1/8/2012 NBC GOP Debate

Moderator: What a grandstander First (to Gingrich): Why does he think Romney is not the best candidate? Brought up the WSJ article again (about Romney being timid) and also brought up the bold Reagan conservative quote again. Said the nominated candidate will need to be strong enough to withstand the huge campaign that Obama will run. He brought up Romneys moderate record, and lack of contrast with Obama. Note: Moderator seemed to harp on the whether Gingrich thought Romney was unelectable. Romney response: Hes proud of his record, and referenced it such as he cut taxes 19 times etc. Romney mentioned that many republicans have gotten behind him, and that he is not a lifelong politician like Obama. He brought up that he has a lot of real world experience that Obama does not. Second (to Santorum): He (Santorum) is close to being a lifelong politician so what is his argument that Romney should not be the primary GOP candidate? Santorum brought up that Romney did not run for reelection in his state (MA) in spite of his good record. Santorum contrasted himself with Romney saying that he (Santorum) ran and reran for elections. Santorum dug into Romneys past, and lack of conservatism, that Romney would not go to bat for conservative principles. Moderator brought up that Santorum said four years ago that Romney WOULD stand up for conservative principles. Santorum said vis--vis John McCain. Romney response: Made a jab at lifelong politicians, said he had other stuff he wanted to do. Romney says for me, politics is not a career. Romney went on to say that his experiences make him well suited to be President (business, Olympics, Governor, Etc.). Also said he wanted to see term limits, and doesnt like the lifelong approach to politics. Gingrich response: Jabbed Romney about ignoring the red light which indicates speaking time is up because he (Romney) is the front runner. Gingrich basically said cut the crap (drop the lifelong politician mantra), Romney has been running for office since the 1990s, he didnt run for reelection in 94 because he had a bad reelection rating. Gingrich charge him (Romney) to not use citizenship as a reason for not going for reelection. Romney: Said citizenship has always been on his mind, and brought and some quotes from his grandfather. Brought up that he serves when he thinks he can do something good for the country, and because of his experience he can do that as President. Third (to Paul): Do you believe Romney we he says he is a man of constancy, and will stand up for conservative principles? Paul said the whole question is superficial; the real issue is how we can do well against Obama with a candidate who doesnt oppose the huge government spending and over extension. Fourth (to Perry): Is Romney unelectable in your judgment? Perry says need to ask the question who can beat Obama and says he sees a group of insiders who wont be able to get the support of true

conservatives. So Perry sees himself as not being an insiderCriticized the others as being a part of the problem in Washington. Fifth (to Romney): What would you say to conservatives to convince them that they can trust you? Romney says look at his record as Governor, and his experience in business. Says he has become more conservative over the years, and America needs someone who knows how this kind of stuff works. Sixth (to Huntsman): What specifically would he do to say to American these are the cuts I am going to make that will cause pain: Huntsman first replies to Romney, who criticized him on ABC for being in China implementing Obama policies. Hunstman says he will always put his country firstSo Huntsman didnt really answer the question. Romney response: Says we serve our country first by standing for people who believe in conservative principles. Romney brought up that Hunstman called Obama a remarkable leader and went to China to implement his (Obamas) policies. Hunstman says: This station is divided because of attitudes like that (Romneys) and goes on about Americans being outdone with partisan politics and their trust has been undermined. Seventh (to Hunstman): Name three areas where Americans will feel real pain in order to balance the budget. Hunstman says he agrees with the Ryan plan and he is the only candidate to embrace it. He by and large avoided the question, but basically social security and healthcare (when pressed) and that he wouldnt tie defense spending to some percentage of the GDP. Santorums response: Says social security and a means testing i.e. is someone is wealthy they should not be on social security. Huntsman brought up a similar point. After social security he says food stamps, and Medicaid. Policy should require work for these programs and a timeline; also put the states in charge. His method would change the programs from being dependency programs to putting people on a path of prosperity. Seventh (to Gingrich): On the issue of Medicare, does he agree with Santorum that seniors should be moved off of Medicare to a voucher program. He says the plan is a substantial improvement. Brought the question to around why are analysts interested in pain? A sound approach would not punish Americans; rather it would improve the government in a way that does not hurt the people. Eighth (to Perry from Facebook): Is it un-American for Americans to feel relieved when the government helps them? Perry first when back to the 3 program question, says he would eliminate departments of Commerce, Energy, and Education. Americans want a job, and clamoring for government assistance is wrongheaded. So the real question is, how to create jobs, and Perry claims to have done this very thing for Texas. End of first segment Santorum response on Medicare (he says seniors 55+ should be affected now): Santorum basically says his idea is to give seniors the freedom to choose what they want rather than deciding for them.

First (to Romney from Facebook): Who knows more about the American Economy or Grover Norquist (an anti-tax crusader) Warren Buffet? Romney said not sure either of them, but the right thing for America is to not raise taxes. Romney says Obama keep increasing taxes so the government can keep growing. He then launched into a bunch of thing he would cut, first on the list Obamacare. He specifically emphasized he doesnt want to change Medicare for current retirees. So he basically used this time to go back over some of the previous questions. to Huntsman: He brought up his flat tax policy again, and never answered the specific question. Second (to Gingrich): If you become President Gingrich and the leader of the Democrats says he going to try to make you a one term President, how would you work with that person? Gingrich says the one term President thing is a moot point when working with the opposition. He brought up his past experience working with opponents. He says if people of good will come together, results can be obtained. to Romney: Went back to his record of working with Democrats noting that MA is strongly liberal. Third (to Paul from Facebook): How will he get the House and Senate to work with him? Apparently very few of the things Paul has proposed have made it into law (only one out of 600+). He replied saying that shows the disconnect between Congress and the American people, he proposes things that help Americans and Congress doesnt pass them. He went on to say his record of working with others is as good as anyones. Paul also went back to the pain question and said Americans shouldnt feel pain, but people taking advantage of government overspending will. Fourth (to Santorum): How to you change the gridlock in Washington? Santorum took a quick jab at Paul, saying he has not passed anything of import. Said Paul can do a lot of damage on day one, but make no repairs. Says someone needs to be elected who can get useful things done. Paul response: Says it isnt easy to undo 100 years of misguided foreign policy. Says the nation will break down if we stay on the same track. Back to Santorum: Say it worked in his case just look at his record on welfare etc. Says he made compromises, but not on core principles. He has strong views on the dependency element of welfare programs. to Hunstman: Brought up the word trust. He made other comments and closed with bringing term limits to Washington, but didnt really answer the question. Fifth (to Perry): What would you say or do that would make Republicans uncomfortable. Perry says he hopes he is making them uncomfortable by talking about spending in the 2000s. He further emphasized that the other candidates are insiders. He also proposed part time congress and balanced budget amendment to the constitution. Says the spending cuts will make Republicans uncomfortable because a lot of them a big spenders. Break

First (to Huntsman): Obama cut the budget to help people heat their homes, is this one of the areas of pain. Says we cant address the issue until the country addresses energy, and need to disrupt the one product monopoly. That product being oil Second (to Paul): How does he feel about subsidies for energy, and the heating assistance program? Paul said subsidies are bad economic and moral policy. It uses government force to transfer money from one source to another. He said that subsidizing something and printing money to do so compounds to problem. Subsidies are politics not good policies. Third (to Romney): What do Americans have to learn to live with less of? Romney says dont need a Government that proposes to solve all our problems, says we should let states deal with issues not the Federal Government. He said that bureaucratic duplicity prevents money from getting to those who need it. Fourth (to Romney): How has he stood up for gay rights? Blah blah this is so stupid who even cares. Except for it is funny when one of the hosts asks when was the last time you stood up for gay rights? and Romney said right now. Fifth (to Santorum): Would you be a voice for increasing gay rights in the party? Says yeah hell be respectful but wont change laws about marriage, which doesnt mean he doesnt like them. Sixth (to Santorum): What would you say if you had a son who was gay? Santorum says hed love him as much as he did before he knew he was gay. Seventh (to Perry): Right to Work, does he see this as a Federal issue. He says it already is a Federal issue since there was legislation passed that make states have to consider Right to Work. Says he is not antiunion, but pro job. He then went on to how regulations are killing jobs. Eighth (to Romney and Santorum): Positive things labor unions contribute to the country (couldnt hear the first couple words of the question): Romney talks about the Carpenters union, then swerved to talk about public employee unions. He said that public employees should not be paid more than those in the private sector, and public employee unions should not have so much political power. Santorum: He (Santorum) has signed pledge in support of Right to Work, and then went on to say that unions contribute through community involvement. He said he has experience with this back in his state (Pennsylvania). Break First (to Gingrich): Arent easy answers from politicians something that makes people angry? The answer in question was that Romney told a student that if he (Romney) were president, students will be able to get a job when they graduate, if Obama is elected for a second term, they wont. Gingrich replied that this was not an easy answer, it was a fact. He then brought up Obamas bad energy policies and the success in North Dakota (ND) surrounding the oil production going on there.

Second (to Romney): Obama gets blame for poor job growth, but no credit when there is a positive trend line, why? Romney says he doesnt blame Obama for the recession or the decline, but for making it go on so long, and other reasons. He says that businesses feel under attack by this administration (per his conversations). Romney went on to detail specific things that Obama has done that are anti-business. Third (to Romney): Is the cross state air pollution regulation an example of over regulation? Romney says he is not familiar with it specifically, but it a concern. He went on to energy, and extolled natural gas. Fourth (to Gingrich): Why does he want to ban the EPA and start and environmental solutions agency, something that looks like the EPA? He says the EPA is increasingly radical, and increasingly ignores economics among other things. He noted some recent ridiculous activities of the EPA, and that they are out of touch with reality and we need an agency in its place that is practical, and considers economic factors. Fifth (to Perry): regarding statements from McCain saying he (McCain) essentially believes Obama has good intentions, does Perry agree? Perry says he firmly believes Obama is a socialist, and that he does not reflect what the founding fathers had in mind. He went on to say that he is a 10th amendment governor and that things should be pushed back to the states (such as environmental regulations). He says that states will do a far better job than a federal government that passes one size fits all regulations. Sixth (to Santorum): Perry has called the President a socialist, did Santorum advance socialist when he voted for a new prescription drug benefit that lacked a funding mechanism? Santorum first replied that he repeatedly called for a funding mechanism, but it was one of those things where he had a very difficult vote. There were things hed been fighting for in that vote, even though there were downsides. Seventh (to Paul): In his opinion, what are Americans entitled to from the government? Paul says entitlements are not rights. He elaborated on what rights are, and went back to the gay rights thing. He doesnt agree with the terms gay rights, womens rights, minority rights etc., the only right we have is to our liberty. He then went on to say entitlements dont really benefit those they are meant for; rather the big guys are the ones that get rich. Eighth (to Hunstman): What does the NH motto Live Free or Die mean to him personally, and how will it guide him in the white house? Come on is this really a question? Hunstman gave a windy answer, mentioning all the public events he has done in NH. He commented on leadership, and unifying people, projecting a vision for a more hopeful tomorrow. Hunstman also returned to his no trust theme, and how he wants to restore trust. Break With 10 minutes or so remaining, the host says he wants to get to some real substance. Surely the gay rights stuff was substanceNOT. First (to Santorum): Why cant we live with a nuclear Iran (but we live with other nuclear nations), and is he prepared to go to war? He called out Iran as a theocracy, with a government that believes the

afterlife is better than this one. He said their thinking makes using a nuke an encouragement, not a deterrent. This he says is the difference between Iran and the other nuclear nations. Host asks (what about Pakistan, will he (Santorum ask them to disarm?). Santorum said that Pakistan is not a theocracy and that we are hopefully of maintaining a relationship with Pakistan. He said the Obama administration has bungled trying to maintain positive relationships. Second (to Gingrich): About the tone of the campaign, is he consistent? Apparently Gingrich was complaining about attacks on him, but now he is launching attacks on Romney? Yeah this is substanceHe said he is consistent and that campaigns should be fact based. Pointed out that in attacks on him, the WSJ found that not all the facts in the attacks were true. But concerning Romney, the facts are verifiable. Third (to Gingrich): Tell Romney to his face that he is a liarGingrich told Romney to state that it is his (Romneys) former staff in addition to his rich friends that are running the attacks on him. Gingrich also asked Romney to admit he knows some of the facts in the ads are untrue. Romney: Said of course it is my former staff and my friendsThen said that under the law he cant direct the ads. Then listed off what was in the ads the he knew WERE true. The two sparred a little. Romney said that Gingrich went a little over the top for being in public. Fourth (to Santorum): How would he use the bully pulpit to shape America? He said the breakdown of the family is leading to more poverty. He highlighted that people who graduate high school, work, and get married before having kids have a significantly higher success rate than those who go a different route. He questioned why the President has not emphasized this, but rather has policies that detract from the things that we know work. to Paul: Said hed keep doing what he does, preaching the gospel of liberty. Compiled by: Matthew Brown Website: TalkNewstoMe.tumblr.com Videos from: videos.msnbc.msn.com