There was not much new ground covered on the policy issues that weren’t argued about at the prior two debates, but the third debate was definitely the most lively one so far. I’ll do a separate post on Dent’s health care comments, since there’s a lot of intellectual garbage to clean up there, and keep this one mostly to observations.
I thought Callahan turned in a much stronger performance at this debate than the others. I always hear that he’s a competitive guy, but I didn’t really see that come out at the other two debates like I did this time. He delivered his remarks authoritatively, didn’t get thrown off by Dent’s interrupting, and drove home the core argument he needed to – that Dent supported the Bush policies that caused the recession, and he is offering more of the same impotent job growth we had under Bush. He sounded confident and seemed much more well-prepared to rebut attacks on his record and the Democrats’ record.
Callahan definitely succeeded in ruffling Dent, who came off as snippy in a few heated exchanges – most notably over the failure to hold banks accountable on bonuses and golden parachutes as a condition of the bailout, and especially over his vote for electricity deregulation. He insisted that it created more choice and competition and would lower costs over time, but even Rob Vaughn had to interject that people’s electric bills are definitely higher as a result of the vote. Dent’s arguments were unconvincing and he got pissy and tried to change the subject to national energy policy instead.
It was remarkable that Dent also went to bat for the Chamber of Commerce and “Business Organizations” so many times. At one point he whined that Barack Obama was being mean to the Chamber of Commerce for flooding our elections with shadowy corporate money to elect Republicans, and absurdly claimed that Obama’s mean rhetoric about Wall Street is actually the reason businesses are not spending. This hardens my view that Congressmen should be required to pass an economics class before taking office.
I think the most notable moment in the debate came when Dent, explaining why he wants to repeal the healthcare bill, listed the 1099 provision as a policy we should repeal, since it would create too much paperwork for small businesses. Callahan pointed out that 1099 repeal came up for a vote, and Dent voted against it. Dent claimed he voted against it because it raised taxes, and the Chamber of Commerce and “business organizations” opposed it. Damn right the Chamber of COmmerce opposed it! Scott Murphy’s 1099 bill ended the tax loophole for corporations who headquarter in the Cayman Islands to get out of paying US taxes. Dent has been complaining about the 1099 provision constantly. After the individual mandate, 1099 repeal has been the centerpiece of his stump speech on health care. But in the end, Dent thought it was more important for multinational corporations to dodge US taxes in the Cayman Islands than it was to help small businesses. What a mensch.
Another favorite moment was when Jake Towne brought up monetary policy and his opposition to the second round of quantitative easing (QE2) the Fed seems likely to undertake. He then tried to get the other candidates to share their views on the Federal Reserve. Dent first tried to say he wasn’t going to get into monetary policy, but then got going and said that he’s opposed to monetizing the debt – printing money to increase inflation and inflate away the debt. But just last week Dent voted to pressure China to let it’s currency appreciate, which would have precisely the same effect as QE2 – lowering the value of the dollar in relation to the renminbi.
The remarkable thing is that Dent then admitted that he does not expect to see inflation any time soon. This is nothing short of an admission that the Republican scaremongering on the deficit is pure crap. If the stimulus spending isn’t creating inflation – which it isn’t, because there is so much excess capacity, and such a large demand for high quality assets like Treasury bonds – then the short-term debt is not an issue.
I thought Jake Towne really held his own despite being a less-experienced politician. I was impressed with his public speaking skills at both debates, but especially this one. He didn’t get as much time to talk as the other two candidates, but I think that’s partly because Rob Vaughn was accommodating about letting the candidates ramble over into issues they wanted to talk about. Jake’s monetary policy question was good, and I also thought he did a good job of representing the real conservative base position on Social Security, calling it a Ponzi scheme that should be phased out. Hopefully conservative activists are taking note that Dent is too scared to admit he even supports private retirement accounts, let alone privatization or a full-on phaseout. Towne also proposed an income tax holiday, which I imagine would be a big hit with Tea Party activists. Jake said at the previous debate that he supports eliminating the income tax. Both of the major party candidates avoided engaging with some of these more exotic positions.
We too thought Jake Towne held his own. We predict if he keeps active in local politics, he will eventually win. He was articulate and polite at the same time. He did well.
Jon do you ever have a thought regarding long term implications, or are you typical of your generation in that you can't think beyond the here/now?
What does that even mean? What are you even referring to? I largely agree with Tyler Cowen and Matt Yglesias' takes on where the country, the economy and our politics are headed. I'm not sure what that has to do with Dent's slipshod performance in this debate, and his pig-ignorant economic beliefs.
Laughing My Ass Off
November will be here soon, we shall see what the take across the country is on Obama, the Progressive Liberal Democrats and their destructive, un-American agenda
It's the spending, stupid
(among other things)
N. CEAUCESCU
What that means is I've never seen you comment, ever, on the longer term ramifications of the actions you want to take. It's as if the future will never happen, so why worry about it?
Example – there's no inflation now, so issue all the bonds you can. What happens when they reprice in a few years?
Example #2 – you obviously think business is evil. Who the fuck do you think generates the tax revenue you want to spend? You're a walking, talking example of why business does not trust Obama.
Example #3 – you need to do ALOT more research on the Chinese currency issue. Your boiling it down to an inaccurate point is ridiculous.
Example #4 – the 1099 issue is enormous for small business and needs to be addressed. It did not surprise anyone, the Democrats screwed business intentionally and hard for no benefit.
Here's something else Jon – just because a tax isn't being charged does not automatically make it a 'loophole.'
And the next time you talk about shadowy money, remember the unions (international dues) and your boss George Soros, convicted of insider trading and market manipulation.
Democrats aren't clean either Jon.
10% unemployment is an emergency, and we should act like it is. Worrying about inflation now is like saying we shouldn't put out a fire because we might get the furniture wet. Unemployment is the biggest problem and we should use every tool we have to get it down.
1) There's no inflation now and there won't be for a long time because of all the slack capacity. The right time to stop spending is when interest rates start going up. If inflation looks out of control, the Fed can simply raise rates. But for the time being, they should set a higher price level target.
2) What would ever give you the idea that I think business is evil? That's absurd. I've never said anything of the sort. I think the primary enemy of small business is large business, not the government. I think the Chamber of Commerce and other such organizations push policy that primarily benefits their largest members, often at the expense of their smaller members.
3) How am I wrong about the relative impact of renminbi revaluation. It has the same effect as pushing down "real compensation" (distinct from nominal wages) for American workers and making American-made goods more competitive. Setting a higher price level target would do the same thing – lowering the value of the dollar relative to other currencies and boosting our exports.
4) 1099 reform was a way to collect existing taxes that are routinely dodged. It is now acknowledged across the parties, and by me, that the method of collecting that revenue is likely to cost more in inefficiency than the taxes it would bring in. The remarkable thing is that Dent put the interests of multinational corporations ahead of the small businesses he's been whining about at the behest of the Chamber of Commerce – a prime example of how CoC fucks their smaller members to serve their large members. It's inexcusable.
Furthermore, while I agree that not everything that is not taxed should be, there are thousands of explicit breaks and loopholes written into the tax code exempting politically-favored industries from paying taxes. That is different from things not being taxed in the first place. These are especially pernicious because, unlike spending, they are automatically rolled over year after year with no scrutiny. I would be perfectly happy with a bargain where we reduce corporate taxes in exchange for cleaning out indefensible tax expenditures.
OBAMA : "No Such Thing As Shovel Ready Projects"
CBS NEWS (and everywhere else)
NOW the Liar-In-Chief tells us…
Time for the old propaganda machine to crank up SPIN CYCLE…
…again…
…not that it's gonna help you, Obama and the Progressive Liberal Democrats with what is coming down the pike rapidly, but, hey, why quit now?