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4 Thoughts on the GOP Debate

January 25, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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1) John McCain seemed to have no idea what the President's Working Group in Financial Markets is—in response to a Ron Paul question—even though the "plunge protection team" has been in the news aplenty since last August's credit crisis and a fave topic for the more conspiracy-minded folks out there. (More to come on this.)

2) Again, no one seemed to notice that Mitt Romney's tax plan—eliminating investing taxes for the middle class, basically creating a progressive consumption tax—is really every bit as radical and sweeping as Mike Huckabee's Fair Tax. I'm sure the Democrats will notice and attack it for favoring capital income over labor income.

3) Tim Russert asked a question about Social Security and how Alan Greenspan saved it in the 1983. And McCain, in the past, has referred approvingly to the Greenspan Commission. Yet Greenspan obviously didn't save Social Security. The system's long-term solvency went back into the red in 1984, and we are still debating the issue today. Greenspan just patched it by jacking up payroll taxes and extending the retirement age. So is McCain, like Barack Obama, in favor of hiking payroll taxes? No one asked. Romney, though, seemed to lay out a marker about his Social Security plan:

We're going to have to sit down with the Democrats and say, let's have a compromise on these three elements that could get us to bring Social Security into economic balance. What are they? Well, No. 1, you can have personal accounts where people can invest in something that does better than government bonds—with some portion of their Social Security. No. 2, you can say we're going to have the initial benefit calculations for wealthier Americans calculated based on the Consumer Price Index rather than the wage index. That saves almost two thirds of the shortfall. And then No. 3, you can change the retirement age. You can make—push it out a little bit. And so those are the three arithmetic things you can do.

4) Again, there was no follow-up from Romney on his proposed "Reagan Zone of Economic Freedom", a sort of alternative to the World Trade Organization and the Doha Round of world trade talks. Sounds like a big idea.

Tags:: debates,; 2008 presidential election,; economy,; taxes,; Republican Party

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thank you .. great article

lauren of PA 11:12PM January 26, 2008

1. S.S. TAX SHOULD APPLY TO "ALL" INCOME INCLUDING CAPITAL GAINS.
2. FOREIGN IMPORTS FROM LOW WAGE COUJNTRIES SHOULD BE CHARGED S.S. TAX TO OFFSET THE LOSS OF JOBS AND THE LOW WAGES PAID IN CHINA AND INDIA
3. INFLATION INCREMENT FOR S.S. SHOULD BE AT 75% OF COLA
4. EARLY RETIRESS WOULD ( 62 - 63 ) WOULD HAVE THEIR S.S. BENEFITS REDUCED, FURTHER, AT LEAST BY 3 - 4 %

AL SURWIN of CA 8:20PM January 26, 2008

You are correct. Ron Paul IS quite concerned about the Plunge Protection Team, alias "President's Working Group in Financial Markets". It needs a little sunshine. There is absolutely NO Congressional oversight. And this group seems to be quite inventive in their interventions into the private non-government financial markets. This potentially could lead to abuses if there is not transparency and openness, at least in retrospect!!
We each seem to have our own major issue(s) that make their choice for President seem like the best one. The economy is a big one for me. My question is: Would someone tell me why we should NOT elect Ron Paul?
The rest, with Richardson and Kucinich out, seem to be talking crazy talk (or did last week, who knows this week!) about our military adventures in the Middle East. Additionally, no one else seems to understand the problems with the economy, inflation, and out of control deficit spending. Inflation is going to eat us alive, as it has already started to do so. Do you really believe that the REAL inflation rate last year, the rate that was used by the government for Social Security check increases this month, was 2.3%? Just look at the price of gold up 30% in 2007, now at an all time high and getting higher!
One can not talk about tax cuts without ALSO talking about cutting spending. We have a $9 trillion debt (nearly double since 2000) that must be paid so we can afford Social Security and Medicare. The interest payments will go sky high when we begin to fight inflation with higher Federal Reserve bank rates.
And we must stop inflation or everyone's life savings will go down the tubes, along with the middle class, like what has happened to the middle class in most countries south of our border. And do not forget Universal Health Care, which is coming down the tracks right at us, unless Republicans begin to understand the seriousness of runaway deficits and inflation. And start educating the country. A Democratic President will surely not fight inflation like Volcker and Reagan did!
Please vote Ron Paul and save the country from bankruptcy abroad and at home!

DenisL of MO 4:55PM January 26, 2008

4 Thoughts on the GOP Debate

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