{"id":6336,"date":"2011-11-10T00:02:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T08:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/10\/republican-debate-nothing-new-but-the-gaffes\/"},"modified":"2011-11-10T00:02:04","modified_gmt":"2011-11-10T08:02:04","slug":"republican-debate-nothing-new-but-the-gaffes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/10\/republican-debate-nothing-new-but-the-gaffes\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Debate: Nothing New but the Gaffes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10Debate\"<\/font><\/p>\n

Last night I sacrificed myself for your benefit.  I watched the Republican debate from beginning to end, save a brief interlude to empty three barf bags, my trash can, my pocket and my shoe.  The subject of the debate was the economy.  The Republicans had nothing new to offer, and ignored the subject of jobs, but two of the candidates gave the worst performances I have ever seen in a Presidential Debate.  Let\u2019s go over the candidates and then get Michael Moore\u2019s take on the debate. <\/font><\/p>\n

In my opinion, the debate was poorly moderated.  There were few hardball questions, but at least they stock with the questions when the Republicans tried to duck.  Not all the candidates got to answer all the questions.<\/font><\/p>\n

Rick Santorum<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

To fix the economy Santorum favors no tax on manufacturers, and allowing corporations to repatriate funds without paying taxes.  He thinks energy should not be subsidized or regulated.  He favors health savings accounts and Medicaid block grants for states.  He would not negotiate with Democrats on revenue.<\/font><\/p>\n

Michelle Bachmann<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

To fix the economy Bachmann favors lower corporate taxes, less corporate regulations, repealing \u201cObamacare\u201d and Dodd-Frank, and building the Mexican border fence.  She would raise taxes on the poor.  She blamed Obama for TARP.  She would allow health insurance across state lines and outlaw malpractice suits.  She would not renew the payroll tax cuts.  To solve the trade problem with China, she would stop borrowing from China.<\/font><\/p>\n

Newt Gingrich<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

To fix the economy, Gingrich would fire Bernanke, audit the Fed, lowered taxes and cut regulations.  He lied when asked if his firm had represented Fannie and Freddie.  He proposed seven Lincoln-Douglas style debates between himself and Obama.  He would extend the payroll tax cut, privatize Social Security for younger workers, end student loans.  He said that the trade problem with China is all because of US taxes and regulations.<\/font><\/p>\n

Mitt Romney<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Romney would ignore the Italian debt crisis.  He was on both sides of the auto industry bailout, but finished against it.  He refused to answer a question about Cain’s character.  He said he would preserve Bush tax rates, but later said he would make taxes flatter.  He would convert Medicaid to a voucher program.  He said first that states should manage health care (flip) and then that individuals should (flop).  He would extend payroll tax cuts, cut entitlements and fire 10% of the federal work force.  On trade issues with China, he would accuse them of currency manipulation at the WTO and impose tariffs.<\/font><\/p>\n

Herman Cain<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Cain would ignore the Italian debt crisis.  He claimed the charges against him are unfounded, saying that thousands of women have not charged him with harassment.  He called Nancy Pelosi \u201cPrincess Nancy\u201d.  To fix the economy, he would 9-9-9.  Instead of union rights, he said 9-9-9.  To deal with Fanny and Freddie, he would 9-9-9.  To deal with the trade problem with China, he suggested 9-9-9.  And to deal with speculation and insider trading in the stock marked, he proposed 9-9-9.<\/font><\/p>\n

Rick Perry<\/strong>: To fix the economy, Perry would let the free market make the decisions.  He proposed a 20% flat tax.  He would change Medicaid to a voucher program for states.  He would eliminate the the Departments od Commerce, Education and Energy, but could not remember Energy until much later.  What a meltdown!  The would privatize Social Security for younger workers.  He would eliminate student loans.  To deal with insider trading a speculation, he would enforce the law.<\/font><\/p>\n

Ron Paul<\/strong>: Paul would let Italy fail, regardless of consequences to the US.  He would abolish the Fed, replace Medicare with medical savings accounts.  He would eliminate Medicaid (over time), the Department of Education and student loans.  He said students can pay for college the way they pay for cell phones.  To deal with insider trading and speculation, he would get the government out of the markets\u2019 way.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jon Huntsman<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Huntsman blamed TBTF banks for the Italian debt crisis, and said that the 99% and the 1% are on the same side.  He opposes the auto industry bailout.  Instead of breaking up the TBTF banks, he would \u201cright-size\u201d them, whatever that means.  On healthcare, he would let the market bring everyone in.  He would remove all deductions and loopholes from the tax code.  He would not take China on, because the US manipulates our currency too.<\/font><\/p>\n

That\u2019s my take.  Here\u2019s Lawrence O\u2019Donnell with Michael Moore.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

As anticipated, we agree.<\/font><\/p>\n

If I had to pick a winner, I\u2019d call it a three way tie between Gingrich, Romney and Huntsman, but there were no winners here, because the Republican Party has nothing to offer that will benefit the American people.<\/font><\/p>\n

However checkered you consider Obama\u2019s record, this cacophony of clowns are eight excellent reasons to reelect him.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night I sacrificed myself for your benefit.  I watched the Republican debate from beginning to end, save a brief interlude to empty three barf bags, my trash can, my pocket and my shoe.  The subject of the debate was the economy.  The Republicans had nothing new to offer, and ignored the subject of jobs, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","category-politics","category-19-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}