It was clear from the first five minutes of the Democratic presidential candidates' debate on CNN (Oct. 13, 2015) that the debaters were sadly out of date.  It seemed we went through a time-space warp.  Social, economic, and foreign policy issues were discussed as though no laws addressing these concerns had been passed during the past 100 years.

Blacks 

Anderson Cooper asked the candidates if “black lives matter or all lives matter.”  No one acknowledged that black-on-black crime has skyrocketed in our cities.  No one noted that the Democrats have controlled our big cities for more than 50 years, yet poverty, the collapse of the black family, and gun violence have been escalating that entire time.  No one noted that literally trillions of dollars in federal poverty dollars have been poured into communities of color with less than glorious results.  No one noted the gains made through affirmative action or civil rights legislation.  Instead, we had references to “get out of jail free” cards to offset too much incarceration, free tuition for college (I’ve been good, Santa, really), and making those rich bastards in the top 0.6% pay, pay, and pay some more. 

The Dems like to point to the tax rates having been higher before Ronald Reagan’s presidency, yet many of the problems they descry existed before Reagan and were not ameliorated during any Democratic presidential administration after Reagan.  Lyndon Johnson promoted the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Despite the fact that tax rates for the top earners has gone down, the payments made under that act and amendments to that act made over the years have consistently gone up.  So the communities, white and black, supported by those programs have not suffered because of the lowered tax rates.  Yet the black community is insisting more than ever that it is “deprived” by the uptight Republicans.  The debate proceeded as though we were in the fifties and had had no experiences with the ineffectiveness or even the limits of poverty programs to solve social problems.  Those pricey programs correlate with even more community unrest and hateful rhetoric than before such programs, along with affirmative action, even existed.  Thus, the debate was dancing around talking points that accept the retrograde thinking that has stifled black advancement, not helped it.

Big Banks 

Only Mrs. Clinton noted that none of the Wall Street fat cats went to jail even though $100 billion in fines were paid for the wheeling and dealing that led to the collapse of 2007.  However, some would say her personal track record as a law and order candidate is a bit less than stellar.  She is herself hoping to remain out of jail at the present time, and one remembers a commodities trading scandal involving insider information from which she escaped prosecution.  Meanwhile, she and Bill are only too happy to consort with those potential fat cat jailbirds (remember Bill’s pardon of Marc Rich, who was a fugitive living in Switzerland).  They are raising money for a charity…the Clinton Foundation, and give speeches before the middle class (ha-ha) at $100,000 or more a pop.  These contributions in no way influence their political views and in no way undermine their even-handed, just treatment of the top earners in our society.  

Also, it was noted that the big banks control more assets now than they did ten years ago.  Yet only O’Malley called for a reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act, which was repealed in 1999 by a bipartisan bill signed into law by Bill Clinton.  Although most sensible commentators believe that this is a good idea, it is a non-starter in Congress.  The power of the banks over both sides of the aisle is the reason why the law was repealed in the first place and will remain a quaint historical blip.  This act – probably the best piece of legislation passed during the New Deal – had been under fire since it was passed in 1933 and put a wall of separation for commercial banks between investment and commercial banking activities. 

Decrying the wealth and influence of the banks has been a constant in American economic history since the late 19th century.  The advent of the Federal Reserve System was portrayed as the antidote to the banking instability and undue influence of the banks.  Yet, when first put to the test in 1929, the Federal Reserve failed miserably, and we experienced the Great Depression.  Further, the Federal Reserve was not up to the challenge in 2007-2008 either.  That’s why the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP, 2008) and the American Relief and Recovery Act (ARRA, 2009) were passed.  Legislation over and above the Fed’s powers was needed.  Again, the Fed proved to be a helpless giant. 

Global Unrest  

Hillary was full of praise for Obama’s policies, which, of course, she has to validate, since she was secretary of state for his first term in office.  No one on the stage questioned the “Arab Spring” as being more of a winter than a spring.  No one pointed to the intensification of confusion and chaos in the Middle East during the Obama years.  No one mentioned ISIS.  No one mentioned the influence of al-Qaeda or the militant Muslim Brotherhood.  No one mentioned the role of oil and energy needs in world geopolitical activity.  O’Malley and Chafee put all the blame for the Middle East chaos on Pres. Bush’s involvement in the Iraq War, with none except Sen. Webb suggesting that any policies of the past seven years might have contributed to this disruption.  None of the candidates mentioned nuclear proliferation.  None of the candidates mentioned the disruption of the U.S.-Israel alliance that has happened during the Obama administration. 

Each was asked what the greatest security threat is to the U.S., and each gave some one-sentence platitude in answer.  However, Sen. Sanders, with left-wing passion and ignorance, incredibly answered that climate change is, because if it is not given top priority, we will not have a planet to defend.  This writer believes that this was a coded response expressing Sanders’s preference to retire by a pool in Florida where he can enjoy the “climate change.”

The Democratic candidates were speaking in glittering generalities and seemed comfortable using ideology as their weapons of last resort.  Race relations are being portrayed by the Dems as being worse than ever.  To paraphrase John Kerry: they want it to be worse before it can be better.  Regarding the influence of the rich, all candidates skirted the issue.  The rich and the leaders of both parties have developed an almost symbiotic relationship. Yet the Dems denounce the rich while at the same time cultivating them.  Is the unrest in the Middle East because Obama has failed to stand strongly against radical Islam?  Sadly, the answer is yes.  Yet none of the candidates had the guts to say the emperor is wearing no clothes.  Instead, they talked about security as though we are forced to lead from behind as thinking citizens of a degenerate world.  There will always be bad actors, so the main thing to do is get rid of coal plants and gasoline-powered cars.  It’s all too obvious for words.