Substantive debates needed

Opinion: September 12, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

San Jose Mercury News: The conventions are over. The candidates are plotting final campaign strategies. Will voters now hear specific and detailed policy debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney? Or will the next 57 days be filled with ridiculous contretemps over perceived gaffes like “I like to fire people” and “You didn’t build that”?

We hope it’s the former. Obama or Romney will confront a multitude of serious problems on Jan. 21, 2013. Solving them will require buy-in from lawmakers and the public that can only be earned if they believe the president has a mandate for the ideas on which he has campaigned.

First among these problems is the still-sputtering economy. Friday’s jobs report was pathetically weak, with job growth barely managing to keep pace with population increases. Neither candidate’s plan to end this crisis inspires confidence.

Time for Fresh ideas

Obama deserves credit for pushing Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, which economists have estimated could create as many as 2 million jobs. But the GOP Congress has ignored most of it. It’s time for fresh ideas.

Romney, meanwhile, hasn’t offered any serious plans to create jobs. His economic plan consists mostly of long-term proposals, such as tax cuts for top earners, that haven’t worked in the past and will do little to solve the current crisis. How would a President Romney jump-start job creation now?

Getting the nation’s 12.5 million unemployed back to work is essential. But it’s also the single best strategy for closing the deficit, since those workers will be paying taxes instead of collecting unemployment insurance.

Even with a jobs revival the next president must work with Congress on a long-term deficit-reduction plan. The country needs a fact-based discussion of the choices.