Presidential Debate: Does Truth Matter?

Mitt Romney made a mockery out of Presidential Debates and pundits applauded his strong performance. He brazenly lied while exuding a smirky confidence. Romney had the luxury to relax, smile and cause Obama to become bewildered by lying at every turn. No sweat if you just make things up.
 
But it caused a dilemma for the President. If Obama had responded truthfully, he would have told Romney how disturbing it was to be debating a man who possesses no regard for the truth; and to be a responsible president truth matters.

Taxes
Obama said that "independent studies" of Romney’s tax plan say the only way it wouldn’t add to the deficit is by "burdening middle class families."  A study from the Tax Policy Center found that to be true. Romney’s tax plan would give millionaires another tax break and raise taxes on middle class families by up to $2,000 a year.

Romney falsely retorted that said six tax studies look at a study that Obama described and "say it's completely wrong." He turned the truth on its head and accused Obama of planning to raise taxes on the middle class and that he, Romney, was going to reduce them.

Health Care
Romney reiterated that during his first day as president he would repeal Obamacare. When asked wouldn’t those who have pre-existing conditions lose their insurance, Romney glibly answered that it’s in his plan.

Education
Romney emphasized that he would diminish the role of the federal government and that education belonged to the states to run. When asked about his reducing aid for education, he said he had no intention to.

Clearly, President Obama is not a politician with a killer instinct. Each time the President stated that Romney was going to hurt the middle class, students and those in need of healthcare; Romney recklessly said that none of it was true.

Buried in the refrain Romney disrespectfully used during the campaign regarding “this president’s failed presidency” are the not so meager accomplishments under extenuating circumstances.

Thomas Friedman in a recent New York Times column wrote that during a  “discussion in Seattle with a group of educators, one of them surprised me when she pointed out that even though their state did not win President Obama’s education “Race to the Top,” that program was critical in spurring education reform in Washington State Friedman noted that President Obama rarely speaks about his accomplishments.

The Affordable Health Care Act, once fully implemented, will make it illegal to deny you health care if you have a  pre-existing condition!

President Obama saved the auto industry from bankruptcy. Two years later, he also got all the top U.S. automakers to agree to increase mileage for their vehicle fleets to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, from 27.5 mpg. today. It will drive innovation, save money and make America less dependent on foreign oil.

The deficit has increased under Obama. He did it to save the country from going into a Depression after a Bush-era binge that included two wars — which, we did not pay for with tax increases, but instead accompanied with tax cuts.

Obama did try to strike a grand bargain with the House speaker, John Boehner in order implement a stimulus focused on infrastructure that would grow jobs and enhance productivity combined with a credible, bipartisan plan for trimming future growth in Medicare and Social Security and reforming taxes to get our long-term fiscal house in order, as the economy improves. But extremists in Boehner’s own party nixed it.

The president has a plan that will create millions of jobs and send the stock market soaring  and the Republicans are blocking it. This gridlock must end or I’m afraid that the cynical mockery that Mitt Romney exhibited during the debate could turn our lives into an enduring nightmare.