Proposed Amendment: Presidential Question Time

There is an interesting idea at goldwaterinstitute.org to import the Prime Minister Question Time from Britain and adapt it to the federal and state governments. Apparently, a proposed state constitutional amendment is being considered in Arizona to do just that for the Arizona state government.

I like this idea for Congress and the president as well, as it would at least move the politicians past their part-line talking points and pithy sound bites. I applaud President Obama for the bipartisan health care summit he held late last month in an attempt to seek ideas from Republicans on health care reform. Many in the media thought it nothing more than a show on everyone's part, but I thought some very useful and insightful question and dialogue came out of it. If we had more of that sort of give-and-take, I would venture to guess that the walls of partisanship and group-think would start to weaken.

Here is a version of the proposed Arizona amendment adapted for the federal Constitution:

On request from the Congress, the president shall appear once every two weeks on the floor of Congress to receive and respond to questions from the members of Congress during periods of regular legislative session. The president shall alternate chambers, appearing on the Senate floor to receive questions from members of the Senate, then appearing two weeks later on the House of Representatives floor to receive questions from the members of the House of Representatives. Each appearance shall be for a minimum of thirty minutes and a maximum of one hour, and the majority and minority party of that chamber of the legislature each shall receive one-half of the question time.