20 Questions for Your Congressman

By Robert Tracinski

The smear against small-government advocates who have confronted their congressmen at town hall meetings is that they are an "angry mob" who just want to shout down advocates of Obama's health-care bill. In fact, these protesters have come to the meetings to ask some tough questions—questions that should have been asked by the mainstream media. So when you head off to a local town hall meeting during the August recess, focus on asking good questions. I don't mean just rhetorical questions intended to make a point, but also real questions that require a substantive answer.

As a guide to help you prepare for your local town hall meeting, here are my suggestions for 20 questions you can ask your elected representatives about the economics, history, politics, and morality of Obama's health-care plan. If your elected representative will answer these questions, it will tell you a great deal about his principles (or lack of them) and his goals. It might also tell you about his method of making decisions: does he just repeat canned talking points, or does he really think about your questions? And if he won't answer your questions—if he doesn't have the guts to do anything but preach to the converted at union-sponsored rallies—well, that gives you all the answers you need right there, doesn't it?

But don't just ask these questions of your congressmen. Ask them of your friends and neighbors, of newspaper columnists and reporters, of local doctors and businessmen and others in positions of influence. These are the kinds of questions we should all be thinking about and trying to answer, if we are going to subject this legislation to the scrutiny it needs before Congress votes on it. ....