Democratic Debate March 9, Republican Debate March 10

The debates are starting to get a bit tedious, as each candidate continues to stake out their own territory. with little deviation.  At least Cuba is now being discussed, as Bernie Sanders emphasizes what good Castro had done --especially with healthcare and education -- and Clinton emphasizes Castro's poor record on human rights.  The Republicans agree that we did not "get a good deal" with Castro,, Trump in particular emphasizing what a great wheeler-dealer he is, who could get a good deal with everybody, including Israel and the Palestinians.  Interesting, the two populist candidates --Sanders and Trump -- both are unhappy with our current trade deals, Trump saying that if other countries "don't behave" he would institute tariffs as high as 45%.  I'm beginning to find Clinton's uneasy laughter a little creepy, as she continues to dodge the question of what she said to Goldman-Sachs.  David Corn (who exposed Mitt Romney's secret speech to wealthy donors in which he referred to 47% of voters as "moochers"), where are you now?

Clinton says that 90% of the country now has health insurance and though she claims to believe in universal coverage she offers no plan to cover the other 10%.  Sanders correctly points out that many of those who do have insurance do not get the medical care they need because of sky-high deductibles and co-payments. The Republicans all pledge to repeal Obamacare but the only suggestions any of them have to improve things are to allow insurance companies to sell across state lines!  On immigration the Republicans are opposed to a path to citizenship while the Democrats are for it and Clinton continues to criticize Sanders for not supporting "Ted Kennedy's bill" even though Sanders has clearly stated that he considered the guest-worker provision of that bill "akin to slavery."  Clinton also continues to harp on Sanders's vote against the import-export bill as Sanders continues to state that the money went mostly to Boeing and other profitable companies.  Clinton's response is that since other countries help profitable companies so should we. Sanders continues to support single-payer healthcare and free tuition for state colleges, while Clinton's concern is that these policies would only cause "contentious debate."

Everyone continues to complain about the lack of increase in wages but no one suggests policies that would make it easier for workers to form and join unions (except for the long-departed Martin O'Malley), presumably because of the scapegoating of teachers' and other unions.