New Directions For Fiscal Policy In Ohio: Fill & Download for Free

In 2018 we are looking at a 628 billions in deficit. 2019 will bring in a deficit of almost 1 trillion dollars.Recent reports show that the USA’s major expenditures are:Military and foreign WarsNational debt interestMedicare and MedicaidSocial SecurityThe rise in fiscal deficit is explained in the increase of expenditure in the items aforementioned. It is important to understand that the current administration believes in boosting up the military as a way of creating new jobs and supporting the heavy military industry. Just very recently, president Trump supported a tank factory to keep on producing hardware. This is the last tank factory in the USA located in Lima, Ohio, all others are closed.An M1A2 Abrahams tank assembly line in Lima, Ohio.While this example is aligned with the idea of beefing up the military, it also shows that there is a need to keep hundreds of jobs that otherwise would be lost and with them, the precious know-how of welders, electricians and many more.Tax Cuts and Jobs ActAt the same time, in spite of the current deficit, the Trump administration has reduced corporate taxation from 35% to 20% as part of the newly voted “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” of 2017.The new tax act is estimated to cost the government about $1.5 trillion over 10 years which is the actual the life-span of the bill. This reduction will reduce revenue from corporate tax but at the same time, will hopefully translate in more investment and thus the creation of new jobs for the american people.A corporate tax cut may result in major direct foreign investment which could also contribute to the creation of jobs if new businesses are open in the USA in lieu of settling in countries where labor costs are cheap such as China or India.More jobs, mean more consumption of goods and therefore more revenue from individual tax. There is reason to believe that individual tax revenue will stay balanced as a result of unemployment rates dropping.Married filing jointly before and after the Tax cut act.Also, it should be noted that government budget policies say that any legislation which reduces revenue to the treasury, must be accompanied by a reduction in spending of the same amount. Military, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security remain major players that drive spending and thus fiscal deficit.Can any of these be reducted to comply with the Treasury policy?Medicare is paid for by a tax on wages and so is Medicaid. The first is limited for citizens above retirement age while the second is for people with very low income.While helping millions who are in need of social relief, they are a deterrent to private spending for a large chunk of tax payers. Many people argue that Medicare is a sort of forced taxation they might not ever need or live to enjoy.The new Tax cut bill also repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved in 2010. This act commonly known as “Obamacare”, was a major expansion of the existing Medicare and Medicaid plans that had been active since 1965.This repeal is supposed to reduce spending in 300 billions and it would drastically reduce coverage for many American citizens. At the same time, other sources claim that repealing the act will reduce the aggregate consumption because millions of low income americans will lose their medical coverage and so will need to pay out of their own pocket any medical bills. That money now spent in doctors would otherwise be poured in the consumer market.ConclusionFiscal policy is a tool that goverments use to control and influence the economy of a country. Keynesian economics show that taxes and public spending directly affect the level of activity of the economy.When a goverment increases spending such as medical and social plans it is said that the fiscal policy is “expansionary”. Interest rates are lowered to favor borrowing and therefore aggregate consumption is incentived. This happened during the Obama administration right after the 2008 crash in order to provide room for economic growth while the country was struggling with a severe recession.When opposite measures are taken such as increasing interest rates and reducing spending, it is said that the fiscal policy is “contractionary”. This is also known as “cooling down the economy”.Currently, the interest rates have been increased several times by the Federal Reserve as a sympton that americans have recovered well enough to borrow at a higher rate. Though the decisions of the Fed are independent of the politics in the white house, there is a clear alignment between both.The current Trump administration seems to be using a mixed approach of expansionary fiscal policy. While it can be argued that spending has been reduced by means of the planned Obamacare repeal, at the same time, corporate and individual taxation has been reduced. Also, Military expansion is a key aspect of this administration driving up spending while creating and keeping existing jobs but increasing fiscal deficit.Another important driver of this equation is debt. The USA has borrowed money from many countries including China. Borrowing helps to reduce fiscal deficit. Nonetheless, debt must be carefully planned in order to reduce risk of default.In general there is no exact solution to avoid fiscal deficit. As said before, fiscal deficit is sometimes a necessary evil that can be compensated in the future by favoring the growth of the economy.Spending needs to be enforced long enough to encourage growth and then slowly reduced to control inflation and prevent fiscal deficits that are out of control.Sources:Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 - WikipediaPatient Protection and Affordable Care Act - WikipediaHow President Trump Saved The Last Tank Plant In America4 Reasons the U.S. Deficit Is Out of Control6 sencillas medidas para reducir el déficit aumentando los ingresos públicos

Civil war is a bit of an exaggeration. To call it more concisely, it is sensationalist media at its worst. What is happening right now is that support with a lot of party is shifting between factions. Call it a Civil War if you like, but the more appropriate term is a redistribution of focus.That said, it would be nice to talk about the different factions present, so thanks for providing that lovely list for me to copy and paste from wikipedia.ConservativesThe old conservative tradition in the Republican Party is based on opposition to the New Deal, especially as developed by Robert A. Taft and their followers such as Everett McKinley Dirksen. They opposed labor unions, high taxes, and government regulation. Most were isolationist in foreign policy. They were strongest in the Midwest and weak in the coastal states.Fiscal conservativesFiscal conservatives call for a large reduction in government spending (particularly in entitlement and other social programs) personalized accounts for Social Security, free trade, and less regulation of the economy. Many current fiscal conservatives are backers of supply-side economics; however, there are also some deficit hawks within the faction as well. Before 1930 the Northeastern pro-manufacturing factions of the GOP was strongly committed to high tariffs, but since 1945 it has been more supportive of free-market principles and treaties for open trade. Prominent fiscal conservatives include former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (Texas), U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas), former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor and former Representative Mike Pence, the 1996 vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn(Oklahoma), Publisher Steve Forbes, and activist Grover Norquist. The Club for Growth is a pro-Republican organization that endorses fiscal conservatives in primaries against more moderate Republicans.Social conservatives and TheoconservativesSocial conservatives are those who support traditional values or are those on the religious right. The term "religious right" is often used synonymously with Christian right. Most of the religious right believe that homosexuality is sin, and homosexual union is contrary to nature and to God's will. Essentially all the religious right are opposed to abortion. The factions major legislative issues in recent years include pro-life advancement in the abortion debate, opposition (but not criminalization) to same-sex marriage, and discouraging taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. They have supported a greater role of religious organizations in delivering welfare programs.Prominent Religious Right Republicans include TV personality Pat Robertson, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and activist Gary Bauer. The National Federation of Republican Assemblies is a Religious Right organization that operates as a faction of the Republican Party. The Christian Coalition is a Religious Right activist organization considered allied with the party. Theoconservatives are religious conservatives such as Michael Novak, George Weigel, and the late Father Richard John Neuhaus. Centered at the Institute on Religion and Public Life's First Things magazine and the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the theoconservatives (popularly called "theocons") meld a Judeo-Christian worldview with the "democratic capitalism" of neoconservatism. Contributors and editorial board members ofFirst Things include Midge Decter and Robert P. George. Social conservatives are doubtful about affirmative action, arguing it too often turns into quotas. They tend to support a strong military and are opposed to gun control. Social conservatives might oppose illegal immigration, which puts them in opposition to the business community. Social conservatives support stronger law enforcement and often disagree with libertarians. On the issue of school vouchers the group is split between those who support the concept (believing that "big government" education is a failure) and those who oppose the concept (believing that "big government" would gain the right to dictate schools' or sponsoring churches' positions on controversial social issues.) Social conservatives included George W. Bush, Trent Lott, Rick Perry, and Sarah Palin, among others.PaleoconservativesThe paleoconservatives are not strongly represented in the political sphere, but are most visible in publications (e.g. The American Conservative and Chronicles) and organizations such as the Rockford Institute and the American Cause. They are traditionalist with a strong distrust of a modern political ideologies and statecraft, which they call the managerial state. The paleoconservative worldview is both socially and culturally conservative. Paleoconservatives generally favor gun rights, the War on Drugs, and states' rights and constitutionalism, whilst opposing abortion, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. They are highly critical of multiculturalism, with the national question being central to their politics. Additionally, some commentators allege an element of white nationalismwithin the larger paleoconservative faction. Paleoconservatives strongly oppose illegal immigration and favor tight restrictions on legal immigration. Paleoconservatives tend to be economically nationalist; favoring aprotectionist policy on international trade. In foreign affairs they are non-interventionist. Prominent paleoconservatives, such as Pat Buchanan, have criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and neoconservatism, which many paleoconservatives believe has damaged the GOP. Buchanan left the Republican Party after his presidential primary races in 1992 and 1996, and ran as a third-party candidate in the 2000 election. Other prominent paleoconservatives include Chronicles editor Thomas Fleming, Scott P. Richert, and journalists Joe Sobran, Sam Francis, and Robert Novak.Traditionalist conservativesTraditionalists build on the historic memory of the party's presidents, especially Coolidge and Eisenhower. At the intellectual level traditionalists carry on views favorable to business, a strong national defense, and the business community. They favor cultural traditions, old-fashioned teaching methods to inculcate values, and natural law; they oppose feminism and show little love for big government or big business. Traditionalist publications include Modern Age, Humanitas, The University Bookman, The Intercollegiate Review, and Touchstone Magazine. Traditionalist organizations include the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, theNational Humanities Institute, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, the Center for the American Idea, the McConnell Center, and the Trinity Forum.NeoconservativesNeoconservatives promote an interventionist foreign policy to promote democracy and defend Israel. They were the strongest supporters of the Iraq War in 2002-11; many of these 'neocons' were originally considered to be liberals or were affiliated with the U.S. Democratic Party in earlier days. Neoconservatives have been credited with importing into the Republican party a more active international policy. Neoconservatives are willing to act unilaterally when they believe it serves a moral position to do so, such as the spread of democracy. Neoconservative publications include The Weekly Standard, Commentary, City Journal, National Affairs, and The New Criterion. Neoconservative organizations include the Project for the New American Century, the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, the Manhattan Institute, and the Hudson Institute. Prominent neoconservatives include former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith, former UN Ambassador John R. Bolton, Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio, Congressman Peter King, former Governor Mitt Romney (Massachusetts), and pundits Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, and David Frum.ModeratesSee also: Republican Main Street Partnership and Compassionate conservatismModerates within the GOP tend to sometimes be fiscally conservative, moderate, or liberal and socially liberal, though there are others who are socially conservative and fiscally centrist or liberal. While they sometimes share the economic views of other Republicans - e.g., balanced budgets, lower taxes, free trade, deregulation, welfare reform - moderate Republicans differ in that some are for same-sex marriage and gay adoption, legal access to and even funding for abortion, gun control laws, more environmental regulation and anti-climate change measures, fewer restrictions on legal immigration, a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and more relaxed enforcement of illegal immigration and support for "sanctuary cities,", and for some, abolition of the death penalty, civil rights laws, embryonic stem cell research, in a few cases anti-war policies, or any of the above. Concerning foreign policy, some moderates may be less interventionist than neoconservatives and place greater value on multilateral institutions although others like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have a very hawkish foreign policy but are to the left of their party in many other areas. Indeed, moderate Republicans can overlap with the neoconservative wing more often than the other wings of the party. Deficit spending is a highly contentious issue, within this faction as well as outside of it. Some moderate Republicans criticize what they see as the Bush administration's military extravagance in foreign policy, or criticize its tax cuts as was done by John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Others may support deficit spending, but feel it ought to be more directed towards social projects. Still other moderate Republicans are more liberal in their fiscal policies, in the tradition of Nelson Rockefeller. By the latter half of the Twentieth Century, moderate Republicans were often called Rockefeller Republicans, or by the pejorative Republican In Name Only, often abbreviated "RINO." Moderate Republicans have seen their influence in the Republican party diminish significantly since the 1980s. Once commonplace throughout the country, today moderate Republicans tend to be found in elected office primarily in the Northeastand the West.Examples of moderate Republican Governors include George Pataki, William Weld, Paul Celluci, Jodi Rell, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman Jr., Chris Christie, Jim Douglas, George W. Romney, William G. Milliken, andDonald Carcieri. Current U.S. senators include Susan Collins of Maine, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona, and John Hoeven of North Dakota. Moderate Republican organizations: the Ripon Society, which was founded in 1962 as a group of liberal Republicans, today it provides forums for centrist Republican and their ideals. The Republican Main Street Partnership is a network supporting moderate Republicans for office, while the Republican Leadership Council is similar in direction. Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman founded the Republican Leadership Council PAC in order to promote moderate Republicans for office. The Republican Majority for Choice is a PAC of and for pro-choice Republicans, and is often allied with the moderate branch of the party. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Presidential nominee Bob Dolehas supported the "Main Street" Republicans. John McCain has been considered a moderate Republican for much of his Congressional career; however, he moved considerably to the right on many issues during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.LibertariansSee also: Liberty Caucus (2011) and Libertarian RepublicanThe libertarian faction of the Republican Party emphasizes free markets, minimal social controls, and non-interventionism in foreign policy. They oppose government social spending, regulation, and taxes. They are opposed to social conservatives with regard to gay rights,[12] and are split on abortion, which many see as an issue of personal freedom, but others view as an act of violence against a person. They oppose gun control as counter-productive and favour free speech. Similar to the fiscal conservative faction, libertarian Republicans seek to reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and the national debt. They look for ways to outsource or privatize activities run by the government (such as toll roads and airports). As an alternative to the federal income tax and the IRS, many support a flat tax (one rate for all) or the Fair Tax. They also support free international trade, which they argue is beneficial to both the economy and to international relations, and they tend to support reforms to make legal immigration easier. They tend to be more critical of the Federal Reserve and of military spending than any other faction. The libertarian faction is represented in the party by the Republican Liberty Caucus, which also actively courts members of the United States Libertarian Party to seek office as Republicans in order to increase the voice of libertarianism within the party. U.S. Representative Ron Paul (Texas), the most visible member of the caucus, ran for U.S. President in 1988 on the ticket of the Libertarian Party, and sought the Republican Party nomination for U.S. President in 2008 and 2012. Senator Jeff Flake, Senator Rand Paul, Representative Justin Amash, Representative Walter B. Jones, Jr., Representative Raul Labrador, Representative Thomas Massie, former Senator Barry Goldwater, former Senator Robert Taft, former Representative Barry Goldwater, Jr., former Representative Ron Paul, former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, Representative and former Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford, and notable personalities ranging from Tucker Carlson to Clint Eastwood all identify with this faction. Libertarian intellectuals in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian School of Economics advocate laissez-faire regarding economic and social issues. Milton Friedman, leader of the Chicago School of Economics, for example, led the opposition to the draft, which was suspended by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1973.

Wow - tough question with so much material. I went through and read it all to decide what was "worst". And if you really have any interest in my answer, you have to read ten pages of criticism.Unsurprisingly, most of the media are saying that the Republican National Committee is just whining. Time Magazine starts their piece on the controversy with "It’s a tried-and-true tactic in politics: if you don’t like the question, attack the person asking it."I've never heard of such a tactic being described as "tried and true". An ad hominem attack wouldn't work. Voters don't care about individual reporters and attacking them is a waste of time. The criticisms leveled at CNBC were all substantive and valid. I think it's appropriate for a candidate to respond, "I don't think our audience wants to talk about football." It wouldn't be appropriate to bellow (quoting a very old SNL bit), "Jane, you ignorant slut!" But Mark Twain really did say, "Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel."I believe that it is simply and absolutely undeniable that, if they were organized as a voting precinct, the editors and producers who shape news reports would vote for Democrats in some sort of overwhelming fashion like 80%. While such an imbalance isn't a problem on Quora, which skews toward rich, young, Silicon Valley idealists, it's a serious problem when the electorate is evenly split, and Republicans are in fact in the ascendancy. It's not enough to work to be fair, because, as an example, I'm certain that I'm being fair every time I write something saying that the Democrats are wrong. What is necessary is to have editorial personnel who come from a position that respects both sides but favors one of them enough to balance those who have the other point of view."Gotcha" questions could mean several things. If a candidate has repeatedly claimed X on the campaign trail and Y in some other context, I don't think voters mind, and I certainly don't, if they are asked to clarify their position. But that can be done in a one-on-one interview. It doesn't pertain to the other candidates. Whether a debate allows candidates to interact with each other (which is almost the definition of a debate), or whether it's a simultaneous interview, questions that are interesting with regard to one candidate ought to be interesting with regard to all of them. They ought to be about their positions on the issues, their past records, and their qualifications to hold office, for instance. "Gotcha" questions are obviously and transparently designed to throw a candidate off guard and provoke anger or a misstep. I think the classic form is a question that has three parts: part one refers to something the candidate has been clear about, part two is a statement with some contradictory information, and part three consists of the "question", taking the form, "Are you lying now, or were you lying then?"The complaints registered about the CNBC debate go beyond the nature of the questions. The debate seemed to be structured to feature the full lineup of CNBC personnel (six questioners!), as opposed to historic debates which were completely and completely managed by someone like Jim Lehrer. The debate started late because the network wanted to run lots of commercials and say nice things about themselves. The moderators weren't sure who had authority to cut off candidates and maintain order, so there were sometimes four candidates and three moderators all talking at the same time. And they were unprepared, as Michael Lee pointed out at Was the GOP justified in suspending its partnership with NBC before the next debate? In a sense, these are areas where the network could have been tougher on the candidates, but did too poor a job to serve that purpose.The media may have stockholders and may want to sell beer and pickup trucks, but they have a responsibility to consider real issues when they host the debates, which are not supposed to be reality show free for alls.Candidate employ communications consultants and entire staffs of media experts to try valiantly to get their message out to voters. Imagine you are running for President of the United States, and you want to establish a flat tax (which would be a truly radical way to reform and simplify taxes), and the first question you are asked is "What's your biggest weakness?" Come on! Third rate human resources people at bad firms don't even ask that. I certainly don't blame John Kasich for ignoring the stupid question and pointing out that some of his opponents are unqualified to do the job of President, and saying that they are getting away with advocating irresponsible policy proposals with regard to Medicaid, immigration, and taxes. Those are the issues that voters want to know more about.When Ted Cruz used the time he was offered to answer a truly substantive question to rip into the panel, liberal comedian Patton Oswalt tweeted, "I hate Ted Cruz with the power of a million chainsaws revving but I agree with everything he just said." Then media guru @FrankLuntz: "I've never tested - in any primary debate - a line that scored as well as [@SenTedCruz's]". That's saying a lot.Cruz made reference to the second question, when John Harwood asked Donald Trump if he was running "a comic book version of a presidential campaign". Thanks, Harwood - nice joke, but if you have any sense at all, you would be taking the fact that Trump is in the lead as a matter that is serious as a heart attack. Was he trying to bait him? That is a gotcha question. I hope Trump gets got at some point. I have no sympathy for him. But that's just not a question - it's an insult from a reporter who isn't as smart as Trump and can't do what Trump has done, much less what the politicians on the stage have done. Then Harwood cut him off so that we could hear some of Harwood's opinion on the matter. He let Trump go past his sixty seconds because he couldn't just let Trump's answer stand on its own for the nonsense it was.Next "question" from Becky Quick started by explaining that Ben Carson's tax plan couldn't possibly work, and after she made her case, she asked Carson what sort of math got him to a balanced budget using a flat 10% tax. When he started by noting that he didn't propose a 10% rate, Quick interrupted him and said, "I understand that..." So WTF? Why take a number you know the candidate didn't propose and spend his time and my time telling us it won't work? Then, stunningly, she demonstrated that she understands absolutely nothing at all about taxes. Carson patiently explained that his plan required cutting deductions, which would, of course, have the effect of making adjusted gross income far higher, and a lower rate would produce more revenue.Back to Harwood, who gave John Kasich a chance to criticize the fuzziness of Carson's and Trump's tax plans, and explain his own resume, which supports the fact that he knows how to manage government at the state and federal levels. That wasn't what Harwood was after. He clarified that he wanted to know which candidates Kasich was calling "crazy". Kasich referred to Carson, though not by name. Then Harwood decided to give Trump the floor for some reason. Trump predictably insulted Kasich three ways and incorrectly said that he had been on the board at Lehman Brothers. Suddenly the moderators were unprepared to correct Trump, as they would demonstrate time and time again. They appeared to be TV personalities with their own image to promote rather than political experts.Carson was then allowed to double count corporate income in some off-the-cuff math he was doing, but wasn't called on that.Fiorina got the floor just by interrupting. I say good for her, because it was clear by now that nobody was in charge. She laid out her theme for the evening, that there were lots of good plans but nobody was executing them, and she would get it done. She cited the 70,000 page tax code. Quintanilla asked her if getting it all down to three pages would require "using really small type". He must have rehearsed that one and hoped it would get a laugh, because he immediately repeated it - "using really small type". There are so many other things he could have asked, such as how you could define income alone (gambling earnings/tips/losses/carryovers/capital gains/etc.) in three pages.Since this is an economics debate (<- snark), Quintanilla next asks Rubio about missed votes, and, quoting an editorial he read that morning, "Do you hate your job?". This one is easy; Clinton and Obama missed more votes, and nobody in the media seemed to think it was a problem. Rubio knocked it out of the park, basically, because it was a dumb question.So Harwood next goes to Bush, who is lying on the floor bleeding after trying to join the criticism of Rubio, and asks him why he said, "...that you had better things to do than sit around and be demonized by other people." Except Bush never said that. This is the debate about economics (<-snark every time I mention this), so we need to try to needle Bush about his campaign staff cutbacks. Harwood then quotes Ben Bernanke saying that "he no longer considers himself a Republican because the Republican Party has given in to know- nothingism." Thanks, Harwood. What other anti-Republican quotes would you like to read into the record while we who are trying to decide which Republican to vote for wait?Carly Fiorina is up next to school Becky Quick, who wants to ask the same question everyone has already asked about HP, and then, using the respected (<- snark) rhetorical device of "guilt by association", asks her why she mentioned Tom Perkins, who has weird non-democratic views. "Well, this is one of the reasons why Tom Perkins and I had disagreements in the boardroom, Becky." And she smiled, to laughter.Quintanilla finally asks a real question and directs it to Cruz. But it's too late. Cruz, as mentioned above, unloads on the panel, to huge applause. I know some people hate it when the candidate says things not germane to the question. But when the questions make no sense, this is the candidate's only opportunity to send their message.Harwood asks what seems to be a substantive question of Senator Paul, which, sadly, shows no understanding - a complete lack of preparation - regarding Paul's position on the budget deal. He follows up by asking Paul why the deal was approved by Boehner and Ryan, hoping, I assume, to collect some anti-Ryan material before Ryan runs again for national office. Otherwise, how is this germane to the 2016 nomination?Governor Christie finally gets a shot at a legitimate and interesting debate against Huckabee. Hooray for this break in the craziness. Then, strangely, he lets Cruz have back the time he spent on torching the panel so he can answer the debt limit question. This is the weakness that leads to chaos.After a break, Quick asks Trump about... his bankruptcies! Has no reporter caught on that Trump will say that he didn't declare bankruptcy, and that only his companies did? Why not ask him what he'd do if he becomes President? This is a gotcha question. She knows the answers, even if she isn't clever enough to trap Trump.Now "guest" moderator Jim Cramer gets to ask two perfectly legitimate questions that elicit substantive and important answers. They are directed at Christie and Carson, and I just wish he had been able to ask the same question of all the candidates, or perhaps be in charge of all the questions for all the candidates. Kudos to Cramer, who was concise and courteous and asked relevant questions. Maybe he skipped the production meeting.Harwood, who is by now my new least favorite media personality, tries to ask Bush if he would take the infamous 10 dollars in cuts for 1 dollar in increases deal offered to candidates in 2012. He answered that he would be glad to negotiate from that position. He took the deal. He answered. But Harwood couldn't hear him over his own voice, asking for the answer three times.Quintanilla wants to know what Fiorina thinks about Internet sales tax. Bzzzzzt. Not an issue that rises to the top of the agenda, so she ignores it, with impunity.Becky Quick extends a gotcha question to Rubio. She recites what she knows about his personal finances, and asks if he is a good choice for national bookkeeper. Or wait. Is that what he's running for? She comes back to the same question twice more, but it only gives Rubio more time to talk about how he wasn't born rich. The only thing worse than gotcha questions are poor gotcha questions clumsily wielded.The estimable Harwood asks Kasich why he wants to kill the ExIm bank but give state incentives to companies moving to Ohio. Aha! Why do you favor apples if you don't like oranges?! Gotcha. Oh, no, Kasich explains himself.Now Quick wants to know what Cruz is going to do about the fact that women and men get equal pay for equal work, but they work in different industries. Ted Cruz. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. What answer did you expect, Becky? This is a Democratic National Committee talking point. Republicans know we need to get women into the same jobs that men have, which will fix that problem. A woman born in 1950 may be still working as a legal secretary, when her identical twin brother is a named partner in the firm. That's a result of the market realities when they were growing up and went to school. It's not discrimination. The sister was tracked into typing class while her brother was put on the debate team. Oh, sorry, I'm just saying stuff that every single Republican running for office would say. There is no other answer that you will get from a Republican, and certainly not from one of the most conservative, free market candidates on the stage. What a waste of time.Quintanilla asks Carson about his time on corporate boards. Oh, this might be something about corporate taxes or fiscal policy! But no, this is pressing Carson about why he would serve on Costco's board when Costco doesn't hate gay people!! What a disappointment it must have been to some when Carson simply noted that the constitution protects everyone regardless of sexual preference, and he's happy about that. "The fact of the matter is we the American people are not each other's enemies, it's those people who are trying to divide us who are the enemies," he said. A gotcha that didn't work.Now a followup. What about Mannatech? Another gotcha question; Quintanilla knows the answer. Carson parries, and like every other person in the debate, shows that he can dodge better than the moderators can throw darts. He gets applause.Back from a break, Harwood notes Rubio's support for H1B reform (shoutout to Craig Montuori - read about H1B's all over Quora), and wants to know if Jeff Sessions of Alabama is wrong to oppose them. Because Jeff Sessions is on the stage somewhere, right? Right?Becky Quick wants to know why Trump is against H1B reform. But he isn't. "Where did I read this?", asks Becky, who is wrong even when she is right. She actually apologizes to Trump for claiming that he said Rubio is the personal security of Mark Zuckerberg. While she's fumbling around, Trump gets to criticize the panel and talk about SuperPacs. This leads to Rubio referring to the media as the ultimate Democratic SuperPac, and score points against Hillary. (Could they have planned all this to make him look good?? No. There was no planning.) There is so much blood in the water at this point that the panel members are looking scared.Enter guest moderator number 2, Rick Santelli, inventor of the tea party movement (no, really). He asks a monetary policy softball question of Cruz and Paul, who have almost identical views. At least it was about monetary policy. Then he asks Carson about subsidies.Becky Quick asks Huckabee about income inequality and lets him go on for something like three hours.Harwood asks Bush a good question and hears him out. Saints be praised.Then we have what I have decided to call the worst gotcha question of the debate. Harwood goes after Rubio's tax plan, which would boost GDP by 15% over the CBO's baseline. He complains that rich people would get a big tax cut, charging, "Since you're the 'Champion of Americans living paycheck to paycheck', don't you have that backwards?" Aha! Gotcha! Read this: http://thefederalist.com/2015/10/29/cnbcs-john-harwood-is-still-refusing-to-admit-he-was-wrong/ This whole attack is striking and pathetic. Harwood is wrong; the Tax Foundation itself intervened on Rubio's side. Harwood evidently wants Rubio to raise taxes on high earners. Fine. I am so interested to learn this. It's so relevant, what Harwood wants, right? Rubio wants to lower taxes on those in the bottom decile of earners more than anyone else. And he doesn't want to discourage capital gains, because he's a Republican, and wants to stimulate investment. But Harwood doesn't want to talk about that, and he doesn't want us to hear about it, much less talk about it. He wants Rubio to crumble and confess that his tax cut on capital gains will benefit high income earners. Earth to Harwood: it does. We know that. But it will benefit the lowest tier more. That is Rubio's answer. Here's the analysis by the Tax Foundation:http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/TaxFoundation_FF457_1.pdfJust in case you want to know whether Harwood issued a correction on an earlier story, as Rubio claimed and Harwood denied, see https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/654282664506036225Rand Paul interrupts, is cut off by Quick, and then allowed to speak by Quintanilla. Nobody is in charge of this debate any more. But Paul is given 30 seconds to put forth a substantive, serious proposal for a radical change in our tax structure. He is proposing to eliminate payroll taxes. Apparently nobody on the panel knows what payroll taxes are, or what this would mean to working Americans. He wasn't asked, and after his answer is ignored. But at least he was able to put forth his idea.Cruz muscles in, with the panel weakly objecting. He talks about his own tax plan, and though he isn't able to get much said, he also has defeated the panel and managed to address the topic of the debate.Quintanilla regains control momentarily so he can get the debate back on track. "Governor Kasich, let's talk about marijuana." WTF?? Does he believe Kasich wants to talk about drugs during a debate on fiscal policy? Has he any reason to think that Kasich is going to say anything other than what everyone (everyone who has read his web site) knows is his position? Don't you need this revenue stream for taxes, Quintanilla asks. Well, no, Kasich points out, drugs are bad, and Ohio is running a two billion dollar surplus, but anyway, Kasich now gets to talk about his own economic plan, having disposed of the strange question about marijuana.After another set of commercials (note that CNBC made more money on this show than any in their history), Becky Quick goes back to Trump, triumphantly, and tells him that she found the place on his website where he did, in fact, call Rubio out. This, as lawyers say, opens the door for Rubio to talk about whatever he likes, so he brings up immigration reform. Good for him.Quintanilla now questions Trump about gun control. He is against it. Stop the presses. But Trump has casinos where guns aren't allowed! Gotcha. Trump says he would change that. He probably can't; it's not up to the developer whether people can carry guns.Harwood: Governor Huckabee, do you think Donald Trump has the morals to run the country? I went to the fridge at this point without hitting pause on the DVR. I read later in the transcript that Huckabee said Trump is a good man. "Get over that one, okay?"Governor Christie politely ignores the fact that nobody has asked him any question at all and talks about President Obama's lack of respect toward law enforcement.Our final guest moderator, bringing the total to sixteen, is Sharon Epperson. She asks Fiorina whether the federal government should be more involved in retirement plans. Wow. I wonder what Fiorina thinks about this. Let me look it up. Yes, she's a Republican. I think she's against that idea. And I'm right! But Mrs. Fiorina, HP had 401k plans! Gotcha! No, that was HP's choice, and it attracted better employees through having good benefits.Epperson asks Governor Kasich a good question about student debt, and he answers it.Bush presses in to talk about student debt, because it's a big issue.But... Quintanilla is bored with that 1.2 trillion dollar question, so he asks Bush about (drum roll) fantasy football. Bush is so surprised that he talks about Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who he has on his fantasy team, before remembering where he is, and saying, hell, no, the federal government should not be involved.Christie explodes, in a polite way. He is appalled that we're talking about fantasy football. So am I.Harwood interrupts Quick so he can ask Christie about climate change. This is really a completely unexpected development, because Christie has acknowledged the science like everyone else, and I would have thought Harwood would go to Huckabee to see what the minister thinks. But Christie also gets a chance to say that he would not have the federal government try to solve the problem. We must be at a Republican debate... But Harwood keeps interrupting him so much that Christie gets to call Harwood rude even by New Jersey standards.Becky Quick asks Rand Paul about Medicare, and waits for him to answer. A first. Really nice.After a break, Huckabee is allowed to rebut Paul. It is the most striking point in the whole debate where two candidates are actually discussing a huge difference in policy. Huckabee wants to protect programs for seniors as they now exist. Paul wants to preserve Social Security and Medicare (he explicitly says so) but believes changes must be made.Bush manages to put in a word for Social Security and Medicaid reform.Harwood turns back to Trump now to talk about Social Security and Medicaid. We're going to do this and we're going to do that and you're going to love it.Bush talks about specific strategies such as raising the retirement age and doing means testing.Kasich agrees it's not possible to grow out of the problem.Paul is asked by Becky Quick for his opinion a second time, though nobody has disagreed with him. This is so unexpected that Paul literally doesn't hear the question. But he answers it a second time, as requested.Carson is asked to address Medicare, which he does in typically straightforward fashion.Christie jumps in to agree with everyone else.Harwood wants to ask Christie a followup but he and Quintanilla can't agree on who gets to ask the next question.Rubio answers the question now, pointing out that they're having a substantive discussion, and it's great.Fiorina pushes her way into a short statement on zero-based budgeting.Then the closing statements.So it's not the "gotcha" questions that made this the worst presidential debate ever. It was disorganization and bad moderation (a particularly inaccurate term here).