Jon Huntsman Says Something Interesting Once The Televised Debate Is Safely Over

My favorite highlight of last night's GOP contest comes via my colleague Alex Becker, who caught Jon Huntsman saying something interesting immediately following last night's debate:

“I want to return to the spirit of Glass Steagall," Huntsman said after tonight's debate. “You’ve got to look at, fundamentally look at, downsizing some of our banks, looking at some sort of a cap requirement on the size of things. When you have financial institutions of which there are six and any one of them collapsing could cause such dire reverberations in the global economy that it could be catastrophic, it becomes too big to fail.”

“Not Glass-Steagall from the 1930s but something in the spirit of Glass-Steagall, something that would ultimately right-size banks,” he added.

That's a pretty interesting position for Jon Huntsman to take. And if that's what Huntsman believes, an opportune time for him to have said so would have been, say ... I don't know -- during the Bloomberg debate, maybe? Instead, he decided to repeat long ago debunked claims about the IRS's role in the Affordable Care Act and the same "9-9-9 is the price of a pizza" joke that had become played out on Twitter before the week began.

At any rate, that's your "I don't really understand what the Huntsman campaign is doing" moment from last night.

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Comments

[time2talk]

04:05 PM on 10/15/2011

Occupy Italy got violent in Rome. Too bad. London's Occupy is peaceful. Wall Street's Occupy starts in an hour. It's the economy, folks. We need jobs! My mom always said that it was a good sign when there were trucks on the road. It meant people were working. She was right. There aren't many out there.

[time2talk]

03:37 PM on 10/15/2011

Jon Huntsman is right. I switched to a small bank 2 years ago, and the service is amazing. They know you're name and they're on your side. I can't believe a Republican said this. You're learning. Make sense and I will listen. Are you sure you're a Republican?

[lynettema]

01:17 PM on 10/14/2011

Which of Huntsman's views actually make this guy a Con?

[syllepsis]

03:30 PM on 10/14/2011

Put another way, Which of his views make him more of a Con than Obama?

[Hypocrates]

12:17 AM on 10/18/2011

Excelent question Syllepsis

[time2talk]

03:37 PM on 10/15/2011

I know. Isn't it wonderful!

[Helloise]

10:08 AM on 10/14/2011

In all likelihood, he understood that no one but Newt would understand the reference to Glass Steagall and it's unlikely Gingrich would have risen to the bait, lest it lead to an actual discussion of monopolization.

[time2talk]

03:39 PM on 10/15/2011

Glass Steagall. I'm going to google.

[Helloise]

03:49 PM on 10/15/2011

Worth looking up. It's dissolution created exactly the right conditions for our latest financial debacle.

[jhsinius]

03:06 AM on 10/14/2011

John Huntsman is the republicans best candidate. He is not a democrat, he was asked to be a ambassador. He did what he was asked to do by his president and is considered a man of honor. Held his title until he resigned. Now that's a man you can trust!

[time2talk]

03:41 PM on 10/15/2011

They may have done it. But then again the candidates only seem to be lasting a week. You're going to have to do something for the people if you want my vote.

[Jesster]

12:03 AM on 10/14/2011

Everyone keeps saying Jon Huntsman isn't really a Republican / is actually a Democrat.

I must be getting really old because I remember a time when the GOP actually had members/candidates with at least a little bit of common sense and decency - even a modicum of humanity. Man do times change!

[jhsinius]

03:09 AM on 10/14/2011

He is a republican, but was by the president to take a ambassadors position for him, which he did. He said he would do anything for his country, this has nothing to do with party he said. He's right, the smartest thing I've heard from anyone in his party. Put you country first and leave the bull behind!

[Jesster]

11:37 AM on 10/14/2011

There was a time when I considered myself a true independent (with liberal leanings) and I always voted - split ticket - for the person not the oarty. That was before the GOP went completely off the deep end - then I vowed never to vote for any Republican ever again because when you elect one (even a good one) you empower all of the barbarians who control the party. While I have broken that vow on several occasions - until the party as a whole decide to sever it's corporate apron strings and make the "tough choices" to put country first - I simply will not vote for any of them - not that Jon Huntsman (or his brand of Republicanism) has any kind of future in his own party - at least not in his lifetime!

[time2talk]

03:49 PM on 10/15/2011

By George, I like him. I really like him. A Republican that worked with a Democrat for the good of his country. I think we're on to something.

[time2talk]

03:45 PM on 10/15/2011

I can't believe it either. I was a Republican many moons ago, but they have taught me not to trust them. It's hard to get that trust back. I hate what they have done to Obama. It's unAmerican. It's going to take a lot of convincing to get me to listen to a Republican, but Jon Huntsman made me pause. That's a good start.

[Botany5000]

04:43 PM on 10/12/2011

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ruthtruth]

04:42 PM on 10/12/2011

Dapper used car salesman Huntsman has to whisper as not to let those TP/GOP candidates hear what he said. What are you afraid of there Jon? Could it be that you are to chicken to say it on stage? Fear is not a good position to take if you want to be president. Boo ! Did I make you jump?

[syllepsis]

10:21 AM on 10/14/2011

All of these candidates are afraid of someone.

[lynettema]

01:15 PM on 10/14/2011

Most of them are afraid that they won't get the millions handed out by the far right shadow contributors like the Koch bros and Art Pope, NC.

[time2talk]

03:47 PM on 10/15/2011

They scare me too!

[Adam of CA]

04:41 PM on 10/12/2011

Allow me to reply to your inquiry, Mr. Linkins.
Mr. Huntsman has the presence-of-mind to know that the spoken words by his fellow candidates merely reflect their own delusions of reality. The only offset to such skitsomania is humorous contradictions. The BIBLE warns preachers not to toss pearls to pigs. That effort would be a waste of time.

[camelias and sweet tea]

04:24 PM on 10/12/2011

Maybe he should just tell the kids what he wants and they can tweet it, that got more attention than he did...poor guy he cannot get about 1% and a Mormon

[cdchicago]

04:16 PM on 10/12/2011

I feel so very sorry for John Huntsman. He is right. Again. But he is the smart kid transferredinto a school long neglected and filled with poor students.

[Gestas]

03:30 PM on 10/12/2011

Huntsman was right on with the $9.99 Pizza thought...You never price a $10.00 Pizza as a $10.00 Pizza...$9.99 sounds so much better...And if you order in the next 10 min. we will send you two (2) Pizzas for for only $9.99.

[Cypher6]

03:34 PM on 10/12/2011

Plus hidden fees, surcharges and a bull$h-- tax? Sign me up!

[camelias and sweet tea]

04:25 PM on 10/12/2011

9% tax

[Drumbeato]

03:24 PM on 10/12/2011

If you look at every American economic crises since the 1880's, (and there have been many), the pattern of behavior that resulted in them has been nearly the same. Banks & Wall Street acting recklessly,and politicians, mostly Republicans, ignoring them both during & after, and in fact, moving to remove any regulations that kept them in check. You would think that after 130 years we would learn the lessons of the past, & stop repeating the pattern.

The Right Wing loves to say the government needs to "Step out of the way" of the private sector, and that they and not the government can do a better job of policing themselves. From a historical perspective, this has never proven to be true. In fact, it has been quite the opposite.

[sunny123]

04:00 PM on 10/12/2011

Fanned and faved! We continue to do the same thing and expect different results.,.what does that tell us? There is no way the private sector can police itself.

[gurukalehuru]

03:23 PM on 10/12/2011

Maybe Huntsman is playing it smart, realizing that anything said during the stupidfest was bound to backfire. I suspect he's waiting for the primaries to break out his secret weapon: his hot daughters.
Anybody whose name is still on the ballot come Iowa has absolutely the same chance as everybody else. That goes for Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer as well. Maybe not Fred Karger.

[camelias and sweet tea]

04:26 PM on 10/12/2011

Heard Roemer on a show last week. He has a lot of sense..guess that is why they will not let him debate. And he only accepts donations up to $100.00.

[time2talk]

04:10 PM on 10/15/2011

Is that Huntsman? I think that's Perry, but what do I know. I'm a Dem.

[Gray Mouser]

03:18 PM on 10/12/2011

I have yet to see an actual debate in the GOP/TP field this year. They are all more infomercials and finger-pointing with little real substance being debated.

I suggest a series of debates focused on single subject areas for each debate. Focus on the primary issues each cabinet of the Presidency would face and the likely economic issues we will face as Americans.

Pretty simple, actually. Have a debate that is, in fact, a debate.

[sunny123]

04:03 PM on 10/12/2011

Fanned and faved! You called it right. I don't even waste my time watching the debates. They say nothing new and they don't appear to know anything.