ddubb industries

Liveblog of the First Presidential Debate

September 26th, 2008 political

Normal text is my paraphrase, quotes are actual wordings, brackets are my commentary.

[Interesting: Only two candidates of the half dozen running for President, the others must have had a scheduling conflict. Moderator makes a few remarks, mentions the Wall St. - Main St. dichotomy. Wow, I'm tired of this.]

Q: Eisenhower said, “The foundation of military strength is economic strength.” [Glad to see a connection between the two off the bat!] What do you think about our economic crisis?

Obama: 700 billion is “potentially a lot of money”. Avoiding padding the golden parachute is highest priority. This is 8 years of Bush’s fault. “Shredding” regulations and letting it trickle down hasn’t worked. [Rich vs. poor, populism. Everybody loves the idea of sticking it to those stinking rich people. How on earth can you bail out banks and then somehow make sure the bankers don't benefit greatly from it, seriously?]

McCain: For the first time in a long time Reps and Dems are coming together. Main St. will benefit, people will lose their homes if we don’t fix this! “This is the end of the beginning of this crisis.”

Q: Do you favor the plan?

Obama: Haven’t seen the wording. I’m optimistic. I saw this coming. Yes, we need a short-term solution, but “we need a 21st century regulatory framework” rather than a theory that regulation is bad. [Jab on the conservative concept of laissez-faire, even though this is not something McCain nor Bush seem to believe in. If we could just shackle those big bad bankers with more rules, they'd behave.]

McCain: Responsibility. Washington = Wall St. Greed is rewarded. In my administration, people will be held accountable.

Obama: Agreed, we need accountability, but NOT just during a crisis. People have been hurting for a while. Jab at John for saying that the “fundamentals of the economy are sound.” Jab that he just now came in to Washington to do something.

McCain: I agree, we have to fix this. Main St. is paying the penalty. Stricter interpretation. Consolidation of regulatory agencies. “I have a fundamental belief in the American worker, we’re still the greatest exporter and producer.” [What century are we in now?]