I would ask them things like;

Are you mad?

Do you trust your government?

What do you think is the most important single thing this country needs to do right now?

What do we need to stop doing immediately?

What do you consider your political affiliation? (I guarantee you the majority will say they are independent)

I believe if you ask simple straight-forward questions like that, the silliness of their own logic will provide a fun show (after editing).

Don't steal any copyrighted material. If your documentary is any good, you could make a dollar and loose two in the ensuing lawsuit.

Don't let the smell rub off on you.

In an effort to be fair have a pre-set criteria for the interviews you show, instead of the temptation to show just the morons or the well spoken ones (depending on your affiliation).

Maybe 1 out of every 5 interviews? Every interview?

Ask what the optimum capital gains tax would be.

Ask if they support the flat tax, and if so what rate?

Ask if they support the fair tax and maybe press them a bit and ask about a black market flourishing with a fair tax or the possibility that we would have both the national sales tax AND income tax.

It'd also be interesting to see their take on the debt. Something simple yes or no like "Would you like to see a reduction in taxes without a reduction in government spending?"

Or "If it adds a trillion to the debt every year would you support a 5% reduction in your taxes?"

I just use the numbers for an example, you would have to play with the numbers to have the question be accurate, but the 2nd one would be very interesting if you got the numbers right.

What do you consider your political affiliation? (I guarantee you the majority will say they are independent)

Ask them who they voted for in the last five Prez elections. I'm betting none of them even heard of Perot.

Ask them if they supported massively increasing the deficit under Ronnie and Herbie and George. Ask them if they supported Bubba for running surpluses.

I'm betting none of them even heard of Perot.

I would wager that this crowd is the same type that voted for Perot in 1992 and 1996. I'm surprised you would think this.

"I've heard two reasons: Taxed Enough Already, and the historical allusion. But I want to know what members think."

If the answer is the historical allusion:

a) What was the cause of the 1773 Boston Tea Party?
b) Do you consider your grievances similar?

1) Where were you in 2003 when the Government and Deficit Grew faster than all previous administrations combined?

2) Do you regret Screaming "Stay the Course" and "Four More Years" while government and the deficit grew to an astronomical size?

I really was hoping for questions from those who support the Tea Party. Nanc, where are ya? Afk? Come on, you guys (at least you two) know that I listen and that I want to hear from all sides, even if and when we vehemently disagree. : )

Thanks to all who have offered serious suggestions. Please keep 'em comin'! (The only way this won't happen is if real life--work or family--gets in the way.)

1) Where were you in 2003 when the Government and Deficit Grew faster than all previous administrations combined?

Gulping the koolaid of the RNC that said deficits don't matter.

Nanc, where are ya? Afk?

That is because for them "tea party" means oppose Obama without knowing why.

Ask them if Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter were Communists?
If not then why did they allow between 76% and 90% top tax rates for the highest income earners?

Ask them if they know who the Great East India Tea Company was and how that relates to the first Tea Party.
Ask them if they realize that their modern Tea party movement is actually on the other side of the argument from the original Tea partiers.

Facts, facts, facts. Is that all you've got?
~Riiightoid Teabagging Loons

It was The East India Company. No Tea in the name.

Taxation without representation. Seems accurate to me.

"Ask them if they realize that their modern Tea party movement is actually on the other side of the argument from the original Tea partiers."

Hmmmm...taxes have anything to do with it, Danni?

You still don't get it do you? America is primarily a center-conservative nation. In my more that three score and ten, there has only been ONE democrat president REelcted since FDR in 1944. Clinton was reelected, thanks to Perot, and never did get 50% of the vote. It might appear to someone that after four years, the public had enough of the liberal, progressive, socialist, or whatever you wanna call it, agenda...and it seems to be happening again. Clinton was successful primarily because he abandoned most of the radical stuff after 1994. I don't think these folks will do that.

Taxation without representation. Seems accurate to me.

Except the part where you get to vote for a representative in November.

There is only one place in America where people are taxed without representation: Washington, DC. They have no voice in Congress.

Taxation without representation.

So please elaborate on the details of your disenfranchisement of your right to vote.

The whiny right thinks that because their candidate lost they are taxed without representation.

What a bunch of moonbats.

Bunch of idiot Rednecks are all you will find. I know NH very well and there are a ton of them in northern NH. Places like Laconia and Berlin are jam packed with them.

"Bunch of idiot Rednecks are all you will find. I know NH very well and there are a ton of them in northern NH. Places like Laconia and Berlin are jam packed with them."

Concord is not northern NH, Jackass. And there are plenty of smart people--even some intellectuals--in NH. All over northern New England actually.

This sounds like a cool project and I look forward to seeing it. If you can get their trust, question two ought to be particularly interesting. Tea Partiers are all over the map as far as what the movement is about.

Post blog entries here to let us know how it goes.

pragmatist

I'm a Tea Party member.

Ask these

Do you believe in limited government as defined by the Constitution?
Do you support strict term limits on Federal elected officials? How many terms for a Lower house member? Upper house?
Do you support term limits on Supreme Court Justices? How long? 10years? 20? 25?
Was the United States created to be a socialist or a Communist nation?
Do you think the Federal Reserve should be Audited?
Do you believe that we should have State Legistlatures elect Senators as the Constitution orginaly stated?
Do you want the Congress to reduce spending? By how much? 5%? 10%? 15%? Per year? For how long?
Do you believe that Congress has voted for too many social (spending) programs?
Do you think we should return to a form of, if not, the Gold Standard?
Do you think that offering what amounts to bribes in Congress is (or should be) illegal?
Should lobbists be better controlled?
Are you in favor of a sales tax to payoff the national debt if there is no new spending allowed?
Do you think that English should be declared the only spoken language in the US?
Do you think all illegal aliens should be sent home?
Do you believe that if taxes were reduced on small businesses that unemployment would go down?
Do you think a set and certain Corporate tax would be a good thing to debate and then incorporate into the tax code?
Do you think that the EPA, FDA and IRS (to name just three) have too much authority over business and the American people?
Do you think that Tzars are a good way to manage an administration, regardless of party affiliation?

#21 | Posted by JimmyWallback

Look up the definition of moonbats. You'll find that it specifically refers to leftists.

"Do you think that English should be declared the only spoken language in the US?
Do you think all illegal aliens should be sent home?"

What do these have to do with the tax and spending issues that are supposedly so close to home for the Tea Party? (Immigration impact on economy?)

And there are others that seem off the beaten track, but maybe they will be covered by my "What does the Tea Party stand for?" And maybe many of these will be good follow-up questions (though many are biased or loaded in their language, so I'll have to work with that). I think what I want is some open-ended questions that lead the interviewees to go in directions that suit them, mixed with some very specific questions (not yes/no answers like the one about communism).

Anyway, thanks. Clearly, I'll have to narrow down to maybe five questions per interviewee. Otherwise, I'll spend the entire day talking to them and not listening to speakers...

And rcade, thanks for your interest--I will keep you all up to date. This is still some months away, but I wanted to put up the request before it slipped my mind.

Hey, are any of you in northern New England or traveling to come to this event in Concord?

Oh, yeah, and someone suggested preset criteria, like every fifth person interviewed. Pre-set is a good idea, but that one is too restrictive. I'm thinking I'm going to have to take a look at my necessarily limited sample, once I'm done, and try to strike a representative balance from that sample.

I also want some questions on whether or not they feel they are treated fairly by media and bloggers.

Please ask them a simple question: Do you feel that people earning wages should pay a higher tax on their wages than people pay on the interest from trust funds and stock dividends?

Follow up with: Should a working man earning $20.00 an hour pay a much higher overall tax rate than a man earning $20 million a year?

Prag,

This is a good idea.

I think the MSM coverage of the tea-party protests has been both pathetic and horribly biased.

Get your camera in there and find the truth; even if the truth is that a substantial number of said protestors are "racist, tea-bagging rednecks."

Just remember, the truth cuts both ways. If the truth points us toward that a vast majority of these protestors are genuinely concerned about government largesse sans racism - well that should be exposed if it proves to be true as well.

Seriously - cool idea. I hope you do this.

"Just remember, the truth cuts both ways. If the truth points us toward that a vast majority of these protestors are genuinely concerned about government largesse sans racism - well that should be exposed if it proves to be true as well."

YES. Absolutely. I am not out to make anyone look bad--nor to make anyone look good. I want to find out directly and share. (And I have been talking in class about citizen journalism for nearly two years now, so this is a chance to do something, and maybe model something for next year's classes. I don't have a media course this spring, unfortunately. But it could lead to something... And my colleague might have his journalism class, so maybe I'll visit them.)

"Seriously - cool idea. I hope you do this."

Thanks. I mentioned it again to my wife, who puts up with much, and she did not blink. In fact, we explained the concept of "interview" to our five-year-old. So it seems the family wall I was a bit concerned about is not one.

+++++

Folks, please keep the ideas coming. I can't fit all of your suggestions into this single day, but I will store all serious ideas for future reference--well, those that fit into my attempt at balance. : )

I mentioned it again to my wife

I seriously though you were a woman.

Seriously.

But then again, I seriously thought CalifChris was a man.

I guess I am a poor judge of gender in the realm of blogosphere! :-)

I am not out to make anyone look bad--nor to make anyone look good.

I believe you.

Seriously, please do this.

Remember this though - the tea-party protests were nation-wide. While a genuine and un-baised first-hand account is desperately needed it may not be a microchosm of the overall group be it good or bad.

"Remember this though - the tea-party protests were nation-wide. While a genuine and un-baised first-hand account is desperately needed it may not be a microchosm of the overall group be it good or bad."

Exactly. I will make clear in my voiceover that I the work is drawn from one event, and I will note the location. (I have to double-check legalities, but I believe that this is a public event, so no worries. I'll have to get waivers from interviewees, though.)

The man-woman confusion is funny. While my wife reference doesn't necessarily mean I'm a man (depending on which state I live in, eh?), I am in fact male. Always have been. : )

Pragmatist

#25 All of those questions are about Government.

Speaking the same language is essential for any nation to be cohesive. It prevents the Government from being forced to spend extra time and money on several copies of a law or regulation. Also there are many problems relating to misunderstandings between speakers of different languages. Acculturation use to happen in this country. Immigrants used to want to only be an American verses a Irishman or a German or a Englishman. Most of the immigrants of the first several decades of this country left (or fled) their home country for the Opportunity (American Dream) of this one.

"At any rate I think that you will be pleasantly surprised at many of those 'teabaggers' that you will meet. "

Please note that I have carefully avoided the common parlance.

Interviewing the organizers is a good idea, too, but I'm not sure that doesn't run against the grain of my concept. I'll have to think on that one. Thanks for the perspective.