8:15p – Got to go, please share your thoughts on the debate in the comments.
8:14p – Santorum said we shouldn’t have a debate talking about how we don’t want people to come here. We need to address how people can come here legally.
8:13p – Gingrich said, I’m with Ronald Reagan we should secure the border, have a legal guest worker program, make English the official language, etc. Reform needs to be done in a humane way.
8:12p – Romney said we need a fence, more border agents, and we need to turn the magnet off (address sanctuary cities, employers who hire illegals, and stop talking about amnesty).
8:11p – Perry said border can be secured by putting boots on the ground. He said Obama had poor intel or is an object liar when he said the border was safe in El Paso.
8:09p – Gingrich liked Race to the Top because it talked about charter schools. So you are ok with Fed mandates in education on the states? Boo!
8:08p – MSNBC goes after Perry on education record, he said that graduation rates are up and reminds people that illegal immigration & sharing a border with Mexico makes the environment different than other states.
8:06p – Huntsman said to Santorum the best gift we can give Americans on the 10th year anniversary of 9/11 is a Department of Homeland Security that actually works. Not one that creates a fortress mentality.
8:05p – Cain – TSA should be gone, agrees with Paul, but said we should fix FEMA not eliminate it.
8:02p – Paul said that 9/11 occurred because there was too much government… um, that’s a non-winning statement. No it occurred because of Islamic terrorism. Sure allowing pilots to carry could have helped create a different result, but that isn’t why it occurred.
8:00p – Romney said that I’m sure Perry would do that one over again. He said we are all in agreement that Obama has got to go. He’s a nice guy but it is time for him to go.
7:58p – Santorum said Perry is talking a lot about state’s rights, how about parents rights? He said instead about an opt-out, how about opt-in?
7:57p – Perry said, there was an opt-out. I hate cancer. Cervical cancer was caused by HPV.
7:56p – MSNBC is driving the attack Perry aspect of the campaign, but Perry’s decision to mandate HPV vaccine needs to be criticized. Paul and Bachmann swipe at him on this.
7:54p – Perry said it’s time to be up front. Cain said its time to end the rhetoric and come up with a solution. He said he’s in favor of the Chilean model of privatizing accounts.
7:53p – Governor Romney, don’t tell Americans the truth? Social Security isn’t a failure? What world are you living in?
7:51p – Perry – Social Security is a Ponzi scheme since it isn’t going to be available for kids. He also said that Karl Rove has been over the top for quite awhile and he’s no longer responsible for awhile. Very true!
7:40p – Paul – every we do is a mandate, and said that they should ask about Perry’s letter of support of HillaryCare. He says he that we should eliminate minimum wage. Perry said, when I wrote that as Ag Commissioner we didn’t realize it was going to be the monstrosity it ended up being. He said, I’m interested in the letter you wrote to President Reagan saying you were going to leave the party.
7:37p – Everybody’s piling on Bachmann’s statement that gas prices would be lowered to $2.00/gallon if she were President. Huntsman that regulating prices isn’t the way to go. He said it’s time for Obama to get out from behind the teleprompters and lead.
7:35p – Romney said that Obama is strangling America’s economy because of his refusal to develop domestic energy. Bachmann says it is the best strategy…. I think Palin’s been saying this for years hasn’t she?
7:34p – Perry cites Kennedy, and said that the best welfare program is a job.
7:32p – Santorum said no one has done more to help the poor via welfare reform… since welfare in its form at that time hurt the poor. He said in 2001 poverty was at its lowest rate.
7:30p – Cain said he’s running against RomneyCare, but evidently it was ok with him in 2008. Just saying.
7:28p – Gingrich’s role seems to be taking on moderators, he says to Williams, “I’m not interested in your attempt in getting Republicans fighting each other.” He said, he hopes that all the candidates would fight the attempt of the media to get Republicans to fight each other and protect Obama.
7:27p – Everybody is piling on Romney re. Romneycare. Bachmann said it’ll take more than an executive order to deal with it.
7:24p – Perry says states will find a way to offer health care with less cost, and said that more people in Texas would be insured if they had the flexibility, offer more menus,etc. Huntsman says no one should be forced to buy insurance, and pointed to Utah as a health care reform model.
7:20p – Speaker Gingrich gets a question, 20 minutes in, and they ask him about job creation after noting that he wrote the forward to Perry’s book – Fed Up! Our Fight To Save America from Washington which he said he’s uniquely qualified to talk about job creation. He said that Obama is too partisan to deal with jobs since he hasn’t talked with the three Governors on the stage or Herman Cain, etc.
7:17p – Ron Paul – if you understand the free market you’d understand the proper role of government and that it can be limited, etc. He did say you can’t drop everything at once, etc.
7:16p – Michele Bachmann is highlighting the impact of Obamacare on job creation. She said that 47% of African-American teenagers are without jobs, and highlighted the Hispanic youth as well.
7:14p – Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman said when he was Governor, Utah was #1 with job creation, and said he’s lived overseas four times. He’d like to speak to the Chinese in Chinese (which dialect?).
7:12p – Santorum touting his record, and said he said, “if you want to get something going, elect somebody who will get something done.” Glad he’s not being ignored. Cain, “if 10% is good enough for God, 9% should be good enough for the Government.” LOL
7:09p – Mitt Romney points out the things Texas has going for it that Massachusetts didn’t – oil, right to work state, no income tax, etc. Perry said that Dukaksis created jobs twice as fast, Romney said Bush create jobs faster…. Williams said, “glad everybody’s prepared.”
7:06p – Mitt Romney touts his record of job creation saying Massachusetts created more jobs than Obama has nationally, and during his tenure the unemployment rate was 4.6%.
7:04p: Brian Williams smacks at Governor Perry by pointing out the poverty and minimum wage jobs in Texas, Governor Perry says that Brian Williams statement is incorrect.
7:00p – You can watch right here, but be sure to refresh your browser every once in awhile so you can catch my updates.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
6:59p – I’m quivering with excitement, ok not really. Actually I’m a little ticked they schedule these on a Wednesday night – it’s a conspiracy I tell you!
I’m going to live blog the debate tonight, at least for the first 75 minutes or so then I have to go pick up my kids from youth group. You’ll have to continue on in the comments section.
Just to start off with, it looks like we’ll have some sparks fly tonight based on a pre-debate interview that former Senator Rick Santorum gave.
Santorum noted, transcription via Maggie Haberman:
"I’ve got the best record out there. And a consistent record. I haven’t been doing this my political career," licks his finger and holds it in the air. "Like, well obviously like the frontrunners have been doing. I wasn’t a Democrat when it was easy to be a Democrat and became Republican when it was easy to be a Republican. I didn’t be for things when I was in a liberal state and decided when I was going to run for a national seat that I was going to be for something else. I ran in a blue state. I governed in a blue state. I was elected and got reelected being a conservative."
Enjoy!
