In watching the CNN / TEA Party Express debate, I certainly did my share of observation and tweeted out what I saw, heard, and thought. For what it is worth, here they are:
- So, just saw RLCNH Chair Andrew Hemingway in the CNN/TEA Party Express audience
- OK Wolf, get on with it!
- opening remarks – the Republican that Democrats love to love, Jon Huntsman leads off
- You do have to love Perry’s use of the work inconsequential
Drew Cline of the Union Leader was also doing the same; I had to respond to his line:
Wait, I’m watching a Tea Party debate and not drinking a Sam Adams. I’m doing this wrong
@DrewHampshire Just Dew it, then!
- Let’s see how the questions go
- How to persuade seniors that SS has to change
- Michele’s answer – ok, you may be able to do it…but how would you reform it?
- I agree with Perry that SS is a Ponzi scheme…so how to fix it?
- Perry – OK, you’re willing to fix it for the younger set….but HOW?
- Romney – please don’t continue this pattern…and I don’t want to read your book to find out.
- Perry addresses Romney’s attack – just because it was good in the 30s it is in the 10s. States run it
- Hey Mitt, why DOES it have to be a Fed program. We are having a book battle!
- Ron-goes off topic on $$ spent on wars….sounding like Kucinich?
- I like Ron and Herman’s idea of personal accounts; Herman has a good real life example
- Perry to States, Cain to individuals. I’ll go with Herman
- Huntsman – we are frighting Americans with this talk…nonsense, we are sterner stuff than that!
- Newt – won’t raise ages? Great line that obama scares them every day.
- Newt – why allow Politicians to always be able to threaten to take away SS forever??
- Newt is getting the best lines of the night thus far. he’s in favor of personal accounts too!
- Newt – what’s wrong with the right to choose?
- Rick, are you with Perry or Romney. Good answer – I’m with me and sidesteps Wolf’s gotcha question
- New question: plan to balance budget, get control of spending, save my kids future and senior retirement?
- Newt – get rid of waste. modernize govt.. brings up Medicare fraud (that’s how medicare overhead is so low
- Rick – will keep Medicare part D benefits. Only govt can provide senior benefits – no he says!
- Perry – have to find the savings to pay for it first
- romney – reform SS, medicare, Medicaid….ok sport, HOW?
- Wolf is doing like MSNBC – asking liberal questions to the conservatives.
- someone tell Wolf to shut up and let TEA folks ask questions we TEA folks are interested in!!!!
- Michele – change paradigm that politicians take care of us to one that WE responsible for ourselves.
- Michele is right – we have become lazy and outsourced our own responsibilities to others.
- Follow us on the CNN / TEA Party Express Presidential debate @Granitegrok using #GROK
- question: plan to move economy forward? Wolf just HAD to add in Obama’s already rejected plan
- Huntsman – decent answers but we are not going to become energy independent…
- To Perry, Wolf is defending Obama’s plan AGAIN. Perry mocks previous results, says this plan will be same
- Wolf doesn’t get it – Perry says we are tired of spending money we don’t have.
- Can we PLEASE get Wolf away from the mic????
- Michele – talks about repatriation that current taxes keeps offshore. Get rid of anti-biz laws
- Herman – talks about his 9/9/9 plan. Income tax lowered, but adding a sales tax to politicians revenue too?
- Romney lists 7 items to do now. At least we get specific answers
- Another Gotcha from Wolf – how much credit should Perry get, Mr. Romney. Snark answer of 4 answers
- that should have been 4 aces…..And Perry has snappy "doing well until you got to poker, Mitt"
- Ron goes after Perry – raise my taxes if I’m too harsh
- Ron Paul – good answre on paying for tax cuts. wrong paradigm as it is our money and not govt’s
- Rick , Newt, and Herman are being left out again
- Newt – American people create jobs, not govt.
- Union question: pro biz and pro workers?
- Herman – sure! He came from a family of workers, and that’s how he came up.
- Huntsman-needs more workers. HUH? with 16% effective unemployment? His way of smoothing amnesty?
- RT @GraniteGrok: Union question: pro biz and pro workers? || 84% of workers are not union
- RT @warnerthuston: #CNNDebate #cnnteaparty someone should tell Huntsman we have plenty of workers.. it’s a lack of jobs that is the problem!
- Herman – audit & fix. Need it to just concentrate on sound money.
- RT @warnerthuston: #CNNDebate #cnnteaparty Santorum: Obama’s economy would need a dramatic improvement just to BE a disaster!
- RT @johnmcjunkin: It’s clear the CNN wants the primary to be a Romney/Perry dogfight – #goldwaterinst #cnnteaparty #cnndebate #grok
- Perry sticks to his guns on treasonous concerning the Fed.
- @douglaswood1970 not devolve govt away from people, devolve govt TO the people; let them decide not bureauc
- douglaswood1970 Tired of Repubs trying to devolve govt away from American people. The people are the govt, for better & for worse. #p2 #CNNTeaParty #tcot
- GREAT Question – out of every dollar I make, how much should I get to keep!
- Huntsman – 8, 14, 24%
- Hey wolf, get the others to answer the question. But Newt hands Wolf his head on GE
- Newt – nice answers but not THE answer asked for.
- Newt – shrink govt to fit income, not raise govt income to fit its size.
- Question: FairTax support?
- Mitt-answer on fairtax….huh??? what is he talking about? I don’t think he knows
- Questoin: Executive Order – when and how often?
- Ron- abused for years. Should never be used to legislate.
- Wolf picks on Perry’s TX E.O on Gardisil. Perry admits he was wrong. Parent should have had more priority
- Michele whacks perry on forcing 12 yr old girls forced to a govt injection. Adverse reactions!
- Michele whacks Obama for Rules on morning after pill to be available free
- @jeeesss What about the free market making the decisions??
- Michele is going after Perry for the gardisil. Rick is going after him too.
- Rick properly schools Perry on difference between communicative diseases vs sexually transmitted diseases
- Rick brings up the OPT IN instead of OPT OUT
- Question: how reduce cost of healthcare so as to reduce health insurace cost?
- Herman – toss Obamacare, make it deductible for all, pass loser pay tort reform, restructure medicare
- Herman – allow association health plans (not allowed right now)
- Wolf puts Mitt on point on individual mandate. Mitt is right on getting skinny in the game
- Mitt punts again on indivdual mandate….."No Apology" is the name of his book, yes?
- RT @JonahNRO: Shorter Perry: It takes a lot more than five grand to buy me, sugar. #GROK
- Mitt is on the defensive on Obamneycare
- Wolf to Ron. 30yr doesn’t buy insurance. Ron says freedom means assuming consequence.
- Ron – churches, charity used to assume this responsibility instead of Govt. Expensive due to dumping on gov
- here’s the conundrum-Libs forced govt to pick up free healthcare with 1986 EMTLA law.
- Now the libs complain about the "free riders" they created
- RT @keder: Dear media, not supporting government-run health care is NOT the same as wanting to see people die on the streets. Morons. #Grok
- RT @michellemalkin: Funny how these liberal media debates go out of their way to ask about Operation Fast & Furious, DOJ corruption… #GROK
- Question: how remove illegal immigrants from US?
- Rick- build more fence (unlike Perry). Enforce employer laws. Not answering question, though….
- Perry – disses fence. Wants boots, though. not answering about illegals already here.
- WOLF! LET THEM ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!! Don’t SWITCH just because it might make Obamessiah look bad!
- Wolf to Perry; TX DREAM ? Audience is booing Perry on answer. good for them.
- Michele – Perry’s DREAM is same as Obamas. CHEERS from crowd!
- michele – go back to the older rules that the Libs changed (I agree!)
- As Romney is to Obamneycare, Perry is to TX DREAM illegal alien in-state tuition.
- Huntsman – Perry saying can’t enforce the border is almost a treasonous statement…..oooh’s from crowd
- RT @DrewHampshire: Huntsman would do better to drop the jokes and just accompany himself on keyboards. #cnnteaparty #GROK
- New question: What will you do to make energy independence a reality?
- Herman – remove Federal govt barriers (like EPA). Regulatory board for each agency.
- Wolf switches to national security
- Newt – wht happens if terrorist gets Bomb into US? Norks? Iran? Mexican civil war? Middle East? china?
- Ron goes on militarism cost and building WW II planes (h
uh?). We occupy foreign lands. - Ron – trade will solve the problem, and we should not be world’s policeman
- rick – brings up Ron’s site had blog post said we were responsible for 9/11. Rick looks MAD!
- Can’t say I blame Rick if actually true.
- Ron is getting booed, really booed. Crowd does not agree with Ron about bombing
- New question: what will you do Afgan women & children from the radicals (from an Afghan woman)?
- Huntsman – time to leave. We should rebuild us. Doesn’t answer question
- oops, answered at end – Huntsmann says that YOU are responsible for you.
- Perry agrees, but need a presence there.
- @wanotw Sure, by putting HIS politics ahead of theirs. it is ALWAYS about politics.
- Wolf – add to the WH? Oh please…this is not what republcans want to hear – they want POLICY questions
- Romney – I like bringing Churchill’s bust back (I’m good with that).
- You know, I really wish Wolf had been sat down and let TEA folks ask majority of the questions.
