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The final GOP debate before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses was held in Johnston, Iowa yesterday. Nine Republican presidential candidates went head to head in a quick-fire, short-answer battle moderated by Carolyn Washburn, editor of The Des Moines Register which sponsored the debate.
The face-off was opened with a question about the financial status of the United States. Ms. Washburn asked, "The comptroller general has said the U.S. faces a tsunami of debt that is a great threat to our national security. Do you agree our country's financial situation creates a security risk? And why or why not?"
Rudy Giuliani believes it's a major problem, but he "wouldn't call it national security." He would call it "economic security. It's very, very important."
Congressman Duncan Hunter stated, "There are two debts that are a threat to national security; the budget deficit and the trade loss" and stressed the importance of bringing offshore jobs back to America, and he stated that the U.S. needs to stop China from cheating on trade.
Congressman Ron Paul said, "It's absolutely a threat to our national security because we've spent too much, we tax too much, we borrow too much, and we print too much. When a country spends way beyond its means, eventually it will destroy the currency, and we're in the midst of a currency crisis."
Representative Tim Tancredo said, "The reason why it becomes a national security problem is because the bulk of our imbalance of trade is a result of our importation of oil from countries that are not our friends."
Fred Thompson blamed China, saying, "Our country has a 9 trillion-dollar debt. A good chunk of that is owned by China. We're bankrupting the next generation without any question. Every economist in Washington who's looked at it will tell you that. It affects our national security; for one reason is because we're squeezing military spending. We're spending at below historic norms under these circumstances for our defense, and we're spending twice as much for entitlements."
Mitt Romney doesn't think we need ask Washington for answers. He said, "The best answer for our economic woes is to make sure we have good jobs for our citizens, good schools for our kids, good health care for everyone, and that we have policies that promote the growth of the nation. If you want to see a strong America, you don't look to Washington; you look to ways to strengthen the American people."
Mike Huckabee was more direct with his response, saying "It's most certainly a national security threat because a country can only be free if it can do three things. First, it has to be able to feed itself. It has to be able to put food on the table for its own citizens. Secondly, it's got to be able to fuel itself. If it looks to somebody else for its energy needs, it's only as free as those are willing for it to be. And it also has to be able to fight for itself. It's got to be able to manufacture its own weapons of defense -- tanks, airplanes, bullets and bombs."
Senator John McCain says, "Of course, any nation that no longer has economic strength sooner or later will lose its military strength, so it's a national security issue. We have many trillions of dollars of unfunded liability. Obviously, we've been on a spending spree. We cannot increase taxes."
Ambassador Alan Keyes rambled on, saying "I think it's obviously a national security problem, but you have to understand what national security is. The Constitution defines it as...." (I stopped listening to him after that.)
Ms. Washburn delved a little deeper into the budget issue, asking the candidates what sacrifices they would ask the American people to make to reduce the national deficit.
The federal budget appeared to be the most important issue to Iowans, and discussions of taxes and cutting federal spending ruled the debate until the topic of global climate change was addressed. Wasburn dismissed the issues of Immigration and Iraq, which were barely touched upon.
Matthew Balan of News Busters writes:
Following up on Al Gore’s reception of the Nobel Peace Prize, Carolyn Washburn of the Des Moines Register asked the Republican candidates several questions on the issue of "global climate change" and related topics. At the beginning of the debate, Washburn stated "we won't talk a lot about issues like Iraq or immigration. They're important issues, no doubt, but Iowans say they know where the candidates are
