Notes From the Democrats’ Debate
Fighting off the temptation to fall asleep during the most recent Democratic — and Donald Trump-less — debate, I wrote these thoughts, observations and questions I hoped would be asked but were not. I end with my opinion about who won the debate — and who lost. No fair cheating and going right to the end. It’s a falsehood that although the U.S. spends more on health, we don’t get more — we do. Survival rates for many cancers, for example, are higher in the U.S. than in comparable developed countries.
Fighting off the temptation to fall asleep during the most recent Democratic — and Donald Trump-less — debate, I wrote these thoughts, observations and questions I hoped would be asked but were not. I end with my opinion about who won the debate — and who lost. No fair cheating and going right to the end.
It’s a falsehood that although the U.S. spends more on health, we don’t get more — we do. Survival rates for many cancers, for example, are higher in the U.S. than in comparable developed countries.
Not asked: Sec. Clinton, if women earn less for the same work as men, why don’t bosses fire men, hire women, pay them less and pocket the savings?
The rich don’t pay their “fair share”? In 2012, Mitt Romney correctly said, “47 percent … pay no income tax.” Is that a good thing, especially when the top 1 percent pay almost 40 percent of federal income taxes, while making about 20 percent of the nation’s income?
“Free” or “debt-free” college tuition? Per The Wall Street Journal, in an article headlined “College Aid Means Higher Tuition: A new Fed study shows that colleges pocket most student subsidies”: “Politicians like to wax about making college more affordable, so it’s ironic that their solutions — cheap loans and taxpayer cash — end up increasing the cost of a degree. The latest evidence that schools jack up tuition to absorb federal money comes in a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.”
Bernie Sanders said the science of climate change is settled. Really? Not according to several headlines in Forbes: “‘97 Percent Of Climate Scientists Agree’ Is 100 Percent Wrong,” “Global Warming Alarmists Caught Doctoring ‘97-Percent Consensus’ Claims” and “Peer-Reviewed Survey Finds Majority Of Scientists Skeptical Of Global Warming Crisis.” Even the respected brilliant physicist and Obama-voter Freeman Dyson disputes the alleged climate-change consensus.
Where is the criticism of Obama for the plight of the black middle class? Even left-wing PBS’ Tavis Smiley recently said, “On every leading economic issue … black Americans have lost ground.”
Not asked: Will any of you utter the words “radical Islam”?
Not asked: Secretary Clinton, if George W. Bush’s getting rid of Saddam Hussein was a mistake, why did you join with the French and British in getting rid of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi?
Not asked: Secretary Clinton, if ridding Saddam was a mistake, why throw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak under the bus — and attempt the same with Syria’s Bashar Assad?
Not asked: If Obama’s Iraq pullout was not a mistake, why did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs chairman want a stay-behind force?
Not asked: On guns, how many Americans use guns every year to save their lives and the lives of their families? What’s the number? Does it matter? Is it relevant?
NBC claims the Democratic candidates have “big differences.” Really? This was a pillow fight.
Clinton: Let’s “build on” Obamacare.
Sanders: Health care “for all.”
Same difference, slightly different pace.
Not asked: If Obamacare is so wonderful, why does it remain so unpopular with Americans?
Not asked: What’s the difference between “universal health care” and “single-payer”?
Not asked: In 1993, Harry Reid urged Trump-like asylum restrictions, visa fraud punishment, border security, ending birthright citizenship. Was he a bigot?
Not asked: The GOP’s diverse slate of candidates looks like the U.N., while the Democrats’ slate is as white as an Idaho picket fence. If Republicans are the party of exclusion and racial intolerance, why not a single Democrat of color for president?
Not asked: Secretary Clinton, alleged rape survivor Juanita Broaddrick says after her rape by Bill Clinton, you verbally intimidated her. Did you?
Not asked: Bill Clinton said his North Korea deal would “freeze and then dismantle” its nuclear program. Will Obama’s Iran deal turn out better?
Not asked: Democratic icon John F. Kennedy advocated tax cuts, by percentage, far steeper than those of George W. Bush. Was Kennedy wrong?
Democrats supposedly “believe in science.” As in 2 + 2 = we can tax just “the rich” and raise all the money needed for old and new programs.
Not asked: The National Taxpayers Union says Obama’s latest State of the Union proposals would cost $17 billion per year. Who pays?
Never mentioned: San Bernardino terror attack; Paris attacks; Mali attacks; Chattanooga terror attacks; terror attack on Philly cop.
Phrases not uttered: “national debt”; “entitlement reform”; “FBI probe of Clinton Foundation donations and influence.”
Words not uttered: Benghazi; email; stand down.
What we learned from the debate: Democrats have convinced half the country that there’s a free lunch and the Republicans are stopping them from eating it. And “millionaires” and “billionaires” are the new “n” word.
Who won the debate? Obama. Polls find almost two-thirds of Americans believe the country is on the “wrong track,” and the majority of Americans decisively disapprove of the president’s job performance economically, in foreign policy and his health-care law. But there was no real criticism of the president.
Who lost the debate? The American taxpayer.
COPYRIGHT 2016 LAURENCE A. ELDER
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