Things get ugly in Vegas

Things get ugly in Vegas

Neal Boortz
Oct. 19, 2011

Let’s just stop to reflect for a minute on the fact that the very first question out of the gate at this debate was “What’s your position on replacing the income tax with federal sales tax.” The fact that people are even talking about the concept of replacing our current tax code shows great promise -- and I believe this is one of the reasons Herman Cain is doing so well. Americans want a wholesale revision of our tax code. They recognize and accept the need to fund the operations of the federal government -- the legitimate and constitutional operations -- but they are sick to death of the IRS and the expensive morass of a tax code we have to deal with today. So Herman Cain proposes his 999 plan --- as a transitional step to the Fair Tax -- and he is immediately the target last night.

The fact that Herman Cain’s tax plan was the first issue of the debate shows that Herman and his ideas are top-of-mind issue for viewers. Think about it .. how many people tuned in to watch the debate and probably listened to the first couple questions and then had to move on to other things in their life? But if they tuned it at 8PM ET, the part they DID catch was a discussion on Herman’s plan and fundamental tax reform. Newt Gingrich gave Herman Cain well-deserved credit for being bold enough to bring this issue to the table and force it to be part of the discussion. Now, how did Herman handle the blows (and there were plenty of them)? He did a good job. Exchanges like the one between Herman and Mitt over apples and oranges is just a prime example of how difficult the concepts of taxation are to grasp, even among the most scholarly Americans. But if anyone could be out there pushing for fundamental tax reform, I’m glad it is Herman Cain.

The best moment of the debate .. and remember that my opinion is no better than yours .. was Newt Gingrich talking about the deficit supercommittee:

If you want to understand how totally broken Washington is, look at this entire model of a supercommitte, which has now got a magic number to achieve and if it doesn’t achieve the magic number then we’ll all have to shoot ourselves in the head. So when they come back with a dumb idea to merely cut off our right leg, we will all be grateful that they are only semi-stupid instead of being totally stupid.

Debate after debate it remains clear that no other candidate has the fundamental understanding of America like Newt Gingrich. Where he goes in this race remains to be seen, but the debates, and all of America, is better with his voice at the table.

Rick Perry needed to do a lot to prove himself as a capable debater. He definitely came with more energy and a few one-liners, but he also came with some cheap shots that, I believe, did him a disservice. This whole back and forth between him and Mitt Romney over whether or not Romney hired a contractor who in turn used illegal aliens to mow Romney’s lawn … let’s get off the playground and focus on more important issues. The audience was on Mitt Romney’s side on this one. There were audible boos when the issue was brought up, and then later revisited by Perry. Perry stands to gain nothing as a presidential contender by focusing on who is whacking Romney’s weeds.

And when it comes to ObamaCare, Romney says he will repeal it day one. That’s good enough for me. End of issue.

Here’s the rundown --- candidate by candidate, left to right:

Rick Santorum. Petulant. Not a real factor in this race. Gone after Iowa.

Ron Paul. Glad he’s there. Not going to get the nomination, but there is nobody else out there who is constantly arguing for our Constitution and against the excesses of government. He even has me on the edge of a Federal Reserve rant, but I need to learn a lot more before I make an Obama out of myself.

Herman Cain. Good night with a shaky start. They pretty much nailed him on that trading prisoners out of Gitmo thing .. .but he had the courage to say “I was wrong.” Having a president who can admit when he is wrong would be not only novel, but good. Cain is facing the reality that any attempt to reform out tax code is going to be demagogued by political opponents. Our code is complex, and any attempt at reform is going to be necessarily complicated. People will be all to happy to use this against you. Frankly, I wish Herman was defending the FairTax rather than the 999 plan. I know the FairTax would take years to implement, but the body if research is so complete those who oppose it could be easily embarrassed.

Mitt Romney. When Santorum started his little snit fit I wish Romney had just said “Go ahead and finish your tantrum, Rick. I’ll pick up where I left off when you’re finished. And how much more clear does Romney need to make it that he will repeal ObamaCare? It would be good, though, if he would admit that his plan in Mass. was a mistake and not defend it so strongly.

Rick Perry. Didn’t do well. I’ve had several listeners tell me that he was much more impressive on the radio with me yesterday than he was on the tube last night. He knows his stuff when it comes to energy, and I think he was spot on when discussing how to close the border with Mexico. His low point was this absurd attack on Romney for the illegal aliens hired by his lawn service. Who really gives a damn? Who in the world is going to ask a lawn service to provide papers on every person with a leaf blower? Give me a break.

Newt Gingrich. Once again, the brainiest man on the stage. I just loved his rant about the supercommittee ... he knows more about policy, how we got here, how it went bad, and what we need to bring it around. Gingrich would be my choice if I had confidence that he could beat the hack currently occupying the White House. The problem here is that the people in this country just don’t know how precarious our position is.

Michelle Bachmann. Sailor outfit? Are you kidding me? Not a factor, and really doesn’t add anything to the debate. OK .. so you’re a former tax attorney and you suckled a bunch of rug rats. Fine. Now leave us alone.

A nice summation of the field - entirely consistent with my own view of it, right down to wishing Cain were pushing the Fair Tax and not 999.