Thursday, October 11, 2012

Paul Ryan and Joe Biden Vice-Presidential Debate Centre College, Danville, Kentucky

By Kathleen



I'm on my travels again and not sure how often I will be able to check in and out. Planning a wedding is not so easy when there are many documents involved that all have to be translated and certified (it's also very expensive) but hopefully we have now jumped through most of the hoops and will be able to concentrate on the nicer side of the arrangements for our "Big Day" sometime very soon. Watch this space.

Of course visiting Scotland so often also means that I get the chance to snuggle up with the other angel in my life, my grandson Nathan. Nathan is now a little over 6 months old. He looks about 1 year old and is very sunny natured unless he is not receiving the attention that he is used to. I anticipate that there will be many fun moments shared with him over the next days as we get reacquainted. 

One political event I do not want to miss while I am away is the vice-presidential debate tonight in Danville, Kentucky between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. The debate is bound to be a biggie and many political pundits are touting the view that it will probably draw as much attention as the debate last week between their respective political masters, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

One of my facebook friends shared a link last night to an article at Think Progress which lists 12 bullet points about Ryan that anyone watching the debate needs to consider before doing so. Be sure to read both the article and the comments. 

It's my belief that Joe Biden will actually bring up many of these facts about Ryan's record and expose him and Romney for the hypocrites that they are. Innuendo is NOT going to win this debate so I expect that it will be quite ugly. Not only does Biden have to expose the Romney campaign plan for what it truly is, but he also has to do so whilst going for Ryan's jugular because the stakes have been raised following the media's mealy mouthed acceptance that Romney won the debate last week because he was the louder and more aggressive debater. In order to win the debate tonight without alienating voters Biden has to employ an aggressive style accompanied by smooth substance. Fortunately he has a lot to work with. 

Ryan/Romney want to sell the idea to the American voter that the deficit is the single most important issue because the figure "trillions of dollars in the red" makes the Obama administration look bad. Unfortunately Romney and Ryan "haven't run the numbers as yet" and so their plan to fix the deficit is a non-plan which they can't explain to the American voters because they might not have "the patience to listen to" their plan. Their tactic is headbangingly obvious in its simplicity. Don't blame us, we will blame you. It's not our fault that you won't listen or that you do not have the patience to so so. Really, it isn't! 


Furthermore, Romney and Ryan do not support the idea that government should provide security for people in a time of need. Their plan would not only lay greater indirect taxes on the middle class but it will also slash government programmes designed to assist people, especially the poor, elderly and unemployed, during a time of economic uncertainty. Romney chose Ryan because of his radical and somewhat reprehensible budget plan not in spite of it. Romney's soft confusion of presentation about taxes and his plans for the economy during last week's debate will not change the fact that they ultimately want to deliver the savings that they plan on social security and medicaid funding to the top percenters. Biden will be prepared for any obfuscation by Ryan and he must expose it or the USA may find that it has been hoodwinked by a pair of bandits in disguise. 

The debate can be watched on the following TV channels and online via youtube:

TV Channels Broadcasting Live: FOX (WTVT), NBC (WFLA), CBS (WTSP), ABC (WWSB-Sarasota, WFTS-Tampa), PBS (WUSF, WEDU), CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, CSPAN
Live Streaming Online: YouTube's Election Hub

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SEPARATED AT BIRTH:

(h/t to an anonymous and wonderful Politicalgates reader!)



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