Five things that won't be brought up in the debates

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/tough-talk-america-1349097681

Five big things will decide what this country looks like next year and in the 20 years to follow, but here’s a guarantee for you: you’re not going to hear about them in the upcoming presidential debates. Yes, there will be questions and answers focused on deficits, taxes, Medicare, the Pentagon, and education, to which you already more or less know the responses each candidate will offer. What you won’t get from either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama is a little genuine tough talk about the actual state of reality in these United States of ours. And yet, on those five subjects, a little reality would go a long way, while too little reality (as in the debates to come) is a surefire recipe for American decline.

So here’s a brief guide to what you won’t hear this Wednesday or in the other presidential and vice-presidential debates later in the month. Think of these as five hard truths that will determine the future of this country.

1. Immediate deficit reduction will wipe out any hope of economic recovery: These days, it’s fashionable for any candidate to talk about how quickly he’ll reduce the federal budget deficit, which will total around $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2012. And you’re going to hear talk about the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan and more like it on Wednesday. But the hard truth of the matter is that deep deficit reduction anytime soon will be a genuine disaster.

[pampango]

1. They will both engage in 'pretend' tough talk, but will stay away from the 'genuine' variety.

They both undoubtedly think that 'real' tough talk about the actual state of reality in these United States of ours will lose them the election.

I trust Obama about a thousand time more than romney when it comes to dealing with these issues, but I don't expect either to 'really' talk about deficits, taxes, Medicare, the military and education though they will mention all of them.

[eridani]

2. Five MoreQuestions Unlikely to Be Asked Tonight

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/13772-questions-unlikely-to-be-asked-tonight

Governor Romney: You've said that you have used every legal method to reduce your tax liability. You've also said that as president you would close tax loopholes in order to help finance a major across-the-board tax cut. What specific tax loopholes have you used that you would close? A followup: Would you close the loophole that allows private-equity managers to treat their income as capital gains, subject to a 15 percent tax, even when they risk no capital of their own?

President Obama: You have spoken eloquently of the need to reduce the influence of big money in politics. What specific measures will you advance if you are reelected to accomplish this goal?

Governor Romney: You have promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank bill if you're elected. Yet our largest Wall Street banks are significantly larger than they were before the near meltdown of 2008. How would you prevent another bank from being too big to fail?

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Ending Citizen's United NOW. Reinstating Glass-Steagall NOW. Immediate student loan debt erasure

(it's currently past $1 trillion). Ending drone attacks upon innocent civilians in 5+ countries. Eliminating the 64 US drone bases. Immediately slashing the military industrial complex and its spending. Immediately removing the four or so nuclear US aircraft carriers in the Straight of Hormuz in preparation for an oil grab (read: "war on Iran", which is only about "peak oil" and the "petroleum dollar&quot . Ending "the Fed". Immediately jailing the corrupt banksters and wall streeters who helped put this country nearly into a great depression. Immediate moratorium of foreclosures and an in-depth Federal investigation into robosigning. Climate change and the impending food and water crises, much less addressing the weather patters which will occur in four years when the Arctic ice is gone. Returning the $16 trillion or so stolen by banks and offshored by CEOs. The TPP. The NDAA, especially Section 1021, which was struck down as unConstitutional but Obama's lawyers just got that "unConstitutional" ruling struck down. The NDRP. HR347, the "no protesting around your representatives" law. Bradley Manning in solitary confinement for over two years despite the right to a speedy trial, for exposing the crimes of Bush's war. 7,400+ Occupy members bloodied and jailed for addressing all the above.

Sigh...