9:54 PM: I have to say, it’s such an odd thing to watch Clinton and Sanders fight. Because when I watch them fight, I like them both better.
9:58 PM: “Haven’t gotten a penny this year.” Dude, why are you up there?
9:59 PM: Clinton campaign just sent out an email backing up her claims re: Sanders on Obama. Semi-backs her up. But not that strong. Here’s what they point to re: a 2012 primary challenger.
Sanders called for a primary challenger to President Obama in 2012, saying it would do the country “a great deal of service” to push a “progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama is doing.”
Aside from that, pretty thin.
10:02 PM: Not a well-researched question by Andrea Mitchell. Sanders has been pretty clear on his tax policies.
10:03 PM: Am I a bad person for really wishing Gov O’Malley weren’t in these debate anymore?
10:05 PM: I will say that this debate is a good example of how moderator questions contain a mix of implicit ignorance and conservative bias when it comes to tax policy. It’s a very crisp question to say, well Bernie Sanders you’ve described all these awesome new programs but you’ve been less clear on how you’d pay for it!!! But as Sanders noted, that’s just not true. He’s been quite clear on a series of taxes he’d raise. The question is just false and makes sense only in the context of throwing a cliche at the candidate. It’s also willfully obtuse not to understand that taxes raised to pay for a single payer health care plan aren’t in a very meaningful sense offset and more than offset by no longer paying health care insurance premiums. I mean good lord, a simple point. I just pulled out one of my payroll spreadsheets. TPM spends substantially more in health care insurance premiums than it does it employment taxes. This isn’t directly comparable to individuals and their income taxes. But again, the basic point is really clear.
