detailed questions to think about, is posted at bloomfieldpress.com, along with the reason we basically never see questions like this on the nightly news.

The Liberty Poll was developed by attorney Michael P. Anthony, author Alan Korwin and syndicated columnist Vin Suprynowicz.

Sincerely,

Alan Korwin