Issues related to economics and business were front and center during the first presidential debate. There is a lot I could discuss, but Lester Holt\u2019s opening question is enough for this post:<\/p>\n
There are two economic realities in America today. There’s been a record six straight years of job growth, and new census numbers show incomes have increased at a record rate after years of stagnation. However, income inequality remains significant, and nearly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Beginning with you, Secretary Clinton, why are you a better choice than your opponent to create the kinds of jobs that will put more money into the pockets of American workers?<\/em><\/p>\n First, Holt\u2019s question is far too generous to President Obama\u2019s record on the economy. The \u201cjob growth\u201d he mentioned is expected in a lackluster economy, so \u201csix straight years\u201d is no accomplishment. The income increase he referenced only appeared in the most recent data and does not negate the rest of Obama\u2019s tenure as president. Holt also overlooked the extremely low labor participation rates, especially among youth and minorities.<\/p>\n Second, Holt\u2019s question legitimizes the 2004 \u201ctwo Americas\u201d argument by former Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards. Of course, versions of the haves and have-nots argument have been bantered around politically since the days of Marx and Engels.<\/p>\n Third, Holt assumes that it\u2019s the role of the President and\/or federal government to \u201cput more money in the pockets of American workers.\u201d It\u2019s not. The government\u2019s role is to protect liberty so we can achieve on our own. Instead of opening the discussion on how much<\/em> government intervention is best, Holt framed the debate as one over which type<\/em> of intervention is best.<\/p>\n Finally, Holt made Hillary Clinton\u2019s most difficult argument for her. Secretary Clinton needs to stay close enough to Obama to leverage his strength with certain voter groups, but far enough away to combat Trump on trade and other vulnerable issues. By establishing the pretext that Obama has advanced the economy but more intervention is necessary, he set the stage for Clinton\u2019s narrative.<\/p>\n Holt\u2019s opening question introduced a subtle bias that was present throughout the evening and set the stage for the debate. Hillary Clinton was ready for the softball he tossed her, responding as if on cue with all of the predictable clich\u00e9s\u2014\u201ctrickle down economics,\u201d the need to \u201chelp families,\u201d and making the \u201cwealthy pay their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re upset about the bias, get used to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Issues related to economics and business were front and center during the first presidential debate. There is a lot I could discuss, but Lester Holt\u2019s opening question is enough for this post: There are two economic realities in America today. There’s been a record six straight years of job growth, and new census numbers show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}