{"id":26311,"date":"2019-09-16T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T17:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=26311"},"modified":"2019-09-16T12:28:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T17:28:23","slug":"a-recap-of-the-third-democratic-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2019\/09\/16\/a-recap-of-the-third-democratic-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"A Recap of the Third Democratic Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With roughly a year left until the 2020 election, the top ten candidates competing for the Democratic nomination sought to stake their claim for the presidency last week, with some remaining consistent, others gaining more notice and former standouts showing noticeable signs of falter.
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The third installment of the Democratic debate aired live on ABC from Houston, Texas. The venue for the debate stage on this night was Texas State University, one of the largest historically black universities in the nation.
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The moderators handling the debate were ABC News\u2019 George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Linsey Davis alongside journalist and Univision anchor, Jorge Ramos.
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The debate moderators from left to right: David Muir, Linsey Davis, Jorge Ramos and George Stephanopoulos. (ABC News \/ YouTube) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the previous two debates, this one was held for a single night over the course of three hours and featured the ten candidates who managed to poll high enough to qualify for the debate stage.
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The race\u2019s top three candidates, former vice president Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, found themselves in a battle to maintain their momentum as California Sen. Kamala Harris, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Businessman Andrew Yang, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Former Rep. Beto O\u2019Rourke, Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Juli\u00e1n Castro and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar made attempts to inject some into their flagging campaigns.
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After a quick reminder of the rules and regulations by each of the moderators, the debate was underway.
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In usual fashion, each of the candidates began by providing a brief and broad outline of their proposals and promises.
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Afterwards, Biden was prompted by debate moderator Stephanopoulos on the question of whether he felt that his two biggest rivals in the race\u2014Sanders and Warren\u2014were supportive of proposals that would push the Democratic party too far to the left, particularly in the case of healthcare, with Sanders and Warren both supporting proposals to replace Obamacare with Medicare for All<\/a> while Biden aims to build upon the current system.
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\u201cI think we should have a debate on healthcare…I know that the former senator (Warren) says she\u2019s for Bernie (Medicare for All), I\u2019m for Barack (Obamacare),\u201d said the former vice president. 
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\u201cI think the way we add to it is to replace everything that was cut, add a public option, guarantee that everyone will be able to have affordable insurance\u2026 how are we going to pay for it (Medicare for All)?…I lay out how I can pay for it (Obamacare), how I can get it done and why it\u2019s better.\u201d
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Biden, the current leader of the race, flanked by Sanders and Warren. (ABC News \/ YouTube) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In response, Warren pushed her mantra of implementing a healthcare plan that covers people \u201cat the lowest possible cost.\u201d
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\u201cHow do we pay for it?\u201d Warren asked, with a quick glance at Biden. \u201cThose at the very top\u2014the richest individuals and the biggest corporations\u2014are going to pay more and middle-class families are going to pay less.\u201d
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Turning his attention to Sanders, Stephanopoulos mentioned the likelihood of Medicare for All\u2019s high cost to the federal budget and potential raise in taxes on Americans.
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\u201cEvery study done shows that Medicare for All is the most cost effective approach for providing healthcare to every man, woman and child in this country,\u201d said the Vermont senator. \u201d…no one in America will pay more than $200 a year for prescription drugs because we\u2019re going to stand up to the greed, corruption and price fixing of the pharmaceutical industry. We need a healthcare system that guarantees healthcare to all people, as every other major country does. Not a system which provides $100 billion a year in profit for the drug companies and the insurance companies.\u201d
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Sanders reiterates his vision of Medicare for All. (ABC News \/ YouTube) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Making sure that his proposal to build on Obamacare wasn\u2019t drowned out by the cheers Warren and Sanders received, Biden struck back, keying in on the potential costs that may incur under Medicare for All.
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\u201cThe tax at 2% that the senator\u2019s (Warren) talking about? That raises about $3 billion. Guess what? That leaves you about $28 billion short…there will be a deductible\u2014in your paycheck. Someone making $60 grand with three kids, they\u2019re going to end up paying $5,000 more, they\u2019re going to end up paying 4% more on their income tax. That\u2019s not a bad idea if you like it. I don\u2019t like it.\u201d
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Midway through the first hour, the focus was turned to Harris in regard to criminal justice reform.
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\u201cYou released your plan<\/a> for that (criminal justice reform) just this week and it does contradict some of your prior positions,\u201d stated Davis. \u201cAmong them, you used to oppose the legalization of marijuana\u2014now you don\u2019t. You used to oppose outside investigations of police shootings\u2014now you don\u2019t. You said that you\u2019ve changed on these and other things because you were \u2018Swimming against the current and thankfully the current has changed.\u2019 But when you had the power, why didn\u2019t you try to affect change then?\u201d
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After a roar of cheers and applause from the audience, Harris gave her defense.
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\u201cI made the decision that if I was going to have the ability to reform the system, I would try to do it from the inside…I created one of the first in the nation requirements that a state law enforcement agency would have to wear cameras and keep them on full-time…I created one of the first in the nation training for police officers on the issue of racial bias… my plan has been described by activists as being a bold and comprehensive plan that is about ending mass incarceration, about taking the profit out of the criminal justice system…as president of the United States\u2014knowing the system from the inside\u2014I\u2019ll have the ability to be an effective leader and to get this job complete.\u201d
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Harris defends her controversial past as a prosecutor. (ABC News \/ YouTube) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Later on, the issue of gun control came up. With the location of this debate just miles away from yet another shooting<\/a> that took place mere weeks ago, the topic was a noticeably touchy one for Texas native and former representative O\u2019Rourke, who voiced a hard-line stance on banning assault rifles should he be elected president.
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\u201cIn Odessa, I met the mother of a fifteen-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15, and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour, because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and there weren\u2019t enough ambulances to get to them in time,\u201d said O\u2019Rourke. \u201cHell yes, we\u2019re going to take your AK-47, your AR-15, we\u2019re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.\u201d
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