If you get bored while you're watching the debate tonight, stop by Jack's place and check out this outstanding post taking down the supposed "cream of the crop" of questions posed by NYT readers.
Sample after the jump ...
The above-promised sample:
Several people with as-yet-undetermined qualifications to describe anything to a mass audience get to highlight their questions for the Democratic candidates. (Also Charlie Savage asks some very smart ones and Christine Rosen asks some medium-smart ones and Atul Gawande asks one long one.) Let's get a-mockin', shall we?
1. Social Security will go into a cash deficit during the next president's prospective second term. Therefore, if elected, you will: a) do nothing and leave growing deficits to your successor; b) cut benefits, eligibility or both, as President Bush tried; c) raise the payroll tax; or d) there is no d. Those are the only options.
Cute. The correct answer is (a). Social Security runs cash deficits and cash surpluses because of demographics---currently there's more money going in from boomers than paying out to retirees. Later there will be more money paying out than coming in, which is why the trust fund is saving money now. Even later the trends will reverse again and we'll run a surplus again. One: This is a feature, not a bug. Two: Only very stupid people fail to understand this, and only very dishonest people pretend not to understand it for the sake of asking supposedly tough questions to presidential candidates.
Give Jack a look. He's (and I say "he's" because it's not me, honest to God, but he's a friend) vastly underread and underrated ...