Set 8 for Tea Please

I watched the Tea Party Republican debate last night with the sick fascination of a rubber necking driver passing an accident scene on the highway. I do not claim a side. I never have, but the place the Republicans have gone in the past decade has made me appear to be way more liberal than I probably truly feel comfortable with. CNN hosted the event with Wolf Blitzer as the mediator. The questions were posed by proclaimed Tea Party members present at the debate and in 3 other cities via remote. While many questions were very well stated I feel Mr. Blitzer was way too involved in reshaping the content of the question and directing how certain candidates would address them having said that, I will give the full disclosure I am not a big Blitzer fan. Here is the score card. I cannot repeat verbatim the answers, but I jotted down the parts that caught my attention. I am sure the dialogue is available word for word on the internet, so feel free to check it out. Question 1: Social security and Medicare changes. Santorum: Will reshape the both programs. He stated repeatedly he has been at the forefront of predicting the problems in both programs, and that he tells the truth. Gingrich: Obama scares folks everyday. We cannot allow President’s to threaten to withhold checks. Paul: People need to go on their own. He would not take anything away from the current receivers. Perry: Would not change for the current or about to receive, but it would change and be reformed for the middle career folks and there on. Romney: Asked Perry if he had a change a heart since Perry’s book released 6 months ago said both were unconstitutional and need to be done away with. Bachman: She would reform them, claimed Obama robbed Medicare of 500 billion dollars, and that it would be bankrupt in 9 years. Cain: Privatize social security. Huntsman: The fixes already exist in the Ryan Plan. Question 2: Balancing the Budget and cutting spending: Santorum: Prescription benefits for seniors would stay in place; cutting out fraud will accomplish the budget. Gingrich: Modernizing the government will balance the budget. Getting back the 500 billion Obama took as well. Paul: Make necessary cuts and end the unnecessary wars. Perry: Eradicate government fraud. Romney: Spending cuts. Bachman: Balanced budget amendment, stop all bail outs, people take personal responsibility and take ownership. Question 3: Plan for the Economy Gingrich: People create jobs not the government. Paul: Cut spending and remove government hindrance. Perry: Would not approve any 800 billion in giveaways, create jobs, and deregulate to allow the private sector to make the jobs. Romney: Undo NLRB blocks, reform the tax code, balanced budget amendment. Bachman: Do away with the debt ceiling that gave Obama a blank check to spend more. Cain: Install 9-9-9 plan, do away with tax code. 9% corporate tax, 9% personal tax, 9% national sales tax. Huntsman: Do away with Obamacare, end most personal tax deductions, end corporate loopholes. Question 4: Pro Business or Pro Worker Cain: Pro worker because he was one before he was an executive, his father was a janitor, worker and chauffeur all at the same time. Huntsman: Pro both, we need more workers. Question 5: Should the Fed be audited? Santorum: Should be changed from its double charter back to a single charter as it originally started. Perry: Stands by his statement Fed chair Bernanke has conducted treasoness acts. Romney: Fix it yes, but do not give Congress control. Bachman: Reduce its power greatly. She was against the bailout. Cain: Audit it and fix it. Question 6: How much of the dollar I earn should I get to keep? Gingrich: Get rid of Green tax credits. Huntsman: Reform tax code, end many personal deductions and close loopholes. Question 7: Where do you stand on the fair tax? Romney: Reduce middle class taxes. Question 8: Executive Orders: Santorum: The Texas policy is wrong and should be opt in instead of opt out. Paul: Executive orders are legal, but should not be used to legislate. Perry: I will use it to get rid of Obamacare. Bachman: Obama has used it to force insurance companies to provide the morning after pill for free. Question 9: How will you reduce the cost of healthcare? Paul: The cost comes from frivolous law suits and a weakened dollar. People should be free to choose and live by those choices and not expect the government to take care of them. Perry: Obamacare and what Massachusetts did is wrong. Romney: People need to be aware of what it cost, to them you pay a deductible then it’s free. Bachman: Repeal Obamacare, we do not need socialized medicine. Cain: Repeal Obamacare and end frivolous lawsuits. Question 10: Immigration: Santorum: Secure the border, build a wall. Perry: The federal government has failed miserably; putting 4500 pairs of boots on the ground will help. Question 11: How will you gain the Latino vote? Santorum: I am pro immigration as the son and grandson of Italian immigrants. We need to make English our official language. Perry: In Texas, if you have lived 3 years regardless how your parents brought you, if you are going through the steps to be legal citizen, then you get tuition money for school to keep you off the government dole. Romney: Latinos do not want handouts they want opportunity. Bachman: There should be no handouts, the liberals changed the immigration laws in the 1960’s that has caused these issues, and we need to go back. Huntsman: In Utah we provided a driver privilege card that was not to be used as personal id. Question 12: Energy Independence. Cain: Remove federal government blocks, rein in the out of control EPA and deregulate. Question 13: Would you decrease military/defense spending? Santorum: We need to stay put, Jihadist want to kill us and bring an end to our way of life. Gingrich: We need to refocus on the true threats. Paul: We are involved in 130 different countries militarily, defense and military spending are two different things, we need to cut unnecessary military spending and go forward with defense. Question 14: How will we secure safety for the woman and children of Afghanistan? Perry: We need to have prescience there, but bring our men and woman home. We need to help with infrastructure and build schools for those young ladies. Huntsman: We need to get out of Afghanistan and fix problems here first. Question 15: What personal thing would you bring to the Whitehouse? Santorum: I have 7 children so probably a new bedroom and more beds. Gingrich: More music and a chess set. Paul: A bushel basket of common sense. Perry: Most beautiful first lady this country has ever seen. Romney: I would return the bust of Winston Churchill back to the Oval office. Bachman: A copy of the Bill of Rights, a copy of the Constitution, and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Cain: A sense of humor America is too uptight. Huntsman: My Harley Davidson and my trail bike. As I stated these are just phrases that caught my ear and by no means do I represent them as complete answers. If some of them seem a little crazy given the question, in most cases it is because Blitzer kept interjecting and changing the question as the candidates tried to answer. I state this again specifically to the two assclowns that want to send me personal emails rather than hit the comments section. For the rest of you I actually have two trolls that want to call me a socialist and Nazi every chance they get in email form, but never just leave a comment. At times the debate got heated and Romney and Perry dominated the evening. Santorum was more even keeled tonight than normal, but hit his ignorant place again with the Jihadist comment. I think Obama was mentioned way too often. We get that you don’t agree and never will. Kudos to CNN for not jumping on yet another gaff by Bachman, but I will not let it slide. Mrs. Bachman, the Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, they are not separate documents. Bachman also brought up the 500 billion stolen phrase again. She loves to perpetuate the blind sides that have been proven wrong. Obamacare does not bankrupt Medicare in 9 years according to the CBO it adds 8 years of solvency that currently does not exist. We also found out in a Bachman and Perry spat (that I think Bachman whooped his ass on) that Perry cannot be bought for $5000.00. Sadly he did not report what his going price is, but looked cock sure he would get it! Romney, Cain, Huntsman, scare the bejeezus outta me, but came off prepared and informed. Perry was attacked on all sides and did well fighting back for the most part. As I said I believe Bachman dug up a weak spot on him and exploited it well. Gingrich, was good for jabs at Obama, but looked like an also ran the whole debate. Ron Paul said some brilliant shit, and some scary stupid shit like he always does. His brilliance does not play well with his party, the scary stuff we’ll get to in a second. Santorum as I said hid his usual self through most of the debate then opened the idiot box at the end. Now the scary, Blitzer set a scenario where a young man in his twenties decides since he is healthy he did not need major medical insurance, gets in an accident, and goes to ICU and is in a coma for 6 months, who pays? Paul started out with, ownership and accepting the consequences of your decisions. Blitzer asks, “So you just let him die?” Now it wasn’t a big section, but some of the audience whooped, hollered and yelled “YES!” This is just a few days after another group cheered the fact Perry in his stewardship of Texas has executed more death row inmates than any other governor. Good pro-life stances! No mentions of Gay marriage or God tonight…kind of surreal!