Did you see Jon Stewart’s interview with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Comedy Central? He asked the Secretary a very simple question and that is when things got…difficult. Her inability to offer a good answer lifted the veil on the hard truth, which is that most members of the media have all but abandoned their responsibility to ask tough questions of this administration.
The day after that interview aired, I asked veteran news reporter Andrea Mitchell why it is that she and her colleagues had been giving the administration a pass on the tough questions. She too found it difficult to answer. If you haven’t yet seen our exchange, click on the image below:
The overwhelming response I received after this interview aired unearthed another truth that the administration probably would have preferred stayed buried: When the tough questions are finally asked, the American people are not happy with the answers. For example, why is it that the President, his administration and their families are not required to join Obamacare? Or, why is it okay for the President to delay the Obamacare tax penalty for a year for big corporations, but deny everyday Americans that same special treatment?
These are reasonable requests and reasonable questions. If we cannot rely on the media to ask them, then we must do it ourselves.
Here is where you come in.
I am going to utilize every resource I have to ask these questions and get them answered. What tough questions do you have for the administration? Share them with me via Facebook and Twitter and use the hashtag #ToughQuestions.
Big corporations sent their big lobbyists to Washington and convinced the President to give them special treatment. But the President needs to be reminded that he answers to the people, not special interests, and he should answer our tough questions.
Rep. Sean Duffy is a Republican who represents Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district.
