Mock Questions for Tonight's Presidential Debate

[Cold_Zero]

Just wanted to throw this out there. If you were attending the Town Hall Debate and were selected to ask a question to either candidate what would your one question be? No commentary please, just questions.

Mine would be:"Senator Obama, how do your policies differ from that of the Teacher's Unions?

[audtatious]

Senator Obama, can you explain to me what happened during your three week trip to Pakistan and how it enhanced your foreign policy experience?

[ishkabibble]

Senator McCain, is this a "gotchya" question?

[AZhitman]

That would be "gotcha".

So far, more of the same from both candidates.

Hell, I'll cast a vote for the first one that says something innovative, new and refreshing.

[dusred]

Wow, there isn't much hope for either candidate.

I wish we could elect the VP's and let the P's be the new VP's.

[Jesda]

I wish they would all retire.

[ishkabibble]

That would be "gotcha".

I was speaking Alaskan.

McCain's going to bail out homeowners? LOL. BRB, going to go buy a house in Portland that I can't afford and then get my mortgage re-valued on your dollar.

EDIT: I thought McCain was supposed to be the master of the town hall format? At best, he tied.
Modified by ishkabibble at 12:32 AM 10/8/2008

[rmezz13]

The whole thing was pretty dull... The debates suck this time around, but the speeches are a lot better this time around... hmmmm I still lean right tho. Oh but i did like how Obama stated that 95% of small business owners make less than $250k annually... I know some people who own some really small business's that make $500k+ His middle class tax relief is never gonna happen and never gonna pass, and never gonna work. Bottom line. When they do tax breaks for everyone, the richer get more relief because they pay wwaaayyyy more than i do. If the rich man decides to take his business and money elsewhere because everyone else is getting a break then everything is screwed. Think of it this way...10 guys go to a bar every Thursday for a drink. The tab always comes to $100. The first guy who is the richest and makes the most money annually pays more than everyone else. He pays 30% = $30Another one of the guys would have a salary of say a small business owner and he makes pretty good money so he pays 20%= $20 out of the $100 tab. Now 5 of the guys are considered middle class so they each pay $10 = $50 all together, and the last three are lower class / government dependent. Do you see where i am going with this... The bar one day decided to give the guys a 50% break on the bill, there for the rich man only payed $15, the small business owner payed $10, and the 5 middle class men payed $5 each, leaving the last 3 men with no extra money in there pocket. So as you can see the rich man saved $15, the second richest saved only $10 and the 5 middle class saved $5 and then the government dependent men got nothing. Well the middle class men and the lower class people all got together and talked about how unfair it was the rich man got so much money back. So this ticked off the rich man and he decided that next Thursday he would go to another bar in which he invited the small business owner to join him, and he accepted. So that Thursday the 5 Middle Class men and the 3 broke Joes met at the bar, and the tab came to $80... this would be $10 a man but the government dependent men have no money, and the middle class men don't make enough to cover the tab this time, therefore the middle class is forced to pay more... And thats an example of what would happen if there was an uneven tax break/relief....

[HashiriyaS14]

I think McCain was trying to see how many times he could say "My Friends" in a single sentence. It was like the "meow" game from Super Troopers.

Anyway, I think they tied at best, and at worst (for McCain), Obama came out slightly ahead.

What was with McCain endorsing the negotiating of oustanding mortgage principals? That's not very Republican, that's going to piss off an awful lot of his supporters.

The gloves DID come off a little more this time, which I was happy to see, on both sides.

[AZhitman]

Not a bad debate.

BO looked very relaxed, but at times "smug". I think his arrogance, while it may be misinterpreted, is pretty apparent at times. That's ok - There are some guys on Capitol Hill who can fix that... he may want to stock up on Band-Aids and ice packs.

McCain irritated the piss outta me with the "my friends" thing, and I can't believe someone hasn't told him to KITFO. I think he did relatively well given the questions asked.

Neither candidate (duh) really did a good job of answering the questions specifically and clearly, and both chose to use the questions as a springboard into a rambling canned diatribe on their "plan".

I'd still like Obama to quit telling us what America NEEDS and tell us what he's planning to DO (and HOW).

[HashiriyaS14]

I just used "control F" on the transcript of the debate.

19 times.

McCain said "my friends" 19 times.

Obama has definite plans for what he plans to do, and how and why, but he appears to have made the conscious decision not to get into details in speeches and debates. I suppose someone is telling him that people are reacting better to generalities than to details. I still sorta wish he'd provide details, but ultimately it's smart for him to do whatever people are reacting better to.

The website and "Audacity of Hope" outline pretty well what all he plans to do, where he plans to get the money, and why he wants to do it.

And yeah, both candidates used the questions to hit their talking points, which is probably the smart thing to do, but of course it wears after awhile.

[audtatious]

Obama has his "Blueprint For Change" which is available here:

http://www.nicoclub.com/Matt/O...e.pdf

While starting to look at it, the first "At a Glance" section starts with this:

"A Leader for ReformObama reached across the aisle and challenged leaders of both parties to pass historic ethics reforms both in Washington and Springfield, IL. Unlike other candidates, he refuses to accept campaign contributions from PACs and Washington lobbyists."

Based on his record, Obama has voted with the Dem majority 97% of the time and the only time he has ever reached across the isle were for noncontroversial issues like the bill to post Gov contracts online. We all know McCain will do it as he has pissed off the Rep party at times for it.

I'm not sure I can even read all the rhetoric in that doc

[HashiriyaS14]

I'm not sure I can even read all the rhetoric in that doc

You're changing the subject.

We're not talking about any claims about his having reached across the aisle. You just inferred that you think his speeches and debate performances give insufficient detail in regards to the WHAT/WHY/HOW.

I agreed, and I pointed you to where that detail could be found. It can, in fact, be found there. I didn't say it was devoid of political content or spin, it's his own frickin' website, but it DOES spell out, in decent detail, how he plans to accomplish all the stuff he says he wants to accomplish.

Neither candidate's website is going to be devoid of spin, that wouldn't make sense. Both sites are, however, good sources of information on their proposed policy initiatives.

[barrigas14]

Thought it was better than the first. But damn, McCain worries me that he is going to die soon. He walks around all stiff and looks like it's a problem for him to move around.

I really did like McCain, I did, but the whole Palin thing, really and truly brought me off his boat. I can't imagine if McCain passed and she took over, what would happen. It would scare me.

Regarding the Economy and when asked "what would they have to limit or cut," that's like the question "is Russia still the evil empire." You can't really answer those types of questions because 1) who knows what you are going to cut, and to say something now, could end your chances at presidency. And 2) everything they want to happen will more than llikely not happen.

For you information, some fast checker stuff...

Some examples:

McCAIN: Said one way out of the financial crisis is to "stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us."

THE FACTS: Although he didn't spell it out, he was referring - as he has in the past - to purchases of oil from countries hostile to the U.S. The figure is inflated and misleading. The U.S. is not spending nearly that much on oil imports and roughly one-third of what it does spend goes to friendly countries such as Canada, Mexico and Britain.

---

OBAMA: "I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us. It hasn't worked out that way. And so now we've got to take some decisive action."

THE FACTS: McCain has indeed favored less regulation over the years but supported tighter rules and accountability on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years before the start of a financial crisis prompted in part by those giant mortgage underwriters. Obama was not a leader in that unsuccessful effort. Some of the current problems can be traced to legislation passed in 1999 that lifted many regulations over the financial industry. That deregulation was championed by then-Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, a McCain supporter, but also by President Clinton, who signed the legislation, and by former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, now a top Obama economic adviser.

---

McCAIN: Said he would provide a $5,000 refundable tax credit for families to buy health insurance "rather than mandates or fines for small businesses as Senator Obama's plan calls for."

THE FACTS: Obama's health care plan does not impose mandates or fines on small business. He would provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on health premiums paid on behalf of their employees. Also, large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or contribute to the cost of coverage would be required to pay a percentage of payroll toward the costs of a public insurance plan. But small businesses would be exempt from that requirement.

---

OBAMA: Said McCain's proposal to give people a tax credit in exchange for treating employers' health insurance contributions as taxable wages amounts to "what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away."

THE FACTS: Obama's suggestion that McCain's health care plan is a wash for families is misleading. McCain offers families a $5,000 tax credit to help them buy health insurance. The corresponding increase in taxable wages would result in a much smaller cost than the value of the tax credit, at least at first. Over time, the value of the tax credit may diminish as premiums rise. However, the Tax Policy Center estimates that McCain's plan would increase the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years - mainly because it would lead to less tax revenue coming in, meaning it is a true tax break overall.

---

McCAIN: Complained that Obama's "cronies and friends" had received money from Fannie and Freddie.

THE FACT: McCain has his own ties to the mortgage giants. Rick Davis, his campaign manager, has been a focus of attention because Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae paid him or his lobbying firm more than $2 million dating back to 2000.

---

OBAMA: "Actually I'm cutting more than I'm spending so that it will be a net spending cut."

THE FACTS: Obama has many ambitious plans to spend more taxpayer dollars on a variety of federal programs, including clean energy technologies and job training. He's said he'll cut pork-barrel programs and the costs of the war in Iraq to pay for it - as well as raise taxes on the wealthy - but the specifics of his new spending plans greatly outweigh the few spending cuts he's identified.

---

McCAIN: Said Obama had voted for tax increases "94 times."

THE FACTS: This inflated count, heard before, includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.

---

McCAIN: Said Obama supported a congressional earmark of "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"

THE FACTS: McCain's phrase suggests Obama spent $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment that projects charts and text on a wall screen. In fact, the money was for an overhaul of the theater system that projects images of stars and planets for educational shows at Chicago's Adler Planetarium. When he announced the $3 million earmark last year, Obama said the planetarium's 40-year-old projection system "has begun to fail, leaving the theater dark and groups of school students and other interested museum-goers without this very valuable and exciting learning experience."

[audtatious]

You're changing the subject.

We're not talking about any claims about his having reached across the aisle. You just inferred that you think his speeches and debate performances give insufficient detail in regards to the WHAT/WHY/HOW.

I agreed, and I pointed you to where that detail could be found. It can, in fact, be found there. I didn't say it was devoid of political content or spin, it's his own frickin' website, but it DOES spell out, in decent detail, how he plans to accomplish all the stuff he says he wants to accomplish.

Neither candidate's website is going to be devoid of spin, that wouldn't make sense. Both sites are, however, good sources of information on their proposed policy initiatives.

I posted the link in regards to "I still sorta wish he'd provide details, but ultimately it's smart for him to do whatever people are reacting better to." and I made a comment about it.

As far as anything else he followed the same track he always has. He's going to do "X" without showing how he is going to pay for it. There are no details on his plan concerning financial requirements nor impact. McCain does not either but he is going in as a reformer in that he is going to cut Gov waste.

I'd like to see more detail on both but every time I hear Obama speak it's about how he plans on implementing new initiatives including sending money to the UN and other countries. The only thing I hear from him about paying for it is implementing new taxes and windfall profits against corporations. That does not do it for me.

[AZhitman]

[Obama has] said he'll cut pork-barrel programs and the costs of the war in Iraq to pay for it - as well as raise taxes on the wealthy - but the specifics of his new spending plans greatly outweigh the few spending cuts he's identified.

This is all i needed to see.

You can't "cut the cost of the war in Iraq" - It's already started, Nitwit. It doesn't MATTER if you are for it or aganist it. The fact remains that YOUR "exit plan" is no different than anyone else's, and the bottom line is, we're committed to spending. A lot. In the Middle East.

So STFU with saying "ending the war frees up money". It don't.

Raising taxes on the wealthy... Hmmm. Am I wealthy? Not really. Not yet. Do I intend to be wealthy? Hell yes. Not the precedent I want to see set.

And his "small business owners making under $250K" comment shows how ignorant he is to all things business. Having never RUN or OWNED a business, he can't be expected to know, but even a tiny biz with 2-3 employees can bring in a quarter-mill a year. That's NOT a lot of money for a small business, and if the ones making MORE than that are gonna get hit, there's going to be a LOT of small businesses closing. A LOT.

Bah.

What was it telco said? No one wants to hear the truth.

How right he was.

[HashiriyaS14]

The only thing I hear from him about paying for it is implementing new taxes and windfall profits against corporations. That does not do it for me.

No, you've just about got it. It's Tax-And-Spend. Not too complicated.

What's more complicated and less straightforward is the supply-side voodoo that is continually advocated by the other camp and that, since the days of Reagan, has never been consistently shown to work on a macroeconomic scale. It may work in mom and pop terms, but not for the whole country.

EDIT for Greg:

And his "small business owners making under $250K" comment shows how ignorant he is to all things business. Having never RUN or OWNED a business, he can't be expected to know, but even a tiny biz with 2-3 employees can bring in a quarter-mill a year. That's NOT a lot of money for a small business, and if the ones making MORE than that are gonna get hit, there's going to be a LOT of small businesses closing. A LOT.

^^NO

He is, quite obviously, not talking about $250,000 in REVENUE for the small business. It's true that many small businesses bring in less than $250k in REVENUE.

But you don't tax revenue, do you? No you don't. You tax Net Income, and Net Income is AFTER you've paid all your bills, all your employees, and often, yourself.

If you've still got $250k left over after doing ALL that, you're pretty good-sized for a "small business", methinks.

[barrigas14]

And his "small business owners making under $250K" comment shows how ignorant he is to all things business. Having never RUN or OWNED a business, he can't be expected to know, but even a tiny biz with 2-3 employees can bring in a quarter-mill a year. That's NOT a lot of money for a small business, and if the ones making MORE than that are gonna get hit, there's going to be a LOT of small businesses closing. A LOT.

Anyone have any statistics on this? I read some where that the ave. small biz makes $236K a year. They didn't say if it was revenue or what. They also stated that they employ 52% of the US population. This was coming from a McCain supporter...

I really want to know. DAMN WORK!

[AZhitman]

I'm not convinced either way... I don't necessarily doubt what Hash is saying, but the problem is, BO talks in vague generalities, and as we've seen, he's not above stretching the truth to suit his needs.

[ishkabibble]

This seems to be a good article related the small business/$250k income topic:

http://www.cbpp.org/8-29-08tax.htm

Summary: "Only 1.9 percent of filers with any small-business income are projected to face either of the top two income tax rates in 2009."

Be sure to read up on the difference between revenue and income before you try to tackle that tough article, though

[HashiriyaS14]

This seems to be a good article related the small business/$250k income topic:

http://www.cbpp.org/8-29-08tax.htm

Summary: "Only 1.9 percent of filers with any small-business income are projected to face either of the top two income tax rates in 2009."

Be sure to read up on the difference between revenue and income before you try to tackle that tough article, though

^^Yep.

McCain's "small business" criticisms of the Obama tax plan are scare tactics based on the general ignorance of most people in regards to how businesses are taxed.

You tax the bottom line, not the top line. Simple Accounting 101.

Any "small business" (however that is defined) that is making $250,000/year AFTER paying all expenses, including payroll, is very very successful indeed. I know new car dealership owners who aren't clearing that much money.