I couldn't find a transcript anywhere so I did it myself - to see actual video please go to
http://www.10questions.com/Obama has answered 7 questions so far; Clinton & Richardson have not yet responded.
"We should note that John Edwards captured six of the top ten favorite responses, making his responses the most popular in Round Two; according to these ratings, he answered the questions more reliably than the other candidates."
http://techpresident.com/blog/entry/18181/10questions_com_complete_and_a_successQ: Would you make it a priority in your first year of office to reinstate Net Neutrality as the law of the land, and would you pledge to ONLY appoint FCC commissioners that support open internet principles like Net Neutrality?
A: The answer is Yes and Yes. I will support and make a priority Net Neutrality; and second I will only appoint FCC commissioners who in fact support principles like Net Neutrality. In fact I wrote a letter to the FCC urging them to insure that Net Neutrality was the law of the land; if you want to see the letter I wrote you can go to
http://www.johnedwards.com/. What we have to make certain is that the Net does not go the way of broadcast television and commercial radio where only a few corporate voices are heard. I will do everything in my power as President to make sure that happens.
Q: As president, will you practice your religion WITHOUT imposing it on the American people as our current Republican president has, or is America unofficially a theocracy?
A: America is not a theocracy, and we should not allow it to become one. I will not under any circumstances impose my faith belief system on the American people. I think it's wrong to do that and I will not do it as President.
Q: Do you think the Federal Government's position should change to reflect the opinion of American voters (regarding medical marijuana) and do you think it's appropriate for the Federal Government to interfere with state laws in this way?
A: For me this is very simple. I believe we should actually respect the Democratic process. I would end the DEA raids in states where either the voters or the legislature have approved the use of medical marijuana. And as to the Federal policy, the Federal policy should be science-driven. One of the most offensive things about the Bush Administration is they've been one of the most anti-science administrations in American history. Policy for science should not be driven by politics; it should be driven by science, and it will be in my administration.
Q: As president, what will you do to keep me and my future children free from warrantless searches (and wiretapping)?
A: I have a very simple answer: I will end George Bush's illegal spying on the American people.
Q: Would you support a fair and clean election system that takes big money out of politics, that provides public money for candidates who agree to spending limits and give up all special interest money? Because we want elections to be about us, the voters.
A: Yes. I absolutely support that kind of public financing of political campaigns in America, and will make it a priority as president. I actually believe that these powerful, well-financed interests have entirely too much influence and control over this democracy; we've got to take their power away from them. One of the ways on behalf of the American people that we can take their power away from them is to publicly finance campaigns.
Q: Why won't you pledge to abolish corporate personhood, so we can relegate corporations to serving the public good as they were originally intended instead of letting them control us?
A: First, I've never taken any money from corporate lobbyists or special interest PAC's, and I'm proud of that. Second, nobody has done more to stop the influence of corporate money on Government than I have. There's several things that we need to do. First, we ought to publicly finance our campaigns. Second, we need to stop media consolidation which is keeping divergent and dissenting voices from being heard. Third, we need to stop the revolving door from Government to lobbying firms and back. Last, we need to do more - until we have public financing - to support low-dollar donations to political campaigns.
Q: I would like to know what you would do as the President of the United States to share information more effectively and to increase access in the White House to both the media and the people of the United States; and I would also like to know what you're doing in your campaign right now to increase transparency and trust?
A: First I'll end the culture of secrecy that's existed under the Bush Administration. The idea that Dick Cheney conducted an energy task force with lobbyists for the industry behind closed doors in secret is fundamentally wrong. Wrong for the government, wrong for democracy. We're also going to get rid of the limitations that are inhibiting people's ability to get information under the Freedom Of Information Act; and we're going to get rid of some of the restrictions that John Ashcroft put into place as Attorney General. No one has been more transparent in this Presidential campaign than I have, because I have held more press conferences, more media availability, and answered more questions directly from voters than any of the leading candidates. And I think I have a responsibility to answer people's questions and make myself available to the media. Finally, we're going to use the Internet in my administration to make as much information as possible available to the American people.
Q: Do you think that our voting system is broken? If elected President, what are you going to do about that on the first day in office, and thirdly, do you think we should revisit the decision made in 1845 to make the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, official election day here in the United States?
(Ed. note: For more info, check out
http://whytuesday.org/ "Fixing our voting system, one question at a time.")
A: Yes, there are serious problems in our voting system. We ought to have paper ballots for everyone except Americans with disabilities, to make sure that we have a paper trail. We ought to end the disenfranchisement of Washington, D.C. residents and give them a vote in the Congress. We ought to end the disenfranchisement of former felons and allow them to vote. We ought to end the intimidation and voter suppression that goes on in so many parts of the country in every single election. We should have same-day registration for voting. Finally, we should revisit the question of voting taking place just on Tuesdays.
Q: How much would you pledge to reduce the size of Government in your first term as President?
A: As President, I pledge to have a government that is strong and effective and gets the job done; and is no bigger or smaller than is necessary to accomplish exactly that. It's embarrassing, our failures in the Federal Government to respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. That will change. We will enforce civil rights laws and discrimination laws in America. Also we're going to end the subsidies for big oil companies, for big corporate farming operations, and the student loan industry which are wasteful of taxpayer money.
Q: How do you defend the existence of this undocumented, unconstitutional two-party system, and please don't answer that it works because it doesn't work and the people are disgusted with your antics.
A: I actually don't have a problem with the two-party system, so long as the Democratic Party is strong and actually stands for something; so long as we strongly stand to end the war in Iraq; to make universal health care available to every single American; to end the extraordinary economic inequality in this country; to lift 37 million Americans out of poverty; and to do something about the moral crisis that is global warming. So long as my party is strong and shows some backbone and courage and leads on these issues, then I don't have a problem with the two-party system.
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