While the debates are providing ample entertainment, it would be great to have a live feed about misstatements made as they occur. While the liar moniker has stuck with Republicans creating hurdles for them to overcome when they make reasonable points, the democrats become bolder and more false in their statements as time goes on, unchecked by Republicans who are too defensive to point out lies.
In the health insurance arena, it's a mystery to me why the Republican candidates don't separate between what the Affordable Care Act currently does, which is very little in terms of the Democratic talking points and what it will do ONLY IF ITS ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS GET FUNDED OR IN THE CASE OF EXPANDED MEDICAID,ADOPTED BY STATES.
This contingency factor has been virtually neglected by Republicans who have backed themselves into a corner with their commitment to repeal Affordable Care in efforts to satisfy extremist elements within their own party. While Mitt Romney tries to retain the repeal-Affordable-Care language that also depends on the unlikely occurrence of contingencies falling into place, he's simultaneously reduced Republican efforts to a "get rid of it" approach rather than INFORMING Americans that the plan is not a fait accompli.
Tonight Democrats will likely slip in little fibs such as what's been "done" rather than what they're working on amidst attacks on Mitt Romney for his 47 percent comments.
While 47 percent was an unwise and insensitive description of a large portion of the population, it's remarkable that Mitt Romney hasn't asked the Democrats for their own explanation of fict-facts such as in terms of the increased number of insureds, how many of them are being insured at their parents' expense, meaning cost shifting rather than solving the uninsured "problem."
Likely tonight the President will criticize Mr. Romney for his comments after the Libyan incident especially with the new pleas for non-politicization of the American deaths. While heartfelt and worthy of respect, much like Sesame Street's requests for non-politicization of Big Bird by Democrats, an ambassador is by his very role a political player and therefore reflective of and relevant to the foreign policy of a nation he represents.
When asked for details about his tax plan, if Mitt Romney takes refuge in working with Congress, he must bring up that much like the Affordable Care Act, without agreement and funding from Congress and the states it is unclear what policies will become effective in the US.
Why President Obama is permitted to publicize his middle-class-out verbiage that in fact is not reflected in the truth of the American experience as indicated in a Pew Poll of 9/10/12 in which the percentage of Americans who consider themselves lower middle class or lower class has risen from 25 percent to about a third in the last four years (you can do a search of Pew Poll September 10, 2012),and that those under the age of 30 are expanding that lower class group faster than any other demographic, has not become a talking point for Republicans is remarkable.
Why the President's Executive Order that promises to further worsen the economic condition of under-30 Americans by legalizing formerly illegal immigrants for work in the US as reflective of his inability to do anything productive for the middle class has not been raised is also mysterious.
Finally, the President's jobs bill, promising a civil service middle class providing for funding for states to increase civil service workers as his shining example of middle class efforts is also stunningly ignored yet it underscores the fact that when he said the private sector middle class was fine, he meant it.
In tonight's debate Mitt Romney needs to get specific regarding how he's paying for his tax recommendations to keep the Bush tax cuts in terms of specific deductions and credits he will or will not touch. Mitt Romney also needs to clarify what loopholes he will address in the tax code. The appearance of secrecy undercuts any promise of change that could attract voters to the Republican side.
Mitt Romney should also emphasize the President's agreement with Republicans about social security.
There are valid pros and cons for each party but this twisting and turning and outright lying is muddling an already complicated decision that each voter must make.
