8:02 PM

It begins, Gwen Ifill remains the moderator.

8:03 PM

Joe Biden goes through the talking points on the bailouts. A lot of talk of main street, oversight, taxpayers benefit and of course, middle class.

8:06 PM

Once again, S. 190 was not any type of oversight. I can't believe people are still repeating this as if this was true.

8:11 PM

Biden comes out swinging against the Phil Gramm-John McCain history of deregulation. It was the Gramm bill, which was voted in by John McCain, that destroyed the foundations of our banking system.*

*This is really important. With all these claims that de-regulation is not responsible for our current system, I think it's ridiculous that almost none of these people will look at the truth in front of their faces.

Yes, deregulation is not the sole cause of our current crisis, but it is a heavy contributing factor. We destroyed our regulatory system under Reagan, Clinton and the Bushes, but we never waivered under Republicans or Democrats to bail out our companies. This patchwork regulation combined with our corporate safety nets really created this risk immunity we see on Wall Street. Deregulation was very much a cause of the current crisis, let's not pretend it's not.

8:14 PM

Sarah Palin also caused a giant 30 million dollar deficit in merely two years in office. This deficit, of course, is part of the reason why the cost of living in America, and especially in Alaska, has increased in the last 2 years.

8:16 PM

Taxes are a stupid thing to discuss. This is because the vast majority of the budget are not funded by taxes, but by the ability of the government to sell government bonds. Taxes are necessary to avoid deficits, but not necessary to continue to spending.

8:26 PM

This is what happens when you have two people who are not economists trying to discuss the economy - a lot of talking points and very little actual discussion of what happened or the underlying causes it. So much buzz words, so little content. We all love a discussion of "you will tax them more" and "nu-uh" but come on folks, who is really getting anything out of this?

8:33 PM

Can I just say that this debate is significantly inferior to the Presidential Debates because there is little interplay between the candidates and the moderator doesn't do a nearly a good enough job of controlling the directions of discussion.

8:35 PM

The argument here isn't if drilling can be beneficial, the argument is whether the constant band aid-style tapping of our domestic oil supply is beneficial when compared with an extensive investment into alternative energy. Drilling is not a long term solution.

8:38 PM

I like how Palin maintains that homosexuality is a choice, something that a lot of homosexual individuals disagrees strongly with. I personally know that when I was 14 I made a pro-con chart about the benefits of being heterosexual or homosexual and it came out heterosexual. That obviously is how people decide their sexuality.

8:39 PM

Sarah Palin - enemy of Jesus, fan of ethnic cleansing.

This is what happened in Iraq. Those militias that we are funding in Iraq are segregating their cities by ethnic lines by removing individuals from their houses and forcing them elsewhere. This is the only reason ethnic violence is down, because we are making sure there is no contact between the three separate ethnic groups of Iraq.

8:42 PM

Fun fact, Barack Obama gets more campaign contributions from active soldiers than John McCain. For someone who Palin is claiming to undercut our troops, they do seem to like him alot.

8:45 PM

Joe Biden nails the Iran vs. Pakistan question. Great point, a fun fact - we are currently so worried about Pakistani security that we're arming India with nuclear weapons as a check upon Pakistani aggression and instability.*

*Of course, nominally, we're doing this to assist in the country's power development, but most agree that India will be able to get Nuclear weapons from the technology and expertise we provide through this deal.

8:47 PM

Central war on terror is not in Iraq. In the past few months, all the foreign fighters who were going into Iraq are now going into Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iraq is only a battlefield because we made it one.

*This is also really odd to me. Why would you make a claim that Iraq was the central area of conflict in the War on Terror while you also claim that the majority of those you're fighting are from countries like Syria and Iran? Did those fighters come to Iraq under Saddam as well?

8:48 PM

Ahmadinejad will probably be out of office in 2009 as a much more moderate candidate will most likely win the election in Iran as Ahmadinejad's deficit spending and rhetoric is extremely unpopular with the people of Iran and the religious leadership.*  

*I am amazed, when I read the words of Ahmadinejad, how similar he and Bush really seem to be. Both are pretty orthodox as far as their religious convictions are concerned. Both are nominal conservatives who spend like liberals, both are international belligerents, and both are going to be out of office, God willing, in 2009.

8:53 PM

The best way to help Israel is to support Tzipi Livini in her efforts to reach out to the Palestinians. More than anything the American government can do, a progressive policy under Tzipi Livni is our best chance to get any semblance of peace in the Middle East.

We ignored Israel and Palestine ever since 9/11. This current push is a desperate gamble by a desperate administration to save its legacy.*

*This was addressed last year, but it is interesting that we pretty much ignored Israel until 2007. While we did so, Ariel Sharon had a stroke, Hamas got elected, Arafat stepped down and the cycle of violence continued. Part of the untold cost of Iraq was how it distracted us from other goals. While we were "waging war on terror" in Iraq, the Russians cracked down on dissent in Chechneya, the Chinese government tightened their stranglehold on East Asia, the entirety of South America (from Venezuela to Ecuador to even Brazil) went left and the Israelis were given a free hand in the Middle East. A lot of the next administration's main foreign policy problems will be a result of this administration's neglect.

8:57 PM

I really hate the fact that Sarah Palin doesn't have to answer any of Biden's claims. This rapid fire type of debate is pretty bad for discussion.

Also, can we please stop calling it "an international organization?" Al Qaeda is nebulous. We really don't know what it is. It could be an official type of formal party - like say, the a political party in the US. Or it could be a nebulous description of a worldwide movement - like a political movement. We don't really know what it is, we shouldn't treat it as an entity if all it is, is a movement.

9:00 PM

This debate has pretty much degenerated into 90 second rapid fire talkathons. There's little to blog here, and very little depth, so I'll leave the rest of it to you. Personally, this entire debate was pretty disappointing.

9:30 PM

Biden's coherence is really telling. The fact that he managed to tell a consistent story from start to finish and do it eloquently is pretty impressive. I am very impressed by his turning of Sarah Palin's claim of being "a part of the middle class" by relating his personal experience. And his relentless assualt on McCain was sustained throughout. Sarah Palin was decent, but man, Biden just out classed her at the end.