Second Presidential Debate

It's Brokaw. I like this guy, if only for his fantastic picture of history, The Greatest Generation.
I'm going to say, I like this format much better then the standard one.

How do we fix this?
Obama: would make a rescue package for the middle class, with infrastructure projects to foster growth.
Mac: will buy out people who are faulting out of their mortgages. Energy policy and our trade with china are not the issue at hand, if anything, those are remarkably contributory to our current prosperity.
(What right does the government have to stabilize home values? A market requires fluctuations in the price of a commodity in order to function, without the variations in price the supply will not move to meet demand as it is needed. )
Grade: FAIL. Both of them. Miserably. If this is indeed to be the economic policy of the future, the hope and dream of continued economic greatness by the United States is doomed to failure.

Treasury Secretary, who will you pick?
Mac: Warren Buffet. Meg Whitman. Some one who inspires confidence.
Obama: Tax Cuts!! (that's the ticket!)
Grade: Mac wins, he answered. And Whitman is a dumb pick, but Obama looses.

How does this bailout help us out?
Mac: It's rescue, not bailout. Unloads on Freddie and Fannie and Obama's party. Brilliant.
This rescue means we will stabilize markets, but its not enough. That's why we have to stabilize home values.
Obama: Deregulation caused this. Damn the free markets!
Grade: Both fail. There is not a lick of the American dream in either of these candidates.

Will the American Economy get much worse before it gets better?
Barrack: We need new regulations and coordinate with the global economy for that. We also need to make sure people can pay their bills.
McCain: It depends on what we do. If we act effectively, and buy up loans with taxpayer money, it will be better.
Grade: Fail. Again.

How can we trust either of you with our money?
Obama: I understand. The deficit is bigger because of Bush. So I'll spend more money. But cut some too. Really. Trust me.
Mac: I'll take on the special interests and the earmarks, and I'm bipartisan. (That's the ticket!) And then rips Obama a new one on spending records, $3 mil for an over head projector?
Grade: Obama gets a D, he barely answered the question.
Mac gets a B, 'cause he answered and then unloaded on Obama.

Basically, neither one can stay under a time limit. Brokaw is just letting them run wild with rhetoric.

What sacrifices will you ask every American to make?
Mac: We'll have to get rid of excess. I'll do it. Defense spending, and every project needs to be scrutinized. Spending will have to be cut, so we'll have to freeze it. (WHAT???)
Obama: Bush said go out and shop. That wasn't leadership. I think we need to save energy.
Grade: Neither really gave a good answer.
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".

Did the feds and the American consumer get drunk on spending?
Obama: It starts with Washington, and we have to stop running up deficits. We need to increase revenues. More class warfare, thats what we need to answer. I want to use a scalpel on the budget, McCain wants to use a hatchet.
Mac: Obama is like jello on the tree. Tax increases in a recession are bad.
Grade: Eh. Neither was good or forceful.

Ha! Brokaw just enforced time.

What about social security and Medicare?
Obama: We can't solve it without solving tax policy. (He's just rebuttaling without answering the question, and in the process is giving an absurd answer about tax rates.)
Mac: I'll answer the question. Social security isn't tough. A bipartisan solution. Medicare is harder, and we'll make a commission.
Grade: Obama didn't answer, Mac mostly did. Mac B, Obama F.

What will you do in the first two years for the environment? (Rubbish topic)
Mac: I think global warming is a big deal. Nuclear power ahoy! I was on a navy ship, nukes are clean and safe and make jobs! Alternative fuels too! Whoo!
Obama: This is one of the biggest challenges of our time. But look, 5 million new jobs for alternative fuels! We need more government funding for it. And Mac voted against these! We have 3% of the worlds oil, so we can't drill out.
Grade: Nuclear is good, hybrid mandates are not. B for Mac. Obama... what? C.

Brokaw brings the hammer down on the one minute topic.

Should we fund a Manhattan like project to solve this energy crisis or fund a vast array of American inventors?
Mac: I voted against the Bush energy bill. Obama voted for it. I want to drill off shore, when there is more supply, the price goes down. Stayed in the time limit.

Selling healthcare as a commodity, good or bad?
Obama: We have to do something about this health care crisis. Digitize medical records, and then give bundles of federal employee insurance to everyone.
Mac: We don't need the state borders on insurance.
Grade:Eh. Mac for B, Obama for C.

Is health care a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?
Mac: It's a responsibility, and everyone should have it. But not by government mandates.
Obama: It is a right, people shouldn't have to argue with insurance companies from their death bed.
Grade: A for McCain, B for Obama cause he answered. He's sorely mistaken, but he answered.

Brokaw slaps around timing from Obama. Mac asks for the size of the medial insurance fine, Obama ignores.

How will the economic stress affect our ability to be a peace maker in the world?
John: America is the greatest force for good in the history of the world. We have gone to all corners of the globe and shared our blood to defend others freedoms. We need a strong economy for this. I understand foreign policy, Barrack doesn't.
Barak: This war is expensive. We need our allies, and this costs to much.
Grade: Obama answered this well, B. Same for Mac.

Are actions like Rwanda justified?
Obama: Genocide needs to be stopped as a national interest, where possible. Darfur has not been handled right.
Mac: We will win our actions, and we must do whatever we can to prevent genocide, and we have to be a positive force with a strong leader. Somalia was a failure, and we have to know the limits of our strength.
Grade: B for Obama, he echoed biden on Darfur. A for McCain, he has a grasp of history and he showed it.

Should we respect Pakistani sovereignty regarding Al-Queda?
Obama: We made a mistake in Iraq, we need to go back and destroy al-queda. More pressure on the Afghan government, stop drug trafficking, and pressure the Pakistanis. We will kill Bin Laden.
McCain: Speak softly and carry a big stick. We need to cooperate with Pakistan, and Barrack has no grasp of diplomacy. We can't just withdraw from Iraq, or we make another Afghanistan. We need to help the Pakistani government to work with us, not threatening to attack them.
Obama: I get a rebuttal. Mac doesn't speak softly!!
Mac: I supported what I agreed with, and I didn't what I didn't. I was joking with a veteran. Deal with it. I will get Bin Laden, but I will not telegraph my punches.
Grade: C for Obama, A for Mac, especially in the rebuttal.

How will win in Afghanistan?
Obama: We need to take troops from Iraq and put them in Afghanistan.
Mac: Petraus will fix this. Watch him.
Grade: B for Obama, A for Mac.

How can we apply pressure to Russia without starting a cold war?
Mac: We won't have a cold war. Putin is KGB, and aiming at the Ukraine. We need to advocate for their placement in NATO. The G8 is an option as well.
Obama: This is a central issue. I agree with Mac, but we need to give more then just moral support, they need financial and real aid. We need to anticipate these problems. We need to drill too.
Grade: A for both.

Is Russia the evil empire?
Obama: They act like it.
McCain: Maybe.

If Iran attacks Israel, will you commit or wait for the UN?
Mac: We obviously would not wait, as China and Russia would pose problems. We will fight Iran if they invade. We can never allow a second holocaust.
Obama: We cannot allow Iran to get a nuke. I want sanctions on Iran.
Grade: A for McCain, C for Obama and his vacillations.

What don't you know, and how will you learn it?? What a terrible question. It's really just a closing statement.

Overall? Mac gets a B-, Obama gets a D.
They are both blithering idiots on economic subjects, but performed well on the foreign policy.

EDIT: Mac gets a C-. This mortgage buy out business is in excusable.

Also, it is significant to note what topics Brokaw avoided, ie Illegal immigration, Gun Policy, Judicial appointments, Infanticide & Abortion, Stem Cell research, education, Homosexual rights, Star Wars, agriculture, and whatever else i didn't bring up.
These might have been on the agenda, but the candidates atrocious tracking of time and refusal to stay under their agreed rules likely pushed this issues off the table.