So…I just discovered that there will be another vital, information-rich, highly-intelligent discussion by the esteemed GOP candidates on the critical issues of our time. I can hardly wait.

Wait. I was hallucinating for a minute, but I’m all better now…

The ABC build-up makes it sound like this crap is the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Part II.

Well…Diane Sawyer is off to an especially obsequious start. She’s gonna need the extra-strength Brillo pads to scrub the brown stain off her nose…

What is your distinguishing idea for creating jobs?

Gingrich took credit for 25 million new jobs from lower taxes, less regulation and American energy.

Zero cap gains, repartiate oversees profits, get rid of death tax.

Mitt: government and DC can’t create jobs.

1. Competitive tax rates,
2. REgulators unburden private enterprice
3. American common sense trade
4. American energy
5. Rule of law (not NRLB)
6. ??
7. No deficits.

Ron Paul — excessive debt arises from excessive credit — we’ve dumped debt on public via Fed Reserve. Shouldn’t bailout the banks. Liquidate the debt, cut taxes, cut spending by $1 trillion (that’s 2/3 of the budget)

Perry: flat tax of 20%, and be like Texas (which relied on federal stimulus and transfer payments)

It will take an outsider who didn’t know the Fed does what it does to fix that.

OMFG. Not even sure I can do this one. Husband has forced me to wear headphones, because he “can’t do it. Just can’t do it.”

Michele wants to win, win, win. We’ll create millions of “dollars” (she means jobs). Make the poor pay more income tax, because they don’t pay enough.

Cut Obamacare. Eliminate Dodd Frank and the EPA will save millions of jobs.

Rick Santorum … need to revitalize manufacturing by repealing regulations, especially energy regulations.

Frothy!

Petri Dish?

So far, they’re all saying the same thing. Cut taxes, cut regulations.

Blew a hole.

Moths?

This is probably a really stupid question, but I’m going to ask it anyway.

Do any of these people actually believe the bullshit that’s spilling out of their pieholes? (And that includes the “moderators,” also.) This is surreal in its idiocy.

What about the payroll tax?

Bachmann: shouldn’t have been passed to begin with. It’s a temp gimmick, not solution; this blew a hole in the SS Trust Fund — took away 112 billions (a flat misrepresentation — all of that was covered by the General Fund)

there’s nothing in the Treasure — which means she doesn’t know where money comes from.

Romney: doesn’t want to raise taxes, but this is a bandaid. Launches into attach on Obama economy. “All Obama does is talk about bandaids” this from the guy who has a 59 point economic plan.

Why yes, with things growing in it!

Thank you Scarecrow, sound not working here, so I am following you, very much appreciated.

Audience totally subdued so far; they probably don’t follow this.

Rick Santorum says Obama is “defunding Social Security.” His nose just got a foot longer.

Ron Paul says he supports tax cut, but says the Trust Fund is “gone,” so we have to pay for this, but cutting the military.

New Paul math: $2.4 trillion = gone

Mitt says American based on merit — so says the sheltered son of former Governor.

Mittens going on the offensive.

“A merit-based society,” huh? Like busting up companies and selling off the spoils? Sorta like that? “I spent my life in the private sector.” Bullshit. Willard has been running for Preznint since before the flood…

Mitt Romney says real difference between him and Newt is he spent his life in private sector.

Newt says: they only reason you didn’t become a career politician is because you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994 — the audience boos. Mitt surge!

He’s offensive, alright…just like everyone else on the stage.

Janitors are important.

Zero capital gains.

Pierce.

Newt defends taking union janitor jobs to those poor kids who don’t know how to work. He gets applause.

Newt corrects Mitt on capital gains proposals, and no one knows what he’s talking about. Both now arguing about how much to lower taxes for people who pay less than their secretaries.

Romney says: I coulda been a contenda in the NFL, as his response to losing to Ted Kennedy.

Especially 10-year old janitors.

ron Paul says Newt has been inconsistent, received money from Freddie Mac during the time when they were creating the housing bubble. So Newt was the spokesman for the entities that caused the crisis. Applause.

Gingrich is an unimaginable ego-maniac dirtbag…

Rodeo Drive?

Newt says the housing bubble came from the FED inflating the money supply, which means Randian Greenspan, but his audience doesn’t know that.

Michele — hits Newt on being a consumate insider, on K Street, etc.

Michele: Newt-Romney SUCKS! Big time.

Michele — Romney put socialized medicine in place, so how does he argue against Obamacare? Same for cap and trade for both Newt and Mitt. So she’s the only one who’s different from those two Kenyans.

Newt said Michele says untrue things. Gasp.

Michele channels the voices in her head and the crowd goes wild.

Newt– all those millions I made were not for lobbying — they just paid me for being smart.

Go Michele!

Michele — romney’s team went to WH to teach them about the mandate. GOP has to be 180 degrees opposite of Obama.

Newt, the biggest whore the GOP has ever seen, and that is truly saying something.

Barry cut Medicare!

This is the one of the most substantive debates they’ve had; there are even facts — so far about 1 fact for 10 statements, but that’s better than usual.

Perry: “I’m stunned becuz yer usin’ all them big fancy librul-elite 50 cent words…”

The Secessionist is doing OK!

Rich Perry says Michele is right about Mitt/Newt about Obama/Romney care. Mandates, mandates, mandates, and you guys were for them. You can’t say, “Obamacare is an abomination.”

Mandates is us!

Mitt says what he did wasn’t same as Obamacare because Obama raised taxes and cut spending on Medicare — neither of these distinguishes the framework of Obama/Romney care. It’s an implicit admission they are the same.

Whoever it was that thought up the term “Obamacare” should be sterilized so their genes can’t be passed along. I’m so sick of hearing that term that it’s all I can do to keep from pulling an Elvis Presley on the electric TV machine.

Ah red yer first buk!

Newt says something truthful: the framework of the mandate and exchanges was from conservatives, not Obama. They ignore this.

Picky, picky, picky.

Frothy is into “bottom up.”

Note to ABC executives: It was an egregious error not to have labeled this event “The GOP Teabagger Dumbass-a-Thon, Part 6,743.”

Michele — we have one shot to get rid of ObamaCare, but we have two men here who defended the structure/mandate. Why trust them.

rick Santorum says he never supported what newt called the conservative idea. No one will follow this. Says he’s the true conservative.

Michele did not sit on her hands. That would be SO wrong!

Ron Paul waits to be asked; Michele injects herself, and is getting more time. Same for Santorum.

Diane: Please obey the rules!

Great. we get a commercial with another former GOP candidate, Fred Law n Order.

Another note to ABC executives: Dump Diane Sawyer

2nd Half: Values and Family — should voters consider marital fidelity?

rick Perry — I made vow to my wife and to God, which is even stronger than a hand shake in Texas (applause)
If you’d cheat on your wife, you’d cheat in business partners or in public office.

Rick Santorum — it’s not a disqualifier; people make mistakes, but it’s a factor in trust.

Ron Paul — we shouldnt’ have to talk about this; it should show through. And what about our oath of office as a public official? If we took that seriously, the government budget would be balanced and we wouldn’t have a Fed and we wouldnn’t have the Patriot Act — we’d be prosperous and free — big applause.

Mitt pretends the issue is about him and Obama’s attach on his lack of core. Interesting self reflection. He thus avoids attacking Newt on marriage, even though he did implicitly in his ads. Uses it to make a pep speech on America.

Michele — founding fathers looked at “what’s the measure of the man [woman]; it’s about integrity; what’s your center? What’s your faith –I’m a Christian, every since age 16, and she talks about that.

Oh Noes……I was hoping Rick Perry would change into his Brokeback Mountain jacket for the culture war questions.

Newt — okay for people to ask whether they can trust — people have to measure me and my record of “real change.” Shows image of his wife.

Immigration: what about the 11 million undocumented?

Newt — wrt to citizen review boards about who gets to stay, idea came out of military. Says someone here 25 years, goes to church, etc, American’s don’t believe they should be deported.

This is the first GOP debate I’ve managed to get this far on. Might be because I’m struck cleaning the rec room, and it is taking this long.

Romney — Dianne asking him to clarify who gets sent back and who doesn’t. He ducks, starts implying Newt is talking about “amnesty” so “secure the border.” Those here should register, settle their affairs, and go home, then come back at the back of the line.

so how do we force that? Complete duck?

to Perry: what about those who signed up for military? Duck, instead says the US should enforce current laws. says current practice is “catch and release” into general population. Applause.

Perry started fading, reaching for the word “violent.”

They’re about to start a contest seeing who can lie the most about Palestinians. Newt might be hard to beat.

Agree that Palestinians are “an invented people” — Ron Paul says it’s a dumb statement, says things that get us into trouble, then says the basic Newt statement was correct.

Newt: depends accuracy of his statement, goes on anti-Palestinian rants — they’re all terrorists and they’re all educated as terrorists. time for someone to tell the truth.

Mitt: it’s wise to stand with Israel, but obama wants to return to 67 borders. We stand with the Israelis and only disagree in private; we don’t negotiate for them; but don’t throw incendiary words.

Newt: we’re not making it worse; Israel is getting rocketed, and someone needs to tell those silly Arab the truth about their own history.

Newt says, I’ve know Bibi since Jacob; Mitt says he’s known Bibi since Moses.

Contest now between Newtster and Mittster on who is better BFF with Bibi.

And Michelle is about to say she’s known him since she was made from Adam’s rib…

Well, at least you didn’t say she made Adam’s rib….

Mitt — I’m not a “bomb thrower,” Newt: it’s good to have the US President tell the truth even if it causes problems for the confused. Applause.

Michele — I worked there and I know those Arabs teach hatred.

Santorum: you have to speak the truth, but be prudent. Reagan had to tell the truth about the Russians because our allies were in gulags; not the case here. He agrees with Mitt, whatever Mitt said, sorta.

Howie Klein tweets: “Is Bachmann a socialist now? She worked on a kibbutz!”

They say you can always judge people by their friends. So, they lose.

Rick Perry — this is minor issue; problem is Obama’s muddled policy supporting Islamic movements. uh oh, Rick getting stuck in 2, 3, ideas. “This President is the problem, not something New Gingrich said.” loud applause. Break coming up.

Goodhair: Obama failed by not invading Iran to get back the RQ 170.

Max Blumenthal tweet on the I/P exchange is to the point – “Sawyer & Stephanapoulos smile & avoid pointed follow-up questions to racist and ahistorical invective against Palestinians .”

Since racist and ahistoric invective is standard ops for the Republicans and willfully turning a deaf ear is likewise for trad media, why should they change now? /s

Mitt
I’ve never had a money problem but lots of people I fired have.

Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate who gets applause for saying something rational. Maybe that’s because none of the others have done that yet.

I’m just wondering if young kids wearing rags are waiting in the wings with mops and buckets to clean-up after these Republican master debaters are done. Newt would approve.

Thanks. I had trouble getting a stream in the UK, but Gingrich’s “Palestinians are not a people” interview has been front page stuff over here (not in the States it seems). I was wondering if he’d be called on it.

These questions are totally inane. I don’t know who is worse-the moderators or the contestants.

And to think that I was once secretly in love with Diane Sawyer. Back in the PBS days.

I like her, she his a real blond!

So “none of these rethugs shouldn’t be let near government, let alone the oval office.” What about that jughead we have in the oval office now? Was he qualified? Absolutely not!

Ron Paul gives a consistent message. I’ll give him that. Unlike everyone else.