Presdiential debate

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, and sentient creatures of all kinds, I'd like to welcome you to the very first 2016 presidential debate! Give yourselves a big pat on the back for doing your civic duty and a thank you is in order to my opponent and to Debate.org for making this all possible. Like most Americans, I share my opponents vision of a capitalist society. I, too, support the idea of lowering the corporate tax rate to increase our global competitiveness and with a few constraints, I'm very excited at the prospect of developing our energy resources here. But there's a key difference between my opponent and I, and that difference lies in what our former president Bush termed compassionate conservatism. *Crowd boos* I know, I know, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. *Crowd laughs*. While capitalism is by far the greatest economic system, flaws in it certainly exist and there exists a legitimate place for government involvement in the economy. A great example is Welfare and food stamps--an issue my opponent is extremely vague and lukewarm on. Capitalism without compassion leaves people to starve in these hard economic times, and that's not what we need. Like it or not people are hurting and if we don't offer them a hand up, in their desperation they may be forced to do whatever is needed to feed their families. My heart goes out for our nations poor, and I firmly advocate maintaining most of the system we have. Oh, there'll be a few changes once I'm in office to be sure. Food stamps will no longer cover garbage like soda and fried foods, and welfare recipients will have to prove that they are willing to work--and work they shall. The infrastructure of our nations cities is deteriorating rapidly and all the while we have a large group of unemployed workers. I can't seriously believe that I'm alone in putting 2 and 2 together. To pay for this, I would first note that infrastructure investment is almost always a good idea. We'll get more in tax revenue as infrastructure improvements strengthen the economy. Moreover I will cut frivolous spending--my good friend Senator Coburn releases an annual wastebook revealing large amounts of embarrassing and, frankly, shameful programs that are nothing but pure and unadulterated waste. Before anything else, this kind of thing stops. Immediately. I would also cut agriculture subsidies. This is an unpopular position but the government intervention in the food industry has gone on far too long. Let our nations farmers decide for themselves what to grow. I will also cut corporate welfare--as President, I will veto any bill that comes to my desk subsidizing a corporation unless I'm given an extremely compelling reason not to. Corporations have enough money, they don't need to be reaching into your pocket to get even more.My opponent and I disagree on the Federal Reserve as well. While my speech time is limited and I won't respond directly to what he said, I will note that the Federal Reserve is necessary to prevent market failures. Oh yes, market failures exist my friends. If you don't believe me, try buying a 10 pack of hot dog buns. *Crowd laughs*I say that in jest but in all seriousness something as simple as that really does show how mistakes can happen. Now of course my administration isn't going to go around mandating things as small as that, but the Federal Reserve is necessary to correct market failures and I firmly stand with the economic experts when they argue that the Federal Reserve was vital in keeping our nation afloat during the recession. Even more importantly, to change our Dollar right now would be an absolute disaster. Not only would it be an incredibly terrible move because our Dollar is the worlds biggest reserve currency and we shouldn't throw that away, but doing so would completely undermine the credibility of our nation. If we suddenly decided to change our currency system and paid our debtors back in now worthless federal reserve notes, no one would ever loan to us again. That's unfair to our creditors who invested in the United States and it's unfair to the American people because our word is our bond. However absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Federal Reserve will be audited by my administration and I hope to make this a regular occurrence. A more balanced approach is needed. Thank you. *Crowd roars it's applause*