The GOP Debates Are a Joke. Here Is How to Fix Them.

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After watching nearly every GOP debate for the 2016 election I've come to the conclusion that we need to fundamentally change the way the debates are run. Because when they yell over each other, ratings go up and we know that these networks only care about the ratings. The focus should be on policy and experience, instead it's about entertainment. These debates are not centered on who is the best choice for president, but who gives the best gotcha line. Even the post debate coverage is often short clips of jabs that one candidate did against another. 

Here are 7 suggestions to fundamentally change the way the debates are run:

1. Debates not controlled by network news. Whether it's CSPAN, or an independent group, we need to get the networks out of the debates. They want their ratings to go up, not for us to have high quality debates. All networks shall have access to broadcast the debates. Also all debates will be broadcast live on the internet, without a paid subscription. There will be  time for a break in which ads can be played, but they must not be of a political nature.
2. Mute the other candidates mics when a candidate is speaking or the moderator is asking a question. No one can talk over another candidate, and candidates cannot get into shouting matches.

2. All questions must be related to a policy question, or a candidate's experience. No more questions about what someone else said. 

3. No response time for personal attacks, and all personal attacks reduce future talking time by 30 seconds per attack. Policy attacks are open game. Character attacks are off limits.

4. Once the field narrows to 5 candidates, allot a longer time for each initial response. One minute is hardly enough time to cover important policy topics.

5. The audience is to be quiet or removed from the debate. This has been done before. There is no need to have an audience and the booing and cheering interrupts and wastes time. Mics should not be placed to pick up the Audience
6. Each candidate will be asked an equal number of questions and time to speak. Time of each candidates speaking will be measured and if one candidate is getting less time, they will be allotted additional time to answer a question.
7. 20 seconds to the end of the time that is allotted per question the candidates will be given a warning buzz. 10 seconds after their allotted time their mics are muted.

If we treat the debates like they're a circus or a wrestling match then they are only good for entertainment. If we treat our nation's selection of the next president of the United States with respect, we will possibly see a rise of better policies, and maybe more civility in politics. 

Who Won Tonight's Debate?

The final debate before the nation's first primary in New Hampshire is in the books. Who do you think won tonight's debate? Who lost? Who had the best moment? Vote now and tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Who do you think won tonight's debate?

Chris Christie

Ted Cruz

Donald Trump

John Kasich

Marco Rubio

Jeb Bush

Ben Carson

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Who Won the Second Debate? Vote Here!

The debate is over, who do you think won the debate? Vote for who you think won the debate and comment with who you think lost the debate.

Don't forget to like us on facebook and follow us on twitter!

Who won the debate?

Chris Christie

Carly Fiorina

Rand Paul

John Kasich

Marco Rubio

Jeb Bush

Donald Trump

Mike Huckabee

Ben Carson

Ted Cruz

Scott Walker

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10 Questions That Should Be Asked at the Next Republican Presidential Debate

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The second Republican Presidential debate is Wednesday night 8 PM ET on CNN. The last debate afforded each candidate only a few minutes to answer questions.  With the large group of candidates we have, we probably won't be able to see each of these questions answered by each candidate, but I have outlined 10 questions that I wish I could hear each candidate answer.

Under each question I have outlined several other points that need to be addressed, and possible follow up questions for the candidates. Often our debates stop focusing on the issues and start to be shows of entertainment and popularity. We should try to focus on what matters most in our country. I have tried to base my questions on that ideal-that the debates should be about substance not delivery.

1.What is your plan to address immigration reform?
-Some candidates should be asked about their plans such as Trump, whose plan has been deemed by many as unrealistic at best.
-Others support plans to allow illegals to stay, how do they defend that to people who are unemployed or taxpayers who pay at least part of the bill?
-If you are opposed to deportation how do you justify all of the money spent on illegals (education, healthcare and benefits to children etc.)?
-How do you justify it when so many are still out of work?
-How do you plan to secure the border?

2. How do you plan to decrease the deficit and balance the budget?
-What are the  specifics of their plans, some candidates are supporting tax cuts without specifying what they will cut to offset those tax cuts.
-Do you support increasing taxes in any way?
-What do you think about a national sales tax?

3. Do you support or oppose the Iran nuclear deal?
-As commander and chief if you oppose it will you commit to use of military force in Iran?
-If you support it, what would you do if Iran is found cheating on the plan?
-With evidence showing Iranian support of Isis how do you justify supporting the deal?

4. Do you support defunding planned parenthood?
-How would you address those who are concerned about the loss of women's health clinics?
-If you don't support defunding, how will you address the federal government giving half a billion dollars a year to the biggest provider of abortions in our country?

5. The U.S. infrastructure has received a D rating. How would you address our failing infrastructure?
-Some estimates estimate we need to spend hundreds of billions of dollars right now just to bring our infrastructure up to date, including 60,000 bridges which are in need of immediate repair or replacement how will you fund this?
-In what ways will you bring our infrastructure into the 21st century?

6. What are your plans to reform education?
-If you are opposed or support common core how do you think national education should be handled?
-Do you support a national curriculum?
-What are your plans to push our nation forward in education?

7. Do you support legalizing less harmful drugs like marijuana?
-The war on drugs has been costly, how would you address those who say that the war on drugs has failed?
-How do you justify continuing to imprison people for having very small amounts of marijuana on them.
-Do you support drug courts where a person gets treatment instead of going to jail?
-If they support legalization, how do you justify legalizing drugs which can have negative impacts on the brain?
-Do you support more research for DUI testing methods like breathalyzers for marijuana?


8. What is your plan to strengthen our economy?
-Many believe regulations are crippling our economy, as president what regulations would you change?
-Many are concerned about the affects income inequality is having on our country, with wealth increasingly going to the richest 1%. How do you address these concerns as president?
-Consumer debt has almost equaled our national debt, how would you address the growing concerns over the massive amount of debt which is becoming a drag on our economy, especially student loan debt?


9. How will you bring people together to move America forward? Great leaders are measured by what they have done working through compromise to accomplish. We have had too much extremism and not enough listening and compromise.
-What would you do to work across the aisle?
-How have you worked across the aisle to get things done?
-How would you work to mend the wounds within our nation?


10. The next president will inherit 3 massive trade deals the TPP, TTIP and TISA. Would trade negotiations change under your presidency?
-How would you address our growing trade deficit?
-How would you use trade to move our nation forward in the years to come?

What would you like to see asked in the debate? Comment with your question below.

The Fight to Defund Planned Parenthood : What's it All About?

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Yesterday, the ninth in a series of undercover Planned Parenthood sting videos was released.  The video from the Center for Medical Progress features Perrin Larton, a procurement manager for the company Advanced BioScience Resources, which works with a Planned Parenthood clinic in California and provides aborted baby tissue to researchers. Previous videos have outlined Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby tissue and organs, which has caused them to come under fire from many groups, politicians and celebrities.

Planned Parenthood's response to the videos has been to claim that they were faked or highly edited. They also made this statement: "The allegation that Planned Parenthood profits in any way from tissue donation is not true. Our donation programs – like any other high-quality health care providers – follow all laws and ethical guidelines. Over our 100-year history, we have continually engaged leading medical experts to shape our practices, policies, and high standards – and always will."

To be clear, federal law bans the sale of unborn babies’ body parts and organs.  In fact, it’s considered a criminal act.  However, the law provides a loophole allowing payment for a wide range of services associated with the "donation" of aborted babies organs, including “reasonable payments associated with the transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.” Planned Parenthood does receive payment for these "donations" to an approximate total of $23 million per year. Because of these concerns over buying tissue of aborted babies, many conservatives are calling for Planned Parenthood to be defunded.

It is important to note that, with the exception of extreme cases, federal money cannot be used to fund abortions. Planned Parenthood however, does receive a large amount of it's funding from the federal government.

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the U.S. They have received scrutiny in the past for some of their practices, including many undercover videos seeking to expose them for coercive abortions, failure to notify parents, and encouraging abortions over other options.

Those who defend Planned Parenthood note that the company provides many other services including contraception, STD/STI screenings, cancer screenings (not mammograms though), and other women's health services. These are the services for which they receive federal funding. According to their annual report, abortions make up approximately 3% of their yearly medical services.

That 3%, however, equaled 327,000 abortions last year. In total it is estimated that there were just over 1.05 million abortions performed in the U.S. in 2011 (the last available year). If this number has stayed even, it would mean that Planned Parenthood performed nearly one-fourth of all abortions in the U.S. last year.  In total Planned parenthood has conducted over 6 million abortions. They are the largest provider of abortions in the country.

So why do people want it defunded? If Planned Parenthood is defunded by the federal government, they would lose approximately $500 million in funding per year. Their total yearly budget is approximately $1.1 billion per year. This means over 40% of their yearly budget comes through federal funding. Opponents believe that because so much of their operating budget comes from the federal government, this means they are thereby funding abortions as well. If Planned Parenthood were not allowed to have federal funding it would deal a serious blow to the company. It is foreseeable that this could cause them to close several clinics throughout the country, thereby limiting their ability to perform as many abortions as they do.

The Senate already attempted a vote to defund Planned Parenthood which failed by a 53-46 margin. This is not the end of the debate in Congress though. The federal government is set to run out of funding September 30th, and members of Congress are threatening to stand firm on Planned Parenthood funding, with some even threatening to shut down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood.

When talking about whether they would seek to defund Planned Parenthood as part of the debates on government funding Mitch McConnell stated, "We just don’t have the votes to get the outcome that we’d like. I would remind all of your viewers, the way you make a law in this country, the Congress has to pass it, and the president has to sign it. The president has made it very clear he is not going to sign any bill that includes defunding of Planned Parenthood, so that’s another issue that awaits a new president, hopefully with a different point of view about Planned Parenthood."

We will see over the next few months what will happen with federal funding for Planned Parenthood. For those who are pro-life, Planned Parenthood represents abortion in the U.S. This debate has been waged for decades now and has become one of the most politically charged topics in our country. No matter what decision is made concerning Planned Parenthood funding, this debate will not be over soon.

Hilarious! Bad Lip Reading Does the Republican National Debate

If you missed the first Republican debate, bad lip reading has you covered. The national debate hosted 10 candidates including current front runner Donald Trump. Bad lip reading spoofs the debate in a fantastic way. From Trump to Huckabee to a round of songs for each candidate you don't want to miss this.

After Megyn Kelly Comments It's Time to Dump Trump

Many Americans are tired about not getting a straight answer out of politicians, and often this has come because of the media's willingness to twist and turn every statement. Americans want straight talk and simple answers, because often they don't want to spend the time themselves researching the entire issue. Because of this we have entered into an age of blunt celebrities who have ditched basic common decency in the name of doing away with political correctness.

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Famous celebrity turned politician Donald Trump's feud with Megyn Kelly escalated over the weekend when he said the Fox News host had "blood coming out of her wherever" at this week's Republican debate, resulting in swift condemnation from conservatives and a major political event pulling its invitation to him.


This all started during Thursday's presidential debate, Kelly asked Trump a question "Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women.
You've called women you don't like "fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals."
Trump responded with " Only Rosie O'Donnell."

Kelly responded to that it was not only Rosie O'Donnell, and that his comments about women had been about several people on twitter. "Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?"

Trump's response: "I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct.
I've been challenged by so many people, and I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don't win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody.

And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it's fun, it's kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn't do that.


But you know what, we -- we need strength, we need energy, we need quickness and we need brain in this country to turn it around. That, I can tell you right now."

So after literally just saying he wouldn't do that, he spent the next few hours on twitter attacking her.
That wasn't enough though, he went on CNN the next day and said:
"You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes," and continued that she had "Blood coming out of her wherever."

Trump is not backing down from his statements and is even asking for Megyn Kelly for an apology.

There is a difference between not being politically correct and not having basic decency. Calling someone a bimbo because they asked you tough questions and implying they were menstruating is shameful. I would be absolutely ashamed if he were the nominee for the Republican party. My grandfather and father knew better than to talk about a woman like that, and so will my sons someday.

Now if this were his only instance or issue where he has done something that was uncalled for, untrue or disgraceful, that might be one thing, but from the moment he decided to run for president he has made disparaging remarks about individuals within our nation. During his announcement speech he said: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

He repeated this during the debate and the claim that the Mexican government is sending the worst ones here has been debunked multiple times.

Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Lincoln and Reagan would never have made any of these statements, and especially would never have spoken about women that way. Why should we seriously be considering a such presidential candidate to place into their ranks?

This isn't a contest to see who can be the loudest and most outrageous person. We are working to elect the leader of our nation. This man will be the leader of our armed forces. He will be our chief diplomat in foreign affairs. We need someone who has experience bringing people together rather than another leader who will drive people apart. 

Does he think Iran will go easy on him? Surely Russia and North Korea won't. If he thinks this was a tough line of questioning he will love the press corps. This is not a place for amateurs, and Donald Trump is an amateur. What experience does he have accomplishing anything without a contractual obligation or monetary incentive. We can't have a president throwing a tantrum on twitter when something doesn't go his way.


People are angry that Washington isn't working, and they keep asking why this is. Part of the answer I have for them is that Washington was never meant to work quickly. Obamacare was passed quickly, the Constitution was not. Each great legislative achievement we have seen in our country has been the result of compromise from seasoned legislators.

Trump may have struck a chord, but he is not the answer to our problems. Again I ask the question Megyn Kelly did: Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?  After his comments about Megyn Kelly, it's clear it's a time to dump Trump.

Confederate Flag Discussion Distracts From Major Issues Facing Our Nation

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In case you have been hiding under a rock the last few weeks a mentally unstable young man entered a black church in South Carolina and killed 9 African-Americans. It was later discovered that Dylann Roof was a white supremacist with pictures found of him in front of the Confederate flag. Since then there has been a national debate about whether or not the confederate flag should come down from the South Carolina statehouse, which finally happened today.

Whether you see the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred and racism, or of heritage and history, what we must realize is that this issue doesn't really affect most of us. Every day this story  has been the top of every news hour, and each day more important issues continue to be ignored. Why? Because they don't bring as much emotion to our hearts and excitement to our minds. Those in the news industry care more about the money they can make by talking about sensationalist stories rather than more pressing issues.

While the U.S. has been surrounded by news about the Confederate flag, major issues loom over the horizon. Our national debt has recently passed the $18.3 trillion mark. It is inexcusable for us to continue in a path that puts our spending on the backs of our children and grandchildren. If we were really paying attention to the news we would see the real effects of this debt on a nation as we observe Greece fall to pieces. Not to mention the increasing threat of a new financial crisis and our inability to handle it.

Not only should we be concerned about our national debt, but we should have concern for the labor market, which still faces record low labor participation rates, meaning that the fewest percentage of working age adults are currently working or seeking for work in decades. The 5.3% U3 number we hear on the news only includes part of the total number of unemployed persons, more than likely our real unemployment is at least 10%. We also fail to  realize that over 300,000 jobs that were created in the last year were in the food service industry and that wages have stagnated for years.

We are also in the midst of preparing for the campaign to elect the next president of our country. Many are getting distracted by flashy populist statements without considering fully where each individual stands on the issues. I recommend you visit the site ISideWith.com , and take their quiz to see who you side with on the issues.

During the flag debate we also saw Congress give President Obama massive amounts of leeway on trade issues by granting him Trade Promotion Authority, or Fast Track as it is also known. This version of Fast Track doesn't do nearly enough to put in place Congressional oversight over trade pacts that are in the works like the TPP and TTIP. Many have concerns over how these deals will take place, but the media has paid hardly any attention to these deals.

Even with this debate, the real issue we should be discussing is the need to reform the treatment of mental health in our nation, to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again because I can guarantee the real cause wasn't the Confederate flag.

We need to wake up as a nation and not be sucked as deeply into debates that have little real impact on the daily lives of most Americans. We cannot continue to be sucked into sensationalist stories and debates when there are more impactful issues that surround us on every side.

Political Discussions: The Ground Rules

There was a time when all scientific thought centered around the idea that the earth was the center of the universe. As time increased we realized that the earth rotated around the sun, and that our planetary system was part of a galaxy and we were very much not the center of it. We know now that there are 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy, and the wonders of the universe continue to humble and astound us. We need to remember that each of our realities have been arranged based on observations that we have made, some of which may be very similar to primitive man thinking the sun rotates around the earth. These observations often come with assumptions and we only grow in our understanding by reaching outside of our comfort zone and taking in more truth into our reality.

As members of the American community we often make assumptions that we are the greatest country in the world, and that we are always right. Our ways of doing things are right even if they are frustratingly difficult to use versus something that makes complete sense (I.E. Metric System). We are therefore often labeled as arrogant and intolerant. That can be difficult to hear, which often makes us turn a deaf ear to anything that they are saying.

I believe that true tolerance comes from having a greater understanding of others, if we are to grow as Americans we must reach outwards to learn more and to try to understand truth to the best of our capabilities. 

This is not just arrogance and intolerance is not solely an American trait, but all of humanity has a tendency to find and stick to our point of view adamantly without consideration for another person's opinion. We need to change in order to grow. Politics can often be difficult and cause conflict, but there are good ground rules that can be used to make sure that we retain civility within discourse. I write this with the assumption that most people when arguing wish to alter another's opinion on an issue rather than just hear their own voice. I recently came across a blog post which referred to some ground rules for civil dialogue when discussing difficult issues which might result in conflict. 

Those rules are: 

"1)    Assume that the person with whom you are speaking is a person of intelligence and good will.

2)    Candidly disclose your motives for engaging in dialogue (both to others and to yourself) and be honest in raising points of sincere disagreement.

3)    Share the time equally."

I would hope as we continue to discuss important issues that we might come to realize the benefit of these common ground rules. Each of these allows for mutually consenting open communication to occur, something that is often lacking in media reporting today. I also would add some specifics to this that may help people to discuss without becoming completely closed off:  Please remember to abstain from using profane language. It is offensive and does not add value to your argument.

We also discourage the use of name calling of individuals on the site or politicians. Name calling reduces the value of your discussion as well, because you have now minimalized the ability of your message to reach the other person and add to their reality. Remember that even if you are using the name correctly, it diminishes the effectiveness of keeping open discourse by closing off the individual.


I can easily admit that I have been found to be argumentative and frustratingly opinionated and at times even closed-minded. My hope is that as we continue to discuss issues that are important to our country and world that we will do so more civilly, and I will do my best to do so as well.

I ask as you continue to read the blog to please feel free to comment, ask questions and we as writers will attempt to answer them and consider them in our own ideology.  This does not mean you have to agree with me at all. In fact we encourage you to contribute to the discussion by leaving your thoughts on our posts that agree or disagree.

Bottom line: feel free to disagree, but please do so civilly.