The Town Hall Debate

Tonight I will watch the second presidential debate. So I will get back with you later.

Following the debate...

David Brooks and Mark Shields both felt the president won this round. Romney's numbers did not add up. You can't cut taxes and try to make it up with cutting entitlements and deductions. The numbers just don't add up.

It was very unfriendly though. They almost came to blows at one point. The president was the most civil of the two. The president continued to call Romney on his wrong facts. They must have really studied.

This is what Politifact.com says.

President Barack Obama made this charge at the first presidential debate: "Gov. Romney’s central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut, on top of the extension of the Bush tax cuts."

Not so, Mitt Romney said, repeatedly: "First of all, I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. … I’m not looking to cut massive taxes and to reduce the revenues going to the government. … I’m not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut."

So which is it?

Romney wants a 20-percent across-the-board tax cut for all taxpayers, which on its own would total $5 trillion over 10 years. But Romney says the cuts won’t add to the deficit because he’ll make up for it by eliminating some of the tax code’s deductions, exemptions and exclusions.

Which tax breaks does he want to get rid of? He won’t say.

And this is from factcheck.org:

Obama challenged Romney to “get the transcript” when Romney questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror” the day after the slaying of four Americans in Libya. The president indeed referred to “acts of terror” that day, but then refrained from using such terms for weeks.

Obama claimed Romney once called Arizona’s “papers, please” immigration law a “model” for the nation. He didn’t. Romney said that of an earlier Arizona law requiring employers to check the immigration status of employees.

Obama falsely claimed Romney once referred to wind-power jobs as “imaginary.” Not true. Romney actually spoke of “an imaginary world” where “windmills and solar panels could power the economy.”

Romney said repeatedly he won’t cut taxes for the wealthy, a switch from his position during the GOP primaries, when he said the top 1 percent would be among those to benefit.

Romney said “a recent study has shown” that taxes “will” rise on the middle class by $4,000 as a result of federal debt increases since Obama took office. Not true. That’s just one possible way debt service could be financed.

Romney claimed 580,000 women have lost jobs under Obama. The true figure is closer to 93,000.

Romney claimed the automakers’ bankruptcy that Obama implemented was “precisely what I recommend.” Romney did favor a bankruptcy followed by federal loan guarantees, but not the direct federal aid that Obama insists was essential.

Romney said he would keep Pell Grants for low-income college students “growing.” That’s a change. Both Romney and his running mate, Ryan, have previously said they’d limit eligibility.

I do think that Romney has made impressive gains. His debate style has improved dramatically, but he has made gains largely by shifting positions on issues to appeal to more centrist and liberal voters. I think he sincerely wants to fix the economy, but I doubt those shifts in position are sincere, and I think he is hiding the reality of the severe cuts he plans to introduce to balance the budget while keeping taxes low for the "job creators." His approach to making failing companies productive was draconian slash-and-burn in which he positioned himself to make money even when the companies failed ... which some 22% eventually did ... including some of his top 10 money makers.

How quickly the public forgets the rhetoric prior to the republican nomination.

The president won this one and I hope he gets a bounce out of it.