Buoyed October 12, 2012 It should matter only slightly if at all who “debates better.” But since debate style does seem to matter, whoop-de-doo: we are one step closer to the right outcome November 6. Joe Biden dominated last night. What should matter are policies. And character, talent, judgment, temperament, and experience. Certainly President Obama has more experience to be President — he’s been doing it for four years. And to my mind, he has his opponent tied or beat on each of the other criteria. But it’s on policies where the real differences lie. There you know my view is that the that the Romney/Ryan austerity budget would out-Hoover Hoover and trigger a global depression . . . that their Supreme Court choices would cement Citizens United and tighten the plutocratic vise on what should be a government of, by, and for all the people . . . and that, by contrast, the Obama/Biden team will continue to invest in the future and keep us moving forward. FOR RICHER OR FOR POORER From the Economist: Under Republicans, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Under Democrats, everyone gets richer. It’s an important difference. I HAVE A QUESTION David Brooks says of Mitt Romney in a recent column, “Far from being an individualistic, social Darwinist, Romney spoke comfortably about compassion and shared destinies: ‘We’re a nation that believes that we’re all children of the same God, and we care for those that have difficulties, those that are elderly and have problems and challenges, those that are disabled.'” So here is my question. If you made $20 million a year and saw all the problems and suffering in the world and were deeply committed to making things better, how much of the $20 million would you spend on yourself and to augment your already enormous fortune, how much would you attempt to shelter from taxes, how much would you pay in taxes, and how much would you give to worthy causes? If it were me — and I’m not running for President, I’m just saying — I would spend maybe $1 million of it on myself (you can live really nicely on $1 million even with five kids and a horse) . . . toss at most another $4 million onto my vast fortune (knowing that, separately, my $100 million IRA would also be growing by $5 million or $10 million) . . . and split the remaining $15 million between the taxes due and causes I support. Mitt has made starkly different choices — and he is entirely entitled to them. They do not persuade me that he is passionate about confronting the world’s most pressing problems.