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Democracy Now - Expanding the Debate Exclusive: Third Party Candidates Break the Sound Barrier As Obama-Romney Spar



AMY GOODMAN: With less than five weeks before the general election, President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney squared off in their first presidential debate Wednesday in Denver, Colorado. For 90 minutes, the candidates faced off over taxes, unemployment, economic regulations, Social Security, health care, education, partisan gridlock and other domestic issues.

Romney repeatedly attacked Obama's record, often putting the president on the defensive. Many supporters of Obama have expressed surprise that he never mentioned several of Romney's potential weak spots, including his record as the private equity firm Bain Capital. Also his vast personal wealth and offshore investments, and his recent remark that 47% of Americans are government dependents. Some domestic issues went virtually unmentioned Wednesday night, including immigration policy, global warming, gun control, incarceration rates, and poverty.

Some key voices were shut out the conversation, including those of third-party presidential candidates. As Obama and Romney were facing off at the University of Denver Wednesday night, Democracy Now! was just miles away airing a special three-hour broadcast expanding the debate. We broke the sound barrier by pausing after President Obama's and Romney's answers to get real-time responses from Jill Stein of the Green Party and Rocky Anderson of the Justice the party. Dr. Stein is a physician from Massachusetts. Rocky Anderson is the former mayor of Salt Lake city. We also invited Gary Johnson, the decline to join us. Today we bring you highlights from our Expanding the Debate special. We begin with the debate moderator Jim Lehrer.







JIM LEHRER: Governor Romney, two minutes.







Number four, get to us a balanced budget.











AMY GOODMAN: Third party presidential candidates Rocky Anderson and Dr. Jill Stein joining in real time through Democracy Now!'s special Expanding the Debate broadcast with Mitt Romney and President Obama as they debated at the University of Denver here in Colorado. Back with the debate in a minute.

AMY GOODMAN: We're on the road in Denver, Colorado, as we continue our special coverage of the first presidential debate, expanding the debate. This is what democracy sounds like. As President Obama and Mitt Romney squared off, we broke the sound barrier by expanding the debate to include two other presidential candidates in real-time. The Green Party's Jill Stein in the Justice Party's Rocky Anderson. We turn now to Social Security. During the official debate, moderator Jim Lehrer asked Obama and Romney if there were any differences in their views on social security. This is President Obama.







JIM LEHRER: We'll follow up on this. First, Governor Romney, you have two minutes on Social Security and entitlements.






AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! expanding the debate with the third party presidential candidates Rocky Anderson and Jill Stein. Jim Lehrer has just asked about Social Security and the so-called entitlements. Dr. Jill Stein.

DR. JILL STEIN: Yes, I think first it's very important to point out that while we hear a very different narrative from Barack Obama and the Democrats than we do from that Romney, with Mitt Romney's narrative being usually harsh, scary, selfishness on steroids, and the Democratic narrative being warm and fuzzy and we're all in this together, let's just wait for things to get better. It is really important to look beyond the talk, to look at the walk, to look at what's actually being proposed.

And Geoffrey sax at the University of Columbia has pointed out in his analysis of the budget proposals that both Obama and Romney-Ryan, points out that they are both aiming for essentially for the same targets. They're both aiming for Social Security to be about 5% of GDP some years down the line whether it's four or eight years, and on Medicare, they are both aiming for Medicare to be reduced to about 2.2% of GDP.

So, the point is, while they have different scenarios, they both have the same targets. Obama himself is also looking to cut non-security discretionary expenditures, things that cover education and housing and job training, also looking to cut that nearly in half according to his own budget figures, down to about 1.8% of GDP from 3.2% where it is right now.

On Social Security, Obama is already calling for some cuts, basically to the cost of living reimbursements. So, heads up about what is going to happen after the election. You will see the walk differ from the talk. And on Medicare, yes, it is true that they are both proposing the same changes. Again, a sign that things are not really differ between these two corporate-sponsored candidates.

They're both proposing about $700 billion in Medicare cuts. We can fix this. For Social Security, we simply need to raise the cap on Social Security. It will be perfectly solvent when the rich are paying their fair share. And on Medicare, one thing we can do right now is to fix Medicare Part D so that it's no longer a boondoggle, a giveaway for pharmaceutical companies and to allow bargaining and negotiation to get bulk purchasing and bring down the cost.

AMY GOODMAN: Rocky Anderson, two minutes.

ROCKY ANDERSON: The solution to Medicare is to provide Medicare for everybody. To make it a single payer system. You look around the world -- Canada, Taiwan -- Taiwan did a study. They looked at all other nations' systems and incorporated the best elements. And they have a single payer, basically, Medicare for all system.

We are paying more than double the average of the rest of the industrialized world per-capita for our health care costs. A large part of that is because we're relying upon the for-profit insurance industry to provide health care for most of the people in this country. We need to get rid of that. We can control costs.

And all of these systems -- and by the way, there is not another nation in the industrialized world that does it anywhere like we do, that has the waste, that has the poor medical outcomes, and where people are taking out bankruptcy by the hundreds of thousands. So that is the solution for medicare. We can make it affordable, provide better services, and we can do it for all. You just get the for-profit insurance companies out of the way, and all of the burdensome paperwork and the different billing systems and all the rest, that end up costing over a third of what we pay for what's supposed to go toward our medical care.

As to Social Security, the Social Security payroll tax is as regressive a tax known to mankind, because if you make one $110,000, you don't pay anything on the income over that amount. Everybody pays the same thing up to that point. We need to lift the cap.

You could reduce the percentage that workers pay. You could bring it down to 4% so that the middle class and the working poor come out ahead. You lift the cap, and then you also have those who make their money through investments pay their fair share as well. There's no reason why working people are paying toward social security and those who are living off their investments get away, once again, without paying their fair share.

AMY GOODMAN: Back to moderator Jim Lehrer.









JIM LEHRER: Mr. President, the argument against repeal?





Now, the last point I'd make before...

JIM LEHRER: Two minutes -- two minutes is up, sir.




AMY GOODMAN: We are expanding the debate with the third-party candidates. Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party, health care.

ROCKY ANDERSON: We're talking here about Obamacare and Romneycare. I would call a insurance companycare because they're the ones who wrote it. They joined up with a very conservative foundation years ago to develop this plan, to make the American people buy this perverse product.

Again, we are the only country in the world that depends upon for-profit insurance companies for the majority of our coverage for health care, for those were lucky enough to have it. There are now over 50 million people without basic health-care coverage in this country. The latest report indicates that there will be over 30 million people without essential health care coverage when Obamacare is fully implemented. That means misery. It means extended disease. It means extended illness and injuries, and it means the loss of lives.

Now, over 40,000 people this country die every year because of the lack of health care. And I talked earlier about the enormous rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality. These are women and children dying because, primarily, because they don't have access to health care. There is still going to be that major problem. Watch your premiums skyrocket. It's already happened since the beginning of this program, and it's just going to get far worse.

So, what we need is what the vast majority of Americans said they wanted during the healthcare debate. There were some 70% or more people and the majority of doctors saying, we want a single payer Medicare for all system.

President Obama and his compatriots that were colluding with the insurance companies wouldn't even let the single payer Medicare for All proposal see the light of day in congress. And then the President folded even on the idea of a public option. It was an enormous betrayal of the public interest so that they could please the for-profit insurance companies that has such a stranglehold on our Congress and now on our White House.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Jill Stein, this is your profession, health care.

DR. JILL STEIN: That's right, it's my profession and this is where I live. I live in the state of Massachusetts. So, I've seen the Affordable Care Act. We also call it Romneycare or Obamacare, take your pick. We have seen it actually rollout.

And what we've seen is that the Affordable Care Act actually in the flesh is neither affordable nor caring, because in fact, it provides stripped-down plans which are fairly expensive unless you are in a very low income, unless you are poor and you're covered, costs go up astoundingly. If you are making less than $20,000 a year as a family, you're covered. And it actually has expanded care for the very poor, and that is a good thing.

But if you're in the $20,000-$40,000 bracket, so near poor and fairly poor, I think by many standards, actually, your costs go up 5% of your income, which is just a staggering amount of money, to add an additional 5% of your income to your health care costs. And yet you are not covered. So, on average, these plans cover about 75% of your costs -- actually I think it is more like 70% of your costs. Yet you are paying approximately 10% of your income for them.

So, it's not affordable for families. You're not fully covered. The proof of the pudding here is that when people get sick in Massachusetts now, they go into medical bankruptcy just as much as they did before we had the Affordable Care Act.

And it's certainly not affordable for government. Not for state government, not for municipalities, not for small businesses. Costs are skyrocketing and it's cannibalizing all other aspects of budget.

The answer here is Medicare for all which provides care for everyone, comprehensively. You are in charge not your boss at work or not a profiteering CEO. You get to call the shots. And, well kept secret is it actually saves as trillions of dollars over the coming decade because it eliminates that massive wasteful health insurance bureaucracy and it stabilizes medical inflation. So, it is a win/win. It's absolutely a sign of how hijacked Washington and our state capitals are that we don't have Medicare for All right now.

AMY GOODMAN: Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and Justice Party's Rocky Anderson as a they participated in the presidential debate last night in real time, at real podiums, albeit in a different place on Democracy Now!'s special broadcast Expanding the Debate. Back in a moment.

AMY GOODMAN: We're on the road on a hundred city tour in Denver as we continue our special coverage of the first presidential debate. Last night we aired the Romney, Obama debate, pausing after questions to include responses from two presidential contenders who were shut out of the official debate, Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party and Rocky Anderson of the Justice the party. During the official debate, moderator Jim Lehrer asked President Obama and Mitt Romney if there's a fundamental difference between how they view mission of the federal government. This is President Obama.


JIM LEHRER: And do you -- yeah.














And the proof of that is 23 million people out of work. The proof of that is 1 out of 6 people in poverty. The proof of that is we've gone from 32 million on food stamps to 47 million on food stamps. The proof of that is that 50 percent of college graduates this year can't find work. We know that the patch we're taking is not working, it's time for a new path.

AMY GOODMAN: Rocky Anderson?


No accountability for a certain class of people. No sense of the rule of law controlling, no sense that we have a one tiered system of justice. The Patriot Act needs to be repealed. We need to follow due process. We have a president who is targeting U.S. citizens for assassination. Where is the due process and that or indefinite detention?

AMY GOODMAN: Jill Stein?

JILL STEIN: Yes. So, we certainly do need to hold government accountable. And as Rocky's pointing out, the attack on our civil liberties has been devastating. Under the Obama White House, which basically codified the violations of George Bush, the attacks on our privacy rights, on First Amendment rights, the criminalization of the right to protest, the National Defense Authorization Act in which the President has claimed the right to incarcerate us, basically, without charge or trial, and to do that at his pleasure without having to justify that in any way.

So, yes, there are very serious problems. Things are not working under Democrats, under Republicans alike. We need a government that is of, by, and for the people, not sponsored and working for big money.

AMY GOODMAN: Moderator Jim Lehrer.







JIM LEHRER: Governor Romney, your two-minute closing.

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY: Thank you, Jim, and Mr. President. And thank you for tuning in this evening.




If I'm president I will create -- help create 12 million new jobs in this country with rising incomes. If the president's re-elected, Obamacare will be fully installed. In my view that's going to mean a whole different way of life for people who counted on the insurance plan they had in the past. Many will lose it. You're going to see health premiums go up by some $2,500 per family.


If the president were to be re-elected you're going to see a $716 billion cut to Medicare. You'll have 4 million people who will lose Medicare Advantage. You'll have hospital and providers that'll no longer accept Medicare patients. I'll restore that $716 billion to Medicare.


AMY GOODMAN: We continue now with final statements, first Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

Both Democrats and Republicans are making it worse and posing austerity on the everyday people of this country while they continue to squander trillions on wars for oil, Wall Street bailouts and tax breaks for the wealthy.


Across the country we're on the ballot for 85% of the voters. We will be on the ballot, and we will allow you to go to the polls and actually vote for real change, not to give a mandate for four more years of the same by voting for either corporate and Wall Street-sponsored candidates, but instead to stand up for the solutions that we deserve and that the American people are clamoring for and that are within our reach.

Jobs for everyone, to end unemployment, to transition to a green economy that can put an end to climate change through the green new deal, health care as a human rights for everyone through Medicare for all, public higher education that is free which pays for itself seven times over, and by ending student debt, bailing out the student, not the banks once again. And downsizing the military, bringing our troops home, cutting back to year 2000 level and respecting immigrant rights as human rights and reforming NAFTA and the free trade agreements that created this crises to start with.

AMY GOODMAN: Rocky Anderson, your final statement.



We must say no to any more assassinations of U.S. citizens. We must say no to indefinite detention without any semblance of due process, and to the continued drone killings that have made our nation so much less secure. So, let your voices be heard loudly from the voting booth as you are guided by your most deeply held values.

AMY GOODMAN: The Justice Party's presidential candidate Rocky Anderson and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, as they participated in the presidential debate last night in real time at real podiums, albeit outside the gates of the official debate on Democracy Now!'s special broadcast Expanding the Debate. To see our whole three hour broadcast, go to our website Democracynow.org and to get a copy as well. This is what democracy sounds like.

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