California Recall Debate

[Caligastia]

Did you anyone watch it?

The moderator annoyed me by constantly interrupting McClintock to tell him how much time there was left for any topic. Arriana and Arnie were a bit of a laugh with their exchanges...

Cruz Bustamante - "We spent too much"



NO ****!

[Dinner]

I saw half of it and then got bored. Ariana was her typical nutty self, Cruz was trying to get people to think about anything but the $38 billion deficite he and Davis made, Arnie was all about slogans and one liners, while McClintock actually seemed to have hard numbers to back up everything he said. The Green Party candidate seemed like a wall flower because he just sat there hardly speaking at all.

After watching the debate I'd have to say McCintock is the candidate who impressed me the most. He seemed dignified and he obviously spent alot of time examining the tax income vs expenditures because he was able to name specific places to cut in order to eliminate the Deficit.

[Caligastia]

Yeah, I reckon McClintock was the winner.

[ixnay]

.

[Tuberski]

Who cares? I don't live in California, why should I watch it?

ACK!

[Caligastia]

Why post in this thread then?

[MrFun]

I don't understand the national attention that California is getting over this recall.

I did not watch any part of the debate -- I was not THAT bored.

[Drake Tungsten]

To spite you?

[pchang]

changes

The moderator needs to have a mute button to stop the candidates from talking over each other and getting off the subject.

[MrFun]

To throw tomatoes at him.

[Berzerker]

McClintock won, Arnie did well by matching or surpassing expectations - he didn't screw up badly.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Why post in this thread then?

For the same reason a Kiwi started the thread?

ACK!

[Berzerker]

I was a bit stunned by two things the green candidate said: the rich in California pay a lower income tax rate - ~7% than others - ~9% and that he wanted the rate to be equal - a flat tax.

[pchang]

strange numbers

I thought Peter Camejo was the most articulate of the candidates. However, his numbers could be a bit misleading. He really wants a progressive tax system where the rich pay more as a percentage than the poor. His number that show the rich pay a lower percentage are based upon estimates of what the rich people's income levels are. There is a lot of wiggle room on how to estimate what the real income level is of a rich person.

[Rex Little]

I didn't watch the debate, but if Camejo actually said that the rich pay a lower income tax rate than others, he's lying or on crack. The income tax here is indeed progressive, with a top rate of 9.3% (or something like that; I might be a few tenths off) for that part of your income which crosses the highest threshold.

Perhaps what Camejo really said, or really meant, was that when all taxes (especially sales taxes and auto fees) are taken into account, the poor pay a higher percentage than the rich. That might be true; I don't have the numbers or the patience to crunch them.