Thoughts on the first night of Democratic Presidential Debates in Detroit:
1. All speakers, except for one who waxed poetic and philosophical and seems to be speaking as if she is living in a dream, presented solid, good ideas and were articulate, actually spoke about policy and bills that they have written and or worked on or would put forth if they are elected. It was exciting to see and hear these debaters actually substantively address issues of importance, something that the ridiculous republican roster of debaters in 2015 didn’t actually achieve doing even once.
The only thing that I would like to see the Democrats do differently is to stop the talk about how it’s so important but also how it’s going to be difficult to defeat Trump. I don’t like that type of talk because they give Trump credit that might be due to someone who is not as problematic as Trump is. But they are talking about the most damaged, destructive, and destabilizing person in American politics, ever. Trump is so tainted and corrupt and he is so embroiled in so much litigation and investigation and his administration itself is so blatantly corrupt that if they want to talk about Trump, they should do so in a way that acknowledges this about him and point out what he is doing that is corrupt and wrong and leave it at that. Then they should get back to talking about, what is important, their ideas and what they would do for the country. Trump is being investigated for being an asset of Russia for Pete’s sake. He may have committed high crimes and misdemeanors, including treason, against the country and he very publicly embraces and favors foreign despots over the security agencies in our government that are charged to keep us safe and protect us. Instead of saying how hard it is going to be to defeat Trump, which they all assert must be done, they should point out these facts. Trump and his administration, AG Barr, in particular, are fervently working to try to make the Unitary Executive Theory into a permanent reality and make the presidency into an office that is untouchable and above the law and has no checks and balances. Instead of talking about how hard it is going to be to beat Trump, if they want to talk about Trump, why don’t they talk about Trump’s vision of the presidency and not give him more credit and more power than he actually has because at least for the time being there are still some checks and balances and Trump IS still under investigation on multiple fronts.
2. Bullock thinks nuclear deterrence is good and important and wants to get back to nuclear proliferation.
3. Delaney, $65 million dollars of personal wealth, wants to tinker with raising the capital gains tax a little bit as a way to restore the tanking economy and hands off his and other 1%ers hoarded wealth with any suggestion of minimally taxing it. He says that Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth tax would be litigated forever as being unConstitutional as if that is exactly what he would want. That’s real republican hard core talk if you ask me. Is he sure he’s on the right stage?
4. Ryan, we get it, you want to create and use a new czar for manufacturing and you get some of your facts about Medicare for All wrong when the author of the bill is right there on the same stage and can correct your misperceptions in real time. Smart. The idea of having an agency charged with promoting and developing manufacturing and strengthening labor through Unions is a good one and one that should be fleshed out and become part of government. But, please answer the questions asked and don’t keep coming back to the manufacturing czar idea because we already heard that.
5. Hickenlooper may be making some bloopers. And he may be on the wrong side in demonizing social policies that are popular and very well liked, like Medicare for All, free tuition pre K through the first 2 years of college, and the forgiveness of college debt. Hickenlooper’s fear of the term socialism is archaic and not really even appropriate since he is confusing a system of governing with social policy and programs that are tax payer funded and not a system of government to be feared and/or maligned. The social policies that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are putting forth are not radical extreme ideas as Hickenlooper seems to be warning they are. For what, semantics? He wants an intraparty fight over semantics when he seems to be confused about the concept of socialism that doesn’t even really apply here in the first place?
6. I was really impressed with Mayor Buttigeig, especially his statements about war and war powers, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and everywhere else in the Middle East, his thoughtful comments on diplomacy which under George W Bush and Trump has been decimated, and the power of vision for the country and the need for a leader to communicate his/her vision no matter the age. Mayor Buttegieg very thoughtfully expressed a deep understanding of race relations and how to work on improving them which he has had recent experience doing in his own city.
7. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren speak in solid, concrete proposals of policies that would strengthen our county, make us safer, support and bolster the middle class, bring organized labor back into the process, stop the corrupt practices and standard operating procedures that revolve around money in politics and get money out of politics. Bernie and Elizabeth speak to me and articulate best what this country needs to do to dig itself out of the hole it found itself in.
8. Amy Klobuchar has some good ideas and has authored some good and important bipartisan legislation so we know she can work to get consensus to get things done. But with the other centrists who want to work within the present confines of private health insurance in the health care system and an ACE that is and has been under constant attack from the Republican Party and the courts, dismantling it piece by piece, wouldn’t it be best to switch to a system that would not be prone to these constant attacks? The GAO has confirmed that Medicare for All would save trillions of dollars and get costs of health care under control. Why do these centrists not acknowledge that fact? Instead, they sound this scary sounding alarm and false claim that somehow Medicare for All is undoable, extreme and radical when it is none of those things.
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