Candidates managed to cut through moderator nonsense to give us some substance

Believe it or not, there actually was some substance discussed during the Republican presidential debate on CNBC Wednesday night. No thanks to the moderators, of course, who asked questions that were either designed to start fights or create gotcha moments. How CNBC even mustered the self-respect to go on the air the following morning is beyond me, so thoroughly did they embarrass themselves with that performance. But fortunately, the candidates did a good job of what you might call pivoting, which is to say: They ignored the lack of substance in the moderator questions and discussed substantive issues anyway.

Here are three examples that concerned taxes. First, in response to moderator Becky Quick completely misrepresenting both the rate and the further implications of his proposed tax plan, Ben Carson got right to it:

"The rate is going to be much closer to 15 percent. You also have to get rid of all the deductions and all the loopholes. You also have to do some strategic cutting in several places. We have 645 federal agencies and sub-agencies. Anyone who tells me we need every penny in every one of those is in a fantasy world."

Quick was trying to tell him he couldn't make the tax plan work unless he eliminated 40 percent of the federal government. Carson obviously knows his plan better than she does and he rightly obliterated that argument. Next, Ted Cruz. Now he once supported the FairTax and he's apparently gone in a different direction, but he's still looking to replace the tax code and what he proposes is eons better than what we have:

"It is a simple flat tax where for individuals a family of four pays nothing on the first $36,000. After that you pay 10 percent on a flat tax going up. On top of that there's a business tax of 16 percent."

The beauty of Cruz's business tax proposal, apart from the much lower rate, is that every kind of business pays the same rate and most of the tax shelters that favor bigger businesses are done away with. Finally, Marco Rubio on taxes. Now I'm not as wild about his plan because it tweaks the existing code instead of replacing it -- and he puts a lot of emphasis on expanding the child tax credit when I think the code really needs fewer credits and a simpler structure. But this I like very much:

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"It is the most pro-growth tax plan because it doesn't tax investment at all. You know why? Because the more you tax something, the less of it you get."

Absolutely correct. There were other strong moments of substance, such as this quote from Ben Carson on regulations:

"You know why I hate regulations? Every single regulation costs in terms of goods and services. That cost gets passed on to the people. Who does that hurt? Poor people. It doesn't hurt rich people if they buy a bar of soap, but it hurts the poor and the middle class."

There were other great lines, including one from Carly Fiorina about the reporting requirements she had to meet as a CEO, and what would have happened to her had she reported her company's results the way politicians usually report the nation's economic results. In a word: Prison. I know you've heard about Ted Cruz's epic rant against the moderators, and rightly so. And I'm sure you've heard about other moments like the exchange between Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush on Rubio's attendance record. Sadly, thanks to the moderators, it was very difficult for anyone to work in much discussion of substance. So kudos to everyone who made the effort to do so anyway, especially those responsible for the quotes above. That's what we need more of.