Presidential Debate: Domestic Policy

Wow! John Kerry scored a hat trick with his win in this final debate, and I predict the next few weeks will see George Bush's performance last night as absolutely devastating for his re-election bid.

Right up front, it was an obvious win for Kerry. In 120, 90, and 30 second increments, Kerry was able to clearly explain his own domestic goals while exposing how Bush's actions over the last four years have been just short of disastrous. If some isolated segment of the old Republican Party still believes in fiscal discipline, Kerry made it crystal clear to them that Bush must go.

Kerry also very clearly demonstrated why he will be a better leader. Time after time in defending his failed policies, President Bush crowed that he spent more money on the program than past administrations. Kerry simply pointed out "You don't measure it by a percentage increase. Mr. President, you measure it by whether you're getting the job done."

And right there - that crystallized for me everything that is wrong with President Bush as a leader. After 9/11, to just say you're spending more money on homeland security than Clinton did - like that's all that matters - is totally insane. Kerry rightly pointed out, "The measurement is not: Are we safer? The measurement is: Are we as safe as we ought to be?"

It doesn't matter how much money you throw at homeland security. If 95% of cargo containers aren't getting checked for nuclear weapons, "you're not getting the job done."

If you say our biggest threat is a nuclear armed al Qaeda, but your plan to secure loose nukes around the world takes thirteen years instead of four, "you're not getting the job done."

It doesn't matter how much money you're throwing at airport security, if the airlines don't have an integrated terrorist watch list to keep terrorists off the planes, "you're not getting the job done."

Kerry "gets" it. "You don't measure it by a percentage increase... you measure it by whether you're getting the job done."

George Bush is not getting the job done.

Miscellaneous Observations

The obvious gaffe was Bush flat-out lying about having said (here's the video), "I don't really think about [bin Laden] very much. I'm not that concerned," going so far as to actually mock John Kerry for resorting to "one of those 'exaggerations'."

In context, Bush is telling reporters that toppling Saddam is more important than getting the guy who attacked the United States and killed thousands of Americans. By reminding Americans that Bush doesn't really believe al Qaeda is a threat, John Kerry is highlighting Bush's wacked-up priorities.

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Did President Bush really ask Americans NOT to get a flu shot? And why does he have a Canadian firm manufacturing the new batch? Why not an American firm?

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President Bush reminded us that he's never forsaken the Republican tradition of fighting for big business and against hard-working wage earners. He said, "One of the reasons I'm such a strong believer in legal reform is so that people aren't afraid of producing a product that is necessary for the health of our citizens and then end up getting sued in a court of law."

In other words, he doesn't want his pharmaceutical company campaign donors getting sued for making defective drugs that kill our families. Thanks, President Bush... For nothing.

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Did anyone else notice this? "I sent up my budget man to the Congress, and he says, here's how we're going to reduce the deficit in half by five years. It requires pro-growth policies that grow our economy and fiscal sanity in the halls of Congress."

Bush's plan to cut the deficit in half relies exclusively on the economy getting better - I'm totally discounting the fiscal sanity pledge because President Bush has never ever vetoed a pork spending bill, he's overseen record levels government growth, and he's never showed any sign of "fiscal sanity."

Bush's plan to cut the deficit in half relies exclusively on the economy getting better. He has no plan!

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I did a summary of Bush's and Kerry's healthcare plans a few months ago. Check 'em out if you want to know why Kerry's plan is NOT nationalized healthcare, and why Bush's HSA's (which have already been tried) are a disaster.

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I never realized the partially funded No Child Left Behind law was such a Swiss Army Knife of solutions. Not only is it a program to test children and hold teachers accountable,  but it's a job training program, a job growth plan, and an economic stimulus package as well.

I guess when all you've done as president domestically is give disproportionately large tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy, saddle seniors with an overpriced prescription drug program that's already failed (drug companies immediately raised their prices to offset the discounts), and burden states with an unfunded education mandate, everything has to do double and triple duty.