During the June 3 Democratic presidential debate, moderator and CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) about their May 24 votes against the Iraq war supplemental funding bill, adding that they have been accused “of playing politics with the lives of the troops.” As Media Matters for America has documented, the media have employed differing standards in covering recent Democratic and Republican votes on Iraq war funding bills -- for instance, NBC and the Associated Press quoted Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) attacking Clinton and Obama for their May 24 votes but ignored McCain's own vote against an earlier version of the bill. Drawing from the questions Blitzer has already asked the Democrats, Media Matters for America offers the following comparable questions for Blitzer to ask the GOP candidates.

Iraq funding

During the June 3 debate, Blitzer asked Clinton: “Senator Clinton, you've voted in favor of every funding for the U.S. troops since the start of the war until now. And some are accusing and some others of playing politics with the lives of the troops. What is your response?” Blitzer then asked Obama: “Senator Obama, you did the same thing. Since you came in to the Senate you voted for the funding for the troops for this war until now. What's your answer?”

Blitzer was referring to Clinton's and Obama's May 24 votes against the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act. McCain attacked Clinton and Obama in a May 25 statement, claiming they “embrace[d] the policy of surrender by voting against funds to support our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.” ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper reported on his blog on May 25 that McCain called Clinton's and Obama's votes “the height of irresponsibility.” On March 29, however, McCain and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), another Republican presidential contender, voted against an earlier Iraq supplemental that was ultimately vetoed by President Bush.

Given Blitzer's questions to Clinton and Obama and the widespread media attention McCain's statements garnered, Media Matters suggests the following question for Blitzer to pose to McCain:

“Sen. McCain -- on May 25 you said Sens. Clinton and Obama 'embrace[d] the policy of surrender by voting against funds to support our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,' in response to their votes against the Iraq war supplemental. You told ABC News they were 'the height of irresponsibility.' You and Sen. Brownback, however, also voted against an Iraq supplemental on March 29. Does that mean you and he 'embrace[d] the policy of surrender,' as you claimed Sens. Clinton and Obama did? Were your votes 'the height of irresponsibility'?”

National Intelligence Estimate

During the June 3 debate, Blitzer asked Clinton: "[D]o you regret voting to authorize the president to use force against Saddam Hussein in Iraq without actually reading the National Intelligence Estimate, the classified document laying out the best U.S. intelligence at that time?" Blitzer followed up on the question, asking Clinton: “So let me just be precise; that the question was, do you regret not reading the National Intelligence Estimate?” Blitzer also asked the same question of former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC): “Senator Edwards, you didn't read that National Intelligence Estimate either. Do you regret that?” As Media Matters has noted, the NIE, which was made available to all members of Congress before the 2002 vote to authorize the use of military force against Iraq, contained dissenting views from U.S. intelligence agencies regarding the existence of Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction programs.

On the May 29 edition of CNN Newsroom, correspondent Mary Snow reported that McCain was also among the 94 senators who did not read the full NIE:

SNOW: A spokeswoman for a Republican Senator John McCain says, “Senator McCain was briefed on the NIE numerous times and read the Executive Summary.”

Given Blitzer's questions to Clinton and Edwards, and the fact that his own network reported that McCain acknowledged not reading the NIE, Media Matters suggests the following question:

“Sen. McCain -- you have acknowledged that you did not read the National Intelligence Estimate prior to voting to allow the president to use force against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Do you regret not reading the National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize a war?”

Spending

During the June 3 debate, Blitzer asked the Democratic candidates several questions regarding the costs of their healthcare proposals, and how they will be paid. In response to Clinton's statement that “we have to lower costs, improve quality and cover everybody,” Blitzer asked: “And -- and Senator Clinton, you can do that without raising taxes?” Blitzer asked New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson if he could implement “universal health care without raising taxes.”

During the May 3 Republican debate, moderator and MSNBC host Chris Matthews asked for each candidate “to mention a tax you'd like to cut, in addition to the Bush tax cuts, keeping them in effect.” Each candidate offered a tax they would cut or eliminate, in addition to extending Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in effect.

Assuming that Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would expire in 2010, the Congressional Budget Office forecast a $172 billion federal budget deficit for 2007, and continued deficits until at least 2012. However, the CBO found that the deficits will go on longer and be far greater should the tax cuts be extended and if “lawmakers continued to provide relief from the” alternative minimum tax (AMT). According to the CBO: “Combined, those policy changes -- and associated debt-service costs -- would produce a deficit of $328 billion (1.9 percent of GDP) in 2012 and a cumulative deficit over the 2008-2017 period of $4.2 trillion (2.4 percent of GDP).” This scenario was envisioned by McCain, who said in response to Matthews' question that the AMT has “got to be repealed,” and by Giuliani, who said the AMT “has to be reduced.”

Media Matters therefore suggests the following question for Blitzer to ask the candidates:

You've all indicated that, as president, you would cut taxes in addition to keeping President Bush's tax cuts in effect. How do you plan to pay for these tax cuts, keeping in mind that the Congressional Budget Office projects over $4 trillion in deficits from 2008 to 2017, should the president's tax cuts be extended and the alternative minimum tax reduced?

Former presidents*

“If you are elected president, how, if at all, would you use former President George W. Bush in your administration?”

* This question added at the suggestion of reader “leftwithatwist,” who noted that, during the June 3 debate, Blitzer asked the Democratic candidates a variant of this question: "[I]f you are elected president, how, if at all, would you use former President Bill Clinton in your administration?"