The 1-17-16 Dem Debate

My take on the 1-17-16 Dem debate:

On Omalley: He promoted ‘Comprehensive Imm. Legislation-which is Amnesty in Dem-speak. The US already has more than enough Immigration Laws on the books which are not enforced properly, (if at all) due to both the Dem and GOP selective enforcement Policies.
He correctly pointed out that both HRC and Bernie have been inconsistent on Gun Control. He gave a good answer on Tech Security, and mentioned a ‘new agenda for cities..but he was generally ignored by the Moderators, etc.

On HRC: Bill and Hillary came on TV decades ago and promised to create an Affordable Health Care system, but this never happened. HRC may have TRIED TO take on the Healthcare Industry in the 90s, but she failed miserably. The Med Insurance rates, and the Medical costs have risen steadily since the 90s, and Obamacare certainly hasn’t lowered these costs. Her focus was on Opioids and Heroin, but she, failed to even mention the huge problem of street drugs, e.g. Meth and Cocaine.
She was intentionally disingenuous, or just plain clueless regarding Syria. She blamed Assad for everything, saying, ’Syria was the root of all problems in the region’, and she blamed Assad and Iraqi Govt. Officials for pitting Sunni against Shia. (Absurd.) She also blamed Assad for the Nerve Gas attack that killed 124 Syrians, but it’s entirely possible that Syrian Rebels, (or ISIS) was responsible for this attack as it occurred shortly after BHO drew his meaning less red-line, and the Rebels may have done this in an attempt to receive meaningful US support. Also, HRC was unwilling to admit that Obama’s red-line was meaningless, and she neglected to mention that the US had planned to eliminate Syria’s Nerve gas stockpiles, but never did, and it was the Russians who finally did.

On Bernie: One of his few main differences w/ Hillary was on Obamacare. Bernie wants to make changes, and he wants to raise taxes on the Middle-Class to pay for it…not a good idea, and this will cost him voters, IMO. He did bring up a good point regarding the 29 million uninsured. Bernie blamed the Pharmaceutical drugs, and the Cos. that make them, but also failed to even mention the huge problem of street drugs, e.g. Meth and Cocaine.
His ad stated, “Universal Free College Education”, HRC said, ‘Affordable’ and Omalley said, ‘Debt-free College’ but no mention of who foots the bill for all this, (“Socialism is great until you run out of someone elses money”, M. Thatcher.) Also, our lawmakers passed a Bill some yrs. ago which exempts all the children of Congressmen/women from paying back Student Loans.
Bernie rightly pointed out HRC’s Wall St. connections, and her $600,000 received for speaker fees, and both now say they will act to reform Wall St. and Big Banks , BUT, both are D.C. career politicians….where were they w/ this idea when the Bank Bailouts were being given??? Bernie was very focused on corrupt Campaign Financing, but this isn’t our biggest problem, and being a D.C. career politician applies here as well.

Summary; There were some contentious moments, but generally, they were much more civilized towards each other than the GOP Candidates in their debates., and the Dems actually discussed the issues, but in generalities. Omalley was a distant third, and partly due to him being ignored by the Moderators, etc. HRC was in lock-step w/ BHO’s Policies thru-out. She gave herself credit for ‘Affordable’ Health Care that she didn’t deserve. She completely missed the mark on Syria and the ME, and made some false statements. I place her second. Bernie was passionate and well-prepared, and for the most part he stated his case very well….the clear winner.

Bernie and HRC went back and forth on Gun Control, but w/ 320 million ppl, and 280 million guns in the US, NO amount of new, (or existing) Gun Legislation will bring much positive change.

Some conflicting numbers out there...here's one that states 88 ppl killed per day by guns, and 62% of these are suicides.

http://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-by-the-numbers/

According to this one, 36 are killed by guns a day.

http://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-by-the-numbers/

 

The Democratic debates are civilized as opposed to the competition.

 

Agreed, it seems the GOP is willing to attack each other rather than discuss the issues, offer solutions, etc.

And Bernie did give a great answer to the question of Bill C's past behavior.

 

Wait, that was a debate? I thought it was a softball game, so I changed channels, who knew...