The American Spectator

Tonight, President Obama and Governor Romney will face off in their town hall-style debate, with questions being asked by independents and undecided voters in the audience.

The four most important fiscal-related issues facing the nation are jobs, the debt, taxes, and the President’s health care law. Here are several questions, related to those topics, that independent voters may wish to consider asking, and both men may wish to consider answering:

1. Both men say they will add jobs, but President Obama’s plan relies on extremely optimistic growth rates in the economy, and Governor Romney’s plan lacks details. Will the American people get these details in this debate from the Governor, and will President Obama explain why his expected growth rates are so much higher than even the CBO’s?
2. The national debt is becoming increasingly harmful to the nation. President Obama’s plan expects to never balance the budget, while Governor Romney’s plan relies on a lack of details. Will the President chart a new course, and will the Governor provide solid details for the American people to examine?
3. A 2012 IRS study (cited and analyzed by Just Facts this week) shows 14.5% of taxes were lost to noncompliance in 2006, a total of $385 billion and an extra tax burden of over $3,800 per taxpaying household. What will each candidate do to simplify the tax code so compliance is easier, and criminal noncompliance easier to stop?
4. President Obama says he will not repeal his health care law. What will he do to at least improve it if re-elected?
5. Related, Governor Romney has said he will fully repeal it. What are the top three policies he will then use to replace the law?
6. Medicare is expected to go bankrupt by 2024. Governor Romney has said no American 55 or over will see a change to his or her Medicare. This puts us at 2023. What changes will the Governor implement before then in order to chip away at the massive costs of Medicare without changing the care people 55 and older have been implicitly promised?

A common mantra among conservatives is that this election is the most important in a generation. A common mantra on the left is that the election is about moving the nation forward or moving it back. When it comes to the above issues, both candidates have often been willing to rely on vague statements and general guidelines rather than trust the American people to make an educated choice on what each candidate offers on these tough issues. This town hall may be the last chance before Election Day for low-information voters — many of whom are really looking at the candidates for the first time in 2012 — to fully consider all the facts.