As more and more Americans recognize criminal justice reform as a key issue in bringing fairness and prosperity to this country, the Republican presidential contenders continue to push out-of-date policies and spew the same hateful rhetoric we have come to expect from Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and others.

Marco Rubio referred to drug sentencing reform as a “careless weakening of drug laws.” Jeb Bush has advocated for gun-sentencing proposals that critics say unfairly target African-Americans. And most Republican candidates have refused to acknowledge the power and importance of the phrase “Black Lives Matter” – even calling it “bullying” and “sickening.” When viewed in full, the GOP’s criminal justice record is woefully inadequate and stuck in the past.

The Republican Party’s out-of-date policies and out-of-touch rhetoric simply won’t cut it.

The GOP on Criminal Justice

Donald Trump

Police Brutality

In 1989, Donald Trump took out a full-page ad in four major New York newspapers titled, “Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back the Police!” “‘Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back the Police!’ Trump’s ad in the four main metropolitan newspapers screamed in two-inch type. ‘At what point did we cross the line from the fine and noble pursuit of genuine civil liberties to the reckless and dangerously permissive atmosphere which allows criminals of every age to beat and rape a helpless woman and then laugh at her family’s anguish?’’ the ad said in part. […] In explaining why he bought the ads, Trump said Saturday in a telephone interview, ‘The criminal is being protected and the the victim is getting zero protection.’ Discussing the Central Park attack, the developer said, ‘‘How does (the victim) have civil liberties lying in hospital, close to death and these criminals are already chanting “police brutality?” It’s absolutely disgraceful, disgraceful.’” [United Press International, 5/1/89]

• Donald Trump said he wanted to “unshackle [police] from the constant chant of ‘police brutality’.” “In arguing that a 14-year-old boy should be killed, he pushed New Yorkers to ‘unshackle [police] from the constant chant of ‘police brutality’’ that overtook the city then as it has in the past year.” [Daily Dot, 9/1/15]

Donald Trump pitched himself as a “law and order” candidate who would give more power to police departments. “Sharpening his pitch to what he calls ‘the silent majority,’ Donald Trump presented himself Saturday as the ‘law and order’ candidate in the 2016 presidential race, pledging to ‘get rid’ of gangs and give more power to police officers. Speaking to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies for more than an hour, in the heart of a Southern city where student sit-ins helped launch the 1960s-era civil rights movement, the Republican complained that cops are afraid to be tough in the face of more scrutiny over their tactics. ‘I know cities where police are afraid to even talk to people because they want to be able to retire and have their pension,’ he said. ‘They don’t want to be pulled off the police forces. And then you wonder what’s wrong with our cities. We need a whole new mind-set.’” [Washington Post, 8/29/15]

Black Lives Matter

Donald Trump on Black Lives Matter: “I think they’re trouble.” “GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday night said he supported all lives and suggested that supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement are promoting ‘hate.’ ‘I think they’re trouble. I think they’re looking for trouble,’ the tough-talking tycoon said during a Fox News interview with Bill O’Reilly. ‘I looked at a couple of people that were interviewed from the group. I saw them with hate coming down the street last week talking about cops and police and what should be done to them. That was not good,’ Trump said.” [The Hill, 9/9/15]

Ben Carson

Incarceration

Ben Carson said he was “flabbergasted by the accommodations” at federal prisons, saying they were to “conducive to comfort.” “In addressing the young Republicans, Carson also said that he, like President Obama, had visited federal prisons. ‘I was flabbergasted by the accommodations — the exercise equipment, the libraries and the computers,’ he said. He said he was told that ‘a lot of times when it’s about time for one of the guys to be discharged, especially when its winter, they’ll do something so they can stay in there.’ […] ‘I think that we need to sometimes ask ourselves, “Are we creating an environment that is conducive to comfort where a person would want to stay, versus an environment where we maybe provide them an opportunity for rehabilitation but is not a place that they would find particularly comfortable?”’ he told reporters.” [Washington Post, 7/21/15]

War on Drugs

Ben Carson on whether he would continue the War on Drugs: “Absolutely…I intensify it.” “If elected president, Ben Carson won’t just continue to wage the perennially failing War on Drugs, like all of his predecessors in both parties since Richard Nixon—he would intensify the failed policy, because … well, better to quote him directly. Here is the hard-to-follow reasoning he offered in an interview with Glenn Beck: Glenn Beck: Do you continue the War on Drugs? Ben Carson: Absolutely. Beck: You do? Carson: I intensify it.” [Atlantic, 10/23/15]

Ben Carson said that marijuana legalization would lead to “hedonistic activity.” “The legal sale of recreational marijuana began in Colorado on Jan. 1, but Dr. Ben Carson sees it as society’s latest step downward. The use of medical marijuana in some cases has been proven to be useful, Carson said Thursday on Fox News Channel’s ‘On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.’ But, he added, it is a gateway drug. ‘I don’t think this is something we really want for our society,’ Carson said. ‘You know, we’re gradually just removing all the barriers to hedonistic activity. We’re changing so rapidly to a different type of society, and nobody is getting a chance to discuss it because it’s taboo.’” [Newsmax, 1/2/14]

Black Lives Matter

Ben Carson called the Black Lives Matter movement “bullying” and “sickening.” “In a move sure to catapult him to the top of Bill O’Reilly’s most favored list, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson blasted Black Lives Matter for ‘bullying people’ and slammed the movement’s motto as ‘sickening.’ When the conservative former neurosurgeon traveled to Ferguson, Missouri this past Friday, September 11, CBS’s Major Garret rode along with the rising Republican on Carson’s first visit to the city. Seated besides embattled Ferguson Mayor James Knowler, Carson took the opportunity to lash out at the Black Lives Matter that was borne out of the August 2014 shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson. ‘The Black Lives Matter movement, where it’s foisting yourself on people – rather than engaging in dialogue – and bullying people,’ Carson described, adding, ‘I never liked the idea of bullying on behalf of anybody.’” [Salon, 9/14/15]

Marco Rubio

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Marco Rubio voted for a bill that extended Florida’s 10-20-Life mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines to 16 and 17 year olds. “Lawmakers passed a couple of crime bills on their final day. The Senate voted 31 7 for a bill (SB 1548) that will make most teen age felons who use guns while committing serious crimes serve the same prison sentences as adults. The measure, which extends last year’s 10 20 life law to most 16 and 17 year olds, cleared the House Thursday and goes to Gov. Jeb Bush.” [Associated Press, 5/5/00; SB 1548, 3/7/00; House roll call vote 491, 5/4/00]

Marco Rubio said the reform of drug sentencing guidelines was “careless weakening of drug laws.” “In an op-ed for the conservative Washington Times, Rubio made the noncontroversial case that whomever succeeds Eric Holder as attorney general should be ‘committed to the Constitution,’ and in doing so, seemed to make a vague endorsement of the war on drugs—placing him out of step with a large and loud faction of the conservative movement. ‘While individuals from a variety of perspectives have made a compelling case that American law has been over-criminalized and over-federalized,’ Rubio wrote, ‘…reform should not begin with careless weakening of drug laws that have done so much to help end the violence and mayhem that plagued American cities in prior decades.’” [Daily Beast, 10/3/14]

Stand Your Ground

Marco Rubio cosponsored Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law and restated his support for the measure after the acquittal of George Zimmerman. “Sen. Marco Rubio confirmed Thursday he still supports Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, which he originally cosponsored as a state representative in 2005. ‘I was in favor of it then, and I am now,’ Rubio told the Washington Examiner.” [Washington Examiner, 7/18/13; HB 249, 1/10/05]

Marco Rubio was a member of a lobbying group that worked to spread Stand Your Ground laws to other states. “Rubio is listed as a member of ALEC, the lobbying group that helped spread Stand Your Ground to other states before losing sponsors.” [Huffington Post, 7/15/13]

Jeb Bush

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Jeb Bush signed the 10-20-Life plan, which set mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years for committing a violent crime with a gun, 20 years for firing the gun during the crime, and 25 years to life for causing bodily injury with a bullet. “Bush is calling his plan ‘10/20/Life,’ exactly the same name adopted by supporters in California. The law would require minimum, mandatory sentences of 10 years for committing a violent crime with a gun, 20 years for firing the gun during the crime and 25 years to life for causing bodily injury with a bullet.” [St. Petersburg Times, 9/23/98]

• Black lawmakers said Jeb Bush’s gun-sentencing proposal unfairly targeted African-Americans. “Black lawmakers say the tough gun-sentencing proposal unfairly targets African-Americans. Some of Florida’s black political leaders are attacking Gov. Jeb Bush’s chief crime initiative as a racially motivated way to keep young black men behind bars. The state House approved Bush’s gun-sentencing proposal Wednesday, and the Senate could do so as early as today.” [St. Petersburg Times, 3/11/99]

Jeb Bush signed into law a bill that extended Florida’s 10-20-Life mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines to 16 and 17 year olds. “Lawmakers passed a couple of crime bills on their final day. The Senate voted 31 7 for a bill (SB 1548) that will make most teen age felons who use guns while committing serious crimes serve the same prison sentences as adults. The measure, which extends last year’s 10 20 life law to most 16 and 17 year olds, cleared the House Thursday and goes to Gov. Jeb Bush.” [Associated Press, 5/5/00; SB 1548, 3/7/00]

Jeb Bush established a Florida statute that expanded mandatory minimum sentences and included “death” as a guideline for severe drug offenses “depending on the type and amount of the controlled substance.” “Create mandatory prison sentences for persons convicted of drug trafficking. Mandatory minimum prison sentences of 3, 7, 15, 25 years, life or death will be imposed depending on the type and amount of the controlled substance. A minimum of three years will be mandated for any person convicted of possession, sale, importation, etc., of at least 25 pounds of cannabis, 4 grams of flunitrazepam, morphine, opium or heroin, 14 grams of amphetamine, 28 grams of cocaine and phencyclidine, or 200 grams of methaqualone. Penalties increase as the type and amount of the drugs increase or if use of the drug results in someone’s death.” [MyFlorida.com, accessed 4/9/15]

Racism in the Justice System

Jeb Bush said he did not think “there’s evidence of” the death penalty being applied more frequently to black defendants. “Bush, who insisted that lawmakers deal with speeding up the complex appeals process, said he doesn’t think the death penalty is applied more frequently to black defendants. ‘I don’t think there’s evidence of that being the case,’ Bush said during a meeting Thursday with four of his closest allies in the black caucus.” [Orlando Sentinel, 1/7/00]

Jeb Bush opposed a measure “that would allow accused murderers to argue that race is a factor in their cases.” “On Thursday, as lawmakers approved a switch to lethal injection as Florida’s chief form of execution, Democrats tried to add a provision that would allow accused murderers to argue that race is a factor in their cases. The GOP-led Legislature rejected the measure. Gov. Jeb Bush, who also opposed the measure, established a 15-member task force to study the role of race in capital sentencing.” [St. Petersburg Times, 1/7/00]

Jeb Bush angered black lawmakers by refusing “to consider allowing blacks sentenced to death to challenge the sentence on grounds that it was racially motivated.” “Black lawmakers are angry that Bush refused to consider allowing blacks sentenced to death to challenge the sentence on grounds that it was racially motivated. They cited a 1991 study showing that black convicts in Florida are more likely to receive the death penalty, and that killers of white people were three times as likely to get the electric chair as killers of black people. Rep. Beryl Roberts, D-Miami, one of those pressured to vote for the appeals bill, said Bush’s refusal to take up the racial justice provision sealed her decision to vote no. ‘He knows we need to address what is a recognized problem, and he should have gone ahead and addressed it,’ Roberts said. ‘Don’t study me any more,’ said Rep. Les Miller of Tampa, the House Democratic leader. ‘As an African American, I’m sick of being studied. African Americans have been studied since we got off the slave ship.’” [Miami Herald, 1/9/00]

Stand Your Ground

Jeb Bush signed Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” gun legislation into law. “With a National Rifle Association lobbyist looking on, Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Tuesday a bill that will allow Floridians to use force on an attacker without first trying to escape. Bush signed into law a broad new expansion of the ‘castle doctrine’ — an old legal tenet giving residents the license to kill criminals while protecting their home. Under current Florida law, a person attacked in any public place — a supermarket, a bar, a library — must first attempt to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense. The new measure, which takes effect in October, removes the obligation to flee, allowing people to legally kill their attackers if they feel threatened.” [Orlando Sentinel, 4/27/05; SB 436, 12/08/04]

• Jeb Bush “did not waver in his support” of his “Stand Your Ground” legislation after Trayvon Martin’s killer was acquitted. “But Mr. Bush didn’t waver in his support for the underlying legislation. ‘Applied properly, I support the law,’ Mr. Bush said shortly after the incident.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/9/15]

Police Brutality

Jeb Bush denied there was “a systemic problem” with police brutality in the United States. “Bush, a likely 2016 presidential candidate, said ‘no’ when asked by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly if ‘policing is the problem’ in cities like Baltimore or in Ferguson, Missouri, which have both been rocked by violent protests following police-involved deaths of African-American men. ‘I don’t think it’s a systemic problem,’ Bush replied in the interview, which aired Monday night.” [Business Insider, 5/12/15]

Black Lives Matter

Jeb Bush on Black Lives Matter: “It’s a slogan, I guess.” “O’Malley came under fire for adding ‘white lives matter, all lives matter’ to the protesters’ calls – a statement he has since apologized for. But Bush said Thursday that O’Malley had nothing to be sorry about. ‘I mean, we’re so uptight and so politically correct now that we apologize for saying ‘lives matter?’’ Bush said. ‘Life is precious, it’s a gift from God. I frankly think that it’s one of the most important values that we have. I know in the political context, it’s a slogan, I guess. And should he have apologized? No.’” [MSNBC, 7/30/15]

Ted Cruz

Stand Your Ground

Ted Cruz defended Stand Your Ground laws. “Sen. Ted Cruz defended stand your ground laws today at a hearing on self-defense legislation, arguing that Washington should leave such decisions to the states. […] Cruz said opposition to the laws amounted to an attempt to take way individuals’ rights to defend themselves. He called self-defense rights a ‘bedrock liberty.’ ‘The notion that critics of these laws put forth, that if you’re attacked on the street by a violent attacker, you’re obliged to turn and run rather than defend yourself, is a notion contrary to hundreds of years of our jurisprudence,’ Cruz said.” [Dallas Morning News, 10/29/13]

Black Lives Matter

Ted Cruz said that the Black Lives Matter movement was “literally suggesting and embracing and celebrating the murder of police officers.” “When ThinkProgress asked Cruz if he’d be willing to sit down for a meeting with Black Lives Matter activists, he said ‘sure, I’m happy to meet with just about anybody.’ But then he elaborated that the activists were threatening police officers. ‘If you look at the Black Lives Matter movement, one of the most disturbing things is more than one of their protests have embraced rabid rhetoric, rabid anti-police language, literally suggesting and embracing and celebrating the murder of police officers,’ the Texas senator said. ‘That is disgraceful.’” [Think Progress, 10/14/15]

Mike Huckabee

Incarceration

Mike Huckabee said it “really would be” ideal to sell criminals into slavery rather than imprison them. “Host Jan Mickelson began by bemoaning that the ‘criminal justice system has been taken over by progressives.’ In order to fight back, he argued, conservatives should look to the biblical Book of Exodus. ‘It says, if a person steals, they have to pay it back two-fold, four-fold,’ Mickelson explained. ‘If they don’t have anything, we’re supposed to take them down and sell them.’ Mickelson went on to argue why jails, which he claimed are a ‘pagan invention,’ are inferior to slavery: ‘We indenture them and they have to spend their time not sitting on their stump in a jail cell, they’re supposed to be working off the debt.’ ‘Wouldn’t that be a better choice?’ the host asked. ‘Well, it really would be,’ Huckabee replied without missing a beat. ‘Sometimes the best way to deal with a nonviolent criminal behavior is what you just suggested.’” [Think Progress, 10/15/15]

Black Lives Matter

Mike Huckabee said Martin Luther King, Jr. would be “appalled” by the Black Lives Matter movement. “‘When I hear people scream, ‘black lives matter,’ I think, ‘Of course they do.’ But all lives matter. It’s not that any life matters more than another,’ Huckabee said in the interview aired on ‘The Situation Room.’ ‘That’s the whole message that Dr. King tried to present, and I think he’d be appalled by the notion that we’re elevating some lives above others,’ Huckabee said.” [CNN, 8/18/15]

Rand Paul

Police Brutality

Rand Paul on Baltimore: “I came through the train on Baltimore last night. I’m glad the train didn’t stop.” “On Tuesday, as Baltimore burned in the wake of the latest episode surrounding the alleged use of deadly excessive force, Paul’s response was notably off-key. ‘I came through the train on Baltimore last night,’ Paul told host Laura Ingraham. ‘I’m glad the train didn’t stop.’ The senator’s breezy response came just before he blamed the violent uprising there on ‘the breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of sort of a moral code in our society.’ He also expressed his sympathy for ‘the plight of police,’ all without speaking to the circumstances surrounding the troubling death of Freddie Gray in the custody of Baltimore Police.” [Politico, 4/30/15]

John Kasich

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

John Kasich voted for NRA-backed legislation that imposed “a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for using a gun to commit a crime or for felons caught carrying guns.” “The bill, which passed 358-60, creates a $100 million project to expand Project Exile nationally. It offers grants to states that impose a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for using a gun to commit a crime or for felons caught carrying guns. […] ‘While Bill Clinton was performing in the theater of press conference politics, the House was passing legislation to take a proven, tough law enforcement program nationwide,’ said James Jay Baker, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. He said the House vote ‘highlights the difference between political theater and proven, effective public policy.’ […] Kasich, Y” [Washington Times, 4/12/00]

Chris Christie

Stop and Frisk

Chris Christie said he would bring back the stop-and-frisk program “in about five minutes” if he were Mayor of New York. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that if he were mayor of New York City, he would bring back the stop-and-frisk program, slamming Mayor Bill de Blasio for the policies he’s implemented. ‘Stop-and-frisk would be back in about five minutes and we would empower the police, not undercut them,’ Christie told MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ on Tuesday. ‘And listen, if police officers step over the line, then they deserve to be taken care of and prosecuted. But this mayor presumes guilt on the part of the police officers before anything happens.’ The contentious police program allowed police officers to stop a pedestrian and search them for weapons and contraband, but was sharply criticized by criminal justice reform advocates who said it unfairly targeted African-Americans.” [CNN, 9/8/15]

War on Drugs

Chris Christie vowed to “crack down” on states that legalized marijuana. “New Jersey Gov. and potential Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Tuesday that he would ‘crack down’ on states that have legalized marijuana if he were elected president. ‘Absolutely,’ Mr. Christie said on ‘The Hugh Hewitt Show’ when asked if he would enforce federal drug laws in states where marijuana is legalized, The Hill reported. ‘I will crack down and not permit it.’” [Washington Times, 4/15/15]

Black Lives Matter

Chris Christie claimed the Black Lives Matter movement was “calling for the murder of police officers.” “The Black Lives Matter movement is creating an environment that can put police officers at risk, Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday, accusing President Barack Obama of supporting the movement, encouraging ‘lawlessness’ and not backing up law enforcement. ‘I don’t believe that movement should be justified when they are calling for the murder of police officers,’ Christie said on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation.’ Told that some individual members have been recorded calling for the deaths of officers, Christie replied that the environment is ‘what the movement is creating.’” [Associated Press, 10/25/15]

Lindsey Graham

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Lindsey Graham voted against allowing the full Senate to consider legislation that would weaken mandatory minimum sentencing requirements for lesser crimes. “Congress will also consider the Smarter Sentencing Act, which would cut in half mandatory 10 and 20 year terms for some lesser federal drug crimes. The law would give judges some discretion to impose sentences below the mandatory minimum. It passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and could be taken up by the full Senate as early as May. […] The Smarter Sentencing Act also has bipartisan support, but not everyone is on board. Several Republican Judiciary Committee members did not vote in favor of the bill when it was voted out of the Committee 13-5 in January. They included Grassley, Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas and Orrin Hatch of Utah.” [MSNBC, 4/28/14]

Lindsey Graham voted for NRA-backed legislation that imposed “a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for using a gun to commit a crime or for felons caught carrying guns.” “The bill, which passed 358-60, creates a $100 million project to expand Project Exile nationally. It offers grants to states that impose a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for using a gun to commit a crime or for felons caught carrying guns. […] ‘While Bill Clinton was performing in the theater of press conference politics, the House was passing legislation to take a proven, tough law enforcement program nationwide,’ said James Jay Baker, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. He said the House vote ‘highlights the difference between political theater and proven, effective public policy.’ […] Graham, Y” [Washington Times, 4/12/00]

Rick Santorum

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Rick Santorum cosponsored legislation to expand the use of mandatory minimum sentences. “Mandatory minimum sentences in drug crimes have proven to be ineffective and costly. They undermine the very concept of an independent judiciary by forcing judges to give predetermined jail terms without considering the individual circumstances. So, naturally, 14 U.S. senators, including Pennsylvania’s Rick Santorum, want to expand their use. The state’s other senator, Arlen Specter, should lead the fight to kill legislation called the ‘Drug Free Century Act’ when it comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month. These lawmakers apparently are unmoved by the overwhelming opposition to mandatory minimums by federal judges and the American Bar Association, and mounting criticism by corrections officials. They seem more interested in the political and intuitive appeal of long sentences – whether or not they fit the crime or curb addiction.” [Philly.com, 3/26/99; S.5, 1/19/99]

Bobby Jindal

Incarceration

Bobby Jindal vetoed legislation “that would reduce Louisiana’s nation-leading incarceration rate” and redirect financial savings into prisoner rehabilitation. “Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed legislation that would reduce Louisiana’s nation-leading incarceration rate by speeding up parole eligibility for violent criminals and then invest the financial savings in prisoner rehabilitation. The legislation, considered by some the most impactful piece of sentencing reform to emerge from the recent state legislative session, passed easily in the Louisiana Legislature with vocal bipartisan support and was backed by the state’s influential sheriffs and district attorneys associations.” [Times-Picayune, 6/20/14]

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Bobby Jindal signed legislation that increased both the mandatory minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment for heroin distribution. “Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law Friday (May 30) a bill that sets the maximum penalty for repeat offenses of heroin distribution at 99 years, up from 50. The new law also increases the mandatory minimum amount of time those convicted even once of dealing the drug must serve in prison to 10 years, up from five. [Times-Picayune, 5/31/14]

• Bobby Jindal signed legislation that reversed earlier drug sentencing reform legislation. “The virtual life sentence of the 99-year prison term also reverses, some noted, sentencing reform the Louisiana Legislature passed a few years ago that lowered the penalty for heroin distribution from an actual life sentence to 50 years. Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said it took a decade to push that reform through successfully.” [Times-Picayune, 5/31/14]

Bobby Jindal signed legislation that increased the maximum penalty for fleeing from a police officer from 2 years to 5 years in prison. “Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a number of bills related to criminal justice and the treatment of convicts into Louisiana law Friday (May 16). […] Legislation that allows people who flee a law enforcement officer to be imprisoned for up to five years. Currently, they only be imprisoned for two years. If someone is hurt by a person trying to flee arrest, then the person fleeing could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.” [Times-Picayune, 5/17/14]

TO:                 Interested Parties
FROM:           Brad Woodhouse, President, Correct The Record 

Today, the Republican presidential candidates will meet for their one and only debate exclusively focused on the economy. However, if you’re hoping for the GOP to finally show support for the middle class and a growth and fairness economy, prepare to be disappointed. The only economic message these candidates are interested in parroting is the one fed to them by mega-donors like the Koch Brothers.

On issues from tax reform, to Medicare and Social Security, to demeaning programs that create economic opportunity for working class and middle class Americans, to opposing equal pay for women, the Republican candidates are all cut from the same cloth. We’ve seen what happens when a Republican president slashes taxes for the wealthy, goes on a spending spree, and ignores economic support for those who need it most, and America is not going back to Bush-style economics. Only Hillary Clinton has the forward-looking economic agenda America needs to raise the incomes of ordinary Americans, make the wealthy and CEO’s pay their fair share and create true and lasting growth and prosperity.

Look below for a sampling of the GOP’s out of touch, out of date and tried-and-failed economic policies. 

KOCH DEMAND #1:
END MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY AS WE KNOW THEM

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Donald Trump: On phasing out Medicare with private savings accounts: “I’m OK with the savings accounts. I think it’s a good idea.”

 Ted Cruz: Cruz supported increasing the Medicare retirement age and transitioning it to a “premium support” voucher system.

Rand Paul: Paul introduced legislation that would end traditional Medicare and supported raising the Medicare retirement age to 70.

Chris Christie: Christie called for an increase in the Medicare retirement age and for means testing Social Security.

Bobby Jindal: Jindal presented a health care plan that proposed turning Medicare into a voucher system.

KOCH DEMAND #2:
A TAX PLAN THAT SOAKS THE MIDDLE CLASS AND HELPS THE RICH

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Ted Cruz: Cruz has called for a national flat tax, a proposal that has been called a “colossal giveaway to the rich.”

Jeb Bush: Bush’s federal tax plan offered up a massive tax cut for the richest Americans. 

Carly Fiorina: Fiorina has, according to observers, espoused “more or less the official line of the Republican Party on taxation.”

Mike Huckabee: According to the New York Times, Huckabee favored “a tax plan that analysts say…disproportionately benefits the affluent.”

Rand Paul: Paul’s tax plan would most benefit incomes above $1 million.

Chris Christie: Christie pushed to cut the income tax rate for the wealthiest Americans by 11 percent and lower the corporate tax rate by 10 percent.

John Kasich: Kasich supported a plan that would cut taxes for the top 1 percent in Ohio while increasing the tax burden on the bottom 60 percent of earners.

Lindsey Graham: Graham said it was “stupid” to allow tax cuts for the wealthy to expire.

Bobby Jindal: According to Vox, Jindal’s tax plan would “eliminate the standard deduction and personal/dependent exemptions that currently let many working-class families avoid income taxes.”

KOCH DEMAND #3:
DEMEAN PROGRAMS THAT LEVEL THE ECONOMIC PLAYING FIELD AS “FREE STUFF”

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Chris Christie: Christie suggested that raising taxes on the wealthy was part of a “gimme gimme gimme attitude.”

Rick Santorum: Santorum: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.”

KOCH DEMAND #4:
OPPOSE EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN AT ALL COSTS

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Donald Trump: Trump said equal pay legislation could lead to “an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy.”

Ted Cruz: Cruz voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times. [S. 2199, 4/1/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]

Carly Fiorina: Fiorina called equal pay legislation “tokens” and “gestures.”

Rand Paul: Paul voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times and compared equal pay legislation to the Soviet Politburo. [Senate roll call vote 115, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/9/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]

Chris Christie: Christie vetoed what the Star-Ledger called “two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks.”

Lindsey Graham: Graham voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Fair Pay Act. [Senate roll call vote 14, 1/22/09; Senate roll call vote 115, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/9/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]

Rick Santorum: Santorum opposed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, calling it “a trial lawyer’s bill.”

Bobby Jindal: Jindal voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Both Jeb’s decision and his justification are flat wrong. In fact, since the 2010 midterm election, 21 states have enacted new laws to restrict voting rights. Over the past few years, Florida has passed voting laws that disenfranchised more than 1.3 million voters in the 2014 gubernatorial election–an election that was decided by only 72,000 votes.

Just this week, after the GOP’s long-waged war on voting rights continued in Alabama, Hillary Clinton expressed outrage, stating: “Just a few years ago, Alabama passed a law requiring citizens to have a photo ID to vote. Now they’re shutting down places where people get those photo IDs. This is only going to make it harder for people to vote.” As Hillary said, this is “a blast from the Jim Crow past.”

That is exactly what Jeb Bush and the entire Republican field represent—a dangerous blast from the past.

The 2016 GOP Record On Voting Rights

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush on the Voting Rights Act: “I don’t support reauthorizing it as is.” “Jeb Bush thinks the country’s landmark law to prevent discrimination against voters of color has run its course. […] To Bush, singling out states for their historic racism is no longer relevant. ‘If it’s to reauthorize it to continue to provide regulations on top of states as though we are living in 1960—’cause those were basically when many of those rules were put in place—I don’t believe that we should do that,’ he said. ‘There has been dramatic improvement in access to voting. I mean, exponentially better improvement. And I don’t think there is a role for the federal government to play in most places, could be some, but in most places where they did have a constructive role in the ‘60s. So I don’t support reauthorizing it as is.’” [Mother Jones, 10/8/15]

The Jeb Bush administration purged 12,000 eligible voters from the Florida voter rolls ahead of the 2000 presidential election. According to Rolling Stone, “Back in 2000, 12,000 eligible voters – a number twenty-two times larger than George W. Bush’s 537 vote triumph over Al Gore – were wrongly identified as convicted felons and purged from the voting rolls in Florida, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. African Americans, who favored Gore over Bush by 86 points, accounted for 11 percent of the state’s electorate but 41 percent of those purged.” [Rolling Stone, 5/30/12]

Jeb Bush attempted a similar voter purge ahead of the 2004 presidential election. “In May 2004, another presidential election year, Jeb Bush’s administration once again sought to purge its voter rolls of convicted felons. Owing to the previous controversy with DBT, the state Legislature decided that the Department of Elections should create its own list. Once again, the process was flawed. When the list became public in July 2004, a major error became readily apparent: Of the 48,000 people on the new purge list, 22,000 were African Americans but only 61 were Hispanic. African Americans vote heavily Democratic while Hispanics, at that time in Florida, largely voted Republican. This prompted speculation that Jeb Bush’s administration was at best incompetent and at worst, playing politics with its purge list. Facing widespread criticism, it agreed not to use the list.” [Mother Jones, 4/10/15]

Jeb Bush signed into law Florida legislation that restricted the hours and locations for early voting. “Bush and the GOP-led Legislature went the other way the next year, passing a law that capped the number of hours for early voting and confined it to election offices, city halls and libraries.” [Politifact, 11/8/12; House Bill 1567, 5/6/05]

Jeb Bush supported more stringent voter identification laws. In his book, Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution, Jeb Bush wrote, “Finally, states should be allowed to protect the integrity of the franchise with voter identification laws, which are supported by a large majority of Americans, including Hispanics. So long as states make it simple for citizens to obtain such forms of identification, they should have the latitude to require such identification for voting or to secure welfare benefits.” [Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution, pg. 38-39, 2013]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson said opponents of voter ID laws were “manipulators.” CARSON: “A classic example of this kind of manipulation is the effort to convince minority voters that anyone advocating officially recognized identification cards is racist, concocting tales of voter fraud. Manipulators will claim that their opponents are trying to suppress the vote by demanding identification cards in areas where they fear they won’t do well electorally.” [Ben Carson, One Vote: Make Your Voice Heard, pg. 38-39, 10/9/14]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz called for the repeal of a provision of the Voting Rights Act that protected minority voters from discrimination. “It’s time to do away with the nearly 50-year-old federal rule that let U.S. officials block a new state law requiring Texans to show photo ID to vote. That’s what Republicans candidates running to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate said during a forum Thursday night. They called for repeal of the Voting Rights Act provision that requires Texas and other Southern states with histories of discrimination to receive pre-clearance when changing election laws. ‘Right now, Texas is subjected to different standards than much of the country,’ former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz said during the forum, hosted by the Dallas Bar Association. ‘I think we need to be fighting to ensure the law is colorblind and fair to everyone.’” [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3/16/12]

Ted Cruz’s Iowa campaign chair crusaded “to restrict voting under the guise of combating voter fraud.” “[Ted Cruz’s] best play so far has been snagging former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz to be his state chairman there, considering that three years ago Schultz was a prominent supporter of Santorum, who is about to announce his 2016 presidential bid. By tapping Schultz, Cruz also tied himself to Schultz’s leading cause: trying to restrict voting under the guise of combating voter fraud. During his four years as secretary of state, Schultz spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to unearth evidence of fraud but ended up finding little and being cited for the mismanagement of public funds.” [Mother Jones, 5/26/15]

Ted Cruz introduced federal legislation requiring voters to present “proof of citizenship” before casting ballots. “Ted Cruz didn’t wait long to mount a legislative response to the Supreme Court’s ruling against Arizona’s voter registration rule. An amendment submitted by the Texas senator on Monday afternoon to the Senate’s immigration bill would ‘permit states to require proof of citizenship for registration to vote in elections for federal office.’ Cruz’s measure would amend the National Voter Registration Act.” [Politico, 6/17/13; S. Amdt. 1295, 6/17/13]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio supported cutting Florida’s early voting period in half, claiming it “was really not cost effective.”  RUBIO: “But we also know, for example, that in the early stages of the – of campaigns, we used to have a two-week voting period in Florida. The cost-benefit analysis of the first week of voting was really not – was really not cost effective. In essence, the number of people voting versus the cost to local governments to comply or to carry out that voting were – the turnout just didn’t justify the expenditure in the first week.” [Tampa Bay Times, 6/13/12]

As a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Marco Rubio voted in favor of a bill that restricted the hours and locations for early voting. “Bush and the GOP-led Legislature went the other way the next year, passing a law that capped the number of hours for early voting and confined it to election offices, city halls and libraries.” [Politifact, 11/8/12; House Bill 1567, 5/6/05; Vote #572, 5/6/05]

Marco Rubio on voter ID laws: “What’s the big deal? What is the big deal?” “During a campaign stop last month with Romney in Pennsylvania, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Cuban-American Republican, blew off what he sees as overhyped concerns about showing photo IDs. People have to show IDs for everything from boarding a flight to renting sports equipment, Rubio reasoned, so why not voting. ‘What’s the big deal? What is the big deal?’ Rubio asked.” [CNN, 5/29/12]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee said that the idea that voter ID laws disenfranchise voters was “phony nonsense.” “When I go to vote, the people at my voting station recognize me, even call me by name, but I still gladly show them my photo ID just in case there is some unlucky chump who looks just like me. I don’t mind. And the president shows his ID even in his hometown of Chicago. He didn’t object either. So let’s stop the phony nonsense that requiring an ID disenfranchises voters who are old or black. I’m getting old, and Obama is black, and it didn’t disenfranchise either one of us.” [Huckabee, FOX News, 10/27/12]

Mike Huckabee supported voter ID laws that would make voting more difficult. “The former Arkansas governor told the crowd at an Americans for Prosperity conference last month that sometimes he thinks the United States has less freedom than North Korea. ‘When I go to the airport, I have to get in the surrender position. People put hands all over me. And I have to provide photo ID in a couple of different forms and prove that I really am not going to terrorize the airplane. But if I want to go vote, I don’t need a thing.’” [Washington Post, 5/12/14]

Mike Huckabee suggested supporters of an anti-union law deflate the tires of voters on the other side of the issue on Election Day. “Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has some advice for people who support the anti-union law passed in Ohio that faces a statewide repeal vote on November 8: Find out who’s voting to repeal the bill and block them from ballot box. The onetime Arkansas governor suggested deflating tires and giving these voters the wrong election date. ‘That’s up to you, how you creatively get the job done,’ Huckabee quipped.” [Mother Jones, 10/17/11]

John Kasich

John Kasich signed into law legislation “that cut early voting and eliminated same-day registration in his state.” “Kasich, the governor of Ohio – for years the most important presidential swing state – signed legislation this year that cut early voting and eliminated same-day registration in his state—making it harder for minorities to get to the polls. That law, too, drew charges that it violated the VRA, and a trial is likely later this year.” [MSNBC, 1/19/15; SB 205, 10/10/13; SB 238, 11/13/13]

Cleveland Plain-Dealer Editorial Board: John Kasich signed voter ID legislation that was “a breathtaking bid to suppress voting despite constitutional guarantees of voting rights.” “Ohio’s Republican-run General Assembly has now passed three bills aimed at holding down voting by black or low-income Ohioans, a breathtaking bid to suppress voting despite constitutional guarantees of voting rights. Unwisely, Republican Gov. John Kasich has signed all of them into law. Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, Kasich’s likely Democratic opponent for governor in the fall, has already announced he intends — if he can get County Council’s support — to test one of the new laws, Substitute Senate Bill 205. It forbids anyone but the secretary of state’s office from sending out unsolicited absentee ballot applications.” [Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 3/1/14; SB 205, 10/10/13; SB 216, 10/29/13; SB 238, 11/13/13]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie vetoed legislation that would have expanded opportunities for early voting. “Gov. Chris Christie today vetoed a bill that would allow early voting at polling places, prompting Democrats to brand it a politically motivated effort to suppress the vote months after Hurricane Sandy exposed vulnerabilities in the state elections system. The Republican governor called a proposal to let voters cast ballots at designated polling places during a 15-day period before Election Day ‘hasty, counterproductive and less reliable’ than the current system.” [Star-Ledger, 5/9/13; S. 2364, 11/29/12]

Chris Christie opposed same-day voter registration. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed a voter registration method as a political ploy this week while speaking in Illinois. ‘Same-day registration, all of sudden, this year comes to Illinois. Shocking. It’s shocking. I’m sure it was all based on public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get,’ Christie said Monday, according to The Chicago Tribune. He was campaigning for Republican Bruce Rauner, who is challenging Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn this November. Christie chairs the Republican Governors Association.” [MSNBC, 8/28/14]

Chris Christie suggested that the civil rights gains of the 1960s should have been decided by popular referendum. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is under fire for suggesting white southerners should have been allowed to vote civil rights gains for blacks during the 1960s. His remark came as the State Senate Judiciary Committee was about to approve a bill this week that would move New Jersey a step closer to legalizing gay marriage. […] And then he said: ‘People would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.’” [NBC New York, 1/26/12]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul failed to sign on to legislation that would restore key voter protection provisions of the Voting Rights Act despite claiming to support these protections. “Why doesn’t the Republican Party become the party that champions voting rights? It’s a good question. But the good follow-up question is, why doesn’t Rand Paul do actual work on the problem? In July, for example, the Kentucky senator boasted, ‘I’m a Republican who wants to restore a federal role for the government in the Voting Rights Act.’ Terrific. But there’s a bipartisan legislative proposal to repair the Voting Rights Act following last year’s Supreme Court ruling, and as of this morning, Paul has neither signed on as a co-sponsor nor introduced an alternative.” [MSNBC, 9/22/14; S. 1945, 1/16/14]

Rand Paul walked back “comments in which the senator appeared to urge Republicans to back off ‘crazy’ voting laws that minorities found offensive.” “Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) office is walking back recent comments in which the senator appeared to urge Republicans to back off ‘crazy’ voting laws that minorities found offensive. ‘At no point did Senator Paul come out against voter ID laws,’ Paul’s former chief of staff and current PAC director told Slate. ‘In terms of the specifics of voter ID laws, Senator Paul believes it’s up to each state to decide that type of issue.’ Such laws are popular with Republicans, who claim they are needed to address the issue of voter fraud, but critics say stringent measures like the one recently signed into law in North Carolina suppress the votes of minorities, seniors and young adults. Paul has been mindful of the issue as he reaches out to black voters on college campuses ahead of a possible presidential run in 2016.” [Huffington Post, 5/13/14]

Rand Paul supported making voter ID laws stricter. “Paul thinks the GOP needs to reach out to minorities if it is to win back the White House. He urges combining voter ID with moves to expand voting rights, such as legislation to restore voting rights to felons. ‘So I’m not really opposed to [voter ID]. I am opposed to it as a campaign theme,’ said Kentucky’s junior senator. In other words, he supports voter ID, but doesn’t want to talk about it. That’s the way Democrats saw it anyway, and many of them claimed Paul’s response showed he is willing to remake himself to appeal to core Republican voters in advance of the 2016 presidential race.” [Christian Science Monitor, 11/3/14]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum on early voting: “I hate it.” “Speaking to Sean Hannity on his radio show on Wednesday, former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum claimed that letting citizens cast ballots in person before Election Day opens the door to corruption: Hannity: I don’t like this early voting -Santorum: I hate it. Hannity: It’s been going on forever -Santorum: I hate it. Hannity: And it opens up the door to corruption. Santorum: It does. And look, the race changed from a month ago. When Ohio was early voting, it was before the first debate and the people who went out and voted, really in my opinion, really didn’t know Governor Romney and what kind of candidate he really is and the real distinction between Romney and Obama.” [Huffington Post, 10/26/12]

Rick Santorum on voter ID: “In my opinion, the only reason you don’t have a voter ID is you want to continue to perpetrate fraud.” “KEYES: Voter ID has been a big issue here in Wisconsin. I know Lindsey Graham has proposed a national voter ID law. Is that something you would sign as president? SANTORUM: I think that’s a state issue. I support voter ID. In my opinion, the only reason you don’t have a voter ID is you want to continue to perpetrate fraud.” [Think Progress, 3/29/12]

Rick Santorum expressed support for voter ID laws, calling them “crucial electoral reforms.” In a statement, Rick Santorum said, “I commend Governor Perry, Texas, and the many states like Texas that are fighting to ensure voter fraud does not impede the electoral process. As President I will stand with them and support their efforts for crucial electoral reforms.” [Statement on the Obama Administration Blocking Texas Voter ID Law, 3/12/12]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act. “The Supreme Court didn’t strike down the pre-clearance rule itself. The justices invalidated the formula that has required mainly Southern states to get Washington’s approval for voting laws, saying it does not account for racial progress and societal changes across the country. Gov. Bobby Jindal applauded the high court’s ruling.” [Associated Press, 6/25/13]

Bobby Jindal was sued by the NAACP for failing to reform alleged discriminatory voting systems in a Louisiana parish. “Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish has never elected a black judge, even though one in five parish residents is African-American. In fact, it re-elected a white parish judge who had been suspended for wearing black-face as part of a racist parody Halloween costume. Lawyers for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund say the problem is the discriminatory voting system the parish uses, and last year they sued Gov. Bobby Jindal under the Voting Rights Act to force a change. On Friday, they filed papers asking a federal judge for a summary judgment in their favor. […] The plaintiffs say they named Jindal as a defendant because he has the power to sign legislation into law that would change the system.” [MSNBC, 8/26/15]

The NAACP “took Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration to court over a statewide practice that prevented many low-income, minority Louisianans from registering to vote.” “Recently, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other national voting rights groups took Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration to court over a statewide practice that prevented many low-income, minority Louisianans from registering to vote. Just last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled partially in their favor, finding that Louisiana violated the National Voter Registration Act by failing to provide voter registration services at the state’s public service agencies — such as the departments where residents can sign up for Medicaid and food stamps.” [Think Progress, 12/6/14]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham praised the Supreme Court’s move to strike down a portion of the Voting Rights Act. “Voting is a fundamental right guaranteed to all United States citizens. I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure elections are free and fair for every South Carolinian. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was a necessary tool to preserve voting rights, but due to the reform and advances in South Carolina election law, it is no longer necessary. The Supreme Court noted this tremendous progress in South Carolina’s electoral system and it was the underpinning of their decision. I concur with the Court that our state has made tremendous progress.” [Senator Lindsey Graham press release, 6/25/13]

Lindsey Graham supported stricter federal voter identification laws. “Congress should follow in the footsteps of state legislatures and pass a federal voter ID law that requires voters to present photo identification at the polls, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Thursday. Graham defended South Carolina’s recently passed voter ID law, which is under review by the Justice Department. ‘I think what South Carolina did makes eminent sense to me,’ Graham said at a hearing on state voting laws chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Durbin called the incidence of voter fraud in America minimal and said reported fraud ‘is often anecdotal, unsubstantiated and contrived.’ Graham disagreed.” [Talking Points Memo, 9/8/11]

The contrast between the values His Holiness spoke about during his visit and those to be discussed at the Values Voter Summit is stark. These Republican hopefuls are expected to disagree with some of Pope Francis’ most emphasized values when it comes to the GOP’s positions on economic inequality, immigration reform, climate change and more. Perhaps Pope Francis should take the GOP back to Sunday School.

For more contrast in values between the Pope and Republican presidential hopefuls, see Correct The Record’s analysis below:

Economic Inequality

“I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope.”

– Pope Francis, 9/24/15

Donald Trump

Donald Trump opposed letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire. “In 2010, Trump opposed President Obama’s plan to let the Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthy expire and months later he signed anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist’s pledge to veto any new taxes.” [Huffington Post, 1/2/13]

Donald Trump supported replacing the income tax with “either a fair tax…a flat tax or certainly a simplified code” and proposed repealing the corporate income tax. “Trump overcame his moral objections to the flat tax. On April 15, he told Fox News that he’d like to replace the income tax with ‘either a fair tax’ (i.e., a national sales tax), ‘a flat tax or certainly a simplified code.’ He also proposes repealing the corporate income tax because, he wrote in his 2011 book, it would ‘create an unprecedented jobs boom.’” [Politico, 7/26/15]

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: Donald Trump’s policies “would disproportionately hurt lower-income Americans.” ”Billionaire businessman, television personality and now presidential candidate Donald Trump is the latest candidate to jump into the race. He has made a number of tax proposals. His more recent proposals, in contrast to ones he proposed back around the 2000 election, would likely sharply increase the national debt and make the U.S. tax system substantially more regressive by both cutting taxes for the rich and creating a massive new tax that would disproportionately hurt lower-income Americans.” [Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy, 6/22/15]

Donald Trump said he would not increase the minimum wage. “Trump said he would not increase the minimum wage, adding that the U.S. needs to bring back jobs from places like Mexico, China and India.” [Politico, 6/18/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson supported eliminating progressive aspects of the tax code in favor of one flat rate for all incomes. “Carson’s big idea is to remove much of the progressivity from the tax system, imposing a single rate of about 10 to 15 percent. ‘The one that I’ve advocated is based on tithing, because I think God is a pretty fair guy,’ Carson said during August’s debate in Cleveland. ‘And He said, you know, if you give me a tithe, it doesn’t matter how much you make.’ What the campaign hasn’t figured out yet, Rustici said, is whether it’s an income tax or a consumption tax and what deductions should vanish.” [Bloomberg, 9/8/15]

Fox News’s Chris Wallace: Ben Carson’s “flat tax” plan would raise income taxes on the poor while the wealthy “make like bandits.” “Dr. Ben Carson, now a Republican presidential candidate, has long proposed a ‘flat tax’ for the country, citing the Bible’s tithing as his inspiration. […] But on Sunday, host Chris Wallace confronted Carson with tax experts, who found that to raise the same amount of revenue the federal government currently takes in, the government would have to impose a 20 percent tax across the board. (The Tax Policy Center argues it would have to be at least 25 percent.) ‘Middle incomes would get a tax hike and wealthy families would get a tax cut,’ Wallace explained. Carson countered that he simply didn’t ‘agree with that assessment.’ […] Wallace followed up by asking about low-income families, who not only don’t pay taxes, but usually receive an earned income tax credit instead. ‘Now you’ll have them pay 10 to 15 percent of income they have — or 20 percent if my experts are right. A lot of independent studies say the people that make like bandits in this are the wealthy.’” [Think Progress, 5/10/15]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush’s presidential tax plan offered up a massive tax cut for the richest Americans. “Like Romney, Bush offers up a massive tax cut for the richest Americans, calling in his op-ed to slash the top tax rate from 39.6 percent to just 28 percent. In an effort to simplify what Bush calls the burdensome complexity of the tax code, he says he’d eliminate some current deductions, like the one that allows companies to write off the cost of borrowing.” [Huffington Post, 9/8/15]

• Huffington Post: Jeb Bush’s tax plan “appears to be subject to similar mathematical problems as those that plagued the tax plan offered in 2012 by then-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.” “Bush’s plan is vague, but appears to be subject to similar mathematical problems as those that plagued the tax plan offered in 2012 by then-GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Economists at the time dinged Romney for promising big tax cuts for the wealthy that would have required tax increases on those less fortunate to avoid swelling the deficit.” [Huffington Post, 9/8/15]

• MSNBC: Jeb Bush’s tax package “appears to be one big, gift-wrapped present to the rich.” “Indeed, the whole package, based on the former governor’s description, appears to be one big, gift-wrapped present to the rich: Bush not only intends to slash rates, he wants to scrap the Estate Tax and cut the corporate tax rate.” [MSNBC, 9/9/15]

Jeb Bush called for an end to the federal minimum wage. “We need to leave it to the private sector. I think state minimum wages are fine. The federal government shouldn’t be doing this. This is one of those poll-driven deals. It polls well, I’m sure – I haven’t looked at the polling, but I’m sure on the surface without any conversation, without any digging into it people say, ‘Yea, everybody’s wages should be up.’ And in the case of Wal-Mart they have raised wages because of supply and demand and that’s good.” [MSNBC, 3/18/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio’s tax plan “includes a huge break that all-but bypasses the middle and greatly boosts the rich.” “If he wins his party’s nomination, though, Rubio will have to defend a tax plan that, while said to address the challenges of the middle class, includes a huge break that all-but bypasses the middle and greatly boosts the rich. It was a tax plan that was even too large for Romney himself to run on. The latest version of Rubio’s tax plan, which he released with fellow Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in March, shrinks the income tax down to two rates, lowering the top rate in the process, and includes new tax breaks for working families. It also eliminates all taxes on dividends and capital gains. That’s where rich taxpayers cash in. They are overwhelmingly the ones in the economy who draw income from capital, such as holdings and sales of stocks.” [Washington Post, 4/14/15]

Brookings Institution budget expert explained that Marco Rubio’s proposed tax credits would do nothing for low-income earners. “Critics, like Isabel Sawhill, a budget expert at the Brookings Institution, argue that the credit may help some middle- and upper-income families but it would do nothing for low-income earners. The credits are only refundable against income tax and payroll taxes. Low-income workers that already collect the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit typically already get breaks above and beyond the taxes they pay so the Rubio and Lee plan wouldn’t add anything to their refund. ‘It is a big increase in the child tax credit for middle-class families and above but doesn’t help anyone at the bottom,’ Sawhill said. ‘Low-income families don’t have enough payroll and income tax liability to make them eligible for it.’” [Politico, 3/3/15]

Marco Rubio sought to slash the corporate tax rate to 25%. “First, by consolidating the corporate tax system into a single layer and lowering the maximum rate to 25% on both corporate and pass-through entities, our plan eliminates double taxation of capital gains and dividends, and establishes parity among large and small businesses.” [Marco Rubio and Mike Lee, Wall Street Journal, 3/3/15]

Marco Rubio voted against legislation to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. In January 2013, Rubio voted against a deal permanently extending the 2001 and 2003 Bush income, capital gains and dividend tax cuts for the first $400,000 (or $450,000 for joint-filers) of income. Rates on income above those thresholds reverted back to their Clinton-era rates. The bill passed by a vote of 89 to 8; President Obama signed the bill the next day. This vote occurred on January 1, 2013, but is part of the 2012 session. [Senate Vote 251, 1/1/13; CQ Weekly, 1/05/13]

Marco Rubio opposed increasing the minimum wage. “Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who gave the Republican response to the State of The Union Tuesday, came out in opposition to minimum wage laws Wednesday, following President Barack Obama’s proposal in Tuesday night’s address to raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour. ‘I support people making more than $9 an hour. I want people to make as much as they can,’ Rubio responded to Charlie Rose on CBS’ ‘This Morning.’ But he continued, ‘I don’t think a minimum wage law works.’ ‘I want people to make a lot more than $9,’ he said. ‘Nine dollars is not enough. The problem is that you can’t do that by mandating it in the minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of helping the middle class attain more prosperity.’” [Huffington Post, 2/13/13]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz: “Big picture, I’m a flat tax guy.” ”CRUZ: Big picture, I’m a flat tax guy. Low and simple. Now, that’s not easy to do. A lot of forces in Washington, a lot of lobbyists don’t want it.” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 3/17/15]

Wonkblog: Ted Cruz’s “flat tax” proposal was a “colossal giveaway to the rich.” “Imagine there’s no IRS. It isn’t hard to do. No Obamacare to pay for. And no budget deficits too. Imagine all the people, living with a flat tax. You may say Ted Cruz is a dreamer, but he’s not the only one. He hopes some day—especially if you live in Iowa—you’ll join him, and, well, he’ll be president. […] But reality is a lot tougher than some tax models. A flat tax would just be a colossal giveaway to the rich—and maybe even take away for the poor—and that doesn’t help the economy much.” [Washington Post, 3/24/15]

Ted Cruz opposed raising the minimum wage. According to CBS News, “Students asked Sen. Cruz for his thoughts on immigration reform, Russia, ways to get the GOP vote and minimum wage. On the subject of minimum wage Sen. Cruz says that he feels jobs would be eliminated by the minimum wage hike. He says he doesn’t think it’s a good idea.” [CBS News, 4/2/14]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed raising the federal minimum wage. “Ms. Fiorina generally believes that reducing government regulations helps to spur the economy, and she opposed the 2009 federal stimulus program as a wasteful use of taxpayer money. She opposes raising the federal minimum wage, saying doing so ‘will hurt those who are looking for entry-level jobs.’” [New York Times, 5/4/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee: Trickle-down economics were “largely true.” “One often hears of ‘trickle-down economics,’ a popular conservative notion that when the economy for the top earners in our society gets better, the effect will ‘trickle down’ to the rest of the people. That’s largely true.” [God, Guns, Grits and Gravy, p. 145, 2015]

Mike Huckabee’s tax plan was criticized by economists for potentially raising rates on the poor. “Mike Huckabee has a counter offer to Jeb Bush’s promise to bring the economy back to 4% growth: 6%. ‘I believe we can get it to 6 or higher with a fair tax. I’m convinced,’ Huckabee told a crowd of potential caucus-goers at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday. ‘I guarantee you we will goose the economy if you bring $11 trillion of working capital back to this country.’ The former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate has argued for overhauling the tax code by abolishing the IRS, which he called on Sunday a ‘criminal enterprise,’ and establishing a single, flat sales tax across the board — a proposal that has drawn heat from some economists who say it would unfairly burden the poor, a claim Huckabee rejects.” [CNN, 8/13/15]

Mike Huckabee called the minimum wage “a government intrusion.” “Many of the Republican candidates for president have spoken out against raising the minimum wage… Mike Huckabee, considered something of an economic populist for his support of preserving entitlements, has come out against an increase, calling it a government intrusion.” [New York Times, 5/8/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul’s tax plan “would raise taxes on those at the bottom, unless they’re married with a couple of kids, and dramatically reduce taxes on the top.” “Paul would apply a 14.5% flat tax to everything: ‘personal income, including wages, salaries, dividends, capital gains, rents and interest,’ as well as corporations. It would do away entirely with the gift and estate taxes, all tariffs, and payroll taxes. On the plus side, he would exempt the first $50,000 in income for families of four and retain the earned-income tax credit. […] The plan would raise taxes on those at the bottom, unless they’re married with a couple of kids, and dramatically reduce taxes on the top. Yes, corporations and rich people use all sorts of loopholes and deductions to pay lower effective tax rates. But responsible tax reform proposals that lower rates while simplifying the tax code generally try to come up with a number in the middle. This one just brings the marginal rates all the way down to Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate, which was pretty clearly determined in the 2012 election to be too low.” [Salon, 6/18/15]

Rand Paul opposed increasing the minimum wage. “Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio oppose the president’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 from the $7.25 it’s at now. But should the federal government set a minimum wage at all? […] The line drew big applause but didn’t answer the question—which Karl tried to call him on. So should there be any minimum wage? Paul said, ‘Minimum wage is only harmful when it’s above the market wage.’” [Bloomberg, 1/26/15]

John Kasich

John Kasich pushed an Ohio tax plan that a Republican lawmaker described as a “regressive” proposal that raised “taxes on the poor and middle class.” “Gov. John Kasich touted his budget plan in Dayton on Tuesday, saying that income tax cuts and exempting some small businesses from income taxes will drive innovation in Ohio and create jobs. […] Meanwhile, lawmakers in Columbus began taking aim at some of Kasich’s tax proposals, which calls for offsetting a huge income tax cut with increases in sales taxes, cigarette taxes, oil and gas drilling taxes and the Commercial Activities Tax on businesses’ gross receipts. Ohio House Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, said much of Kasich’s plan is ‘laudable’ but he called the sales tax ‘regressive’ and said the severance tax increases could lead to job losses at oil companies already coping with declining oil revenue. Antani also said he is concerned about ‘tax shifting,’ where one tax goes down but others go up. ‘To pay for (a tax cut) we don’t raise taxes on the poor and the middle class,’ said Antani. ‘We do it by cutting spending.’” [Dayton Daily News, 2/3/15]

John Kasich pushed an Ohio budget plan that a Republican lawmaker described as a “regressive” proposal that raised “taxes on the poor and middle class.” “Gov. John Kasich touted his budget plan in Dayton on Tuesday, saying that income tax cuts and exempting some small businesses from income taxes will drive innovation in Ohio and create jobs. […] Meanwhile, lawmakers in Columbus began taking aim at some of Kasich’s tax proposals, which calls for offsetting a huge income tax cut with increases in sales taxes, cigarette taxes, oil and gas drilling taxes and the Commercial Activities Tax on businesses’ gross receipts. Ohio House Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, said much of Kasich’s plan is ‘laudable’ but he called the sales tax ‘regressive’ and said the severance tax increases could lead to job losses at oil companies already coping with declining oil revenue. Antani also said he is concerned about ‘tax shifting,’ where one tax goes down but others go up. ‘To pay for (a tax cut) we don’t raise taxes on the poor and the middle class,’ said Antani. ‘We do it by cutting spending.’” [Dayton Daily News, 2/3/15]

John Kasich opposed raising the minimum wage. “KASICH: […] I am not personally in favor of raising the minimum wage for this reason: If you talk to business people, people who put a payroll together — I’ve never put a payroll together, that’s why I’m leaving politics, so I can do it — they say that if the minimum wage goes up they’re going to have to raise all other wages in their businesses, and the people it’s going to hurt the most are the poorest people, are the least skilled people that work for them.” [CNN, 9/2/00]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie pushed to cut the income tax rate for the wealthiest Americans by 11 percent and lower the corporate tax rate by 10 percent. “Christie suggested halving the number of income tax brackets down to three from six rates and lowering the top tax rate to 28% down from the current maximum rate of 39% for the wealthiest Americans. […] The New Jersey governor also proposed reducing the corporate tax rate to 25% from today’s 35% high, arguing that reducing the rate will attract businesses and incentivize companies to stay in the U.S.” [CNN, 5/12/15]

As governor, Chris Christie pushed tax cuts that “would largely benefit [New Jersey’s] wealthier residents.” “Gov. Chris Christie’s proposal to cut income taxes by 10 percent would provide only modest financial relief to middle-class families who are struggling more under the weight of their property taxes, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. The governor’s plan would largely benefit the state’s wealthier residents, who pay a significantly higher rate under the state’s current progressive tax system, and so they would see greater savings, the analysis shows.” [Star-Ledger, 1/31/12]

Chris Christie said he was “tired of hearing about the minimum wage.” “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Tuesday that he’s ‘tired’ of hearing discussion on the minimum wage and seemed to suggest that a higher minimum wage isn’t something to ‘aspire to.’ ‘I gotta tell you the truth, I’m tired of hearing about the minimum wage, I really am,’ Christie said during an event at the Chamber of Commerce in Washington, according to a recording of his remarks by the liberal opposition research group American Bridge. ‘I don’t think there’s a mother or father sitting around a kitchen table tonight in America who are saying, ‘You know honey, if my son or daughter could just make a higher minimum wage, my God, all our dreams would be realized,’ he added. ‘Is that what parents aspire to for their children?’” [Talking Points Memo, 10/21/14]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum proposed a tax plan that cut taxes for the top one percent by an average of 13.6%, while the bottom 20 percent would only receive a 0.3% cut on average. “Under the Santorum plan, the richer you are, the more you save. Taxpayers in the lowest 20% of earners would receive an average tax cut of $255, a tax rate reduction of 0.3%. Meanwhile, individuals in the top 20% of earners would get a tax cut averaging more than $29,000, a rate reduction of almost 10%. And the 1%? They’d get an average cut of $263,000, or 13.6%.” [CNN Money, 1/18/12]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal opposed raising the minimum wage nationally and in Louisiana. “Jindal said he would not be in favor raising the minimum wage nationally or in Louisiana at this time because the country’s economy isn’t strong enough. Both the U.S. Congress and the Louisiana State Legislature are considering increases to the lowest possible wage this spring.” [Times-Picayune, 2/26/14]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham said it was “stupid” to allow tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. “South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday said President Barack Obama’s plan to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire was ‘stupid.’ During an interview on CNN, host Candy Crowley asked Graham if he would be willing to raise taxes on the middle class if Democrats refused to extend tax cuts for people making over $250,000. ‘I’m not going to do a short-term thing that’s stupid,’ the South Carolina Republican remarked.” [Raw Story, 8/5/12]

Immigration

“As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.” 

– Pope Francis, 9/23/15

Donald Trump

Donald Trump opposed a pathway to citizenship. “Trump said Wednesday in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that as president he would deport all undocumented immigrants and then allow the ‘good ones’ to reenter the country through an ‘expedited process’ and live in the U.S. legally, though not as citizens. ‘Legal status,’ Trump suggested. ‘We got to move ‘em out, we’re going to move ‘em back in if they’re really good people.’” [CNN, 7/30/15]

Donald Trump on undocumented immigrants: “They have to go.” “Donald Trump would reverse President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. ‘We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,’ he said in the interview, which aired in full on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday. Pressed on what he’d do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: ‘They have to go.’ ‘We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country,’ he said.” [NBC News, 8/16/15]

Donald Trump made ending birthright citizenship a pillar of his immigration plan, calling it “the biggest magnet for illegal immigration.” “End birthright citizenship. This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. By a 2:1 margin, voters say it’s the wrong policy, including Harry Reid who said ‘no sane country’ would give automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.” [“Immigration Reform That Will Make America Great Again,” accessed 8/20/15]

Donald Trump: “I’ll use the word anchor baby.” REPORTER: Anchor baby, that’s an offensive term, people find that hurtful TRUMP: You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it? REPORTER: Look it up in the dictionary, it’s offensive. TRUMP: Give me a different term, give me a different term. What else would you like to say. REPORTER: A child, an American born child of an undocumented immigrant. TRUMP: You want me to say that, okay, I use the word anchor baby. Excuse me, I’ll use the word anchor baby.” [ABC News, 8/19/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson opposed a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “People already here illegally could apply for guest-worker status from outside of the country. This means they would have to leave first. They should in no way be rewarded for having broken our laws, but if they are wise, they will arrange with their employer before they leave to immediately offer them a legal job as soon as their application is received.” [Ben Carson, National Review, 11/12/14]

Ben Carson on the term “anchor babies” and birthright citizenship: “It doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen.” “The neurosurgeon outlined his views on the topic at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday. ‘I know the 14th Amendment has brought up recently, about anchor babies—and it doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen. There are many countries in the world where they simply have recognized that and don’t allow that to occur,’ Carson said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush, when asked if he supported a pathway to citizenship: “No.” “During an interview Wednesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, Mr. Bush was asked whether he supported a pathway to full citizenship. He replied, ‘No.’ ‘What do we do with the 11 million people here? I think the answer is earned legal status,’ he said.” [Washington Times, 7/8/15]

Jeb Bush said Pres. Obama’s executive order stopping the deportation of DREAMers was “way beyond the purview of executive power.” “Bush also offered a stern rebuke to Obama on immigration, and accused him of playing politics. Earlier this summer, the president signed an executive order that stopped the deportation of certain young illegal immigrants. Bush said he saw Obama’s action as a way of undercutting Romney and winning good will from Hispanic voters, not as an effective piece of policy. ‘This is so cynical. And he – I mean, if you’re, if you, if the law says clearly that you have a case-by-case right to review cases, and you blanket say 800,000 people comply, that is way beyond the purview of executive power,’ Bush said.” [Washington Post, 8/30/12]

Jeb Bush called American citizens born to undocumented immigrants “anchor babies.” “Jeb Bush doesn’t want birthright citizenship to go away, but he is calling for stronger enforcement for people who abuse it. ‘If there’s abuse, if people are bringing — pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement,’ Bush said on Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show, ‘Morning in America’ Wednesday. ‘That’s [the] legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.’ ‘Anchor babies’ is a derogatory term used to describe children who are born in the United States to undocumented parents.” [Politico, 8/19/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio flip flopped to oppose his own comprehensive immigration reform bill. “Back in April, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., stood before cameras with the bipartisan ‘Gang of Eight’ and joked he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to sign onto their comprehensive immigration reform plan. ‘Actually, I changed my mind,’ Rubio joked to laughter as he pretended to walk away from the podium. ‘No, I’m kidding.’ But fast forward four months after the bill he helped craft passed the Senate, and Rubio’s not joking anymore. Instead of advocating for the comprehensive bill he signed onto, Rubio’s now saying a piecemeal approach is more ‘realistic.’ As first reported by Breitbart News, a spokesman for Rubio said ‘a series of individual bills’ on immigration reform may be more practical than comprehensive immigration reform at this time.” [ABC News, 10/28/13]

Marco Rubio opposed the DREAM Act and said it went too far. “Senator Rubio went as far as to address the DREAM Act that protested him moments earlier. He even appeared, somewhat surprisingly, sympathetic to them. He said he understood their circumstances and agreed that something should be done to address the plight of those who came to this country as children and have excelled in either education or the military. This observer, was virtually holding his breath, as some might have expected Rubio to then proclaim his support for the DREAM Act, but alas, he did not. He stated that the current bills before Congress, i.e., the DREAM Act, went too far.” [The Huffington Post, Ediberto Roman, 1/27/12]

Marco Rubio said he was “open to exploring ways” to limit birthright citizenship in the United States. “Marco Rubio, who is running for president thanks to birthright citizenship, says he is open to the idea of ending it for children who were born in the United States to foreign parents. ‘I’m not in favor of repealing the 14th Amendment,’ Rubio said during a Tuesday news conference at the rain-soaked Iowa State Fair. ‘But I am open to exploring ways of not allowing people who are coming here deliberately for that purpose to acquire citizenship.’” [National Journal, 8/18/15]

Flip-flopped on a path to citizenship

2010: Marco Rubio said a path to citizenship was “code for amnesty.” “As in previous debates, Rubio differed with Crist and Meek on immigration. He said the ‘pathway to citizenship’ favored by Meek and ‘earned path’ favored by Crist are ‘basically code for amnesty.’ Rubio said he doesn’t favor mass deportations of people in the country illegally. He said that after the U.S. secures its borders it can set up a system, and then people without documents ‘will be able to leave this country, return to their homeland, and try to reenter through our system that now functions, a system that makes sense.” [Palm Beach Post, 10/25/10]

2013: Marco Rubio: “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship.” “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship. Let me just remind everybody there is no such thing as a path to citizenship. You can’t go from being an immigrant to a citizen. You have to go to get a green card first. […] That’s been my position. It’s not to have a special pathway to green card citizenship or anything else because it is unfair to the people that are doing the right way and it would incentivize illegal immigration in the future. That’s been my position all along. We’re not going do special pathways that discourage people from doing it the right way.” [The Lead with Jake Tapper, 3/19/13]

June 2015: Marco Rubio: “I do” support a pathway to citizenship. “Many conservatives — and, indeed, many people — have been confused about what, exactly, Marco Rubio’s position is on immigration now that he’s said he regrets his support for the failed Gang of Eight bill. In an interview with New Hampshire’s local ABC station on Friday, Rubio made clear that he remains a supporter of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. ‘I do,’ Rubio said, when asked if he supports a path to citizenship for those currently in the United States illegally. First, though, Rubio said lawmakers have to ‘prove to the American people that illegal immigration is under control,’ implement an e-verify system, and modernize our legal immigration system.” [National Review, 6/30/15]

September 2015: Marco Rubio ruled out a path to citizenship during his presidency. “Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has effectively ruled out granting legal status to undocumented immigrants if he makes it to the White House, even for a second term. Pressed by conservative host Sean Hannity during a Monday night interview on Fox News, the Florida senator said he’s open to a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, but only a decade or more after passage of bills to secure the border and modernize the legal immigration system. ‘I don’t think it’s a decision you have to make on the front end. The first two things you have to do is stop illegal immigration, then second you have to modernize our legal immigration system, and then third you can have a debate about how to even legalize people to begin with,’ Rubio said. ‘And then ultimately in 10 or 12 years you could have a broader debate about how has this worked out and should we allow some of them to apply for green cards and eventually citizenship.’” [Bloomberg, 9/22/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz opposed the DREAM Act. “Let’s start with how Cruz, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, stands on the cited act. We didn’t have to look far. In a transcribed interview with blogger Sonja Harris of Conservatives in Action that Cruz has on his campaign website, the candidate says: ‘I do not support the DREAM Act and categorically oppose amnesty. I categorically oppose amnesty, and I strongly support legal immigration for those that have followed the rules and come here to pursue the American dream.’” [PolitiFact, 2/21/12]

Ted Cruz: “I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.” “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Sunday that a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would be unfair to those who have legally immigrated to the United States. ‘I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules,’ Cruz said during an interview for ABC’s ‘This Week.’ Cruz added that he does not think a bill with such a path can pass the Republican-controlled House.” [Washington Post, 7/21/13]

Ted Cruz opposed comprehensive immigration reform, saying it would be “kicking millions of Americans in the teeth.” “Speaking with Houston-based radio host Michael Berry, Cruz said he hopes that Speaker John Boehner will not take on immigration reform next year. Doing so, Cruz argued, would diminish the ‘incredible opportunity to retake the Senate in 2014.’ Cruz emphasized that he is focused on winning the Senate majority from Democrats, and said passing immigration reform legislation would be the ‘number one thing Republicans could do to mess that up.’ Cruz also said comprehensive immigration would amount to ‘kicking millions of Americans in the teeth.’” [The Nation, 12/23/13]

Ted Cruz said the Constitution should “absolutely” be changed to end birthright citizenship. “When the Texas senator was asked Wednesday on the Michael Medved show if the 14th Amendment should be changed, Cruz answered ‘absolutely.’ ‘We should end granting automatic birthright citizenship to the children of those who are here illegally,’ he said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “If Carly Fiorina becomes president, the immigrants currently in the country illegally would face an additional hurdle in their quest for U.S. citizenship. During a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo’s Katie Couric, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO was asked if she favored providing a path to citizenship for the roughly 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. ‘I do not. Not for those who came here illegally and who have stayed here illegally,’ said Fiorina, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination earlier in the day.” [Bloomberg, 5/4/15]

Carly Fiorina did not support comprehensive immigration reform. “But [Fiorina] also broke with members in both parties who believe a comprehensive immigration package is needed to address the problem. ‘So then Barbara Boxer, President Obama, say, ‘oh my gosh, we have to have comprehensive immigration reform.’ You don’t need comprehensive immigration reform to secure the border. And you don’t need comprehensive immigration reform to have a temporary worker program that works. Those are responsibilities of the federal government that they have today and they are failing at those responsibilities,’ she said.” [Politico, 5/1/10]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee said he was open to ending birthright citizenship. “Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Friday that he was open to laws that would end the ‘birthright’ citizenship granted to children by the 14th Amendment, joining several other GOP candidates in endorsing the idea. The comments came in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who asked the question twice to be clear that Huckabee really would ‘abrogate’ that right. ‘I would,’ said Huckabee, ‘because I think that when we see advertisements in China, advertising essentially ‘birth tourism,’ where people are able to purchase packages so they fly to the U.S., have their baby in the U.S. so it has dual citizenship – these aren’t people who are impoverished, looking for a Medicaid payment. These are very wealthy people who are coming here so their child will in essence be put a foot down and say ‘I have American citizenship.’” [Washington Post, 8/28/15]

Mike Huckabee on immigration: “If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.” “In April, during the lead up to the launch of his presidential bid, Mike Huckabee’s political action committee released a web ad on immigration. The ad features a farmer from Texas, who warns that an open border has let in ‘the drug runners, the terrorists, the human traffickers.’ In the video, Huckabee says, ‘We’ve got to repeal Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders, oppose amnesty and secure the border. You don’t punish people for living by the rules. If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.’” [Buzzfeed, 7/28/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul supported legislation ending the President’s program to defer deportation for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in an interview published Thursday that he supports legislation ending the president’s program to defer deportation for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Speaking to Breitbart News during a medical mission in Guatemala, Paul lent his backing to House Republican efforts to address the crisis of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern U.S. border. ‘I’m supportive of the House bill and I think it will go a long way to fixing the problem,’ Paul said. ‘But like everything else, nothing good has happened because Sen. Reid has decided that he’s not going to allow any votes on any bills this year because he’s protecting his members who are vulnerable in the election — he’s protecting them from any kind of votes. So I think there’s a very good chance the House bill could pass in the Senate, but it won’t ever pass if it doesn’t ever see the light of day.’” [Huffington Post, 8/21/14]

Rand Paul introduced an amendment to remove a pathway to citizenship from immigration reform legislation. “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment Thursday to the Senate immigration bill that would effectively strip the bill’s path to citizenship and require illegal immigrants to apply through regular channels. The ‘No New Pathway to Citizenship Act’ amendment would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States as Registered Provisional Immigrants — a new work visa category — but force them to apply as though they were still in their home country.” [Washington Post, 6/20/13]

Rand Paul introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. “In 2011, the Kentucky senator joined forces with Louisiana Senator David Vitter to introduce a resolution to ensure ‘a person born in the United States to illegal aliens does not automatically gain citizenship.’ ‘Citizenship is a privilege, and only those who respect our immigration laws should be allowed to enjoy its benefits,’ Paul said at the time. ‘This legislation makes it necessary that everyone follow the rules, and goes through the same process to become a U.S. citizen.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

John Kasich

John Kasich was a longtime supporter of amending the constitution to end birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “While Strickland and Kasich agree that Ohio should not enact an immigration law similar to Arizona’s, they clash on related issues. The governor would maintain birthright citizenship for children born here to illegal immigrants. Kasich, a former Fox News commentator, has been a longtime supporter of amending the Constitution to end the automatic right.” [Columbus Dispatch, 9/26/10]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie: “This path to citizenship stuff is garbage.” ”New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Tuesday the idea of granting undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship — one he supported in 2010 — ‘is garbage.’ Instead, the 2016 candidate said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, cracking down on businesses that hire immigrants who are here illegally is the best way to solve the problem. ‘I met lots of undocumented folks in my state over the course of my time as governor, I can tell you not one of them has ever said to me that they had come here to vote. This path to citizenship stuff is garbage,’ Christie said. ‘That’s not why they’re coming. They’re coming to work and support their family.’” [Talking Points Memo, 8/4/15]

Chris Christie: Birthright citizenship “may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that.” “Christie, speaking on Aug. 12—about a week before Trump’s proposal —was asked about birthright citizenship during a radio appearance with conservative host Laura Ingraham and said the matter deserves another look. ‘I think all this stuff needs to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances,’ New Jersey’s governor said. ‘The fact is the American immigration system is not working right now, it’s not working for the American people, it’s not working for our economy, and all these things need to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances. And while [birthright citizenship] may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that. And it has to be relooked at in respect to the rule of law.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Chris Christie pulled “support for a bill that would grant in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants” after he was re-elected. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denied Monday that he flip-flopped on his position before and after his landslide re-election victory on an important immigration issue in the state. The New Jersey Star-Ledger hit Christie in a scathing op-ed for pulling support for a bill that would grant in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, but Christie said he has not, instead it is just aspects of the legislation that he disagrees with. ‘I said the legislature should move in the lame duck session towards tuition equality in New Jersey. Period,’ Christie said at a news conference. ‘That’s what I said. I didn’t support any particular piece of legislation. And I still support tuition equality.” [ABC News, 12/2/13]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum opposed a path to citizenship. “Along with Cruz, Rick Santorum is a strident opponent of a general pathway to citizenship. ‘The idea that there are Republicans in Washington, D.C., who are going to say, ‘Well, the rule of law isn’t that important, the idea of people coming into this country who have done so illegally and we’re going to basically treat them the same as people who came here legally,’ is just not going to go over well in a Republican primary,’ Santorum told Fox’s Andrea Tantaros in 2013.” [National Journal, 2/23/15]

Rick Santorum: “Enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended.” “Other enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended. Only children born on American soil where at least one parent is a citizen or resident aliens is automatically a U.S. citizen. Of developed countries other than the United States, only Canada has birthright citizenship.” [Rick Santorum op-ed, Breitbart, 5/6/15]

Rick Santorum labeled immigration reform legislation as “amnesty.” “‘We don’t have to talk about immigration. If we do, you know what we should talk about? How immigration is suppressing their wages and keeping their wages down and not allowing them and their family the opportunity to rise in America,’ he added. He said the GOP doesn’t have to endorse ‘bringing in two and a half million people a year and give amnesty to 13 million people,’ alluding to the reforms of the comprehensive legislation that passed the Senate last year.” [The Hill, 7/14/14]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal supported ending birthright citizenship in the United States. “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has joined front-running GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in calling for an end to automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. ‘We need to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants,’ Jindal tweeted Monday night, a day after Trump offered a tough plan to combat what he calls the negative economic consequences of illegal immigration. Jindal is also running for president, though he remains near the bottom of the 17-person GOP field.” [Times-Picayune, 8/18/15]

Bobby Jindal said he was “happy” to use the term “anchor baby” and that “folks today are too easily offended.” “HEMMER: But, you’ll use anchor baby, right, as a phrase? JINDAL: Yeah look, I think folks today are too easily offended. They are too politically correct. The real issue here is, yeah I’m happy to use the term, but the reality is, the real issue here is when you secure our border. The bigger frustration from the American people. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge in D.C. secure the borders. Stop illegal immigration.” [Fox News, 8/20/15]

Bobby Jindal said the U.S. did not need comprehensive immigration reform. “Jindal, making his third trip to Iowa in the past year, spent the majority of his speech focusing on the American dream, and linking it to his personal story. He drew laughs at several points during his remarks as he made jabs at President Barack Obama. ‘How many moms and dads have told their little children, ‘anybody can grow up to become President of the United States’? Now, unfortunately, we learned how true that was in 2012 and 2008,’ the Louisiana governor said. Jindal, who is from the South, also had harsh words about the ongoing immigration problem. ‘I have a very simple message for the president of the United States: We don’t need a comprehensive bill, we don’t need another thousand page bill. He simply needs to man up. He needs to secure the border; he needs to get it done today. No more excuses. No more delays,’ Jindal said.” [NBC News, 8/10/14]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham: “I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth.” “Graham, one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, took a more nuanced approach on Monday to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. ‘I don’t mind changing the law,’ the South Carolina senator said. ‘I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth. We have evidence of people buying tourist visas for the express purpose of coming over here and having a child as birth tourism. I don’t think that’s a good idea. But that’s not going to happen until we fix a broken immigration system.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Lindsay Graham: “We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.” “Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren. ‘Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake,’ explained Graham. ‘We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.’” [Huffington Post, 7/29/10]

Climate Change

“Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation.”

– Pope Francis, 9/23/ 15

Donald Trump

Donald Trump: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese.” “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” [@realDonaldTrump, 11/6/12, 2:25 p.m. EDT]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson: The Earth “may be warming” or “may be cooling.” “Carson, a retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, often talks about his medical background and science during his speeches. Pressed on the fact that the bulk of the scientific community believes the Earth is indeed warming, Carson pivoted. ‘You can ask it several different ways, but my answer is going to be the same,’ he said. ‘We may be warming. We may be cooling.’” [Bloomberg, 11/26/14]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush said he was “tired” of the idea that “science has decided” that climate change is manmade. “It is not unanimous among scientists that it is disproportionately manmade. What I get a little tired of on the left is this idea that somehow science has decided all this so you can’t have a view.” [Huffington Post, 8/24/11]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio denied that human activity was causing climate change. “Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a GOP star and possible 2016 presidential contender, does not believe human activity is causing climate change, he said Sunday. ‘I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it,’ Rubio said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ ‘I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy,’ he added.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/11/14]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz said people who believe global warming is real are “the equivalent of the flat-Earthers.” “Cruz, the red-meat Texas senator with an army of conservative followers, raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he told the Texas Tribune that people who believe global warming is real are ‘the equivalent of the flat-Earthers’. ‘It used to be it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier,’ Cruz said.” [Guardian, 3/27/15]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina: “Companies shouldn’t cave in to the demands of climate-change scientists.” “‘Companies shouldn’t cave in to the demands of climate-change scientists,’ says Fiorina, probably hoping that nobody will point out that she nearly destroyed the last company she led.” [The Stranger, 6/3/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee mocked the Obama Administration’s elevation of climate change as a critical issue. “Huckabee appeared before the Iowa Freedom Summit on Saturday to deliver a biting assessment of President Barack Obama’s policies and make a pitch for his potential candidacy. He recently left a cable news show and is on a book tour. The former Arkansas governor mocked Obama’s elevation of climate change as a critical issue. Huckabee says a greater threat is violent radical elements stoking fear around the world. He says America hasn’t done enough to strike those terror groups.” [Associated Press, 1/25/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul claimed that the science behind climate change was “not conclusive.” “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a recent interview that the science behind climate change is ‘not conclusive,’ calling people who tie extreme weather to a changing climate ignorant.” [The Hill, 4/23/14]

John Kasich

John Kasich said he was not “laying awake at night worrying” about climate change. “‘We are going to continue to work on cleaning coal, but I want to tell you, we are going to dig it, we are going to clean it, and we are going to burn it in Ohio, and we are not going to apologize for it,’ he said during wide-ranging remarks on energy at the conference. Ohio is a coal-producing state and home to American Electric Power, a major coal-burning utility. Asked in a subsequent interview if he was concerned about the GOP’s efforts to kill EPA rules, he said, ‘I believe there is something to [climate change], but to be unilaterally doing everything here while China and India are belching and putting us in a noncompetitive position isn’t good, but some of that is the presidential leadership,’ Kasich said. ‘I am just saying that I am concerned about it, but I am not laying awake at night worrying the sky is falling. I just have a concern about it,’ he added.” [The Hill, 5/2/12]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie refused “to rejoin a regional cap-and trade program to combat climate change.” “Gov. Chris Christie is coming under fire for refusing to rejoin a regional cap-and trade program to combat climate change that his state withdrew from three years ago. The move — highlighted last week by The New York Times — has opponents charging that the Republican governor doesn’t want to alienate conservatives in advance of a potential 2016 presidential bid. ‘It’s all because of a four letter word: K-O-C-H,’ said Democratic state Sen. Bob Smith, the chairman of the state’s Environment and Energy Committee, referring to the billionaire Koch brothers who bankroll many GOP campaigns, and who favor conservative stances on environmental issues. ‘They don’t want to see any candidates for president who have the slightest green tint to them. If the governor was green at all, he would lose their support.’” [MSNBC, 9/23/14]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum called the idea that humans are causing climate change “patently absurd.” “Appearing Wednesday on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, the former Pennsylvania GOP senator jumped at the chance to distinguish himself from his Massachusetts rival by displaying his climate skeptic credentials. ‘I believe the earth gets warmer and I also believe the earth gets cooler,’ Santorum said. ‘And I think history points out that it does that and that the idea that man, through the production of CO2 — which is a trace gas in the atmosphere, and the man-made part of that trace gas is itself a trace gas — is somehow responsible for climate change is, I think, just patently absurd when you consider all the other factors, El Niño, La Niña, sunspots, moisture in the air. There’s a variety of factors that contribute to the Earth warming and cooling.’” [Politico, 6/9/11]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal took positions “directly at odds with environmentalists” on climate change. “On climate change, Mr. Jindal takes positions directly at odds with environmentalists—and, likely, with whoever becomes the Democratic presidential nominee—by questioning the role humans play in global warming and calling on the U.S. to withdraw from climate talks led by the United Nations.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/15/14]

Cuba

“The efforts which were recently made to mend broken relationships and to open new doors to cooperation within our human family represent positive steps along the path of reconciliation, justice and freedom.”

– Pope Francis, 9/23/15

Ben Carson

Ben Carson said he would roll back Pres. Obama’s agreement to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. “Senator Rubio says he will block the confirmation of an ambassador to Cuba by the Senate. Both he and Governor Bush (along with fellow presidential candidates Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee who now also live in Florida), say that if they are elected president they will seek to roll back President Obama’s agreement with Cuba.” [Baltimore Sun, 8/23/15]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush said that normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba was “capitulating to our adversaries.” “Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is blasting the Obama administration’s decision to formally remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. ‘Neither continued repression at home nor Cuba’s destabilizing activities abroad appear sufficient to stop President Obama from making further concessions to the Communist regime in Havana,’ Bush said in a statement Friday. ‘Today’s news is further evidence that President Obama seems more interested in capitulating to our adversaries than in confronting them. Iran’s leaders are surely taking note.’ ‘The removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List and the unilateral concessions to Havana, before it changes its authoritarian ways and stops denying the Cuban people their basic human rights, is a mistake,’ he added. ‘I call on Congress to keep pressure on Cuba and hold the Administration accountable.’” [Washington Post, 5/29/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio opposed the restoration of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba. “The addition of Rubio to the Republican race would bring President Barack Obama’s ongoing thaw in relations to the center stage of American presidential politics. The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is opposed to the restoration of diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana. It’s perhaps no accident that his announcement comes just days after Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro shook hands at the opening of the Summit of the Americas last Friday, an important symbolic gesture as the two sides try to normalize formal relations.” [Foreign Policy, 4/13/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz opposed normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba. “Hours after his Senate colleague and fellow Cuban-American Marco Rubio criticized President Obama’s change in U.S. policy on Cuba, Ted Cruz broke his silence on the news with a bang, calling the decision ‘a tragic mistake.’ The Republican senator from Texas told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Wednesday afternoon that because of the American embargo and diplomatic freeze-out, Cuba had been ‘gasping for air.’ Now, though, Obama’s policy shift would have devastating effects. ‘Just like the administration did with Iran, right when the [Iranian] administration was feeling the maximum pain, [Obama] throws them an economic lifeline and continues the brutal repression and dictatorship of the Castro brothers,’ said Cruz, whose father emigrated from Cuba in 1957, four years before the U.S. imposed a strict trade embargo on the country. When Cavuto pointed out that more than five decades of the same policy hadn’t been very effective, Cruz demurred. ‘What it has wrought is limiting the impact and harm of Cuba,’ he said.” [National Journal, 12/17/14]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed the agreement to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. “Fiorina also took time to jab President Obama on foreign policy, suggesting that he has continued to reward bad behavior in his nuclear negotiations with Iran and by removing Cuba from the terror watch list. She said Cuba hasn’t done anything to deserve this, adding that oppression and suppression have gotten worse.” [Breitbart, 4/20/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee opposed normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba. “GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee gave the Obama administration a kick in the pants over Cuba — and warned the Castro regime would do a lot worse. […] ‘I think we ought to quit pretending that Cuba is some wonderful nation with whom we can sit down and visit with. … They’re not,’ the former Arkansas governor declared.” [New York Daily News, 3/7/15]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie said that normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba was a “national disgrace.” “A day after the Obama administration recommended that the U.S. government reverse its long-standing policy designating Cuba a state sponsor of international terrorism, Chris Christie called the move a ‘national disgrace.’ In an appearance today at a town hall meeting in Londonberry, New Hampshire, Christie took aim at President Obama’s diplomatic warming with the Communist nation. ‘It is a national disgrace that the president is engaged in those conversations and even considering taking that country off the terrorist watch-list,’ Christie said.” [ABC News, 4/15/15]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal denounced the normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations and called on Congress to “do everything it can to stop” it. “With today’s announcement, the President is appeasing a Communist dictatorship headed by the Castro brothers that takes political prisoners and completely disregards basic human dignity. Taking steps to normalize relations with Cuba only serves to reward them, and it is a disservice to those in Cuba who wish to be free and who live in fear of a dictatorial regime. […] Congress should do everything it can to stop the President’s plan of appeasement toward Cuba. We must be willing to stand for freedom around the globe. The safety of the American people depends on it.” [Office of Governor Jindal Press Release, 12/18/14]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum opposed normalizing relations with Cuba, calling it “reckless and not in our nation’s best interest.” “Former Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, said he opposed normalizing trade with Cuba and was ‘extremely concerned with how his release was negotiated.’ He called the president’s foreign policy actions ‘reckless and not in our nation’s best interest.’” [CBS News, 12/18/14]

Lindsey Graham 

Lindsey Graham said he would roll back the agreement to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. “Graham also said he would roll back another of Obama’s major second-term foreign policy achievements: the normalization of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba after nearly six decades of estrangement.” [Yahoo News, 7/15/15]

Lindsey Graham vowed to block funding for an embassy in Cuba. In a tweet, Senator Lindsey Graham wrote, “I will do all in my power to block the use of funds to open an embassy in Cuba. Normalizing relations with Cuba is bad idea at a bad time.” [12/17/14, 12:26 p.m. EDT]

The Republican presidential field is riddled with candidates who have taken extreme and out of touch positions on immigration reform.

Pathway to Citizenship

Marco Rubio

2010: Marco Rubio said a path to citizenship was “code for amnesty.” “As in previous debates, Rubio differed with Crist and Meek on immigration. He said the ‘pathway to citizenship’ favored by Meek and ‘earned path’ favored by Crist are ‘basically code for amnesty.’ Rubio said he doesn’t favor mass deportations of people in the country illegally. He said that after the U.S. secures its borders it can set up a system, and then people without documents ‘will be able to leave this country, return to their homeland, and try to reenter through our system that now functions, a system that makes sense.” [Palm Beach Post, 10/25/10]

2010: Marco Rubio said it was “unfair to create an alternate pathway for individuals who entered illegally.” “It was December 2012. The Senate gym. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) was making the ask. ‘You ought to be a part of this,’ Durbin told Rubio (R-Fla.), as Rubio rode a stationary bike. Durbin and six other senators wanted to rewrite U.S. immigration laws. In the process, they wanted to give illegal immigrants a way to become legal residents and — eventually — citizens. Just two years earlier, Rubio had been against doing that. ‘It is unfair,’ he had said, as a tea party candidate for Senate, ‘to create an alternative pathway for individuals who entered illegally.’” [Washington Post, 4/24/15]

2013: Marco Rubio: “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship.” “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship. Let me just remind everybody there is no such thing as a path to citizenship. You can’t go from being an immigrant to a citizen. You have to go to get a green card first. What efforts (ph) in the past has done is they’ve awarded people green cards. It’s basically says if you’ve been here for x number of years, we’ll give you a green card. And then once you get a green card, in three to five years, you can apply for citizenship in three to five years. I’m not saying we should do that. On the contrary, I’m saying that all we do is we allow people to earn, to basically apply for and if they qualify, receive a legal status. And then at some point in the future, when some time has elapsed and the security measures are in place, then the only thing people would get is the opportunity to apply for a green card. We wouldn’t award one, either. And then if they were to receive the green card, then of course they can apply for citizenship at some point in the future after that. That’s been my position. It’s not to have a special pathway to green card citizenship or anything else because it is unfair to the people that are doing the right way and it would incentivize illegal immigration in the future. That’s been my position all along. We’re not going do special pathways that discourage people from doing it the right way.” [The Lead with Jake Tapper, 3/19/13]

June 2015: Marco Rubio: “I do” support a pathway to citizenship. “Many conservatives — and, indeed, many people — have been confused about what, exactly, Marco Rubio’s position is on immigration now that he’s said he regrets his support for the failed Gang of Eight bill. In an interview with New Hampshire’s local ABC station on Friday, Rubio made clear that he remains a supporter of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. ‘I do,’ Rubio said, when asked if he supports a path to citizenship for those currently in the United States illegally. First, though, Rubio said lawmakers have to ‘prove to the American people that illegal immigration is under control,’ implement an e-verify system, and modernize our legal immigration system.” [National Review, 6/30/15]

September 2015: Marco Rubio ruled out a path to citizenship during his presidency. “Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has effectively ruled out granting legal status to undocumented immigrants if he makes it to the White House, even for a second term. Pressed by conservative host Sean Hannity during a Monday night interview on Fox News, the Florida senator said he’s open to a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, but only a decade or more after passage of bills to secure the border and modernize the legal immigration system. ‘I don’t think it’s a decision you have to make on the front end. The first two things you have to do is stop illegal immigration, then second you have to modernize our legal immigration system, and then third you can have a debate about how to even legalize people to begin with,’ Rubio said. ‘And then ultimately in 10 or 12 years you could have a broader debate about how has this worked out and should we allow some of them to apply for green cards and eventually citizenship.’” [Bloomberg, 9/22/15]

Donald Trump 

Donald Trump opposed a pathway to citizenship. “Trump said Wednesday in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that as president he would deport all undocumented immigrants and then allow the ‘good ones’ to reenter the country through an ‘expedited process’ and live in the U.S. legally, though not as citizens. ‘Legal status,’ Trump suggested. ‘We got to move ‘em out, we’re going to move ‘em back in if they’re really good people.’” [CNN, 7/30/15]

Donald Trump on undocumented immigrants: “They have to go.” “Donald Trump would reverse President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. as president, he said in an exclusive interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. ‘We’re going to keep the families together, but they have to go,’ he said in the interview, which aired in full on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday. Pressed on what he’d do if the immigrants in question had nowhere to return to, Trump reiterated: ‘They have to go.’ ‘We will work with them. They have to go. Chuck, we either have a country, or we don’t have a country,’ he said.” [NBC News, 8/16/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson opposed a pathway to citizenship. “People already here illegally could apply for guest-worker status from outside of the country. This means they would have to leave first. They should in no way be rewarded for having broken our laws, but if they are wise, they will arrange with their employer before they leave to immediately offer them a legal job as soon as their application is received.” [Ben Carson, National Review, 11/12/14]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush, when asked if he supported a pathway to citizenship: “No.” “During an interview Wednesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, Mr. Bush was asked whether he supported a pathway to full citizenship. He replied, ‘No.’ ‘What do we do with the 11 million people here? I think the answer is earned legal status,’ he said.” [Washington Times, 7/8/15]

Jeb Bush reversed from his past support for a pathway to citizenship. “In an apparent reversal from his past statements, former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that his immigration reform plan would ‘fall short’ of offering a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States — a key provision being put forward by the bipartisan group leading reform efforts on Capitol Hill.” [NBC’s First Read, 3/4/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz: “I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.” “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said Sunday that a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would be unfair to those who have legally immigrated to the United States. ‘I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who followed the rules,’ Cruz said during an interview for ABC’s ‘This Week.’ Cruz added that he does not think a bill with such a path can pass the Republican-controlled House.” [Washington Post, 7/21/13]

Ted Cruz sponsored an amendment that would prevent undocumented immigrants from gaining citizenship. “Cruz 1322: Ensure that illegal immigrants who are given legal status under this bill are not given a path to citizenship. Providing a path to citizenship undermines the rule of law and is an insult to the millions who have immigrated to the U.S. legally. This Amendment prevents those currently here illegally who are offered legal status under this Act from obtaining citizenship.” [Press Release, Office of Senator Cruz, 6/19/13]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed a path to citizenship. “If Carly Fiorina becomes president, the immigrants currently in the country illegally would face an additional hurdle in their quest for U.S. citizenship. During a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo’s Katie Couric, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO was asked if she favored providing a path to citizenship for the roughly 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. ‘I do not. Not for those who came here illegally and who have stayed here illegally,’ said Fiorina, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination earlier in the day.” [Bloomberg, 5/4/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee on immigration: “If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.” “In April, during the lead up to the launch of his presidential bid, Mike Huckabee’s political action committee released a web ad on immigration. The ad features a farmer from Texas, who warns that an open border has let in ‘the drug runners, the terrorists, the human traffickers.’ In the video, Huckabee says, ‘We’ve got to repeal Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders, oppose amnesty and secure the border. You don’t punish people for living by the rules. If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.’” [Buzzfeed, 7/28/15]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie: “This path to citizenship stuff is garbage.” ”New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said on Tuesday the idea of granting undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship — one he supported in 2010 — ‘is garbage.’ Instead, the 2016 candidate said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, cracking down on businesses that hire immigrants who are here illegally is the best way to solve the problem. ‘I met lots of undocumented folks in my state over the course of my time as governor, I can tell you not one of them has ever said to me that they had come here to vote. This path to citizenship stuff is garbage,’ Christie said. ‘That’s not why they’re coming. They’re coming to work and support their family.’” [Talking Points Memo, 8/4/15]

Chris Christie said providing a pathway to citizenship was “an extreme way to go.” “Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is rejecting the idea of providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants as ‘extreme,’ reversing his stance ahead of a likely bid for president. ‘That’s an extreme way to go,’ Christie said Monday night in an interview on Fox News’s ‘The Kelly File.’ ‘I don’t believe that’s the way to go and I don’t believe that’s where the American people are.’” [The Hill, 3/19/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul introduced an amendment to remove a pathway to citizenship from immigration reform. “Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced an amendment Thursday to the Senate immigration bill that would effectively strip the bill’s path to citizenship and require illegal immigrants to apply through regular channels. The ‘No New Pathway to Citizenship Act’ amendment would allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States as Registered Provisional Immigrants — a new work visa category — but force them to apply as though they were still in their home country.” [Washington Post, 6/20/13]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum opposed a path to citizenship. “Along with Cruz, Rick Santorum is a strident opponent of a general pathway to citizenship. ‘The idea that there are Republicans in Washington, D.C., who are going to say, ‘Well, the rule of law isn’t that important, the idea of people coming into this country who have done so illegally and we’re going to basically treat them the same as people who came here legally,’ is just not going to go over well in a Republican primary,’ Santorum told Fox’s Andrea Tantaros in 2013.” [National Journal, 2/23/15]

Birthright Citizenship

Donald Trump

Donald Trump made ending birthright citizenship a pillar of his immigration plan, calling it “the biggest magnet for illegal immigration.” “End birthright citizenship. This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. By a 2:1 margin, voters say it’s the wrong policy, including Harry Reid who said ‘no sane country’ would give automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.” [“Immigration Reform That Will Make America Great Again,” accessed 8/20/15]

Donald Trump: “I’ll use the word anchor baby.” REPORTER: Anchor baby, that’s an offensive term, people find that hurtful TRUMP: You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it? REPORTER: Look it up in the dictionary, it’s offensive. TRUMP: Give me a different term, give me a different term. What else would you like to say. REPORTER: A child, an American born child of an undocumented immigrant. TRUMP: You want me to say that, okay, I use the word anchor baby. Excuse me, I’ll use the word anchor baby.” [ABC News, 8/19/15]

Donald Trump: “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop.” “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop. The only other major country in the world that issues citizenship based on where one’s mother delivers her child is Canada. The rest of the world bases citizenship on who the kid’s parents are, which is of course the only sane standard.” [Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again, pg. 141, 2011]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson on the term “anchor babies” and birthright citizenship: “It doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen.” “The neurosurgeon outlined his views on the topic at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday. ‘I know the 14th Amendment has brought up recently, about anchor babies—and it doesn’t make any sense to me that people could come in here, have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen. There are many countries in the world where they simply have recognized that and don’t allow that to occur,’ Carson said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush called American citizens born to undocumented immigrants “anchor babies.” “Jeb Bush doesn’t want birthright citizenship to go away, but he is calling for stronger enforcement for people who abuse it. ‘If there’s abuse, if people are bringing — pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement,’ Bush said on Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show, ‘Morning in America’ Wednesday. ‘That’s [the] legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.’ ‘Anchor babies’ is a derogatory term used to describe children who are born in the United States to undocumented parents.” [Politico, 8/19/15]

Jeb Bush on the term “anchor babies”: “You give me a better term and I’ll use it.” “A feistier, combative Jeb Bush said Thursday that he doesn’t believe the term ‘anchor babies’ is offensive and blamed Democrats for perpetuating the idea that it’s a loaded term. In one of his most aggressive exchanges with reporters to date, Bush dismissed suggestions that the two-word term deemed offensive by many Hispanics and denounced by Democrats is improper. ‘Do you have a better term? You give me a better term and I’ll use it,’ he snapped at a reporter who asked him.” [Washington Post, 8/20/15]

Jeb Bush on the term “anchor babies”: “Frankly it’s more related to Asian people.” “Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush attempted to clarify his remarks about ‘anchor babies’ during a stop near the U.S. border with Mexico on Monday, saying Asian immigrants are really more of the problem. When asked if he thought his repeated use of the term ‘anchor babies’ – a derogatory term for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrant parents – Bush said: ‘What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there’s organized efforts, and frankly, it’s more related to Asian people coming into our country and having children in that organized effort.’” [Talking Points Memo, 8/24/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz said the Constitution should “absolutely” be changed to end birthright citizenship. “When the Texas senator was asked Wednesday on the Michael Medved show if the 14th Amendment should be changed, Cruz answered ‘absolutely.’ ‘We should end granting automatic birthright citizenship to the children of those who are here illegally,’ he said.” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio said he was “open to exploring ways” to limit birthright citizenship in the United States. “Marco Rubio, who is running for president thanks to birthright citizenship, says he is open to the idea of ending it for children who were born in the United States to foreign parents. ‘I’m not in favor of repealing the 14th Amendment,’ Rubio said during a Tuesday news conference at the rain-soaked Iowa State Fair. ‘But I am open to exploring ways of not allowing people who are coming here deliberately for that purpose to acquire citizenship.’” [National Journal, 8/18/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee, according to his top immigration surrogate, proposed amending the Constitution to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship. “Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced. Mr. Huckabee, who won last week’s Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.” [Washington Times, 1/8/08]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie: Birthright citizenship “may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that.” “Christie, speaking on Aug. 12—about a week before Trump’s proposal —was asked about birthright citizenship during a radio appearance with conservative host Laura Ingraham and said the matter deserves another look. ‘I think all this stuff needs to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances,’ New Jersey’s governor said. ‘The fact is the American immigration system is not working right now, it’s not working for the American people, it’s not working for our economy, and all these things need to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances. And while [birthright citizenship] may have made sense at some point in our history, right now, we need to relook at all that. And it has to be relooked at in respect to the rule of law.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. “In 2011, the Kentucky senator joined forces with Louisiana Senator David Vitter to introduce a resolution to ensure ‘a person born in the United States to illegal aliens does not automatically gain citizenship.’ ‘Citizenship is a privilege, and only those who respect our immigration laws should be allowed to enjoy its benefits,’ Paul said at the time. ‘This legislation makes it necessary that everyone follow the rules, and goes through the same process to become a U.S. citizen.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum: “Enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended.” “Other enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended. Only children born on American soil where at least one parent is a citizen or resident aliens is automatically a U.S. citizen. Of developed countries other than the United States, only Canada has birthright citizenship.” [Rick Santorum op-ed, Breitbart, 5/6/15]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal said he was “happy” to use the term “anchor baby” and that “folks today are too easily offended.” “HEMMER: But, you’ll use anchor baby, right, as a phrase? JINDAL: Yeah look, I think folks today are too easily offended. They are too politically correct. The real issue here is, yeah I’m happy to use the term, but the reality is, the real issue here is when you secure our border. The bigger frustration from the American people. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge in D.C. secure the borders. Stop illegal immigration.” [Fox News, 8/20/15]

Bobby Jindal supported ending birthright citizenship in the United States. “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has joined front-running GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in calling for an end to automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. ‘We need to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants,’ Jindal tweeted Monday night, a day after Trump offered a tough plan to combat what he calls the negative economic consequences of illegal immigration. Jindal is also running for president, though he remains near the bottom of the 17-person GOP field.” [Times-Picayune, 8/18/15]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham: “I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth.” “Graham, one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, took a more nuanced approach on Monday to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. ‘I don’t mind changing the law,’ the South Carolina senator said. ‘I think it’s a bad practice to give citizenship based on birth. We have evidence of people buying tourist visas for the express purpose of coming over here and having a child as birth tourism. I don’t think that’s a good idea. But that’s not going to happen until we fix a broken immigration system.’” [Bloomberg, 8/19/15]

Lindsay Graham: “We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.” “Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren. ‘Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake,’ explained Graham. ‘We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.’” [Huffington Post, 7/29/10]

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In a speech this morning at the Brookings Institution, Hillary Clinton laid out a clear-eyed vision on how best to guarantee that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. Clinton’s plan not only includes support for the nuclear deal currently pending before Congress, but also a series of “distrust and verify” measures to keep up global pressure on Iran. “I don’t see Iran as our partner in implementing the agreement,” Clinton said today. “I believe that Iran is the subject of the agreement.” Confronting Iran is nothing new for Clinton—as Secretary of State she built the coalition that enacted the toughest global sanctions in history, which forced Iran back to the negotiating table.

On the other side of the aisle, the Republican candidates are letting Dick Cheney call the shots, and many are irresponsibly arguing that they will walk away from an agreement embraced by most of America’s leading international allies. As Clinton said in her remarks today, “several Republicans boast that they’ll tear up this agreement […] that’s not leadership, that’s recklessness.”

Scott Walker

Scott Walker said he would “terminate” the Iran nuclear deal “on day one.”

Scott Walker said that the United States should treat the inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities the way parents treat inspections of teenage boys’ bedrooms.

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz compared the Iran nuclear deal to the appeasement of Hitler.

Ted Cruz was one of 47 GOP senators that signed an open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump said the Iran nuclear deal was a “disastrous deal in so many ways” and that he would renegotiate it.

• Donald Trump: “I will make that agreement so tough, and if they break it, they will have hell to pay.”

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush opposed the Iran nuclear deal but “stopped well short of promising he’d undo the deal.”

Jeb Bush said he would never have negotiated with Iran in the first place.

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio claimed that “nothing” in th Iran nuclear agreement was “binding on the next administration.”

Marco Rubio was one of 47 GOP senators that signed an open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

Ben Carson

Ben Carson suggested that the Iran nuclear deal was “anti-Semitic.”

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee said the Iran nuclear deal would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”

• Huckabee was criticized by Israeli officials for his comments comparing the Iran deal to the Holocaust.

Chris Christie 

Chris Christie opposed the Iran nuclear deal.

Chris Christie provided “scant details on what he believes would be a good deal.”

Chris Christie on his ideal Iran deal: “I don’t know what the deal would look like.” [APPS National Security Summit, 7/29/15]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed the Iran nuclear deal and said she would renegotiate it.

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham said he would break the Iran nuclear deal on his first day in office.

Lindsey Graham claimed negotiating with Iran would put us “on the road to Armageddon.”

Lindsey Graham was one of 47 GOP senators that signed an open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal opposed the Iran nuclear deal and criticized Congressional Republicans for being outplayed in allowing it to pass.

Bobby Jindal was the first non-Congressional official to sign the GOP’s open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

John Kasich

John Kasich opposed the Iran nuclear deal but said he would not invalidate it.

Rand Paul

Rand Paul vowed to vote against the Iran nuclear deal.

Rand Paul was one of 47 GOP senators that signed an open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

RAND PAUL: IRAN Flip-floppeR

2007: Rand Paul on Iran: “It’s ridiculous to think they’re a threat to our national security….It’s not even that viable to say they’re a national threat to Israel.”

2008: Rand Paul on Iran: “I find it hard to believe that a country that can’t refine their gas is somehow a threat to our national security.”

2015: Rand Paul claimed he “never really indicated that [the Iranians] were of no threat.” [Fox News’ The Kelly File, 5/13/15]

Rick Perry

Rick Perry pledged to invalidate the U.S.’ multilateral deal with Iran to limit Iranian nuclear capacity as one of his first acts as president.

Rick Perry was the second governor to back the Senate GOP’s open letter to Iranian leadership attacking a potential nuclear deal with Iran.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum called the Iran nuclear deal “a catastrophic capitulation.”

“The Republican Party is one of tolerance and respect, and we need to ensure that the tone of our message is always reflective of these core principles.”

“We must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform. If we do not, our Party’s appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only.”

“If Hispanics think we do not want them here, they will close their ears to our policies.”

2015: Jeb Bush and Donald Trump use the term “anchor babies.”

Jeb Bush: “You know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.”  

Donald Trump: “I’d much rather find out whether or not ‘anchor babies’ are citizens because a lot of people don’t think they are.” 

Jeb, Trump, and other 2016 GOP presidential candidates continue to hold extreme, out-of-touch and out-of-date positions on immigration. From Scott Walker’s opposition to birthright citizenship, to Jeb and Trump’s use of the term “anchor babies,” it is clear that the GOP’s brand has remained out-of-touch and out-of-date.

DONALD TRUMP

“I’ll use the word anchor baby.”

Donald Trump: “I’d much rather find out whether or not anchor babies are citizens because a lot of people don’t think they are.” “The GOP presidential hopeful does not, however, support amending the Constitution to repeal birthright citizenship, saying it would be a ‘long process.’ ‘I think it would take too long,’ he told Fox News. ‘I’d much rather find out whether or not anchor babies are citizens because a lot of people don’t think they are. We’re going to test it out.’” [CBS News, 8/19/15]

Donald Trump: “I’ll use the word anchor baby.” REPORTER: Anchor baby, that’s an offensive term, people find that hurtful TRUMP: You mean it’s not political correct and yet everybody uses it? REPORTER: Look it up in the dictionary, it’s offensive. TRUMP: Give me a different term, give me a different term. What else would you like to say. REPORTER: A child, an American born child of an undocumented immigrant. TRUMP: You want me to say that, okay, I use the word anchor baby. Excuse me, I’ll use the word anchor baby.” [ABC News, 8/19/15]

Donald Trump: “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop.” “Some four million anchor babies are now officially U.S. citizens. This has to stop. The only other major country in the world that issues citizenship based on where one’s mother delivers her child is Canada. The rest of the world bases citizenship on who the kid’s parents are, which is of course the only sane standard.” [Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again, pg. 141, 2011]

Donald Trump: “As for what to do about illegal immigration, we should follow the repeal of the anchor baby provisions with a five-point program.” “Now, as for what to do about illegal immigration, we should follow the repeal of the anchor baby provisions with a five-point program to create a smart and humane plan to get illegal immigration under control.” [Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again, pg. 146, 2011]

Donald Trump: “What happens is they’re in Mexico, they’re going to have a baby, they move over here for a couple of days, they have the baby.” “The real estate magnate, however, claims that those born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants don’t have full citizens’ rights. ‘What happens is they’re in Mexico, they’re going to have a baby, they move over here for a couple of days, they have the baby,’ he told O’Reilly. Trump asserted, ‘Many lawyers are saying that’s not the way it is in terms of this,’ and went on to say, ‘They are saying it is not going to hold up in court. It will have to be tested but they say it will not hold up in court.’” [CBS News, 8/19/15]

End Birthright Citizenship

Donald Trump made ending birthright citizenship a pillar of his immigration plan, calling it “the biggest magnet for illegal immigration.” “End birthright citizenship. This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. By a 2:1 margin, voters say it’s the wrong policy, including Harry Reid who said ‘no sane country’ would give automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.” [“Immigration Reform That Will Make America Great Again,” accessed 8/20/15]

JEB BUSH

“You know, anchor babies…”

Jeb Bush: “[We need] better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.”  Jeb Bush doesn’t want birthright citizenship to go away, but he is calling for stronger enforcement for people who abuse it. ‘If there’s abuse, if people are bringing — pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement,’ Bush said on Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show, ‘Morning in America’ Wednesday. ‘That’s [the] legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.’ ‘Anchor babies’ is a derogatory term used to describe children who are born in the United States to undocumented parents.”  [Politico, 8/20/15]

MIKE HUCKABEE

Change the Constitution: End Birthright Citizenship

Mike Huckabee, according to his top immigration surrogate, proposed amending the Constitution to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship. “Mike Huckabee wants to amend the Constitution to prevent children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens from automatically becoming American citizens, according to his top immigration surrogate — a radical step no other major presidential candidate has embraced. Mr. Huckabee, who won last week’s Republican Iowa caucuses, promised Minuteman Project founder James Gilchrist that he would force a test case to the Supreme Court to challenge birthright citizenship, and would push Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to remove any doubt.”  [Washington Times,1/8/08]

TED CRUZ

Change the Constitution: End Birthright Citizenship

Ted Cruz declared his support for amending the Constitution to end birthright citizenship. “Ted Cruz set himself apart from much of the 2016 GOP field—including Donald Trump—by saying on Wednesday that he’d support amending the Constitution as a way to end birthright citizenship. Trump set off a firestorm of debate among 2016 Republicans after unveiling an immigration agenda over the weekend that calls for an end to birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the Constitution by the 14th amendment, which grants citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born in America. Calling for an end to birthright citizenship is not new for the Republican field. Cruz has been on the record since at least 2012 saying that the U.S. should stop the policy of granting automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants at birth. Other 2016 GOP contenders, including Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Ben Carson, and Lindsey Graham, have either criticized or voiced support for ending the policy.”  [National Journal, 8/19/15]

LINDSEY GRAHAM

Change the Constitution: End Birthright Citizenship

Lindsay Graham: “We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.”“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren. ‘Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake,’ explained Graham. ‘We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.’”  [Huffington Post, 7/29/10]

RAND PAUL

Change the Constitution: End Birthright Citizenship

Rand Paul introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to ensure “a person born in the United States to illegal aliens does not automatically gain citizenship.” “Republican Sens. David Vitter (La.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) are seeking to deny birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants by changing the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has consistently held that the Fourteenth Amendment grants automatic citizenship to those born on U.S. soil, but Vitter and Paul said Thursday that right should not extend to the children of undocumented parents. They introduced a congressional resolution that would amend the Constitution and close what they call a ‘loophole.’ It’s incorrect to assume ‘the 14th Amendment confers birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, either by its language or intent,’ read a statement from the Senators. ‘This resolution makes clear that under the 14th Amendment a person born in the United States to illegal aliens does not automatically gain citizenship.’”  [Huffington Post, 1/27/11]

RICK SANTORUM

End Birthright Citizenship

Rick Santorum: “Enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended.” “The burden of eliminating the problems caused by illegal immigration does not only lie at the feet of border enforcement, it is also the responsibility of businesses not to tempt illegal immigrants into our country. This is why I believe the E-Verify system must be made mandatory, apply to existing employees as well as new hires, inform employers if there is no match between the Social Security Number and other information submitted, and inform employees if there is possible identity fraud from excessive multiple use. Other enticements to illegal immigration, such as birthright citizenship, should be ended. Only children born on American soil where at least one parent is a citizen or resident aliens is automatically a U.S. citizen. Of developed countries other than the United States, only Canada has birthright citizenship.”  [Rick Santorum, Op-ed, Breitbart, 5/6/15]

BEN CARSON

“anchor babies… doesn’t make any sense to me…”

Ben Carson: “anchor babies… doesn’t make any sense to me…”  “Ben Carson: ’The 14th Amendment has been brought up recently about anchor babies, and it doesn’t make any sense to me, that people can come in here and have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen and allows them to come in,’ he said in Phoenix this week. ‘There are many countries in the world where they simply have recognized that and don’t allow that to occur.’”  [NBC, 8/18/15]

End Birthright Citizenship

Ben Carson: “It doesn’t make any sense to me, that people can come in here and have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen.” “Ben Carson: ’The 14th Amendment has been brought up recently about anchor babies, and it doesn’t make any sense to me, that people can come in here and have a baby and that baby becomes an American citizen and allows them to come in,’ he said in Phoenix this week. ‘There are many countries in the world where they simply have recognized that and don’t allow that to occur.’”  [NBC, 8/18/15]

MARCO RUBIO

Open to Ending Birthright Citizenship

Marco Rubio was open to the idea of ending birthright citizenship. “Marco Rubio, who is running for president thanks to birthright citizenship, says he is open to the idea of ending it for children who were born in the United States to foreign parents. ‘I’m not in favor of repealing the 14th Amendment,’ Rubio said during a Tuesday news conference at the rain-soaked Iowa State Fair. ‘But I am open to exploring ways of not allowing people who are coming here deliberately for that purpose to acquire citizenship.’” [National Journal, 8/18/15]

Marco Rubio said he was open to actions that would prevent people coming to the U.S. to take advantage of birthright citizenship. “Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Tuesday that he disagrees with the call his party’s front-runner, Donald Trump, made for ending the practice of automatically granting citizenship to children born in this country, even if their parents are not here legally. ‘I don’t agree with that,’ the Florida senator told reporters on at the Iowa State Fair when asked about Trump’s opposition to birthright citizenship. ‘I’m open to doing things that prevent people who deliberately come to the U.S. for purposes of taking advantage of the 14th Amendment, but I’m not in favor of repealing it.’” [Bloomberg, 8/18/15]

SCOTT WALKER

End Birthright Citizenship

Scott Walker asked if he supports ending birthright citizenship said, “Yeah, to me it’s about enforcing the laws in this country.” “Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said Monday that he believes the children of undocumented immigrants shouldn’t automatically have a right to American citizenship if they’re born in the United States. Asked directly by msnbc if birthright citizenship should be ended, the Wisconsin governor replied: ‘Yeah, to me it’s about enforcing the laws in this country. And I’ve been very clear, I think you enforce the laws, and I think it’s important to send a message that we’re going to enforce the laws, no matter how people come here we’re going to enforce the laws.’” [MSNBC, 8/17/15]

BOBBY JINDAL

“Happy” to Say Anchor Babies

Bobby Jindal said he is “happy to use the term” anchor baby and that “folks today are too ease live offended.”  “HEMMER: But, you’ll use anchor baby, right, as a phrase? JINDAL: Yeah look, I think folks today are too ease live offended. They are too politically correct. The real issue here is, yeah I’m happy to use the term, but the reality is, the real issue here is when you secure our border. The bigger frustration from the American people. It doesn’t seem to matter who is in charge in D.C. secure the borders. Stop illegal immigration.”  [Fox News, 8/20/15]

End Birthright Citizenship

Bobby Jindal tweet: “We need to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.”  [Bobby Jindal, (@BobbyJindal), 8/17/15 3:52 p.m. EDT]

CHRIS CHRISTIE

End Birthright Citizenship

Chris Christie: “[Birthright citizenship] may have made sense at some point in our history, but right now, we need to re-look at all that.”  “Chris Christie: ’I think all this stuff needs to be reexamined in light of the current circumstances,’ he told Laura Ingraham this month. ‘[Birthright citizenship] may have made sense at some point in our history, but right now, we need to re-look at all that.’” [NBC, 8/18/15]

JOHN KASICH

Change the Constitution: End Birthright Citizenship

John Kasich was called a “longtime supporter” of ending birthright citizenship. “While Strickland and Kasich agree that Ohio should not enact an immigration law similar to Arizona’s, they clash on related issues. The governor would maintain birthright citizenship for children born here to illegal immigrants. Kasich, a former Fox News commentator, has been a longtime supporter of amending the Constitution to end the automatic right.”  [Columbus Dispatch, 11/26/10]

Despite the long list of GOP hopefuls who will be in attendance, the forum is unlikely to result in new ideas on how to improve our education system. Whether it’s Bush, Walker, Christie and Kasich discussing how to defund public schools, or Fiorina and Jindal attacking the merits of community colleges, the Republican presidential candidates will likely continue to propose polices that hurt America’s education system and lessen the opportunity for all Americans to reach their full potential.

JEB BUSH

Public Education

Jeb Bush called public schools “‘government-run monopolies run by unions.” “You can say this about Jeb Bush: When it comes to promoting charter schools and vouchers at the expense of traditional public schools, the former Florida governor and possible 2016 presidential candidate has long been consistent. […] As governor from 1999-2007, Bush introduced school reforms that have become common across the country — including high-stakes standardized testing for ‘accountability’ purposes and school ‘choice’ — and since then has been a leading voice in spreading his education gospel nationwide. That includes calling public schools ‘politicized, unionized monopolies’ or ‘government-run monopolies run by unions,’ all the while talking up charter schools and voucher programs that give public money to students to pay for private school tuition. His critics call him not a ‘reformer’ but a ‘privatizer’ of public education.” [Washington Post, 5/19/14]

 Salon’s Matthew Pulver: “Jeb Bush was a leader in dismantling public education.” “During his eight years as governor, Jeb Bush was a leader in dismantling public education. Detailed in a January New Yorker article by Alec MacGillis, Bush’s push for for-profit education has been the former governor’s passion, and those looking to profit on children will likely fall in behind him as presidential candidate. By all accounts, Bush appears to truly believe that the sort of reform he advocates is the answer to a flagging American education system. But his genuine passion and conviction doesn’t mean his ‘solution’ isn’t dangerous.” [Salon, 6/17/15]

Jeb Bush’s legislation that sent taxpayer-funded scholarships to private schools was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court. “The Florida Supreme Court struck down the state’s original school-voucher program Thursday, ruling that using taxpayer-funded scholarships to send children to private schools violates the state constitution. The 5-2 ruling overturns a centerpiece of Gov. Jeb Bush’s education-reform plans: a 1999 law that created the nation’s first statewide voucher program and let children at failing public schools use state scholarships, or tuition vouchers, to go to private schools.” [Orlando Sentinel, 1/6/06]

Teaching Creationism

Jeb Bush said he thinks that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. “But while Bush reached out to the middle this election, he remains a staunch conservative. He is against abortion, having converted from Episcopalian to Catholic. He has said he thinks the biblical story of creation should be taught alongside evolution in public schools.” [Orlando Sentinel, 11/4/98]

Higher Education

Bush referred to debt-free college as “more free stuff.” “Jeb Bush, a Republican contender, told NH1 News that such a [debt-free college] plan was akin to just wiping ‘the 1.2 trillion dollars of debt without reforming our higher education system — more free stuff.’” [NYT, 7/8/15]

As Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush oversaw a tuition increase of almost 60 percent. “We asked the Board of Governors for the systemwide tuition rates for the time frame we’re looking at, to see what the actual rate of tuition increases were. They are reported by credit hour, but the rate of change is still easy to calculate: 1998-99: $46.99 per credit hour… 2006-07: $73.71 per credit hour…Percent change: 56.9 percent… Source: Board of Governors… So Bush oversaw a tuition increase of almost 60 percent.” [PolitiFact, 6/30/15]

….While proposing to fund universities with what the St. Petersburg Times called “pocket change.” “Florida will collect an additional $4-billion in its wallet next year, but Gov. Jeb Bush wants to hand universities what amounts to pocket change. His proposed 2005-06 budget covers only a fourth of what his own Board of Governors says is necessary merely to keep pace with new students… The increase he proposes in overall university spending, $119-million, is less than half the amount of recurring money he proposes to eliminate from the budget through tax cuts. Tuitions can be increased as the governor suggests, but higher education can’t maintain quality without a state willing to invest in it.” [St. Petersburg Times, 1/25/05]

Jeb Bush opposed Pres. Obama’s plan to extend free community college to high school graduates. “He was critical of Obama’s push for a plan for free community college, while saying the president also wanted to increase taxes on Americans saving money to pay for tuition. It was ridiculous to think Obama’s plan wouldn’t have negative implications, Bush told his audience.” [Bloomberg, 1/22/15]

SCOTT WALKER

Public Education

Scott Walker expanded Wisconsin’s “voucher program that uses public funds to pay for tuition at private schools, including religious schools.” “If anybody was holding out any hope that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker would see even a modicum of reason and refuse to savage public education in his state, they can now let it go. A day before jumping into the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Walker on Sunday signed a new state budget that, among other things: […] expands the state’s voucher program that uses public funds to pay for tuition at private schools, including religious schools — even though there is no evidence the program has helped improve student achievement in the past — and creates a new “special needs” voucher law that cuts into protections for special needs students.” [Washington Post, 7/13/15]

School Funding

Wisconsin education expert: Under Scott Walker’s budget, “a majority of public school districts in Wisconsin will receive less funding this year, and no school district’s state funding will keep up to inflation.” “A majority of public school districts in Wisconsin will receive less funding this year, and no school district’s state funding will keep up to inflation. At the same time, the budget expands taxpayer support of private voucher schools, which are overwhelmingly religious schools and which are subject to minimal public oversight. (For instance, voucher schools do not have to follow the state’s law prohibiting discrimination against students on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, marital or pregnancy status. Nor are they subject to the state’s open meetings and records requirements.)” [Washington Post, 7/13/15]

PolitiFact found it “Mostly True” that Scott Walker “cut school funding more per student than any governor in America.” “The Greater Wisconsin Committee said: ‘Scott Walker cut school funding more per student than any governor in America.’ Based on the latest census figures, for 2011-’12, the Wisconsin cuts were the largest based on two measures — state revenue provided to local schools and overall spending by schools of state, federal and local money. But more recent figures indicate that Wisconsin’s school spending cuts are no longer the largest, at least for a more recent period. For a statement that is accurate but needs additional information, our rating is Mostly True.” [PolitiFact, 9/7/14]

Teachers

Scott Walker’s 2011 union-busting law “exempted the unions of police, firefighters and state troopers from the changes in collective bargaining rights but not educators.” “It was in 2011 that Walker pushed through a law, Act 10, that slashed the power of public employee unions to bargain, and cut pay for most public sector workers. As a special slap to teachers, Walker exempted the unions of police, firefighters and state troopers from the changes in collective bargaining rights but not educators. Teachers protested for a long time, closing schools for days, but the law passed, and the impact on teachers unions in Wisconsin has been dramatic: according to a piece by Washington Past columnist Robert Samuels. The state branch of the National Education Association, once 100,000 strong, has seen its membership drop by a third, and the American Federation of Teachers, which organized in the college system, has seen a 50 percent decline.” [Huffington Post, 3/22/15]

Higher Education

Scott Walker’s 2015-2017 budget eliminated student loan forgiveness programs for health care providers working in underserved communities. “The budget also deletes two loan assistance programs — one specifically for physicians, and another for physicians, dentists and other health care providers. Through that program, practitioners who agree to work in an under-served community for at least three years are eligible to have some of their student loans repaid. About 70 practitioners are currently working under such contracts, said John Eich, director of the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health. ‘Those contracts will become null and void,’ he said.” [Capital Times, 3/18/15]

Scott Walker “chose not to endorse any Wisconsin student loan refinancing bills put forth in 2014.” “Perhaps most tellingly, Walker chose not to endorse any Wisconsin student loan refinancing bills put forth in 2014. His Democratic opponent in that year’s gubernatorial race, Mary Burke, ran on a platform of higher education reform which included the establishment of an authority on student loan refinancing and a move to make student loan taxes deductible. Walker’s allegiances and priorities aligned more closely with cuts to the education system than relief for the state’s 1 million graduates with student loans.” [Huffington Post, 4/16/15]

Scott Walker allowed a bill that would let borrowers refinance their student loans “to die without a vote.” “Governor Scott Walker has responded to this crisis with devastating indifference. A bill introduced by Representative Cory Mason (D-Racine) and Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) would have given some relief to Wisconsin families drowning in student loan debt. The Higher Ed, Lower Debt bill would have allowed borrowers to refinance their student loans just like mortgages or auto loans and allowed borrowers to deduct their student loan payments from their taxes. These common sense reforms fell on deaf ears in the Republican legislature and the Governor’s office. Despite the support of 54 legislators, Scott Walker allowed the bill to die without a vote. He has dodged questions on the campaign trail about student loans, and the new jobs plan his campaign released makes no mention of any plan to address the issue.” [Purple Wisconsin, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 9/15/14]

Scott Walker suggested legislation that would allow borrowers to refinance their student debt was “just politics.” “Burke has said she would focus on reducing the debt college students accumulate. She has called for creating an authority that would allow students to refinance student loans, which was part of a plan that state Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, proposed last year. […] Walker said he would be willing to look at measures like Mason’s refinancing bill, but questioned whether the proposal is ‘more than just politics.’ ‘If it was a good idea, I’m sure they would have passed it four years ago when they controlled the Assembly and the Senate and the governorship,’ he said in response to questions from reporters.” [Racine Journal-Times, 9/10/14]

JOHN KASICH

School Funding

John Kasich vetoed $80 million in funding that was intended to ensure that state school districts wouldn’t face budget shortfalls from lower property taxes. “Of the 44 line-item budget vetoes that Gov. John Kasich issued more than a month ago, one in particular still has state legislators discussing a potential override or new legislation that protects schools from funding cuts. Republican legislators, some of whom didn’t like the idea of cutting school funding while at the same time reducing taxes by nearly $2 billion and putting about $525 million into the state rainy-day fund, were blindsided when Kasich vetoed a pot of money designed to ensure that those cuts didn’t happen. […] Kasich vetoed about $80 million in the budget’s second year that was designed to ensure that districts did not see overall state-funding cuts despite further reductions in reimbursements for lost tangible personal property-tax revenue.” [Columbus Dispatch, 8/9/15]

• Republican state representative: John Kasich’s funding cuts came “too much, too fast for some of these schools.” “Rep. Jonathan Dever, R-Madeira, said he is working on an alternative that ‘is trying to find a way to meet the governor halfway.’ The Sycamore district loses about $2.8 million from Kasich’s vetoes, but Dever said the district has seen little spending growth over the past decade. He is crafting a plan that looks to protect schools from funding cuts while also having them follow fiscal policies that help schools such as Sycamore hold down costs. ‘It’s too much, too fast for some of these schools, based on sheer mathematics,’ Dever said of the cuts. ‘I understand the governor’s policy on wanting to get everybody on the (funding) formula; there are just certain school systems that need additional time to get there.’” [Columbus Dispatch, 8/9/15]

Teachers

John Kasich pushed to strip Ohio’s teachers of their collective bargaining rights. “Perhaps the biggest splash Kasich tried to make when he took over as Buckeye State governor was with Senate Bill 5, which he signed into law in 2011, but which was struck down by voters later the same year. That law would have stripped teachers and other public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights. But Issue 2 was defeated at the ballot box after vigorous pushback from the Ohio Education Association and others.” [Education Week, 7/21/15]

Teaching Creationism

John Kasich supported allowing school districts to teach creationism. “But you will see several stances here that Gov. Kasich and Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald don’t talk a lot about on the campaign trail. For example, Kasich said, via a campaign representative, that he would allow public school districts to teach alternatives to evolution — such as intelligent design — if local school officials want to, under the philosophy of ‘local control.’” [Columbus Dispatch, 9/28/14]

Higher Education

John Kasich on what he’d do to address the student debt crisis: “I don’t know yet.” “He does give some specifics in the question-and-answer sessions. He thinks the president needs a line-item veto, for instance. He thinks immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should be allowed to stay if they register and possibly pay a fine. But when Dan Kelley, of Stratham, asked what he’d do about helping college graduates get out from under mountains of student loans, suggesting some sort of community service in exchange for forgiveness, Kasich said: ‘I don’t know yet. … I cannot make the promise that all of the sudden I’m going to write it off. … ‘Maybe you just said something that made some sense.’” [Cincinnati Enquirer, 7/27/15]

BOBBY JINDAL

Charter Schools

Bobby Jindal signed into law a sweeping school voucher program that was “rife with accountability problems.” “Under Gov. Bobby Jindal’s voucher program, considered the most sweeping in the country, Louisiana is poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to help poor and middle-class students from the state’s notoriously terrible public schools receive a private education. While the governor’s plan sounds great in the glittery parlance of the state’s PR machine, the program is rife with accountability problems that actually haven’t been solved by the new standards the Louisiana Department of Education adopted two weeks ago.” [Mother Jones, 8/7/12]

• Much of Jindal’s private school funds were “snapped up by conservative evangelical schools with exotic and hardly public-minded curricular offerings.” “In heading his state in the direction of universally available vouchers rationalized by public school failure, Jindal is not, of course, holding any of the private school beneficiaries accountable for results, or for common curricula, or, it appears, for much of anything. A big chunk of the money already out there is being snapped up by conservative evangelical schools with exotic and hardly public-minded curricular offerings, with the theory being that any public oversight would interfere with the accountability provided by ‘the market.’ So if you want your kid to attend, at public expense, the Christian Nationalist Academy for Servant-Leader Boys & Fecund Submissive Girls, that’s okay by Bobby.” [Ed Kilgore, Washington Monthly, 7/2/12]

Teaching Creationism

Bobby Jindal signed “a law that paved the way for creationism to be taught in schools.” “His refusal to endorse evolution hardly distinguishes him from the other Republican presidential hopefuls, but Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal can point to an unmatched achievement as he formally kicks off his campaign: signing a law that paved the way for creationism to be taught in schools. Jindal, who will announce his White House bid at a rally near New Orleans on Wednesday, signed the Louisiana Science Education Act into law in 2008. It was his first year as governor. Ostensibly a bill promoting the discussion of diverse theories in science classrooms, critics argue that it was introduced as a way to smuggle creationist pseudoscience such as ‘intelligent design’ into the state’s public schools. Efforts to repeal it, backed by 78 Nobel laureates, have failed. The fourth such attempt failed last year.” [The Guardian, 6/24/15]

Higher Education

Bobby Jindal was “one of the most vocal supporters of for-profit schools” and opposed “gainful employment” regulations that hold institutions accepting federal student loan money accountable for student success. “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has been one of the most vocal supporters of for-profit schools, opposing the president’s ‘gainful employment’ rule. He wrote in a column for the Washington Examiner, ‘The first programs to disappear under the ‘gainful employment’ regulations will be the ones that try to give Americans their first rung on the higher education and career ladders … It is tantamount to redlining educational opportunities for low-income and minority youths.’ His brother, Nikesh Jindal, is an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLC, represents the schools’ association, The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities.” [Think Progress, 4/30/15]

Bobby Jindal opposed Pres. Obama’s plan to extend free community college to high school graduates. “Gov. Bobby Jindal doesn’t support President Barack Obama’s newly-unveiled plan of free community college for most Americans. ‘President Obama has increased our national debt by $7.5 trillion dollars and created a new entitlement program at a time when our current entitlement programs are going bankrupt,’ Jindal said in a statement to The Advocate today. ‘So of course, now he is planning to offer two years of taxpayer paid college. Why stop there? Why not have the government buy a car and a house for everyone? We believe states are better positioned than the federal government to handle initiatives like these.’” [The Advocate, 1/9/15]

CARLY FIORINA

Higher Education

Carly Fiorina called a proposal to provide free community college to high school graduates a “distraction.” “‘President Obama majors in distraction. At the same time, at the same week that we are seeing Islamic extremists slaughter people in France, President Obama is talking about free community college,’ Fiorina said Wednesday on ‘The Steve Malzberg Show’ on Newsmax TV. ‘Free community college doesn’t solve the problem of the failing K-12 public schools that we have today — but it was a complete distraction and that’s what this president does.” [Newsmax, 1/21/15]

CHRIS CHRISTIE

Education Funding

Chris Christie cut $1 billion in education funding from New Jersey’s budget. “Funding for public schools has consistently caused tensions between Christie’s office and education advocates. After coming to office in 2010, Christie cut about $1 billion in education spending, according to Politifact, to help close gaps in the state’s budget. […] Thanks to budget cuts, New Jersey ‘has been unable to fund its own formula,’ Lehren told HuffPost, referring to the funding levels established by SFRA. She pointed out that most of the increases in education funding have been for charter schools. Last month, the state Department of Education said it is underfunding many school districts under the SFRA formula due to a lack of revenue.” [Huffington Post, 6/29/15]

Chris Christie funded K-12 education in New Jersey at the lowest levels since 2005-06 when adjusted for inflation. “Gov. Chris Christie has touted a budget proposal that promises a fifth straight year of historic education funding for New Jersey. But an NJ Advance Media analysis of 10 years of state spending data shows that K-12 funding for school districts has actually dropped in the last decade when adjusted for inflation. That aid, which can be used by districts in the classroom, is still recovering from major cuts in Christie’s first budget. With inflation factored in, K-12 funding in Christie’s 2015-16 budget proposal is more than $350 million lower than it was in 2005-06, according to the analysis. ‘There is no question that in real dollars New Jersey school districts are receiving less support for public education,’ said John Donahue, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials.” [NJ Advance Media, 3/12/15]

Universal Pre-K

Chris Christie opposed universal pre-kindergarten and called preschool “babysitting.” “Today, the future of expanded preschool is uncertain. While campaigning for governor, Chris Christie’s comments ranged from calling preschool ‘babysitting’ to proposing continuing preschool funding only in the 31 poorest school districts to saying that a ‘universal’ preschool mandate ‘ignores the realities of classroom availability, cost, staff, not to mention the existence of a broad spectrum of private providers.’” [Asbury Park Press, 3/21/10]

Teaching Creationism

Chris Christie said that school systems should be allowed to teach creationism. “The refusal to explain his position comes one week after a town hall meeting in Manalapan, where Christie was asked what he thought of creationism being taught in schools alongside evolution. Christie said the decision to teach creationism should be made at the local level, and reiterated that position yesterday. ‘Evolution is required teaching,’ Christie said. ‘If there’s a certain school district that also wants to teach creationism, that’s not something we should decide in Trenton.’” [Newark Star-Ledger, 5/13/11]

Higher Education

Chris Christie said that it was “wrong” to push for debt-free college. “As Democratic presidential candidates begin to include a debt-free college system as part of their respective campaigns, New Jersey Gov. and Republican contender Chris Christie thinks the push is a ‘typical liberal approach.’ […] ‘That is a typical liberal approach. It is wrong,’ he said. ‘If college graduates are going to reap the greater economic rewards and opportunities of earning a degree, then it seems fair for them to support the cost of the education they’re receiving.’” [USA Today, 6/12/15]

Chris Christie said he was “anxious to do away with caps on tuition increases at four-year state colleges.” “Gov. Chris Christie says he’s anxious to do away with caps on tuition increases at four-year state colleges, adding that college presidents should be free to seek ‘market prices’ and be given broader autonomy for nearly all management matters. Christie, who will unveil his annual budget next month, last year led the state to cut spending on higher education by $173 million and set a 4 percent limit on tuition increases, but now says the cap may have been a mistake, adding, ‘I wonder whether I did the right thing there or not.’’ [Asbury Park Press, 1/10/11]

Chris Christie vetoed a college affordability bill that would have studied a program to restructure tuition payments at public universities. “Governor Christie issued an unexpected veto today of a college affordability bill sponsored by the Senate President. The measure was a pet project of the Senate President, Stephen Sweeney. […] The bill would have created a panel to investigate a proposed ‘pay it forward’ program, which would allow students at state colleges to avoid paying traditional tuition. Instead, they would pay the state a percentage of their future income for a certain number of years. The panel would have also looked into other college affordability proposals, including possible changes to state loan and educational savings programs. Christie said those issues ‘are already being addressed’ by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education and the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.’ [Record, 1/13/14]

TO:                       Interested Parties

FROM:                 Isaac Wright, Executive Director, Correct The Record

DATE:                  August 13, 2015

SUBJECT:          On Social Security’s 80^th Birthday, the GOP Has a Message for the Program: Your Days Are Numbered

The Republicans running for president have it in for Social Security. If elected, every single one of them would cut the popular and effective program that provides a safety net for millions of Americans.

Today, on the 80^th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of the Social Security Act, we can’t let the GOP contenders get away with hiding their out-of-touch and out-of-date beliefs on retirement protection that American seniors have paid into and rely upon for their economic security. From Jeb Bush’s support for his brother’s plan to privatize Social Security, to Chris Christie’s argument that Social Security reflects a “gimme gimme gimme attitude,” to Marco Rubio’s belief that Social Security and Medicare have “weakened us as a people,” the Republican candidates are part of a conspiracy to end Social Security as we know it.

The GOP on Social Security

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush supported “his brother’s proposal to privatize portions of Social Security.” “Under President Bush, for example, oil companies are expected to have an easier time exploring for new oil reserves. Gov. Bush — and most Florida politicians — oppose any oil drilling off the coast of Florida. And though Jeb Bush agrees with his brother’s proposal to privatize portions of Social Security, they may disagree over timing because such a move could anger seniors, still a powerful voting force in Florida.” [Orlando Sentinel, 1/21/01]

Jeb Bush slammed “gutless” congressional Republicans for not enacting his brother’s Social Security privatization plan. “One issue on which Jeb Bush believes Republicans dropped the ball was Social Security and Medicare reform. ‘I was disappointed that the Republicans didn’t rally around’ the president, he says. ‘It wasn’t just Democrats being opposed to it. I think it was the gutless nature of a lot of Republicans in Congress. This was the beginning of what I saw as the demise. When they had a chance to unite behind the president to advance a solution to this ticking time bomb, some did, but many blinked.” [Orlando Sentinel, 9/11/08]

Jeb Bush said the Social Security retirement age should be raised to “68 or 70.” “People that already have this supplemental retirement system, which is a contract — I don’t think we violate that. For people that are about ready to be, be beneficiaries of their supplemental retirement, I don’t think we change that. But we need to look over the horizon and begin to phase in, over an extended period of time, going from 65 to 68 or 70.” [CBS News, 5/31/15]

Jeb Bush: “The next president is going to have to try” to privatize Social Security. “Taking one question about his commitment to balancing the budget, Bush emphasized that entitlement spending is the biggest barrier to doing so, and promised that if elected, he would resume the last Republican president’s push to restructure Social Security. ‘My brother tried, got totally wiped out. Republicans and Democrats wanted nothing to do with it,’ Bush said. ‘The next president is going to have to try again.’” [National Journal, 6/16/15]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie released a proposal to cut Social Security benefits and raise the Social Security retirement age. “Christie, whose chances of winning the GOP nomination had already sunk to Ted Cruz levels, released a bold Social Security proposal on Tuesday. Specifically, he wants to cut benefits for those making more than $80,000 a year, end them for those making more than $200,000, and raise the retirement age from 67 to 69.” [FiveThirtyEight, 4/15/15]

Chris Christie proposed raising the Social Security retirement to 69 and the early retirement age to 64. “Christie would also raise the normal retirement age for Social Security —quickly, by actuarial standards — to 69 (it’s currently headed for 67) and the early-retirement age from 62 to 64.” [Yahoo, 4/14/15]

Chris Christie said that Social Security was part of a “gimme gimme gimme attitude.” “A frustrated caller named Jeff noted that he’d already seen his retirement age jump from 65 to 67 in his lifetime under President Reagan’s 1983 reform. He angrily asked Christie, ‘How many times are you going to move the goal line?’ The caller asked if Christie would consider, if president, would instead consider raising the income cap on social security payments to tax income beyond the currently-taxed $118,000 maximum. Christie quickly lost his empathetic demeanor. ‘I love this ‘gimme gimme gimme!’ attitude,’ said Christie, ‘These are facts: If we don’t do it, the money’s not going to be there. And the solution of a guy like Jeff is: Raise somebody’s taxes. Not his. Raise somebody else’s. I’m sorry. We hear this all the time. But the math doesn’t work, and somebody has to be willing to tell you the truth. And that’s what I’m doing.’” [NJ Advance Media, 4/27/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio claimed that Social Security and Medicare had “weakened us as a people.” “In another sign that Medicare and Social Security will continue to be major issues in political campaigning and ongoing deficit reduction talks, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has drawn flak this week from Democrats and retirement experts for his comments that such programs have ‘weakened us as a people.’ Democrats called Rubio ‘out of touch’ and ‘beholden to the extremist Tea Party’ for his comments in a speech Tuesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in California.” [Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 8/25/11]

Marco Rubio on Social Security: “We need to increase the retirement age for future retirees.”  “This is some progress in adjusting Social Security to the modern era, but not enough to ensure that the program will be there for your kids and my kids. We need to increase the retirement age for future retirees to account for the rise in life expectancy.” [Marco Rubio, American Dreams, 1/13/15]

Scott Walker

Scott Walker said that cutting “entitlement programs” like Social Security and Medicare is “something that has to be done.” “The governor said entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, are expanding the federal budget deficit. Cutting entitlements won’t hurt the economy, he said. ‘I don’t think that has a negative impact on the economy,’ he said. ‘Politically, it may be a challenge for some folks in this town, but it’s something that has to be done.’” [Bloomberg, 2/23/15]

Scott Walker suggested he would support raising the Social Security retirement age.” At a forum Monday featuring 14 of the 17 major Republican candidates, Gov. Scott Walker suggested he would support raising the age to qualify for Social Security.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/3/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson supported raising the Social Security retirement age. “When Social Security was first enacted, the average age of death was about 63 years. It is now approaching 80 years and rising. Obviously we have to adjust to a changing situation. The age at which benefits are distributed should be gradually raised. I stress the word gradually because people must be given a chance to adjust their plans and expectations.” [Forbes, 1/29/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz believed George Bush’s push to privatize Social Security “was the right thing to do.” “I also think you’ve got to give George W. Bush some real credit—he showed remarkable courage in the beginning of the second term taking on Social Security reform and personal accounts. It was the right thing to do. Sadly, congressional Republicans ran to the hills and abandoned him.” [CNBC interview with John Harwood, 4/9/15]

Ted Cruz supported raising the retirement age and means-testing for Social Security. “CAVUTO: So, what does that mean? Does that mean that you would eventually raise the retirement age? Would you means-test it? What? CRUZ: Well, it means you do both.” [Fox News’ Your World With Neil Cavuto, 6/4/15]

Ted Cruz said “there’s no doubt” that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. “SMITH: So I’m going to take that as a yes. That you believe that social security is a Ponzi scheme. CRUZ: I think there is an effort to treat that as rhetoric, but there’s no doubt that’s what it is.” [Texas Tribune Festival, 9/11/11]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul called Social Security “a Ponzi scheme” and supported efforts to privatize the program. “In the late 1990s, Paul — then a simple ophthalmologist and president of Kentucky Taxpayers United — appeared on several episodes ‘Kentucky Tonight,’ a roundtable-style show on public television. He talked about the elderly dying at the hands of Medicare rationing; the need to privatize Social Security, which he called ‘a Ponzi scheme;’ and the rights of the government to invest in racist companies.” [Talking Points Memo, 7/12/10]

Rand Paul said he would “individualize” Social Security by establishing private accounts. “I believe in less involvement in your retirement account, not more. I’d like to let you have a private account. I’d like to individualize Social Security and let you put it in an account with a number on and you log on and it’s your money. If you die, you could give it to your family.” [Lars Larson Radio Show, 4/15/15]

Rand Paul sought to raise the Social Security retirement age. “During my time in Congress, I have worked on proposals that would fully fix the shortfall in the Social Security program through a gradual increase in the age of full retirement and by means testing yearly earnings, while preserving those benefits for near and current retirees. These changes would only apply to younger Americans who have time to plan for the future.” [Office of Senator Rand Paul, accessed 11/19/14]

Rand Paul introduced a proposal that would increase the Social Security retirement age and cut benefits. “Under a proposal unveiled by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), the qualifying age for Social Security would rise from 67 to 70 by 2032, while benefits for everyone earning more than an average of $43,000 over their lifetime would be reduced.” [Mother Jones, 4/14/11]

John Kasich

John Kasich proposed a Social Security privatization plan similar to Pres. Bush’s “that would reduce the Social Security benefits of future retirees by a total of about 45 percent.” “Some Republicans who claim that privatization will work are more up front about the need for benefit cuts. Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio) has introduced a plan similar to Bush’s that would reduce the Social Security benefits of future retirees by a total of about 45 percent.” [Chicago Tribune, 10/26/00]

Rick Perry

Rick Perry said Social Security was a “Ponzi scheme” and a “monstrous lie.” “Texas Gov. Rick Perry says Social Security is a ‘monstrous lie’ for younger Americans. ‘It is a monstrous lie. It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you’ve paid into a program that’s going to be there. Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and that’s not right.’” [Real Clear Politics, 9/7/11]

Rick Perry suggested that Social Security was unconstitutional. “Perry, who referred to the justices as ‘nine oligarchs in robes,’ said he was not convinced that Social Security and Medicare were constitutional. ‘I don’t think our Founding Fathers, when they were putting the term ‘general welfare’ in there, were thinking about a federally operated program of pensions nor a federally operated program of healthcare,’ he said in a book interview with Newsweek last fall. ‘Whether it’s Social Security, whether it’s Medicaid, whether it’s Medicare … they’re bankrupt. They’re a Ponzi scheme. I challenge anybody to stand up and defend the Social Security program that we have today.’” [Los Angeles Times, 8/23/11]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum was a major advocate for President Bush’s proposal to privatize Social Security. “Mr. Santorum is a member of the Finance Committee responsible for the program, and chairman of its Social Security subcommittee. Probably no Republican other than Mr. Bush has held more public events on the issue, though Mr. Santorum — lacking the president’s security cordon — has cut back after state-wide appearances in February drew protests by groups such as MoveOn.org and AARP. And no one has privately pressed harder for wary Republicans in Congress to stick by the president and his private-accounts proposal — and even to go for larger accounts.” [WSJ, 5/12/05]

 Rick Santorum supported cutting Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age. “Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called Friday for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits, risking the wrath of older voters and countless others who balk at changes to the entitlement program…Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, says changes should include a higher eligibility age to qualify for Social Security benefits, and tighter restrictions on benefits for upper-income people. Americans now qualify for reduced Social Security benefits at age 62 and full benefits at 66, soon to rise to 67.” [Huffington Post, 1/6/12]

Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal supported President Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. “Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, and 10 other Republican House members were summoned Feb. 17 to the White House to talk to President Bush about Social Security. Jindal and Rep. Joe Schwartz, a doctor from Michigan, were the only freshmen legislators invited. In the hour-and-a-half session, attended by Vice President Dick Cheney, Jindal said Bush made his pitch for private investment accounts in Social Security and sought his guests’ views on reforming the program. Jindal favors the president’s plan to let workers divert payroll taxes to investment accounts, but he said he wanted to see more details and told that to the president. ‘They are open to ideas and very interested in reaching an agreement,’ he said. ‘But they are still very early in the process.’” [Times-Picayune, 2/27/05]

Carly Fiorina

Under Carly Fiorina’s leadership, Hewlett-Packard was a member of a coalition of businesses that pushed to privatize Social Security. “Even before President Bush elevated Social Security to the top of his national agenda in his State of the Union speech, he’d roused two powerful lobbying forces that had been arming themselves for a fight over the nation’s retirement system. […] Business interests have been awaiting this opportunity for years. More than six years ago, influential business and trade associations joined with corporations such as Hewlett-Packard and Pfizer to form the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security and push for changes along the lines the president now proposes.” [Knight Ridder, 2/3/05]

• The Alliance for Worker Retirement Security identified “the creation of private accounts as its No. 1 principle.” “The manufacturers group is the principal sponsor of the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, a coalition seeking to revamp Social Security. On its website, the alliance lists the creation of private accounts as its No. 1 principle.” [Los Angeles Times, 1/30/05]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham threatened to force the federal government to default on its debt unless Congress agreed to raise the Social Security retirement age and “means test” benefits for seniors. “Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened to oppose this must-pass bill unless Social Security benefits are taken away from millions of future retirees: ‘I’m not going to raise the debt ceiling unless we get serious about keeping the country from becoming Greece, saving Social Security and Medicare [sic]. So here’s what I would like: meaningful entitlement reform — not to turn Social Security into private accounts, not to take a voucher approach to Medicare — but, adjust the age for Social Security, CPI changes and means testing and look beyond the ten-year window. I cannot in good conscience raise the debt ceiling without addressing the long term debt problems of this country and I will not.’” [Think Progress, 12/30/13]

Lindsey Graham introduced a proposal that would increase the Social Security retirement age and cut benefits. “Under a proposal unveiled by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah), the qualifying age for Social Security would rise from 67 to 70 by 2032, while benefits for everyone earning more than an average of $43,000 over their lifetime would be reduced.” [Mother Jones, 4/14/11]