Presidential debate has unexpected loser, no winner

Thursday, October, 4, 2012; 10:37 PM | 20 | | Print

The president brought up Romney’s voucher system, saying it could hurt retirees because the vouchers would inevitably be unable to stand up to the rise in healthcare costs. As far as Romney’s policy is concerned, no real information was given, and he simply stated it was too lengthy to get into.

On energy, Romney slammed the president for his $90 billion in tax breaks for green energy companies, many of which failed during the president’s term. This comment was in response to the president arguing to get rid of useless tax breaks for things like oil industries, which was said to amount to only $2.8 billion. The failure of the $90 billion to help industries was indeed an embarrassment to the administration. But it is important to also keep in mind that the money was signed off on and sent to those industries with the idea in mind that the developing businesses may not survive, and only served to stimulate that industry.

As far as jobs and unemployment are concerned, the figure of roughly 5 million jobs being added over the past 4 years under the president is correct, according to The Washington Post. Unemployment, however, remains a huge issue, especially with roughly 49 percent of Americans on welfare. While Romney railed against the president over these numbers, it is important to consider that the economy continued in its downward spiral for many months after the president took office. This cost around 5 million jobs and caused unemployment to skyrocket in only the first year of Obama’s term.

Education was incredibly important to both men, as it rightfully should be. But the candidates differed on what approach would be best for solving the problems, federal or state involvement.

While in actuality, the president may have stood on more solid ground as far as facts go, there is no doubt that Americans somehow feel as though Mr. Romney won this debate. As the week progresses, we should keep an eye out for further fact checking to ensure we understand the actual facts regarding these topics.

We may not be able to determine who the “winner” truly was, but we all know who the unfortunate loser was: Jim Lehrer. Gentlemen, show the moderator some respect!

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A version of this article appeared in the Oct 5 issue of the Collegiate Times.

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Anonymous | # October 5, 2012 @ 1:54 AM — Flag Comment

If you're going to write an article stumping for Obama and claiming you've done all the fact check for the reader, at least get your own facts correct:

you said: "omney’s policy would actually cost the federal government roughly $5 trillion ... According to the Washington Post and Factcheck.org, the president’s claim turns out to be true"

factcheck.org: "Obama accused Romney of proposing a $5 trillion tax cut. Not true. Romney proposes to offset his rate cuts and promises he won’t add to the deficit."

http://factcheck.org/2012/10/dubious-denver-debate-declarations/

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