Every Friday in our Weekend Watchdog feature, we post suggested questions for scheduled Sunday guests. You can add your own questions in the comment thread. We’ll also include contact information for the shows, so we can let them know what their viewers want asked. We’ll post a wrap-up here on the blog on Monday.
For Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. (CBS’ Face The Nation): The Inspector General of the Justice Department recently found, as reported by The New York Times, that “Justice Department officials illegally used “political or ideological” factors in elite recruiting programs in recent years, tapping law school graduates with Federalist Society membership or other conservative credentials over more qualified candidates with liberal-sounding résumés.”
As chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the civil service, what actions will you be taking to make sure the Justice Department is staffed by people whose loyalty is to the law and not to political party or ideology?
For Gov. Bill Ritter, D-Colo. (NBC’s Meet The Press): President Bush last week called for a lifting of the federal ban on oil shale leasing, which would open up your state for such development. You disagree with Bush, saying “No one — not even the companies working on oil-shale development — can tell us with any certainty how much energy it will take to develop this resource, where that energy would come from, what the impacts on Colorado’s water supplies or quality would be, and what housing, transportation and other infrastructure needs will be.”
How critical is this issue for your state, and what impact might it have on the November election?
And for Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn. (ABC’s This Week), a Weekend Watchdog Classic Question: The Associated Press reported last month, “Transportation officials’ concerns that fixing or replacing a Minneapolis bridge [the Interstate 35W bridge] would be a ‘budget buster’ may have led to bad maintenance decisions before its deadly collapse,” according to a report commissioned by your state’s legislature.
Did you have an anti-government conservative ideology that harmed public services and contributed to the tragic bridge collapse?
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Full list of scheduled Sunday show guests, courtesy of Fishbowl DC
Meet the Press: Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) and Bill Ritter (D-CO), and NBC political director Chuck Todd.
Face the Nation: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Gen. Wesley Clark.
This Week: Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), Ralph Nader and a roundtable with Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington and National Review’s Byron York.
Fox News Sunday: Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), former Reps. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Bob Barr. The “Power Player” is Nathans Restaurant owner/host of the Q & A Cafe Carol Joynt and a roundtable with Washington Managing Editor of Fox News Brit Hume, National Public Radio & Fox News’ Mara Liasson, Weekly Standard & Fox News Bill Kristol and National Public Radio & Fox News Juan Williams.
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Contact info for the Sunday shows
Contact ABC’s This Week by clicking here
Email CBS’ Face The Nation at ftn@cbsnews.com
Email Fox News Sunday at FNS@foxnews.com
Contact NBC’s Meet The Press by clicking here
Remember: always be brief, polite and respectful when contacting the media, so our voices will be taken seriously.
