Live Blog of the (10/18) GOP Debate!

Hello all, this is my first time doing this. I hope you all enjoy it. There’s been a minor change of plans. I’ve mangled my whole preview idea. Now, the previews of Ron Paul/Rick Perry and Mitt Romney/Rick Santorum will appear here on Thursday and Friday, respectively. So, if you’re keeping track at home, you’ve gotten (or will get) a 1/2 a preview, a review/live blog of the event, and then the other half of the preview for said event. Ugh, I’m trying. I’m just so bad with dates. I think I’m a couple of years from forgetting my own birthday. On to the debate, coming to you from Las Vegas.

8:00 PM: Occupy Las Vegas is outside the pre-show, chanting, drowning out the talking heads, the night is looking up.

8:02: Wondering how long till the first Occupy Wall Street question.

8:03: Just 7 candidates tonight, Huntsman is out (no reason given). Maybe he thought it was Thursday like I did.

8:05: Crowd gives the Magnificent Seven a standing ovation. And, they move into the National Anthem. What the hell?!?! This isn’t a football game.

8:06: No military flyover inside the auditorium

8:08: Santorum slips in a mention of his 7 children during intros. I think the kids are props (more on this in Friday’s post).

8:09: They span the crowd and Wayne Newton is in the building! He looks like a Madame Tussauds wax statue at this point, loads of makeup. Wait, there’s a Madame Tussauds in Vegas, that might be the statue.

8:12: Cain’s 9-9-9 plan gets attacked out the gate. Santorum states that it will raise taxes on 84% of the population (that’s actually true). See you Herman, it’s been fun.

8:15: Bachmann sounding like a normal human being on the 9-9-9 plan. She used to be an IRS tax attorney.

8:16: Perry drops his first letter “g” off of a word. The winning word was “fixin”. (re: the economy)

8:18 Ron Paul comes out for a 0% federal income tax rate, no word on how roads and stuff will be paid for. Maybe we can drive our cars on our freedom from taxation? Who knows, he’s old.

8:20: Romney comes out for a lower corporate income tax. He’s banking on people not knowing that 68% of corporations don’t pay them anyway.

8:22: Newt’s up and he’s for lower corporate taxes too (see above).

8:23: Bachmann is for raising taxes on the working poor, saying they should pay something. Ignoring the fact they pay state/local taxes, payroll, and sales taxes. And, it’s of course, a higher percentage of their income.

8:24: Bachmann gets the first “Obamacare” (OC) reference in tonight. It’s usually her.
 
8:26-8:29: Romney gets the 2nd OC reference in, Santorum hits back, saying that OC was based on Romney’s health care bill in Massachusetts (this is actually true). Now they’re arguing, nice. The health care bills will be addressed in Friday’s post.

8:30: Whoa, Santorum hits back with a “RomneyCare” (RC) reference and slipped an OC reference in the same sentence. Double talking point win! And, I think you have to take a shot, if you’re playing the GOP/health care drinking game at home.

8:31: Oh no! They pulled Anderson Cooper (AC) in. He just said “OC."

8:32: These things take forever to go to a commercial. Shut up guys, need a bathroom break here.

8:33: Newt and Mitt fighting. Wow, Newt slips in a “HillaryCare” (Clinton’s 90′s health care plan) reference. These f’ers have nicknames for everything.

8:34: Bachmann comes out for repeal of ObamaCare (dammit now they’ve got me saying it), crowd cheers. The Republicans want the freedom to die without health insurance.

8:35: Thank god or Ronald Reagan. Commercial!!  BRB

8:38: AC with 2 more OC references (I should have put an abbreviation guide in this). CNN really sucks. Ron Paul also joins the OC bandwagon.

8:39: Cain joins the OC bandwagon. Everyone in the pool, the water’s fine!

8:41: Perry attacks Romney on him hiring illegal immigrants for house work, more arguing, Romney dickish-ly says, “it’s been a couple of tough debates for Rick.” The best show on TV.

8:43: Romney hits back on Texas giving illegal immigrants in-state tuition rates for colleges (that’s actually true). Romney is in full rich guy, douchebag mode here.

8:45: Cain wants a 2,000 mile, electrified fence on the Texas-Mexico border, to either keep us in or the Mexicans out. But, if one these squids win, that fence will be keeping us in. It will be a reverse run for the border.

8:47: Perry wants drones to keep out the Mexicans, who will do the jobs we won’t do? He probably didn’t think it that far through.

8:49: Bachmann comes out for English as the country’s official language. That’s strange, I kinda thought it was already. Idiots applaud.

8:51: Perry tries to bring up Mitt’s illegal immigrant worker issue, crowd has moved on, boos Perry. Goodbye Rick.. I’ll be able to sleep knowing there won’t be another Texas governor in the White House for a while.

8:55: 55 minutes in, no mention of war, Wall Street, or taxes. There has been about 50 ObamaCare references and 30 references to a big fence. Priorities.

8:58: There’s been a lot of talk about Mexicans coming in, no mention of our sneaky neighbors to the North.

9:00: Ron Paul makes the first anti-war comment, took an hour, but we’re at the big stuff.

9:02: If Droopy Dog were a human, I think he would look like Ron Paul.

9:03: Rick Perry drops a George Bush-esque “nucular” (re: energy. not blowing up another country)

9:09: First Occupy Wall Street (OWS) question. Cain stands by his “lay off Wall Street” comments from a few days ago. Crowd cheers. It’s the Twilight Zone.

9:10: OWS question comes to Ron Paul, he looks like he was dozing a bit just before (he’s 76). Might be pass his bedtime. Get him some warm milk during the next commercial.

9:11 36 minutes since the last commercial. This is grueling.

9:13: Mitt dodges his flip-flop on the OWS protests, true to form (will be addressed in Friday’s post)
9:14: Lord Ronald Reagan (I’m figuring this is who Repubs pray to) has blessed me with another commercial break.

9:21: Newt’s going on about morality and faith. I think he should wear multiple wedding rings, like the “Big Love” guy.

9:28: Another question to Ron Paul, looks as though it wakes him up. But, he does speak about military cuts, ending wars, etc (will be addressed Thursday, I’m with him on this)

9:32: Santorum doesn’t want to cut “one penny” from defense. Time for facts: The US spends more than the other top 20 countries, in military spending, combined. So, you could probably find a few pennies.

9:34: Question from the audience: person wants a stop to all foreign aid. More facts, foreign aid is about 1.5% of the budget, defense is about 15%. So, we can cut foreign aid, but not one penny from defense, seems reasonable.

9:35-9:45: More bickering, another commercial, blah, blah, blah, Obamacare, low taxes, blah, blah, Romneycare…I’m getting tired. It’s all starting to sound the same.

9:52: Another standing ovation. Who knows why? Maybe they’re just happy its over.
No clear winner tonight. Clear loser: the American people

See you soon,
James

Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part IV, Romney/Santorum

Hey folks,
I just realized at the end of the last week, I gave you a Shakespearean quote. And, I’ve been using Roman Numerals for a few days now. I think I have to institute a dress code to read this blog. So, long t-shirts, baggy jeans, or Timberland boots are not allowed when reading the blog. I have to make sure this stays classy. I’ve set the bar pretty high.

Ok, now that some of you have changed, let’s get to Part IV of the GOP Debate preview. If I’m being honest, I’m sad this preview is over. I’ve had fun exploring the crazy the last few days and I’m going to miss these people.

Mitt Romney:

Romney is the former Governor of Massachusetts. During his time there, he enacted a health care bill to extend coverage to all citizens of the state. It was the model for President Obama’s health care bill. So, in the eyes of today’s GOP, this is a negative. The Republican spin doctors are real clever with names and branding. So, Obama’s health care bill became known “Obamacare”. It doesn’t take a genius to see where this is going. Romney’s bill was called “Romneycare”. Tim Pawlenty, thought he was being cute, and called it “Obamney-Care” during a debate. He is now out the race. Politicians and jokes are like oil and water.
Romney has 5 children (thoughts on this later). He was a businessman before politician. He made his money buying companies, breaking them up, and selling the pieces at a profit. The company’s name is Bain Capital. Here’s Romney (center) with his Bain buddies. They made so much cash, they literally posed for pictures with money. One guy has money in his mouth. I guess this is what rich folks do for fun. And, I promise you will hear Romney or others say we need someone who understands the business world in the White House. This narrative does not hold up when you look at the facts. When Romney was at Bain, the process of buying, selling and chopping up companies led to thousands losing their jobs. So, beware of the “business man as president” talking point. I have to go into that in another post. But, this line of thinking does not mesh with how you run a country during slow economic growth, recession, or a depression.

Romney is not well liked in the Republican party either. He is a notorious flip-flopper. He was pretty moderate when he won in Massachusetts. Here’s a wonderful video of him taking both sides of a few issues as the years have gone by. Video is under 2 minutes:

A few years ago, another Republican candidate (in 2008), Mike Huckabee said he looks like, “…the guy who laid you off…” It must be the polished, purposely combed-in gray, Just for Men look of his. And, if he wins the nomination and beats Obama, you can assume he will take it easy on Wall Street. He’s collected 7 million in donations from them and we still have 13 months to the election. He also thinks of corporations as people (video). This is a big point of protest at these occupations now (will be detailed in a later post). Romney is also socially awkward. At an appearance, he said to a bunch of unemployed people, that he too was unemployed. Even though his net worth is estimated between 190-250 million dollars. However, he is the favorite for the nomination. Herman Cain will fall apart, for a bunch of reasons. I hope one of them is his pizza-themed version of “Imagine” (see Part II).

Rick Santorum:

He is a former Senator from Pennsylvania. He is VERY anti-gay rights, lifestyle, etc. Here is his position, this appeared in an April 2003 interview, from the AP.
“Santorum stated that he believed consenting adults do not have a constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts. Santorum described the ability to regulate consensual homosexual acts as comparable to the states’ ability to regulate other consensual and non-consensual sexual behavior, such as adultery, polygamy, child molestation, incest, sodomy, and bestiality, whose decriminalization he believed would threaten society and the family, as they are not monogamous and heterosexual.”

Yikes, now that was some heavy stuff. But, it does gets funny. Dan Savage, who is a gay rights activist and author, took exception to Santorum’s comments. And, he really got back at him. I have to say, this is one of my favorite things in the political world. If you Google the name “Santorum”, Dan Savage has worked it somehow, that the first item that appears is the description of a sex act. You know what, it’s pretty tough to describe tactfully, here is the exact wording:
“Santorum 1.The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum”

I urge you to Google it yourself, again no exaggeration on my part. You don’t have to click any links (if you’re at work). It’s the just the first thing you see in the results. If you Google “Rick Santorum”, the sex act appears as the second search result, after his political website. I wish I could see the look on someone’s face, who Googled his name for the first time. Classic stuff. Wherever you are, Dan Savage, thank you. Santorum is also seriously hawkish on war, while polls show the majority of Americans want the wars to end. But, we’re talking about someone who wanted to regulate consensual sexual activity. It doesn’t have to make sense.


That will do it for today, remember I’ll re-run these as a refresher when the next debate comes around. But, if any candidate drops out by then, you won’t have to read about that person again. I’ll only re-post previews of those still in the race. And, if they do anything stupid between now and then (highly likely), that will be added as well, to keep it current.

Recent posts have been pretty heavy with my Times Square trip, GOP Debate, live blog, tragic news of us maybe losing the Bachmanns, and my fake debate with Buerkle. This week, be prepared for light-hearted (non-political), shorter posts. I still should get 3 or 4 posts up, counting this one.

See you soon,
James

Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part III, Paul/Perry

Hello and thanks for checking in on Part III of the GOP Debate preview. I can’t believe you came back after hearing about the first 4 candidates. I have a hunch today’s post might go long. Both of these guys, are from Texas, so they have a base level of craziness, not known to the residents of the other 49 states. Now, that I think about it, I should have called this post the “Texas Two-Step“. Damn you hindsight! Anyway, let’s get to it.

Ron Paul:

He’s the Congressman for the 14th District of Texas. He is in the John McCain-zone (in age). Paul will be 77 by the 2012 election. He prides himself on being the ultimate libertarian. Paul does not want you, corporations, or himself burdened with rules and  regulations. Quick aside on the GOP, I could never figure how they campaign on hating government, but we should vote them into the highest office?
He is at least consistent, which most of them aren’t. And, for that, I hope he stays in the race a little longer. He wants all drugs legalized, which I’m for (I’m not a user). I’m going to go into that in a separate post. Here he is asking a debate crowd, if they would buy heroin if it was legal. Paul is an isolationist when it comes to our dealings with other countries. Because of that, he hates our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, “humanitarian” stuff in Libya, and the troops sent into a few Central African countries last week. I think that was all of them. You need an abacus to count US wars/occupations/humanitarian missions these days, it’s tough to keep track. For those 2 reasons, I hope he hangs in there and makes the others answer questions on these issues.

Another quick aside on libertarianism, it sounds great in principle. But, it falls apart when applied to any real life situation. Paul thinks the government shouldn’t do anything about regulating health care, the energy companies, or the financial world (and all other companies/industries). He says let the free market handle it. I can’t remember anything going wrong with any of those industries. Oh wait, there’s the fact that 47,000 people die each year because of lack of health care. BP blew up the Gulf of Mexico, to the point where you can still get “Unleaded Shrimp” in New Orleans restaurants. And, the banks blew up the world economy in 2008. Like I said, it falls apart pretty quickly in practice. Paul has other stuff like “Ending the Federal Reserve” and going back to the “Gold Standard” for our money supply. It’s too long to explain those and it would never happen anyway. Onto another crazy Texan.
Rick Perry:

Wish I was clever enough to think of this line (courtesy of www.progressive.org):

“Rick Perry is the candidate for those of you who could never cozy up to George Bush due to his flagrant intellectual elitism.”

Not just one person had this thought about Perry either. Politico posted this article in August, asking, “Is Rick Perry Dumb?” Probably not the best start if you want to be President. He shot a coyote with a laser-sighted pistol while jogging. Why does he have a pistol on a jog? C’mon, this is Part III of the preview. You know not to ask logical questions by now.
On a serious note, he’s basically a murderer. He has presided over 234 death penalty executions. One of which, included a man named Cameron Todd Willingham. We now know for certain that Mr. Willingham was innocent. Perry received new evidence that put Willingham’s guilt in doubt, refused a stay of execution, and even prevented him from being ruled innocent after his execution. Another man, Anthony Graves, was sprung from Death Row after being proven innocent and shortly before an execution order was signed. All info about Willingham, Graves, and their situation is detailed in the embedded link above.

He called Social Security and Medicare unconstitutional. Again, who knows why? And, he’s also said that God crashed the economy to get us back to biblical principles. Um, ok. You usually see God blamed for hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc. But, this is first time I’ve seen God called out on his economic policy. Every time you think the GOP hits a new low, someone comes by with a bigger shovel.

On top of all this, he doesn’t want Texas to be a part of the US. He’s called multiple times for Texas to secede from the US and become their own republic. This part I love. I say let them go. The NFL can claim to be an “International League”, thanks to the Cowboys and Texans. You can get a stamp in your passport for going to Houston. Texas money would probably have oil rigs, ten-gallon hats, laser-sighted pistols and coyotes on it. Win, win and another win. Let’s start-up the paperwork.
And, some proof that Perry is not the brightest of guys. Behold this video from a GOP Debate in September. He’s so bad, it has subtitles. Reminder, he speaks English. It’s Texas English, but still. We shouldn’t need subtitles.

I immediately thought of this young lady, after hearing Perry, behold another gem:

Two more things, unrelated to the debates. I’m thinking of starting a new blog section called, “Wouldn’t It Be Easier to Just Raise Taxes?” It will just be quick hits of horrible stuff going on around the country. A Pennsylvania District is starting to sell ads in its schools to make up for budget shortfalls. I think the next step is to put henna tattoos of company logos on the kids. Do people still use that stuff? Henna might have lost its word status by now. It hasn’t been used in so long. Can someone check a dictionary and let me know if it’s still in there?

Last thing, I wanted to post this because it doesn’t get too much play over in the States. It’s a video from yesterday’s riots in Greece. For those that don’t know, the citizens are being forced to take on a harsh austerity program of massive salary/pension cuts, coupled with tax hikes, and across the board cuts to other social services. The full story of Greece is too long to detail now, it’s worthy of a book by itself. And, I’m sure many people are writing this story. Needless to say they are not taking the cuts in stride. They fought with cops/riot police, set things on fire, looted businesses, etc. To top it all of, today (Thursday) is Day 2 of a general strike. The strike shut the airport and all public transportation down. Trash collectors have not picked up garbage in 17 days, so trash bags line the streets. Here’s a pretty amazing video of the scene in Athens. If you haven’t yet made it to see the Acropolis, you should probably take it off your bucket list. Things will be horrible in the cradle of democracy for a long time.

I think we should call it there. And, I’m getting the tingling in my fingertips again. Which means, this post is getting too long. I’m trying guys. I could have gone longer on Ron Paul’s wacky thoughts, Perry on gay marriage, Perry’s ties to the Evangelical fringe, his threats to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, etc.


See you next time for Part IV (you guys like the Roman numerals?). I’m trying to class this blog up). Final preview is Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

See you next time,
James

Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part II, Gingrich/Huntsmann

Hello again,

UPDATE, 7:30AM, 10/18:

I’m an idiot. I just realized I got the dates mixed up for the debate. I thought it was Thursday, turns out it’s tonight (Tuesday, on CNN). That kinda sucks. I wanted to give you the previews leading into the day of the debate. The good news is that there are 12 more debates after this one. These guys talk a lot. The next one takes place on November 9th. So, what I’m thinking is that I’ll run the last 2 previews, on Wednesday and Thursday like I planned. You’ll still get to know each candidate. And, I can re-run them as a reminder (with any new quotes, gaffes, or idiotic things they did/said since the original preview posting) as we approach the November 9th debate. Hopefully that works for everyone, biggest apologies again.

First off, thanks so much for all the positive feedback on yesterday’s post and the book news. Remember to subscribe, your name will appear in the book’s “Dedication” page.
At the end of Friday’s post, I said “happy rioting” to everyone. I hope you didn’t actually riot. “Amorphous Thoughts” is a peaceful blog and it was meant in jest. And, if you’re sitting in jail, because you took that advice, just know that I’m sorry. And, check back with us, after you post bail.
If you found the blog only today, keep scrolling down for my experience at the Times Square protests, and then keep scrolling for Part I of the debate preview (posts run from new to old). Part I focused on Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain. But, I have a hunch this will be a shorter post. I always feel like that at the beginning though. But, one of these candidates is pretty dull, if I’m honest. Newt Gingrich is inherently funny, so he’s easy. But, I’ll have to paint Huntsmann with broad strokes. Just know, that the Ron Paul/Rick Perry and Mitt Romney/ Rick Santorum posts will probably be massive, just so much material. Sit in a comfy chair for those two. And, just like the last post, there is no need for me to embellish these stories. The jokes write themselves.

Newt Gingrich:

- He’s the Former Speaker of the House, in the mid-to-late nineties. Obviously, he’s named after a salamander. I’d have to check, but I’m pretty sure he’d be the first President named after an amphibian. Just last week, he said Barney Frank (Dem. Congressman) should be arrested for putting forth a Wall Street reform bill that passed. Why arrest them? Who knows? It’s the GOP. Their nonsense makes a 4 part preview of their debates possible, it doesn’t have to make any sense. For some reason, he really loves the jeweler Tiffany’s. He had 2 lines of credit, whose value totaled between 750K-1.5million dollars. That is a bunch of light-blue boxes at the Gingrich house(s).
He’s a real good guy too. He cheated on his first wife, with his eventual second wife. And, he was trying to get Clinton impeached, for the Lewinski scandal, while he was having an affair. He is now onto his 3rd wife. His 3rd wife, Callista, gets a bit of the crazy eyes. She’s not as bad as Bachmann, but she does always have the helmet head hairdo. And, she looks like a cross between a Fembot and Nicholson’s “Joker”. A gallery with more proof, of the crazy eyes is forthcoming. We’ll leave it there on Newt. I’m trying to be brief with this post, since we’re amping up the crazy in the next two. There’s no way he’s going to win the nomination anyway. You’re not going to slip 3 wives past the hardcore Evangelicals who vote in Republican primaries. And, he’s behind crazy eyes Bachmann in the polls right now.

Jon Huntsman:

Whew, what can I say. This guy is pretty dull. He and Mitt Romney are probably the most normal GOP candidates. Which means, for me, that there isn’t that much material. He is the former Governor of Utah. He’s a Mormon. He was the Ambassador to China for the Obama Administration. Which means he will not get the nomination (see my comments on Obama hatred from Part I of the preview). His daughters aren't bad looking. And, his daughters committed a violent act towards rap and music in general. They did a version of "Sexy Back", tweaked to include lyrics about their dad. Because of his background, he is the best candidate they have in the area of foreign relations. But, look at me using logic to figure out the GOP voters. An ex-pizza CEO is leading their polls.

See you next time for Part III, Ron Paul/Rick Perry,

A.T.

Beginner’s Guide to the GOP Debate, Part I, Bachmann/Cain

Hello to all and thanks for checking in.

This post is admittedly for folks new to the GOP candidates. If you follow this stuff daily, like I do, you might not learn anything new. Hopefully, you will get a couple of laughs or see something you’ve forgotten. For those who are new, you will be introduced to characters that are more amazing than anyone you’ve seen on a reality show. They are possibly crazier than Charlie Sheen. The only difference, and it’s a minor one, is that one might become president. Strap in.

I mentioned last week that the Republican Presidential Debate is my favorite show on TV. I’ve mentioned there are 8 candidates. The debate is some weird cross between a “Meet the Press” and Survivor. And, because of the fringes of their party, the 8 of them have to out-crazy one another in these debates. It’s a contest to see who can claim to lower taxes the most, who can hate Obama more, who can go to war the most (except Ron Paul), and so on. It makes for train wreck TV. You’ll constantly ask yourself, “How can any of these people be so close to our highest office?” With all that being said, here are the first two candidates (in alphabetical order) of the full preview. And, you’ll see shortly, that I don’t even have to really make jokes about this group. Please, please, please check the links, my statements are not embellished in any way. Their existence is the joke.

Michele Bachmann:

- Congresswoman from the 6th District of Minnesota. She’s an Evangelical Christian and I don’t think she’s faking it for votes. In the GOP Economic Debate, she referenced the “mark of the beast (666)” to describe Herman Cain’s economic plan. Herman Cain’s economic plan is called the “9-9-9 plan”. It consists of a 9% sales, income, and corporate tax. Bachmann played on that for her devil reference. As always, politicians should stay away from jokes and/or sarcasm. The 9-9-9 plan will be explained shortly. She also said on national television, that she thought the HPV vaccine caused mental retardation. People who actually study this stuff, the Center for Disease Control, said the vaccine is just fine.

- She claimed President Obama has a “gangster government” at least twice publicly and never really explained what she meant. For some reason, her supporters love her. They even alter Wikipedia pages, to make her “facts” look correct. She wanted to investigate members of Congress for “Anti-American behavior.” Because it was a pressing problem, in March of this year, she introduced the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act“. Unemployment was around 9% (ugh, again with the # “9″) at this time. But, she needed to make sure we can still get the inefficient light bulbs that were going out of circulation. Of course, this bill did not pass. And, her husband, Marcus Bachmann ran a clinic where he offered patients the chance at “reparative therapy” or as it is now short-handed in the press, “pray away the gay” services. Now take a look at Marcus Bachmann, what is your first reaction? Now, “Amorphous Thoughts” is a tolerant blog. All are welcome, except repressed hypocrites (looking at you Marcus). And, Michele tends to get the crazy eyes in pictures. Look up at those two, now imagine a world with her as president and Marcus as First Man. Before we look at Herman Cain, think again about these two in the White House. Think about her dealing with complex, delicate foreign policy….Can you see it in your head? Did you stop reading this to make sure your voter registration is up to date?

Herman Cain:

- Former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza (not a joke) and as of posting, he is tops in the Republican polls. I have a theory on this after the preview. When he was in the restaurant business he lobbied to eliminate the minimum wage, figuring it would save him some cash on labor costs. Because pizza makers and waiters/waitresses are raking in the big bucks.

During the debate, you might hear him mention the “Chilean model” in reference to privatizing things (mainly education and Social Security) in the US. He will talk about it like it’s a great thing, but it ripped Chile apart in the early 70s. It is explained succinctly here. What happened in Chile is a little heavy for this posting. But, long story short, the US backed a military coup (happened on a September 11 as well, 1973) to get rid of their leader, and put in a guy the US wanted. His name was Augusto Pinochet. He brutally beat down any dissent with torture and killing. Afterward, he basically privatized everything. There was hyper-inflation, high unemployment, and loads of poverty. So, keep that in mind, if you hear “Chilean Model” on Thursday. It takes forever to recover from these measures. Their students were still fighting and protesting just a week ago for cheaper education.

Onto the 9-9-9 plan, like I said earlier, this is an across the board tax of 9% percent on everything (sales, income, and corporate tax). But, according to economists, it proportionately benefits the rich. Right now 49.5% of people don’t pay income tax, because their incomes are so low. So, you take 9% from someone whose already classified as poor? Going further, Politifact determines that this plan will take in 360 billion less in revenue, than the government currently receives. And, again, no joke needed, he may have gotten the idea from the “Sim City” video game. I don’t think I have the vocabulary to truly explain how stupid these people are.

Cain also tells people to not blame Wall Street for the country’s ills, but to blame yourself. And, he is the owner of the cheesy-ist video of this campaign season. I don’t ask much of you. But, please watch this one. The chorus is, “Get on Board, the Herman Cain train!”

We’ll finish with my theory on why he’s doing so well in the polls. I have no proof of this, it’s just a hunch. But, people on the far right were very tough on Obama at the start of his presidency. They were just overtly racist. I linked to Bachmann’s “gangster government” comments. People came to Washington, during the Health Care debates with pictures of Obama as a witch doctor. I mean, it was just awful stuff that I don’t even want to post here. So, they were rightfully branded with the label of “racist.” So, I think they back Cain so strongly, so they always come back and say, “See, we’re not racist, we support Herman Cain!” There is a strange guilt/alibi thing going on here. I almost sure, just give me a little more time on this one.

That will do it for today, see you next time,
James