“Action had to be taken,” Romney said. “Was it perfect? No.”
He added: “You don’t want to bail out anybody to save a company. The idea of bailing out an institution to protect the shareholders. You do want to make sure that we don’t lose our country or the banking system or American jobs.”
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr. joined Cain in calling for broad tax reform, while Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) criticized federal regulation of interest rates and the housing industry. Bachmann, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) took aim at the Federal Reserve — and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke specifically — for regulating currency, interest rates and other aspects of the economy. Former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.) at one point urged that the solution to the nation’s economic problems should revolve around rebuilding the American family
Said Paul: “If you want to understand why we have a problem, you have to understand the Fed. When there are booms and they’re artificial. . . . When you have bubbles, whether it’s the Nasdaq or whether it’s the housing bubbles, they burst.”
Again and again, the Republican contest has been shaped by the debates, which have been filled with moments that have proved pivotal, whether by boosting the candidates’ fortunes or dashing them. A crucial mistake in June by former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty crippled his campaign, while Bachmann rode a pair of impressive performances to a victory in the Iowa straw poll. More recently, Perry’s poor showing in a trio of September debates soured voters on his candidacy.
With each debate, the expectations for the primary electorate have shifted, as they have turned their attention to the latest candidate to capture their fancy.
On Tuesday night, that was Cain, after his own debate performances propelled him to the top of opinion polls this month. For him, this was a test of whether he could do what other candidates were unable to do, which is turn his center-stage moment into lasting appeal.
Cain referred repeatedly to his 9-9-9 plan and said he would reduce the federal debt. But the plan he championed became fodder for his rivals.
“I think it’s a catchy phrase,” Huntsman said. “In fact, I thought it was the price of a pizza when I first heard about it.”
Cain shot back: “9-9-9 will pass, and it is not the price of a pizza, because it has been well studied and well developed.”
Bachmann said Cain’s plan wasn’t a jobs plan, but a proposal that would give Congress “a pipeline in a sales tax.”
“When you take the 9-9-9 plan and you turn it upside down, I think the devil is in the details,” she said.
Perry chimed in, too, saying: “I don’t need 9-9-9. We don’t need any plan to pass Congress. We need to get a president of the United States that is committed to passing the types of regulations, pulling the regulations back, freeing this country to go develop the energy industry that we have in this country.”
Later, Perry took aim at Romney’s landmark Massachusetts health-care overhaul, which conservatives have criticized for including an individual mandate much like the one in Obama’s law. Perry asked Romney to address criticisms of the plan, but Romney was ready with a defense.
Romney also referred to the remarks of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who earlier Tuesday had endorsed Romney and distinguished between the two overhauls because Romney’s neither raised taxes nor cut Medicare.
“I’m proud of the fact that we took on a major problem in my state,” Romney said. “We had a lot of kids without insurance, a lot of adults without insurance. And we said, we don’t want to change anything for the 92 percent of the people that already have insurance.”
He added: “One of the problems with Obamacare is he doesn’t just deal with the people without insurance. He takes over health care for everyone.”
Read more on PostPolitics.com
Winners and losers at the #EconDebate
Fact-checking the GOP debate
The beautiful, political simplicity of Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ plan
What is Herman Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ plan?
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