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
No, I didn't actually doze off during the final presidential debate last night, but it was touch and go for a while. The polls this morning all agree President Obama won, but I certainly saw no knock-out punch or anything even close. What I saw was a surprising amount of agreement on the issue of foreign affairs. On many occasions Romney said he agreed with Obama's handling of (xyz). Where was the blood and broken, flying teeth? I just thought it was a boring event.
I will have to say that Obama did successfully (in my mind) call out the discrepancy in Romney's claim of a plan to generally cut spending and move towards a balanced budget all while cutting taxes across the board and increasing defense spending. That arithmetic just does not compute, and unless Romney can/will provide specifics on how he's going to do it, I'm a skeptic.
I will also agree with Obama that raw numbers of military hardware (ships, planes, etc) are no longer as important as weapons system capability and survivability. I've met many military leaders over the past dozen or so years and they all seem to agree. I sleep well.
What shocked me was the fact that Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and most of Asia except China have just disappeared. They are apparently no longer even discussed when it comes to foreign affairs. Did you hear them mentioned last night at all? (OK, Russia was mentioned very briefly, but that was it.) They've just vanished!
No, the only part of the world that matters seems to be the Mideast and SW Asia. We seem to spend ALL our time / money / effort trying to civilize those heathens, and all we ever really do is buy off a few despots and corrupt generals. All because they have oil. There isn't a damn thing there besides that. As I've said before, we need to develop our own secure sources of energy so we can quit beating our heads against the wall trying to schmooze those bastards.
OK, now I'm worked up and awake....about 12 hours late.
S
Isn't tonight's presidential debate supposed to be the one that concentrates on foreign policy? If so, let me give you a sneak preview of what to expect: Ours sucks.
This isn't really news. Our foreign policy has been retarded as far back as I can remember. Bay of Pigs? Vietnam? All of the wasted years we've spent trying to bring "peace" to the Mid-east? Now Libya and Syria? Our government is simply inept. This isn't just the Obama administration's bungling. This goes back decades.
Right now Mitt Romney and Eddie Munster Paul Ryan are saying Obama botched protecting our diplomats in Libya, resulting in their deaths. What an obvious political ploy. Shame on them!
Here are the facts Mitt: Congress....that would be the Republican controlled House and the Democratic controlled Senate, voted to CUT the funds for embassy protection around the world. (I believe I heard the number was $300M they cut.) We need to curb spending....I get it....but don't act surprised when we cut past the fat, through the meat, and into the bone, then it hits the fan because all we can afford are local hired guns to protect our diplomats. They're worthless! (Wonder if President Mitt would agree to cut HIS Secret Service detail when traveling overseas and rely on "locals"?)
Didn't I read that at about that same time we "requested" permission from the Sudanese to bring in US military personnel to safeguard our embassy in Khartoum, and they rejected it? So much for political correctness. We should have said, "We're bringing in OUR people to protect OUR embassy. If you object, we're bringing our diplomats home, and they're bringing OUR CHECKBOOK with them." Then I'll bet they couldn't have said 'approved' fast enough!
Forget about niceties in the Mid-east. It's lost on them. Just lay it out there.
(Hey, I'm retired. I have the time. I could take over and fix things if they'll just call me.)
S
The first Presidential Debate is in the can. Time to compare notes:
IMO, Mitt Romney came across as cool, collected, and very well prepared. It was like he knew the questions before they were asked, which of course he didn't. Kudos. He was aggressive, didn't have any odd mannerisms, didn't twitch, sigh, roll his eyes, etc. He addressed his remarks towards the President.
IMO, President Obama seemed to have been caught flat-footed and often fumbled with how to respond to Romney's jabs. He was definitely on the defensive. He didn't seem to be as well prepared. He looked down or nervously towards someone (Michelle?) in the audience. He had way too many long pauses and "Ahhhh's".
But the curve ball I noticed most was, who REALLY is Mitt Romney? I've said for months he was making a BIG mistake by pandering to ultra-right-wing Tea Party conservatives. He had their votes automatically by default. It will be the moderates who will be the deciding factor in this election. THEY are the ones he has to win over.
Tonight he talked straight to those moderates. Very smart politics....but very much at odds with what he's been saying before now. Example? He said he would give everyone a tax deduction basket with a specific dollar amount cap. Taxpayers could fill it with anything they wanted from a list of possible choices UP TO THAT DOLLAR AMOUNT. He specifically said the wealthy would top off their deduction basket early, and that's it. They would lose almost all of their current deductions. There's no way in hell the Tea Party would have smiled on that idea!
In other words they (the rich) would see their taxes go WAY up. That is NOT what he's been saying for the last year. If he had offered that before now Obama would have jumped all over it enthusiastically!
Another example? In his closing remarks he said as Massachusetts's governor he worked well with a legislature made up 80% by Democrats. As President he would sit down with Democrats in Congress and find common ground with them for the good of the American people.
That is definitely NOT what he's been intimating to the Tea Party crowd. If he really felt that way, why would he choose Paul Ryan as his running mate? Ryan, along with congressional Republican Young Gun leaders like Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, have been notoriously uncompromising. They are the main reason this Congress is gridlocked. It's "their way or the highway". I'm sure Paul Ryan cringed when he heard his potential boss say he would sit and sing Kum-ba-yah with the Democrats.
So was the Mitt Romney that I saw tonight, the moderate, the REAL Mitt Romney, or was tonight's Mitt Romney just a poser?
It's gonna be an interesting finish.
That's my two bits.
S
