Florida Republican presidential debate: as it happened January 23

January 25th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Mitt and Ann Romney’s total income $21,661,344, with a tax bill of
$3,009,766 (effective tax rate 13.9%)

05.25 (00.25) Jon Swaine has just been in touch with this piece of
breaking news – Romney has just released his tax returns, much earlier than
expected. The returns show an income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9
million last year. Most of the revenue is from his various investments,
stock dividends and interest payments. Perhaps unsurprisingly given his 15pc
tax rate admission, none of the income came from wages.

05.22 (00.22) Peter Foster gives us the view
from Washington.

Following two ugly maulings at the hands of the maverick Newt Gingrich last
week in South Carolina, Mr Romney eschewed his usual politeness and turned
directly on the former Speaker, accusing him of being a Washington
“influence peddler”.

Mr Gingrich – who despite a long career in Washington politics is
campaigning on a promise of taming a political establishment widely loathed
by ordinary Americans
– looked visibly rattled as Mr Romney charged that Mr Gingrich was, in fact,
an insider and a lobbyist himself.

The key five-minute exchange came very early in an otherwise routine
90-minute debate in Tampa – the 18th televised debate in only the fourth
state to participate in the exhausting Republican nomination process.

04.47 (23.47) Mitt Romney’s political streetfighting was a bit
of a flop tonight, according to some US commentators, saved only by a rather
downbeat response from the usual fiesty Newt Gingrich. Here is a clip of
that confrontation again:

04.10 (23.10) A lot of chatter about who won tonight’s debate in Tampa.
Who do you think was the winner? Tweet me
@Amy_Willis with your reasons why.

Who won tonight’s GOP debate in Tampa?

03.45 (22.45) And that’s it for the debate. Tim Stanley sums up:

It was an oddly tone deaf debate, with candidates either attacking each other
or talking about odd topics like sugar subsidies and space prizes. Rick
Santorum stood out as a positive, agressive conservative and Ron Paul did
… what Ron Paul does. But on balance, the winner was Barack Obama. The
Republicans have set him up nicely to deliver a populist retort in
tomorrow’s State of the Union Address.

03.36 (22.36) Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich has just picked up
another endorsement from former Senator Fred Thompson on Fox News.

I have come to the growing realisation that Newt Gingrich is the guy who
can articulate what America is all about

03.34 (22.34) A tactical deflection from Rick Santorum on a
question about Republican in-fighting between Gingrich and Romney: “there
are more fundamental issues than that”.

03.28 (22.28) Some sympathy for Ron Paul please, says Karen Tumulty
of the Washington Post, his suit jacket has almost swallowed him.

03.21 (22.21) Would you commit to putting a man on Mars? Yes! cry Romney
and Gingrich. They also take the opportunity to take a shot at Obama
saying he has failed Florida by cutting a lot of funding for the NASA
programme – a major source of employment.

03.20 (22.20) Newt Gingrich comes up with a cracking quote “what
is fascinating about America is that cane sugar hides behind beet sugar”
when asked about the subsidies in the sugar industry. Is it a clever
reference to the height of the two plants? We’re not so sure here.

Mitt Romney, however, tells the Florida voters that he would oppose
sugar subsidies – in a state with a lot of sugar growers.

03.15 (22.15) A quick one during the ad break – one that Piers Morgan
also points out – tonight’s GOP debate is missing from TV schedules in
California. For those missing it, here is the
link for the live stream online.

03.01 (22.01) NBC’s Brian William’s unleashes the Iran question. Rick
Santorum makes the Republican point – “It would be reckless not to
do something to stop them getting a nuclear weapon”. No need to press
the question further, they all agree on this one -apart from Ron Paul who
has previously said he believes in a somewhat naive “don’t hurt me and
I won’t hurt you” approach.

02.45 (21.45) Laughter (and groans) from the crowds as Mitt Romney
cracks his first joke of the evening in response to an odd question from the
NBC panel: what would you do if you were in the White House when Fidel
Castro dies?

First of all, thank heavens that Fidel Castro has been sent down to meet his
maker!

It leads on to an important question about immigration. Romney says he is not
going to round people up but instead people without valid identification
will “self deport”. Newt Gingrich meanwhile takes aim at
Obama saying while he is concentrating on the Arab Spring, the United States
is under threat from a “Cuban Spring” 90 miles away.

02.38 (21.38) Next up is the foreclosure crisis, a big deal in Florida. Gingrich
and Romney agree on this one – the problems were caused because of an
issue with regulation. Gingrich says it was “over-regulated”
whereas Romney says it was poorly-regulated.

When you put that much power in the Treasury under Geithner, it is an
invitation for corruption.

This president has failed the people of Florida. We have to have a president
who understands how to get an economy going again

02.42 (21.42) Jon Swaine also notes Newt Gingrich’s calmer
attitude – perhaps Gingrich has been told to tone down his attack now he is
the front-runner.

A cautious start from Mr Gingrich, who clearly feels that his victim status
helped him win the South Carolina primary last week. He has remained
unnaturally calm and was almost pushed to a whimper by one Romney attack. Mr
Romney has taken the fight to the former Speaker over his alleged lobbying
for Freddie Mac. But the problem here is that it comes down to semantics.
One man’s lobbying is another man’s consultancy. The facts that blight Mr
Romney – that he has $250m, pays 15 per cent tax and was responsible for
quite a large number of Americans being fired – are concrete and easily
understood.

02.40 (21.40) A good point from the White House press team: a
silent audience. Quite a difference to South Carolina, however it may
finally mean the candidates talk more about policy rather than concentrating
on crowd-pleasing soundbites.

02.29 (21.29) Finally down to business, Gingrich‘s Freddie Mac
contract. Romney goes straight in for the jugular, saying the contract makes
Newt’s claims that he did not get involved with “influence peddling”
rather doubtful. Gingrich jabs back with a claim that Romney too was an “influence
peddler” at Bain Capital and denies outright that he was involved in
lobbying the government.

Unlike previous appearances, Gingrich doesn’t look quite so smug in the face
of criticism.

02.20 (21.20) The tax rates topic is being raised again. Mitt Romney
says the focus needs to be “on getting people back to work” to get
more people paying taxes. A quiet jab from Gingrich, who says it would want
to get everyone paying Romney’s 15% tax rate and increase the Republican
candidate’s rate.

02.15 (21.15) Peter Foster notes a change in body-language for
Mitt Romney:

Mitt’s got his hands in his pockets. Wonder who thought that was good idea?
Maybe trying to be relaxed, but mixed signals: somewhat disprectful to the
voters for my money.

02.10 (21.10) And we’re off for the 18th debate this year. So far
Ron Paul has been challenged on whether he is a “third-party
candidate” . He denies this of course.

I have no plans to do that, no intention. And when I have been pressed on
it, and they asked me why, and I said, I don’t want to. But I haven’t been
an absolutist. When I left Congress, I didn’t have plans on going back, but
I did after 12 years. I went back to medicine. So, no, I don’t have any
plans to do that. No.

Ron Paul also indicates that he wouldn’t rally behind Newt Gingrich if the
former House Speaker was chosen as the Republican nominee: Moderator: “Will
you go your own way?” Ron Paul – “Well, I have done a lot of that
in my lifetime.”

02.00 (21.00) Jon Swaine is in Tampa for tonight’s debate. He
says tonight will be a crucial test for Romney.

The Republican circus has rolled in to balmy Tampa for the 18th debate of
its presidential nomination contest. We are at the University of South
Florida, whose campus feels about the size of East Anglia.

Outside, dozens of students – some Ron Paul supporters, some Occupy
protesters – are making a heck of a racket. The police presence is enormous.

Inside, Mitt Romney is preparing for a crucial test. After losing the South
Carolina primary to Newt Gingrich, his poll numbers in Florida – a more
moderate state that he and his advisers remain confident of winning – have
begun plummeting, and he badly needs to stabilise things with a notably
strong performance.

Mr Gingrich’s surge came on the back of two strong debate performances in
South Carolina – first Myrtle Beach, then Charleston. Mr Romney allowed him
to seize control of the agenda and put him under pressure over his work as a
corporate buyout executive in the 1980s. The former Massachusetts governor
was also pinned to the ropes over his tax bill, which he has finally agreed
to release tomorrow.

More of the same from Mr Romney – followed by any embarrassing details in
his tax returns – could be absolutely disastrous for his campaign.

01.54 (20.55) If Mitt Romney wants to win the Florida primary he needs
to distance himself from the “Moderate Mitt” tag, says Peter
Foster, The Telegraph’s US editor. He needs to find
the devil inside:

The flaw with the Romney candidacy goes far deeper than the oft-heard
charges of flip-flopping and asset stripping. His problem is a shortage of
charisma, not character – two very different things. As Newt Gingrich, a man
with a far more chequered history than Mitt Romney, has so clearly
demonstrated in recent days, charisma can paper over an awful lot of faults
that plain good character cannot.

01.52 (20.52) This mockup is also doing the rounds on social networking
sites:

01.44 (20.45) On the topic of Barack Obama benefiting from the
Gingrich vs Romney face-off (01.00 entry) , here is a piece from The
Telegraph’s Alex Spillius on the president’s reasons
to smile again.

As the president prepares his State of the Union address, the future looks
more hopeful – the US economy is recovering, Republicans are weak and he is
untainted by scandal.

Obama has made plenty of mistakes, but he will be facing a weaker candidate
than Bush faced in Clinton, and will not suffer from the distracting
presence of a third party candidate like Ross Perot.

The president has retained his personal popularity with the public and
remains unblemished by scandal. His temperament is also better suited for
campaigning than governing and he will have a war chest approaching $1
billion.

Just as his election in 2008 broke with the past, the first black US
president could succeed in being the first since Franklin Delano Roosevelt
to be re-elected when the country is still getting up off its knees.

01.28 (20.28) Another poll update: a Gallop
poll has Gingrich and Romney neck-and-neck with 28% and 29% between
them respectively.

01.20 (20.20) There’s talk of a boomerang effect for Mitt Romney over
the Gingrich-Freddie Mac contracts. While Gingrich has been forced to admit
receiving $300,000 from the organisation, Mitt is likely to face scrutiny
over the money he has made in investments. There will be plenty of finger
pointing tonight and the only one benefiting will be Obama.

01.00 (20.00) Just one hour before the debate starts, but will it be
four or five candidates? Meet The Canada Party who have taken a look
at the US Republican candaidates and suggested another option – let Canada
run for president…

00.29 (19.29) $5 million is heading Gingrich’s way tonight, The
Washington Post reports, from Miriam Adelson, the wife of the gambling
mogul who gave Gingrich a financial boost in South Carolina.

Jon
Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun, broke the news on Twitter. He also
says Newt’s SuperPAC Winning Our Future has been “inquiring
about media in Nevada” as there is data suggesting that the former
House Speaker is surging in the polls.

00.10 (19.10) More from Tim Stanley, who gives us this
pre-debate assessment.

Romney faces a dilemma tonight. If he comes on too tough against Gingrich, he
risks losing some of his cool and sounding less statesmanlike. So far, he’s
coasted through these primaries by looking like a natural President and a
guaranteed winner. An anti-Newt tantrum would undermine that image and
project weakness. However, if Romney is too placid and plastic, Gingrich
will sweep the debate and capture all the headlines. So what’s a Mitt to do?

Well, Romney might get a bit of help from the other two guys on the stage.
Santorum sees Gingrich as his rival for second place, so he’s bound to
challenge Newt’s claim to be the Tea Party candidate. Ron Paul also
distrusts Gingrich, although for philosophical rather than electoral
reasons. Gingrich is the embodiment of big government, progressive
conservatism – and we can expect to see Paul call him out for his support
for green policies, public education, the War on Terror, the Patriot Act
etc.

In short, while Mitt is in for a tough fight, Rick and Ron have got his
back. Newt is their big threat, not Mitt, and an enemy of an enemy can
quickly become a friend – even if only for 90 minutes on NBC.”

00.01 (19.01) UPDATED One contract between Newt Gingrich
and Freddie Mac has been released, it is 15-pages long and shows that
Gingrich was paid a $25,000 monthly retainer fee from Freddie Mac in 2006
($300,000 per year). Freddie Mac still owes $56bn to taxpayers – more money
than any other bank in the US was given.

Gingrich worked six contracts in total (this is just one of them). Whether the
other contracts will be released is unknown, but this is something Romney is
likely to jump on at tonight’s debate. Here is a copy of the contract below,
as you can see it doesn’t state what “services” Gingrich was meant
to perform for the corporation.

Freddie Mac Gingrich agreement

23.54 ( 18.54) A quick recap of the polls before the debate starts. It
is worth noting that Florida operates an early polling policy, meaning
hundreds have already cast their votes (Florida officials claim this figure
is close to 225,000 people). A Rasmussen Report poll has Gingrich at
41%, Romney at 32%, Santorum at 11% and Paul at 8%.

23.420 (18.42) The result of the primary in South
Carolina shows how the Tea Party is alive and well,
says Tim Stanley.

Just three days ago, many pundits were writing the obituary of the Tea Party.
The unstoppable rise of Mitt Romney and the hopeless divisions within the
conservative field seemed to suggest that the radical grassroots movement
had passed away. The UK’s Guardian newspaper (a sort of Pravda for public
sector workers) was gleeful. Ewen MacAskill wrote, “The noise and energy
associated with the Tea Party since it exploded on to the US political scene
three years has been stilled, overshadowed in recent months by the youthful
enthusiasm of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.”

23.20 (18.20) Before tonight’s debate we can expect the release of
contracts between Newt Gingrich and Freddie Mac. This is said to be part of
a transparency agreement between Gingrich and Romney – a kind of I show
mine, if you show yours pact. The release is expected around 23.30 GMT
(18.30 EST).

23.00 (18.00 EST) Good afternoon and welcome to tonight’s coverage of
the NBC Republican debate in Tampa, Florida.

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