The first Democrat debate is upon us.  Hillary Clinton needs to be asked some difficult questions.  Not that CNN will.

The questions will not go away.  How is Hillary Clinton at all different from Bernie Sanders?  Hillary calls herself a “progressive.”  Bernie Sanders calls himself a  “democratic socialist.”

Here are some difficult and embarrassing questions for Hillary.

1) According to the New York Times, you voted with Senator Bernie Sanders 93% while you both served in the United States Senate.  Why should voters not believe that you are a socialist?

2) You’ve called the Republican presidential candidates extremists.  Is Bernie Sanders more of a centrist than all the Republican presidential candidates?

3) If Bernie Sanders wins the nomination, will you support him?

4) We hear that the high income earners don’t pay their fair share of taxes.  What number is a fair marginal tax rate on high incomes?

5) California’s marginal state income tax rate on someone making $49,774 is 9.3%.  Is 9.3% a fair tax for a middle income earner at the state level?

6) Should seniors who receive $150,000 in interest and dividends a year be eligible for Social Security?

7) Should clerks at the Post Office make the same amount of money as clerks at FedEx?

8) Should males be favored in teacher hiring to balance out the effect of the gender imbalance in our nation’s public schools?

9) When did you learn that your husband was a sexual predator?

10) Should Stanford University pay an endowment tax, since they can afford to pay full professors more than the average American CEO?

11) Is it fair that Asian-Americans have to have higher SAT scores and grades to get into selective colleges compared to blacks and Hispanics?

12) Since you support sanctuary cities, do you support jury nullification for jurors who don’t want to follow the law?

13) As a supporter of public education, why didn’t you send Chelsea to public schools?

14) Should taxpayers support single women who can’t afford to take care of themselves but decide they want to have children?

15) Do you support the right of American Muslims to marry their first cousins?

16) Should male porn stars make the same amount of money as female porn stars?

Don’t expect CNN moderators to ask these difficult questions.  After all, CNN views its role as providing in-kind campaign contributions to Democrats like Rahm Emanuel.  Hopefully, at some point in the 2016 election campaign, these and many other questions will be asked.  Don’t hold your breath.

Steve Bartin is the editor and publisher of Newsalert and Overpaid Government Worker.