There was the expected talk of tax plans, job creation, deficit reduction, healthcare, and the role of government. But during their first US presidential debate, incumbent Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney drew upon some interesting people and places to make their points.
Romney articulated his five-point plan to fix the economy:
“My plan has five basic parts. One, get us energy independent, North American energy independent. That creates about 4 million jobs. Number two, open up more trade, particularly in Latin America, crack down on China, if and when they cheat. Number three, make sure our people have the skills they need to succeed and the best schools in the world. We’re a far way from that now. Number four, get us to a balanced budget. Number five, champion small business…”
Romney on what he would cut to help balance the budget:
“What things would I cut from spending? Well, first of all, I will eliminate all programs by this test, if they don’t pass it: Is the program so critical it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?”
“I’m sorry, Jim [referring to moderator Jim Lehrer], I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I’m not going to—I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.”
On the revenue Romney plans to get to reduce the deficit:
“Look, the revenue I get is by more people working, getting higher pay, paying more taxes. That’s how we get growth and how we balance the budget. But the idea of taxing people more, putting more people out of work, you’ll never get there. You’ll never balance the budget by raising taxes.”
“Spain—Spain spends 42% of their total economy on government. We’re now spending 42% of our economy on government. I don’t want to go down the path to Spain. I want to go down the path of growth that puts Americans to work with more money coming in because they’re working.”
Obama’s rebuttal on Romney’s urge to help small businesses:
“But under Governor Romney’s definition, there are a whole bunch of millionaires and billionaires who are small businesses. Donald Trump is a small business. Now, I know Donald Trump doesn’t like to think of himself as small anything, but—but that’s how you define small businesses if you’re getting business income.”
Romney invocation of his supporter Trump:
“Well, the economy is still growing slow. As a matter of fact, it’s growing much more slowly now than when you made that statement. And so if you believe the same thing, you just don’t want to raise taxes on people. And the reality is it’s not just wealthy people—you mentioned Donald Trump. It’s not just Donald Trump you’re taxing. It’s all those businesses that employ one-quarter of the workers in America; these small businesses that are taxed as individuals.”
On the role of government, Obama calls upon the 16th US president:
“But as Abraham Lincoln understood, there are also some things we do better together. So, in the middle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said, let’s help to finance the Transcontinental Railroad, let’s start the National Academy of Sciences, let’s start land grant colleges, because we want to give these gateways of opportunity for all Americans, because if all Americans are getting opportunity, we’re all going to be better off.”