Social Security mentioned ONCE in last GOP Debate

Well, twice actually, if you count the moderator.

At the 4th GOP debate in Milwaukee on November 10, 2015 (full transcript at TIME) Fox News Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Ohio Governor John Kasich:

"Today the national debt is at record highs and growing unsustainably. Interest will be the fastest-growing part of the federal budget, tripling over the next 10 years. Social Security, the lifeline of millions of American seniors, is rushing toward insolvency. With all of the tax plans presented tonight, estimated to cost anywhere between $2 trillion and $12 trillion over a decade, what specific steps will you take to balance the budget?"

In his answer, John Kasich said not one word about Social Security. As a matter of fact, the term "Social Security" only came up one other time during the entire debate when Rand Paul described his tax plan: "Ours is 14.5 percent for corporations, 14.5 percent for individuals. No payroll tax for the employee. The business tax pays for social security, and there would be two remaining deductions — home mortgage and charity."

The Democrats weren’t much better. They only spent two minutes discussing the subject. For those who want to know, I did a post about Ohio Governor John Kasich's plan for Social Security; and unless you're as old as a Baby Boomer, you're screwed.

In other recent news...

Daily Beast: Herman Cain (a black man and wealthy CEO and a 2012 Republican presidential candidate) said: “Ben Carson is not only a conservative, he is a conservative who happens to be black. There is only one group of people that liberals hate worse than conservatives, and that’s conservatives who happen to be black. The reason for that is real simple: They resent conservatives who happen to be black for leaving the Democrat plantation. And you can quote me on that.” [I just did.]

Think Progress: The Supreme Court Is About To Consider A Case That Could End Roe V. Wade

People Magazine: Al Gore served two terms as Bill Clinton’s vice president, but he’s refusing to endorse Hillary. “Everybody can look at how the presidential campaign is developing and get some pretty clear ideas about how they think it’s going to turn out, but I still think it’s premature. The election is still a full year away. I think I’ll wait to wade into it.” [Who else could he endorse besides Bernie Sanders?]

USA Today: Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’ll use executive power to make $15 an hour the minimum wage for all state employees.

Here's what the Republican presidential candidates said about raising the minimum wage last night during their 4th debate. In 2013 Obama wanted to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2015, but 6 Democrats voted against it. Recently Hillary Clinton advocated $12 an hour. Last July Bernie Sanders advocated $15 an hour by 2020 (and later said he wanted it indexed for inflation going forward, so there would be no need to ever have go to Congress again to raise it with a vote.)

Huffington Post: 4 of the Federal Reserve's 12 regional branches are run by former Goldman Sachs executives. (More QE for the bankers!!!)

Washington Post: The problem with Hillary Clinton’s laughter after a veteran said he wants to strangle Carly Fiorina (another woman). The video is at YouTube. If Bernie Sanders had laughed, he would have been accused of being a sexist and supported violence against women. The vet is an ex-HP employees who was laid off and explains how often people often lose their jobs, homes and marriages after mergers, offshoreing and H-1B visas.

New York Times: Large U.S. companies are gaming the H-1B visa program, and costing the U.S. Jobs

Washington Post: The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit in an effort to scotch a deal between United and Delta Air Lines that would have given United an even stronger hold on the Newark airport than the dominant position it already holds. The lawsuit says that domination could allow United to charge higher fares for the 35 million passengers who use the airport each year.

YouTube: Hillary supporters Senators McCaskill and Klobuchar explain how women get things done (while pimping their books) on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (I usually red the comments too.) Earlier Senator Claire McCaskill had said Bernie Sanders was TOO liberal; and had complained that the media was being too nice to him because they weren't calling him a "socialist" often enough. McCaskill is also one of 13 Democratic Senators who gave Obama fast track for trade deals that would offshore more jobs.

The Hill: UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey backs Bernie Sanders. She said she would not vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election if the former secretary of State beats out Sanders in the Democratic primary. “If he doesn’t win against Hillary, then I’ll probably vote for a third party again.” [Me too.]

USA Today: Even the billionaire Koch brothers don't trust their politicians. Charles Koch: "I have no plans to support anybody in the primary now. If they start saying things we think are beneficial overall and will change the trajectory of the country, then that would be good, but we have to believe also they’ll follow through on it, and by and large, candidates don’t do that.'"

Gallop Poll: Only 11% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Congress. (Wow! Big surprise!)

Raw Story: Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton proposed new legislation because he believes the country is on it’s way a "Disability Tipping Point", and says: "Once this kind of spiral begins, communities could begin to suffer other social of plagues as well, such as heroin or meth addiction and associated crime."

Wall Street on Parade: Dr. Ben Carson (who's been running neck-to-neck with Donald Trump in the polls for the GOP nominee, besides being a little wacky, is a little quacky too (medical fraudster)

Washington Post: Despite the recent good jobs report, we're still short 4.8 million jobs:  "The number employed has grown almost 13 million jobs since the employment trough in February 2010. But it would have to have grown by 17.5 million to make up for the recession and keep pace with growing population."

YouTube: Hitler Reacts to Bernie Sanders (Funny as $hit!

Wall Street Journal: Donald Trump called for a 25 percent or greater tax on profits from the Keystone XL pipeline: “I want a piece of the profits,” he said in New Hampshire. “Let’s make a good deal.” (He's also the only GOP candidate that is opposed to cutting Social Security and Medicare.)

Washington Post: Hold the bacon! The USDA in investigating an undercover video filmed at one of the nation’s largest pork processing plants that shows pigs being beaten and dragged across the ground — still conscious before being killed.

Washington Post: Ben Carson profits from ties with convicted felon.

New York Times: Smoking will be prohibited in all public housing nationwide under a proposed federal rule (including inside dwellings), a move that would affect nearly one million households.

Washington Post: Germany eavesdropped on the FBI and U.S. gun manufacturers from 2008 to 2011. Remember Germans’ outrage over the Snowden revelations?

Washington Post: Slovenians are building wall on their border to keep immigrants out. Will they make the Croatians pay for it?

Washington Post: A new Justice Department proposal recommends that companies not face charges if they voluntarily disclose instances of foreign bribery. (What's next? Theft and murder?)

USA Today: Justice officials fear nation’s biggest wiretap operation may not be legal. Federal drug agents have built a massive wiretapping operation in the Los Angeles suburbs, secretly intercepting tens of thousands of Americans’ phone calls and text messages to monitor drug traffickers across the United States despite objections from Justice Department lawyers who fear the practice may not be legal. Nearly all of that surveillance was authorized by a single state court judge in Riverside County, who last year signed off on almost five times as many wiretaps as any other judge in the United States. The judge’s orders allowed investigators — usually from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — to intercept more than 2 million conversations involving 44,000 people, federal court records show.

Washington Post: Hillary Clinton revived her story of trying to join the Marines when she was 26. Critics have questioned the tale’s veracity, and her campaign declined to substantiate her claims. The Washington Post gives Clinton two Pinocchios, noting that friends have recalled her musing about testing the boundaries of what was available to women in the 1970s. (Did you know, she also once dodged sniper fire in Bosnia.)

FYI: The American Postal Workers Union endorsed Bernie Sanders, citing the senator’s voting record and his opposition of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.