Bit'o'Liveblog: GOP debate

Coming in a little late as usual.

8:58 -- They're taking a break and I'm packing it in. This one is like watching paint dry.

Favorite SCOTUS justices: Santorum -- Thomas; Perry -- Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia; Gingrich -- Scalia, but the other three Santorum named as well; Paul -- All good, all bad; Bachmann -- Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito; Huntsman -- Roberts and Alito. Did they skip Romney?

8:55 -- Romney appointed 3/4 Democrats to bench as governor, why should GOP trust him? Romney says appointments had to be approved by a Democrat council, but he picked good nominees.

8:53 -- If judge misbehaves, impeach him, but questions subpoenaing judges to "explain" themselves. Maybe not such a good idea to abolish a bunch of courts.

8:52 -- Bachmann: Real issue is whether or not courts follow Constitution. What we need to do about it is have president and Congress take authority back. Court system isn't final arbiter of law. Praises Iowa for removing judges who uphold Constitution and abolish marriage apartheid.

8:49 -- Gingrich wants to subpoena judges to explain decisions they make, and impeach them if the decisions were bad? Gingrich: "Damn straight." People who disagree with the promotional flag pledge crafted by a socialist flag salesman and modified by mossback religionists hate America.

Switching to the judiciary.





8:47 -- Twitter question for Romney: Where are the next new jobs to be created? Romney: The market creates jobs, government doesn't. But let me tag onto Santorum's coattails so that I can say "manufacturing."

8:46 -- Santorum on tax holiday to bring offshore wealth back to America: Yes. At heart, I am a Rust Belt Democrat who thinks it's the government's job to make sure there are lots of union factory jobs.

8:44 -- Softball China question so that Huntsman can appear to be a real debate participant.

8:42 -- Perry: My bailouts aren't like other bailouts, because the Austin American-Statesman sucks. And the issue we ought to be talking about is how to overhaul Washington to make it look like Austin only with better traffic.

8:41 -- Cavuto -- aren't you a hypocrite? Paul, no. Everything should be earmarked, but if I was president there wouldn't be any earmarks. I don't want to run the world.

8:39 -- Hey Paul, why are you such a porker? Paul: I only do the pork to look good back home, I actually vote against the overall spending bill so that libertarians will write campaign checks to me. Everything should be earmarked to reduce executive power.

8:38 -- Romney likes the Ryan/Wyden plan.

8:38 -- Newt on the Ryan/Wyden Medicare plan and his consistency problem. He's all about policy. Still against right-wing social engineering because it doesn't pay as well as Freddie Mac, but credits Romney for making right-wing, or maybe left-wing social engineering workable.

Back and forth, back and forth with Gingrich. This is boring.

8:35 -- Bachmann: Bite me, Newt, you were peddling influence.

8:35 -- Newt: Liar, liar, pants on fire, Michele, I was against Freddie and Fannie before they started paying me.

8:33 -- Bachmann: Yes, Newt peddled influence, and she's shocked that he's defending Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae when they need to be 86ed. He took $1.6 million to keep their scams going.

8:31 -- Newt: No, GSEs are great and I'm not a lobbyist.

8:30 -- Paul: GSEs aren't free enterprise, and mixtures of business and government are bad ideas that tend toward fascism. Strong applause.

8:30 -- Gingrich has to defend his record of supporting GSEs like Freddie Mac, and contrast himself with Barney Frank. Says more regulations are needed and that lots of Government-Sponsored Enterprises are needed and do a good job.

8:28 -- Romney has to defend his business record at Bain and prove he isn't hard-hearted. Says he created jobs, and in the real world not all businesses succeed, and he's learned from his successes and his mistakes.

8:20 -- Huntsman: Leadership is action not words. So I'm gonna talk a little.

8:20 -- Bachmann wouldn't just tell stories in the future, but would have done so in the past too.

8:19 -- Gotta get people together, like Santorum, only beat their asses and tell them to straighten up instead of telling them stories.

8:18 -- If you're playing a drinking game, Newt just name-checked Saul Alinsky. And Tip O'Neill. And Bill Clinton.

8:17 -- Romney says the secret is getting along with Democrats.

8:17 -- Perry says we need someone with experience to get us out of the hole that all those people with experience got us into.

8:16 -- Santorum says we can solve the economy by getting everyone together to tell stories to them and believe in them.

8:14 -- Sorry, fell asleep there for a minute -- Huntsman's lips are moving.