They didn’t like being in the junior varsity debate, relegated to an earlier time slot and unable to go head-to-head against their higher-polling rivals. They didn’t produce a YouTube-able moment, or a withering zinger that would dominate the headlines afterward. But the four men who squared off in the first round of Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary debate finally offered up something critics complain has been lacking so far this campaign season: an actual debate about policy.
They laid out the bones of their respective tax plans. They weighed in on whether the Fed ought to raise interest rates. They talked about stagnant wages, the Ex-Im Bank and reducing the size of government. Notably absent was any frustration or irritation with the questions asked by the Fox Business Channel and Wall Street Journal moderators, who kept the questions direct and nonconfrontational. Perhaps more remarkably, the debaters actually began to sum up their remarks when the bell went off to signal their time was up — a marked deviation from the leading candidates’ debates, in which contenders have talked over each other and openly sparred with moderators.
There was one main target in the debate among two sitting governors, a former governor and a former U.S. senator: Democrats in general, and front-runner Hillary Clinton in particular.
“She’s the real adversary tonight. We better keep focused, as Republicans, on her,” said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who — with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — was sent down to the early debate stage after polling too low to maintain a place on the eight-person Milwaukee debate stage later in the evening. “Hillary Clinton’s coming for your wallet, everybody. Don’t worry abut Huckabee or [Louisiana Gov. Bobby] Jindal,” Christie added ominously. “Worry about her.”
Jindal — while indeed castigating Clinton as someone who would continue what he called the “path to socialism” under President Barack Obama — also directed his ire at the other Republicans in the race, saying they had not done enough to bring down spending and reduce the size of government.
“We all agree Hillary Clinton’s bad. Let’s not pretend that out-of-control government spending is only a Democratic issue,” Jindal said, calling himself the only GOP candidate in the race who had actually cut government spending.
“We’ve got four senators running, they’ve never cut anything in D.C.,” said Jindal, himself a former member of Congress. “They give the long speeches called filibusters, they pat themselves on the back, nothing changes when they go to relieve themselves, their cause and the toilets get flushed at the same time and the American people lose.”
Christie pushed back — rather kindly — saying he had refused to set up an Affordable Care Act exchange in New Jersey and had, in fact, reduced the state payroll. But Jindal kept up the attack, saying to Christie:
“Chris, look, I’ll give you a ribbon for participation. And a juice box,” Jindal added. “But in the real world, it’s about results. It’s about actually cutting government spending, not just talking about cutting government spending.”
The comments — tame, by the standards of earlier debates — seemed out of place in a debate dominated by serious talk about taxes and fiscal policy, and prompted the notoriously combative Christie to shrug it off. “I complimented Bobby. Imagine how much time he’d want if I actually criticized him,” Christie said, earning a chuckle from the audience.
As Christie and Jindal sparred over who was better-equipped to beat Clinton in a general election, Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania asked to be recognized.
“Chris says we need someone who can win in a blue state. Bobby says we need a principled conservative,” Santorum said. He then stretched out his arms, offering himself as the contender with both attributes.
Asked to delineate the lowest and highest tax rates they would accept, Santorum reiterated his call for a flat tax of 20 percent, with households given a $2,700 tax credit for each family member. The proposal synchs with Santorum’s focus on strengthening the nuclear family, an issue the self-described Christian conservative said has not been given enough attention in the campaign. “We have incentivized people not to marry,” he said.
Jindal said he would get rid of the corporate tax to encourage businesses to stay in the United States and not take jobs overseas. For individuals, Jindal proposed rates of 25 percent, 10 percent and 2 percent, saying even the poorest Americans needed to pay something to have “skin in the game.”
Huckabee called for the elimination of both the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service, promising to fund the government with a tax on consumption. Asked if the plan would discourage consumer spending — which now drives more than two-thirds of the economy — Huckabee brushed off the concern. “Do you know an American that will just stop spending? I don’t,” he said.
Christie said he would propose tax rates of 28 percent at the top and 8 percent at the bottom. He said he would get rid of all tax loopholes and deductions except for the mortgage interest tax deduction (which is popular with voters and has an impact on home building and buying) and the charitable contributions deduction.
There was one question no candidate could — or would — answer: Since politics requires working with the other side, they were asked, which Democrat do you most admire? Jindal called the question “silly,” and said of Washington politicians, “Let’s get rid of them all.” The remaining three contenders, seeing that Jindal would not offer a single name, used the question to talk about a pet issue. Santorum, however, offered a passionate and grudging compliment to his Democratic colleagues. “They fight. They’re not willing to back down. I respect them because they are willing to take it to us,” Santorum said.
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Undercard Candidates Spar Over Policy, Not Politics originally appeared on usnews.com
