Don’t look now, but there are finally signs of Gilmentum.
Through the first 40 minutes of the debate, Jim Gilmore is the most searched-for Republican candidate among the four of them on stage, according to Google Trends. We took a screencap to preserve the moment for history.
Ben Casselman
Santorum rails against the corporate income tax, which he says makes the U.S. uncompetitive. Lots of economists would agree. The U.S. taxes companies at a higher rate than most developed nations but then provides lots of loopholes that let corporations — especially big, well-connected ones — pay rates much lower than the statutory rate. A more sensible approach would likely be to lower the rate but provide fewer ways around it.
Farai Chideya
At the top of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ list of high-growth occupations: personal care aides. They make an average of only $20,440 per year. That speaks to two things: 1) the aging of America and the growing need for caregivers and 2) the low general compensation for caregiving, which has become the focus of analysts and organizers like MacArthur “genius” award winner Ai-jen Poo. What we’ve seen thus far in the debate includes many moderator questions framing the issue of jobs in the context of related issues, like taxation. We have not heard any candidates talk about the rising cadre of lower-earning workers in societally important fields like caregiving and how their fortunes will be affected by the policies in question.
