Doug Bandow
Most of a president’s actions and much of a presidential candidate’s moves are carefully choreographed. This is why gaffes, which usually result from unscripted moments or unexpected improvisations, loom so large on the campaign trail. Last night’s presidential debate was just such an episode.
There wasn’t that much substantive debate. Both candidates are big spenders, though President Joe Biden is significantly worse. He is a politician who has gone fiscally wild, putting the United States on course for a $2 trillion annual deficit—without a financial crisis, killer pandemic, or hot war. Absent a serious change in policy, the federal debt could amount to twice America’s GDP by midcentury.
Both candidates are committed to running the world irrespective of the costs and risks and relying on Washington’s expensive and antiquated alliances. However, former president Donald Trump at least occasionally criticizes America’s cheap-riding friends. The international situation is worse today than it was when Biden took office, but Trump’s claim that war would be a thing of the past if he were still president is more fantasy than reality. Indeed, Trump was even more dangerously solicitous toward Israel and Saudi Arabia than Biden.
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