Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama on stage at Lynn University in Florida for tonight's debate. (Photo: Getty)

Tonight's presidential debate was ostensibly about foreign policy, but on stage in Boca Raton, the candidates spent quite a bit of time discussing the American economy. The discussion first turned homeward when moderator Bob Schieffer asked Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, "What is America's role in the world?"

Mr. Romney began by saying America has the "responsibility and the privilege" to "defend freedom and promote the principles that...make the world more peaceful," including "human rights, human dignity, free enterprise, freedom of expression, elections."

"We recognize that there are places of conflict in the world. We want to end those conflicts to the extent humanly possible. But in order to be able to fulfill our role in the world, America must be strong. America must lead. And for that to happen, we have to strengthen our economy here at home," Mr. Romney said. "You can't have 23 million people struggling to get a job. You can't have an economy that over the last three years keeps slowing down its growth rate. You can't have kids coming out of college, half of them can't find a job today, or a job that's commensurate with their college degree. We have to get our economy going."

When it was President Obama's turn to take the question, he discussed his domestic economic plan in even more specific detail after saying one of his signature accomplishments, ending the war in Iraq, had improved America's position both globally and locally.

"Because we ended the war in Iraq, we were able to refocus our attention on not only the terrorist threat, but also beginning a transition process in Afghanistan. It also allowed us to refocus on alliances and relationships that had been neglected for a decade. And Governor Romney, our alliances have never been stronger," President Obama said. “But what we also have been able to do is position ourselves so we can start rebuilding America, and that's what my plan does."

President Obama went on to detail several elements of his economic plan.

"Making sure that we're bringing manufacturing back to our shores so that we're creating jobs here, as we've done with the auto industry, not rewarding companies that are shipping jobs overseas. Making sure that we've got the best education system in the world, including retraining our workers for the jobs of tomorrow," said President Obama. "Doing everything we can to control our own energy. We've cut our oil imports to the lowest level in two decades because we've developed oil and natural gas. But we also have to develop clean energy technologies that will allow us to cut our exports in half by 2020. That's the kind of leadership that we need to show."

The president continued by criticizing Mr. Romney's economic policies.

"Unfortunately, Governor Romney's plan doesn't do it. We've got to do it in a responsible way by cutting out spending we don't need, but also asking the wealthiest to pay a little bit more. That way we can invest in the research and technology that's always kept us at the cutting edge," said President Obama. "Now, Governor Romney has taken a different approach throughout this campaign. Both at home and abroad, he has proposed wrong and reckless policies. He's praised George Bush as a good economic steward and Dick Cheney as somebody who's -- who shows great wisdom and judgment. And taking us back to those kinds of strategies that got us into this mess are not the way that we are going to maintain leadership in the 21st century."

When Mr. Schieffer gave Mr. Romney a chance to rebut, he brought up the country's unemployment rate and promised to get America's economy going with his five point plan.

"The president said by now we'd be a 5.4 percent unemployment. We're 9 million jobs short of that. I will get America working again and see rising take-home pay again, and I'll do it with five simple steps," Mr. Romney said.

Mr. Romney described his economic plan as involving "North American energy independence," increased trade, particularly with Latin America, "training programs that work for our workers and schools," which put "the teachers and the kids first" and make teacher's unions "have to go behind." balance the budget and "champion small business."

The pair launched into discussions of their specific disagreements with each other's policies including their respective tax plans and President Obama's desire to "hire more teachers." Though the debate included substantial discussion of Libya, Syria, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia and China, this first exchange was hardly the only time the candidates kept their focus on the home front. Tonight's debate mainly stuck to the topic at hand, foreign policy, but it still underscored just how much domestic economic questions are central to this campaign.

Jumaane Williams (Photo: Facebook)

Council member Jumaane Williams is getting behind the push to have a ticker tape parade in New York for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Williams introduced a resolution in support of a parade at the Council's Stated Meeting today.

"I am proud to author a bill that will hopefully push forward the 'welcome home' that our nation's veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars so rightfully deserve," Mr. Williams said in a statement announcing the resolution. "While I am generally opposed to war, including these particular conflicts, I recognize that those who volunteer with the aspiration of doing good for their family and their country should be given the highest regard for their commitment and sacrifice."

Though there have been calls for a ticker tape parade honoring Iraq veterans in Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg has said Pentagon officials don’t want New York City to hold a parade now because they think it would be “premature while we still have so many troops in harm’s way around the world.”  Mr. Williams said he believes there should be a parade because New York has held parades for veterans of many other conflicts and other cities have already marked the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with parades.

"Just as veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War have been recognized in the Canyon of Heroes, so too should we honor our most recent veterans the way that only New Yorkers can," Mr. Williams said. "Other major American cities, such as Saint Louis and Houston, have recognized the importance of holding a parade now and not allowing politics to complicate the process."

Senator John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said he believes there "absolutely" should be a parade for the troops who have returned from Iraq in New York or Washington, D.C. Though there have been calls for a ticker tape parade honoring Iraq veterans in Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg has said Pentagon officials don't want New York City to hold a parade now because they think it would be "premature while we still have so many troops in harm's way around the world." The Politicker asked Mr. Kerry his thoughts on whether there should be an Iraq War parade in Manhattan after his appearance at New York Law School yesterday.

"Absolutely, I think there ought to be a parade if not there, in Washington," Senator Kerry said. "I think Iraqi war veterans, all veterans, I think they deserve to have the nation's gratitude and I think it'd be wonderful to do something like that."

Over the years, New York City has held ticker tape parades for veterans of the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the first Gulf War.

The Iraq War may be over, but there is increasing concern we may be headed toward a new war in Iran. At a fundraiser in Manhattan Thursday night, President Barack Obama was heckled by a woman who shouted "No war with Iran!"

"Nobody has announced a war, young lady," President Obama said. "You're jumping the gun a little bit there."

We asked Senator Kerry, who's a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, if he thinks a war with Iran is likely.

"I don't want to talk likelihoods of war right now," Senator Kerry said. "What I want to talk about is my hope that the Iranians will see the opportunity to negotiate."

Congresswoman Michele Bachamnn (Getty)

WASHINGTON Michele Bachmann made a speech at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. where she accused President Barack Obama of making a series of dangerous foreign policy "miscalculations" including failing to support Israel and not standing by ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak in his quest to keep the Muslim Brotherhood at bay.

"Obama failed to stand by Mubarak and that helped fuel the revolution in Egypt and it led to a regime that was based on sharia law with 72 percent of the seats in the Lower House in Egypt now occupied by the Brotherhood and an even more radical Salafist party," Ms. Bachmann said.

Ms. Bachmann said she wanted to prevent President Obama from highlighting "foreign policy successes" in his re-election effort.

"This fall, President Obama will be pointing to his foreign policy successes in order to make the case for his successful re-election. He'll be pointing to Bin Laden, he'll be pointing to the overthrow of Qaddafi, he'll be pointing to the Arab Spring as his foreign policy success story," Ms. Bachmann said. "These are tactical successes that don't begin to compare with the mess that Barack Obama has made of the Middle East and the strategic foreign policy blunders."

Ms. Bachmann said the president's main mistake was choosing "Islamic outreach over Israel" and she cited his speech in Cairo, his handling of Israel and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq as examples of the president's missteps.

"When Barack Obama chose Islamic outreach over Israel, he changed the course of history," Ms. Bachmann said. "No president since the modern state of Israel has failed to stand by our ally Israel, only President Obama."

Ms. Bachmann had particularly harsh words for President Obama's decision to invite members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to his landmark 2o09 Cairo speech, a decision she called "absolutely shocking."

"The president spurned the President of Egypt when he took his first foreign trip to Cairo," Ms. Bachmann said. "In an absolutely shocking move, he invited the Muslim Brotherhood to hear his speech when Mubarak's policy was to keep the Brotherhood at arm's length. The Muslim Brotherhood's mission is the spread of global jihad and their leader has called for the demise, not only of the United States, but also of Israel."

Ms. Bachmann blamed this choice for helping to "fuel" the Arab Spring, which she said led to the "rise of political Islam" throughout the Arab world.

"The spread of radical Islam has not been confined to Egypt. The rise of political Islam has brought sharia law now to Tunisia and Al Qaeda to Libya, as I warned during the presidential race earlier this year," Ms. Bachmann said.

According to Ms. Bachmann these "miscalculations" have put the world "on the verge of a nuclear Iran."

"And Iran is committed to both the destruction of Israel and of the United States," Ms. Bachmann said. "And they are the epicenter of global jihad."

Ms. Bachmann equated the withdrawal of troops from Iraq with handing that country "to the Iranians" and she predicted the president will do the same thing in Afghanistan.

"We credit our brave troops for winning the war in Iraq at a very tremendous cost, but the president recently chose intentionally to lose the peace," Ms. Bachmann said. "They intend to do the same thing in Afghanistan and they will likely lose the peace in Afghanistan. It's unthinkable after a decade of effort to defeat global jhad, Obama, for the sake of his political re-election, has chosen to hand Iraq to the Iranians."

Ms. Bachmann said President Obama has done several things wrong with respect to Israel starting with his call for the country to retreat to its pre-Six Day War borders.

"Before Obama was elected, Israel could count on America's unwavering support, but since Obama's election, Israel has rarely enjoyed President Obama's support, and in May he even said that Israel should retreat to her indefensible 1967 borders," Ms. Bachmann said. "In a bad case of misplaced priorities, the president thinks that Israel building apartment buildings on her own land is worse than Iran getting a nuclear bomb."

Ms. Bachmann also criticized the president for the State Department's policy of not recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.

"Obama's State Department now designates Jerusalem as an international city and, in a bizarre move, our State Department won't even acknowledge that Jerusalem belongs to Israel. Jerusalem does belong to Israel," she said.

She also slammed the president for saying America is "not a Christian nation, or a Jewish nation, or a Muslim nation."

"Before obama was elected, no one had ever heard of a United States president saying to the world that the United States is not a judeo-christian nation," Ms. Bachmann said. "I am here to say we are."

Though she expects President Obama to tout his "foreign policy success story" on the campaign trail, Ms. Bachmann concluded by saying his foreign policies are precisely the reason he shouldn't be re-elected.

"The president's foreign policy does change the history of the world, which is why Barack Obama cannot have a second term as president."

Georgia police shot and killed a woman who allegedly sent a fake WMD to State Senator Greg Ball.

Museums are collecting memorabilia from the Occupy Wall Street protests. 

President Obama is still holding on to donations connected to the bankrupt brokerage firm MF Global.

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito is a big fan of Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told CNN she'd "love do-overs on several things" including the effort to rebuild Iraq and "some of the aspects with our relationship with Mexico."

Newt Gingrich compared his exclusion from the Virginia primary ballot to Pearl Harbor.

Mitt Romney doesn't want to release his tax returns or the names of his bundlers.

Michele Bachmann is going on a 99 county bus tour of Iowa.

Hackers affiliated with Anonymous celebrated Christmas by attacking the security think tank Stratfor.

President Obama announced all U.S. troops will leave Iraq byt he end of the year in his daily press briefing. (Getty)

America will make its exit from Iraq in a little over two months with the last U.S. troops going home by the end of the year. There are currently about 41,000 U.S. soldiers remaining in Iraq.

President Obama announced his decision in a press briefing following a videoconference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"As promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," President Obama told reporters.

President Obama's decision to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year represents a departure from his previous war plans. As recently as last month, President Obama wanted to keep 3,000 American troops remaining in Iraq at the start of 2012.  The Associated Press first reported that the White House was abandoning that plan Saturday.

President Obama changed his mind and made this move just in time to change the narrative ahead of the general election in 2012.  With his approval rating hitting a record low again this month and poll numbers showing steadily declining public support for his handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that might not be such a bad idea.