If you are interested in reading the entirety of the CNBC,
October 28, 2015 Republican debate you can find the transcript here:
The following questions are suggested for the next
Democratic Presidential debate. The questions are patterned off of the
questions used by CNBC during the last Republican Presidential debate.
1.
(To all the candidates as the opening
question): What is your biggest weakness and what are you doing to address it?
a. Verbatim of the Republicans’ opening
question. It should be noted that CNBC agreed to open the debate with a
question on economic or financial matters. They did not.
2.
(To Bernie Sanders): Mr. Sanders you
have stated that Americans should become socialists. Is this a comic book
version of a presidential campaign?
a. Same as a question directed at Donald
Trump for proposing to build a wall across the Mexican border.
3.
(To all the candidates) You have all
spoken of increasing Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and providing a free
college education to all Americans. I talked to economic advisers who
have served presidents of both parties. They
said that you have as much a chance of increasing government spending that much
without increasing the deficit as you would of flying away from that podium by
flapping your arms.
a. Same as a question directed at Donald Trump except instead of
increased spending, the context was tax reduction.
4.
(To any of the candidates) Your increased spending on
social programs and the creation of new social programs will require you to cut
other government programs. What will they be? (ignore whatever the candidate responds then state) That won’t
make up the difference for all the spending you are adding. If the candidate states
that your facts are not true, just respond with: That is true, I’ve looked at
the numbers.
a. Same as a question directed at Dr. Carson
except it was in the context of his flat tax rate proposal.
b. The unfairness of this question was that the moderator
stated that Dr. Carson’s 10% flat tax would cause a $1.1 trillion deficit.
After Dr. Carlson stated that his flat tax would not be 10% it would need to be
closer to 15%, the moderator then stated that to close the $1.1 trillion gap
you would have to cut government by 40%. When Dr. Carlson said “That’s not
true.” The moderator said “That is true, I’ve looked at the numbers.”
c. This reeks of Candy Crowly taking sides with President
Obama during the 2012 debate with Mitt Romney (“President Obama did call
Benghazi a terrorist attack” – which he did not). If the moderator had done the
math with a 10% tax and calculated a 40% government reduction equivalent to
$1.1 trillion, how did the number not change in the follow up accusation?
Clearly if a 10% tax equates to a $1.1 trillion deficit or 40% of government
spending, a 15% tax would equate to a lesser deficit (and maybe no deficit).
This line of questioning not only reveals the moderator’s bias
but also her lack of intellect. If you can't think quickly enough on your feet to realize that a 50% increase in taxes would more than offset a 40% deficit, you should not be moderating a presidential debate.
5.
(To Governor O’Malley): Governor, your poll numbers are
extremely low. Shouldn’t you pull out of the race?
a. Same as the question asked of Governor Bush. Of course the
Democrats cannot afford to lose anymore pretenders. They have to maintain the
appearance of a contest before the coronation of Mrs. Clinton. Of course if the FBI uncovers too many "personal" emails that were not really personal, or too many emails that contained classified information, the Democrats will immediately pivot to Plan B - Vice President Biden. If the FBI does find something untoward, do not expect the information to be used in a debate question.
6.
(To Secretary Clinton): Mrs. Clinton, you made a personal promise
to the families of the four Americans that lost their loved ones in Benghazi that
you would “get the people responsible for the video.” Did you keep that promise
or have you given the families a personal update on what the government really
knew at the time? If you have not, why should voters believe the promises you
are making now?
a. Patterned after this question: “Mr. Trump, let’s talk a little
bit about bankruptcies. Your Atlantic City casinos filed for bankruptcy four times... Bankruptcy is a broken promise. Why should the
voters believe the promises that you’re telling them right now?”
7.
(To Secretary Clinton): You stated that when you and your
husband left the White House, you were broke. You were both in your mid-fifties
at that time. In terms of all of that, it raises the question whether you have
the maturity and wisdom to lead this $17 trillion economy. What do you say?
a. The “In terms of all that, it raises the question whether you
have the maturity and wisdom to lead this $17 trillion economy. What do you say?” is the exact question posed to
Senator Rubio. The lead into Senator Rubio’s question was his financial
mishandling of campaign money and his unfortunate financial condition.
8.
(To Secretary Clinton): Mrs. Clinton, the Clinton
Foundation has received large donations from foreign government officials and
from American companies doing business abroad while you were Secretary of
State. Is this indicative of the fact that you were selling favors?
a. This question equates to the question that Dr. Carson was
asked with regard to his Christian faith and his board participation with a
company that is gay friendly.
9.
(To all the candidates): Would you require your secret
service guards to leave their guns in their vehicles when they accompany you
into a gun free zone?
a. This is a silly question, but no sillier than the question of
Mr. Trump having a permit to carry his own gun.
10.
(To Governor O’Malley): Governor O’Malley, Mrs. Clinton
has been associated with numerous scandals through her and her husband’s
careers. Most recently there was the question of what and when she knew about
Benghazi; her personal decision as to which emails were personal and which were
the people’s business; the fact that she maintained her own server to host her
email. Further back there was White Water; Travelgate; and her Tammy Wynette
act of standing by her man through her husband’s many extramarital affairs that
she claimed were untrue (until Ms. Lewinsky). Considering all of Mrs. Clinton’s
scandals; when you look at her, do you see someone with the moral authority to
unite the country?
a. Exact question posed to Governor Huckabee with regard to Donald
Trump. The only difference was the moderator did not think there was a need to
make a case before just bluntly asking: “do you see someone with the moral
authority to unite the country?” The moderator assumed that all Americans are
grounded in the fact that Donald Trump has no morals. Really?
11.
(To all the candidates): Now that we have made fun of the
Republicans, will each of you tell me who is more handsome and why? (Thank you
Senator Cruz, that was a great line.)
As sad as this reads, this is exactly how the debate was
conducted by CNBC. I did not mention the moderators by name because they
deserve no free publicity. All I can say is that Fox has a business channel and
CNBC will not be on my television ever again. Also, the PBS show Washington
Week (which I used to watch every Friday night) will no longer be displayed on any of my screens. During this week’s
Washington Week, one of the perpetrators of the CNBC debacle actually
summarized the tragedy of the debate as a result of all the anger within the
Republican Party; the participants were just taking out their internal anger
with themselves on the media. That analysis is so wrong. Worse, nobody
challenged him. I used to respect Gwen Ifill, but she lost that respect this
week. Bye-bye CNBC and Washington Week.
The correct analysis is that the line of questioning was
demeaning, it served the American people poorly in that it did not shine light
on the candidates’ positions and demonstrated that Senator Rubio’s comments
were dead-on; the media is the ultimate Super-PAC of the Democratic Party. Had
Fox News Channel used the above listed questions in a Democratic Presidential
debate, the news media would have gone crazy. How much noise have you heard from the
main stream media about the Republican debate?
Does anyone care to join me in my ban of CNVC and Washington
Week?
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