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What a whiff by Obama on the policy section.
Charlie Gibson asks a stupid question:
"when the capital gains tax was lowered, revenues went up. When it was raised in the 80s, they went down"
Look. The way capital gains taxes work is thusly:
1) In the midst of a huge economic boom, there are more gains raising revenue (Clinton cut)
2) When the rates have been high and are lowered to rates that seem to be the lowest they could possibly be, people with a tax plan can sell at an opportune time, realizing gains earlier rather than later.
There is no special magic about the relationship between capital gains tax rate and revenues.
Maybe Obama was thrown off by the 45 minutes of "aren't you a terrible person" at the beginning of the debate, but once they actually got into policy issues, he's been pretty stiff. Frequently has the right answer (except when dredging up the social security crisis...also, when discussing the payroll tax caps, use Franken's term. You want a Donut!), but it's buried in there.
On policy questions, Hillary's been good. I'm not thrilled with the way she continually excuses throwing out and reinforcing right-wing language and ideas with the excuse, "the republicans are going to do it." It's a bad idea, and just because they'll do it later isn't a good reason to do their work for them. Seriously? The weather underground? seriously?
Charlie Gibson asks a stupid question:
"when the capital gains tax was lowered, revenues went up. When it was raised in the 80s, they went down"
Look. The way capital gains taxes work is thusly:
1) In the midst of a huge economic boom, there are more gains raising revenue (Clinton cut)
2) When the rates have been high and are lowered to rates that seem to be the lowest they could possibly be, people with a tax plan can sell at an opportune time, realizing gains earlier rather than later.
There is no special magic about the relationship between capital gains tax rate and revenues.
Maybe Obama was thrown off by the 45 minutes of "aren't you a terrible person" at the beginning of the debate, but once they actually got into policy issues, he's been pretty stiff. Frequently has the right answer (except when dredging up the social security crisis...also, when discussing the payroll tax caps, use Franken's term. You want a Donut!), but it's buried in there.
On policy questions, Hillary's been good. I'm not thrilled with the way she continually excuses throwing out and reinforcing right-wing language and ideas with the excuse, "the republicans are going to do it." It's a bad idea, and just because they'll do it later isn't a good reason to do their work for them. Seriously? The weather underground? seriously?
