(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) proposed that the 2016 presidential debates focus on the critical policy matters facing the United States.  The debates should enlighten the American public about the policies and proposals that will shape the nation for decades to come, not devolve further into a personality dispute between the two candidates.

The three themes released by debate moderator Lester Holt of NBC News:  America’s direction, achieving prosperity, and securing America, leave significant room for specific answers from the candidates.

In that spirit, CAGW proposes the following questions be asked at the first debate tonight at Hofstra University:

• Secretary Clinton:  In your presidential announcement speech on June 13, 2015, you said, “We need expertise and innovation from the private sector to help cut waste and streamline services.”What are three steps you would take to run the federal government more like a business?
• Mr. Trump:  In a speech on September 7, 2016, you said, “I will ask that savings be accomplished through common sense reforms that eliminate government waste and budget gimmicks.”Would you support the creation of a second Grace Commission, which would scour the federal bureaucracy to identify and eliminate government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement?
• Secretary Clinton:  During your last full year in the U.S. Senate, you requested 292 congressional earmarks, for more than $350 million.Because earmarks are a proven incubator of corruption and government waste, there is now a congressional moratorium on the practice.Do you regret your use of earmarks during your time in the Senate, and would you support a permanent ban?
• Mr. Trump:  On healthcare, you said in a September 27, 2015 interview on 60 Minutes that, “I am going to take care of everybody,” and when you were asked how you would pay for it, you said, “the government’s gonna pay for it.”The Congressional Budget Office estimates that government-subsidized health coverage through Obamacare will cost $866 billion over the next 10 years and the Government Accountability Office has found very few anti-fraud protections exist in the program.How can you support the repeal of Obamacare while saying the government will pay for everyone’s healthcare?
• To both candidates:  As president, would you support the establishment of a commission, like the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, that would root out duplicative, wasteful, inefficient, and outdated federal agencies and then force Congress to vote, up or down, on the commission’s recommendations?
• To both candidates:  CAGW’s annual Prime Cuts database details numerous ways to cut into the growing national debt.The 2016 version contains 618 recommendations that would save taxpayers $644.1 billion in one year, which is more than enough to eliminate the estimated budget deficit of $503 billion in fiscal year 2017.Will either of you commit to submitting a balanced budget to Congress by the end of your first term?

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.

###