Tuesday, September 27, 2016

She played him like a three-dollar fiddle....


Did you watch the Presidential Debate last night?  What did you think?  I'm in a unique position to comment as I don't plan to vote for either of them.  As if you care, here are my thoughts:

Overall, Donald Trump had a few good ideas, but he failed to articulate them in terms voters could understand.  He often didn't connect the dots.  For example, he claimed that our trade deals to date, particularly NAFTA, were bad for working Americans.  Hillary said NAFTA was a net jobs creator for the USA.  But Trump didn't follow up with, "yes, but we lost millions of good paying manufacturing jobs and gained lots of lower paying transportation and distribution jobs.  That's a major reason our middle class is in decline."  I think he'll see that as a lost opportunity.

He said he didn't think many NATO members were paying their fair share of the organization's costs.  I tend to agree.  But he could have followed up with "those Europeans who enjoy that comfortable social safety net you're so envious of can only afford to do that because they scrimp on their own defense....they know we'll cover their a$$ if they're ever seriously threatened.  We can't afford those things for our people because we're paying to protect their people."*

But he didn't.

*Not all 28 NATO countries are stingy funding their military.  Notable exceptions include The UK and France.

Trump pointed out that there were TRILLIONS of dollars of earnings kept by American companies overseas because our high corporate tax rate prohibited them from bringing it back here.  Why didn't he expound on that by asking "why would they want to bring it back here and pay 35% when they can leave it in Ireland or the Cayman Islands and pay a single-digit tax rate?"  That might make a believable case for a corporate tax cut.

But he didn't.

When he said that he would stop American companies from moving overseas, and Hillary asked "how", he said he would put a big tax on their (now cheap) products being brought back here for sale. In other words he would start a trade war....a big no-no.  

He could have pointed out that as our tax laws are now written, companies that make a move overseas can take a one-time tax write-off for the expenses involved, often up into the $BILLIONS for large companies.  In other words, the American taxpayers are subsidizing their move....the very taxpaying workers being laid off are paying their former employers for laying them off!  

But he didn't.

Hillary let more than a few opportunities slip by, too.  When Trump said his massive tax cut (to the wealthy) would enable them to create new and expand existing businesses and jobs, all Hillary said was "Trumped-up trickle-down economics doesn't work".  Why didn't she quote some of the authoritative research (such as by the Wall Street Journal) that says there is at least $1.7Trillion in wealth sitting idle on the sidelines right now because wealthy individuals and companies can't find enough good places to invest it, and when they do, it's often overseas?  A tax cut to the wealthy will likely create relatively few new American jobs.  

A lost opportunity, Hillary.

When she pointed out that years ago Trump was sued for racial discrimination regarding the leasing practices of his properties, his comeback was, "and I settled that without admitting any guilt."   She could have said that was like a mobster saying sarcastically "I didn't do it, nobody saw me, you can't prove a thing."  It isn't that he didn't discriminate, it's just that he got away with it.  Bye-bye black vote.

But she didn't.

I could go on and on, but you saw the same thing I did.  Basically I thought Hillary looked poised and well rehearsed, while Trump was just scattershooting and rude.  Hillary goaded him and he took the bait.  She had him on his heels most of the night.

Overall I didn't get a warm fuzzy about either.  Ummm....where was the Libertarian candidate?  The stage looked plenty big enough for a third podium to me.   ;)

S



9 comments:

  1. Trump was not prepared, he did not have his talking points lined up, he let Hillary get under his skin and he had to debate against the moderator as well. Hillary was asked no questions on emails, the foundation, her trustworthiness or Benghazi and Trump failed to interject any of these issues to put Hillary on the defensive, meanwhile Trump was badgered on his taxes, birther-ism, and comments on women by direct question instead of Hillary having to work those issues in. Overall I give trump a 6 and Hillary a 8.5. and the moderator a 5.

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  2. Your assessment of the debate seems pretty accurate. People will see what they want in this debate and next weeks polls will show who the real winner was.

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  3. I think that if you're on the ballot in enough states that you could get the required number of electoral votes, then you ought to be on the stage. I still believe I'm going to skip this race and just vote in down-ticket races.

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  4. Trump was given equal opportunity and tripped over himself. His response was to blame the moderator (a registered republican) and a bad microphone. Throughout he acted like a petulant child - snorting, making goofy faces and petty interruptions. When Al Gore sighed during his presidential debate the pundits had a field day. Trump’s performance pales in comparison.

    Saying he was “badgered on his taxes, birther-ism, and comments on women” is absurd. He just as much as admitted he paid no income taxes, calling it “smart.” So, I guess all of us who do pay taxes are chumps? Only Trump drug out the birther claim for 5 years and says he was doing us a favor when everyone else recognized the scam. And, there is no question he has denigrated women. No question.

    Benghazi has been hashed and rehashed to no end, as have Clinton’s emails. Those who cannot accept the dead end findings of Congress on Benghazi and the FBI findings on the emails will continue rehash them. On a basic level of who LOOKED and ACTED presidential, it was a no brainer.

    Neither Trump nor Clinton were my first choice, however I will certainly no squander my vote on a third party candidate who stands no chance of winning. That would be the same as not voting at all.

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    1. My hope is that to build up the Libertatian Party into a viable third option next go-round. I have issues with them, but at least I increase my options by 50%.

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    2. I've been down that path also. If they were any kind of a force in elections they'd certainly be worth considering.

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  5. I watched (sorta with one eye) about an hour of it. I got so stressed out I had a hard time sleeping last night. And when I checked Facebook this morning, most of my conservative friends had posted, "Trump won the debate!!!" and most of my liberal friends had posted, "Hillary won the debate!!!"

    Sigh.

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  6. I live in Montreal, Canada, and have been Canadian all my life and all I want to say is that I did not watch the debate. From a Canadian's viewpoint, I am so tired of all the TV ads where these two clowns attack one another that the last thing I wanted to see was a debate between them. Let's just say I am happy and relieved to be a Canadian. Not to say that we don't have our own problems and issues here, but right now they seem to be minimal as compared to what is happening between Trump and Clinton. LOL! :)

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  7. Gary Johnson needed 10% in polls to be included in debates. He didn't have it. Unless we cut the corporate tax rate to as low as Ireland or the Cayman Islands they aren't going to invest money here. And if we do that we won't be getting any money anyway. Corporations are always looking for loopholes; that's why so many like GM register in Delaware.

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