Hillary Clinton co-sponsored that bill, and was lead sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act in 2005 and 2007. Republicans on Capitol Hill, however – including several seeking their party’s presidential nomination – consistently vote against wage equality. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio—we’re looking at you.

These guys aren’t the only ones to uphold the wage gap. As we celebrate this moment in history, let’s not forget that Republican candidates have a history of opposing women’s progress (and one—ahem, Jeb—had never heard of the Paycheck Fairness Act).

THE GOP ON EQUAL PAY

Donald Trump

Donald Trump said equal pay legislation could lead to “an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy.” “CUOMO: You said I’m going to be great for women. I will do the most that can be done for women. Will you pass an equal pay? You know the statistics. You know, they don’t get paid what men do? TRUMP: I’m looking into that very strongly. I was asked that question yesterday. I’m looking into it very strongly. I will have a position on it in the not too distant future. One of the problems you have is you get to have an economy where it’s no longer free enterprise economy. You know, everybody gets the saying whether the — the concept of it is good. It’s a very complicated. The whole issue is a very complicated issue.” [CNN’s New Day, 8/11/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times. According to the Congressional record, Ted Cruz cast two “nay” votes against the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would strengthen protections for victims of wage discrimination on the basis of sex. [S. 2199, 4/1/14; Senate roll call vote 260, 9/10/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio said he voted against fair pay legislation because “all it really did is just help lawyers sue.” “The most recent data shows that women who work full time throughout the year make just 79 percent of what men doing the same make, and the gap shows up in virtually every job, every single industry, and at every education level. It’s even wider for women of color. Yet when asked by members of the work/family organization Make It Work why he has voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times, a bill that would ban salary secrecy and strengthen protections against unequal pay, Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) indicated that the gap shouldn’t even exist today. ‘It’s already illegal to pay women less than men,’ he responded. ‘If I pay a woman less than a man for the same job, it’s illegal now. You can be sued now.’ Though he offered up lawsuits as the remedy for unequal pay, Rubio is against the Paycheck Fairness Act because it would result in more lawsuits. ‘The Paycheck [Fairness] Act, all it did was allow trial lawyers to sue,’ he said. ‘The reason I voted against it is because…all it really did is just help lawyers sue.’” [Think Progress, 11/30/15]

Marco Rubio repeatedly voted against equal pay legislation, calling it “a welfare plan for trial lawyers.” “Republicans, seeking to mitigate the fallout after recent debates over women’s health have cast them in a harsh light among female voters, were careful not to be seen as rooting against the cause of equal pay. Instead, they decried the bill as a political stunt. ‘It’s pure election-year politics,’ said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). ‘This bill reads more to me like some sort of a welfare plan for trial lawyers.’” [Talking Points Memo, 6/5/12; 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]

Marco Rubio claimed the push for fair pay legislation was “about scoring political points.” In an official press release, Rubio said, “Once again, Senate Democrats have wasted the American people’s time by holding yet another show vote that proves any sense of urgency they have is about scoring political points instead of solving the problems that threaten America’s future.” [Official Marco Rubio Press Release, 6/5/12]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush: “What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?” “‘What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?’ Bush asked, in an exchange captured by the liberal opposition research outfit American Bridge. Once the man he was speaking with defined it as a bill that would ensure that women get ‘equal pay for equal work,’ Bush took issue with his phrasing. ‘Equal pay for the same work, not for equal work — I think that’s the problem with it. I think there’s a definition issue,’ he said, before declining to say whether or not he thought Land should support the legislation.” [The Hill, 10/15/14]

Jeb Bush suggested that existing wage laws were sufficient to ensure equal pay. “‘Wages should be equal, and there are laws to make it so, and they should be enforced,’ Bush said in response to a subsequent question from one female employee, implying he thought that existing statutes were effective at making it so. The employee cited the oft-used statistic that by some measures women are paid 79 percent of what men make for the same work. Bush interrupted her to ask whether that was the case at the startup.” [TIME, 7/16/15]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie vetoed “two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks.” “Gov. Chris Christie says he’s committed to pay equity for women. So why, for the second time, has he killed two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks? […] One bill, called the Wage Transparency Act, Christie outright vetoed. It would have required state contractors to make their gender, race and wage information publicly available, as federal contractors will soon have to. Christie argues the state’s prevailing wage law already requires wage reporting. But it doesn’t cover all public contractors. And we have yet to see any evidence that doing so would be too ‘costly and burdensome’ for business, as Christie claims. Weinberg’s other bill, the Unfair Wage Recovery Act, Christie’s conditional veto has rendered toothless. Under this reform, a woman who suddenly discovers she is being paid less than male co-workers would have had the opportunity to seek all the back pay she is owed, without hitting an arbitrary statute of limitations.” [Star-Ledger, 8/14/14]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act multiple times and compared equal pay legislation to the Soviet Politburo. “Paul, a staunch libertarian, said passing a law that would have given judges more leeway to determine if a woman had been paid unfairly would be a step toward reviving the Soviet Union’s notorious central governing body here. The United States’ free market, he argued, works much better at setting wages at the appropriate level. ‘Three hundred million people get to vote everyday on what you should be paid or what the price of goods are,’ Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. ‘In the Soviet Union, the Politburo decided the price of bread, and they either had no bread or too much bread. So setting prices or wages by the government is always a bad idea.’” [Huffington Post, 6/5/12; 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]

Rand Paul: “I think some of the victimology and all of this other stuff is trumped up.” “Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that Democrats are failing in their attempts to frame the GOP as a party that wages a war against women. ‘The whole thing of the ‘war on women,’ I sort of laughingly say, ‘Yeah, there might have been – but the women are winning it,’’ the Republican senator from Kentucky said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ He said women have made great strides and, as an example, now make up more than half the students at medical and law schools. […] ‘And I think some of the victimology and all of this other stuff is trumped up. We don’t get to any good policy by playing some sort of charade that somehow one party doesn’t care about women or one party is not in favor of women advancing, or other people advancing.’” [CNN, 1/26/14]

John Kasich

John Kasich said the gender wage gap was “based on experience” and “tied up in skills.” “In Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) grilled presidential candidate John Kasich about his views on immigration, gun control, the wars in the Middle East, and economic inequality — particularly between men and women. USHCC President Javier Palomarez challenged the Ohio governor on the fact that women in his state working full time are getting paid roughly 78 percent of what men make — according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. For Latina women across the U.S., the gap is even greater: just 54 percent of what men made in 2014. Palomarez pointed out that Kasich has daughters of his own, and asked how he explains this disparity to them. ‘Well, a lot of it is based on experience,’ Kasich replied. ‘A lot of different factors go into it. It’s all tied up in skills. Do you not have the skills to be able to compete?’” [Think Progress,10/7/15]

Women working in Gov. John Kasich’s office were paid an average of $9.81 per hour less than men. “A newspaper investigation has found the average pay gap between men and women in the offices of four of Ohio’s five elected statewide officials has grown to as much as almost $10 an hour, as it’s shrunk to under a dollar across the rest of state government. Women working in Republican Gov. John Kasich’s office earn $9.81-an-hour less, on average, than men, the Dayton Daily News analysis published Sunday showed. That’s the highest gender pay gap among statewide officeholders, according to the newspaper’s study of Ohio Department of Administrative Services data. The gender gap compares to $3.99-an-hour under former Gov. Ted Strickland.” [Associated Press, 4/21/14]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina called equal pay legislation “tokens” and “gestures.” “Fiorina: I think in some cases we just have to take on the facts. There are plenty of laws in place today that a woman can look to if she’s truly discriminated against at work, where she’s actually earning less for the same job as her male counterpart. So the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — these are tokens. They’re gestures. They don’t truly help women advance. We can’t avoid the factual arguments, because they’re on our side. [CNN, 6/30/14]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum opposed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, calling it “a trial lawyer’s bill.” “As polls show the tightening of a gender gap and the chase by both Romney and Obama for an elusive ‘women’s vote’ that everyone agrees is far from monolithic, Santorum dismissed all the fuss over Romney’s ‘binders full of women’ and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, touted by the president Tuesday and since as the first piece of legislation he signed. ‘It’s very interesting that what Barack Obama pointed to was a trial lawyer’s bill,’ Santorum told me after his brief speech. ‘The Lilly Ledbetter bill basically gives women a longer period of time to file a lawsuit,’ he said. ‘This was advocated by the trial lawyers so they could make more money. This had nothing to do with changing the law with respect to pay for women or rights for women. It simply gave lawyers a longer time to sue. This is the kind of small ball this president is playing. He’s not talking about major issues that can improve the employment picture for women or for people in this country. He’s talking about taking care of his friends in the trial bar.’” [Washington Post, 10/18/12]

Thursday, January 28, 2016    

Washington, DC — In response to tonight’s Republican debate in Iowa, Correct The Record President Brad Woodhouse released the following statement.

“FOX News, the Republican Party and the Mini-Me collection of Republican candidates who participated in tonight’s GOP debate in Iowa learned the hard way what it’s like to live in the age of Trump,” said Correct the Record President Brad Woodhouse.  “While Trump was across town being carried live by every other network, and while he, not the other GOP candidates, dominated social media, the rest of the Republican field desperately and hopelessly failed to catch up to him.

“It was Donald Trump who set the agenda for a debate that he didn’t even bother to show up for.  From talk of zero ‘amnesty’ to snatching health care away from millions of Americans, to spewing their hatred of Hillary Clinton, the GOP debate sounded like a greatest hit parade from one of Trump’s own rallies.

“Long ago this crowd of GOP presidential wannabes made the decision that if you can’t beat him, join him – and in the Age of Trump that means, above all else, hate-filled rhetoric, bellicose fear-mongering and an aversion to any semblance of facts.  But for all their efforts tonight, from Cruz to Rubio, Bush and the rest – once again, they got Trumped.”

Correct The Record is a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks.

Correct The Record ∙ http://correct2016.wpengine.com/∙ Facebook ∙ @CorrectRecord

###

Bumped from the main stage are Paul and Fiorina. Left are the not-so-magnificent seven, from Trump to Rubio to Cruz to…we’ve lost track: in the end, each and every one of these Republicans plies in the same extreme policies and backwards proposals.

You’ll hear shouts and insults and the usual attacks on minorities, women, and immigrants. You’ll see navy-blue suits and faux-angry gestures. But you won’t get a hint of progress—just the same tired spectacle we’ve come to expect.

Bottom line: These Republican hopefuls are all identical – out of touch and too extreme.

WHICH REPUBLICAN HOPEFULS HAVE OPPOSED A PATHWAY TO CITZENSHIP?

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Ted Cruz said that “a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.”

Carly Fiorina said, “My own view is, if you have come here illegally and stayed here illegally, that you don’t get a path to citizenship.” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 6/15/15]

Chris Christie stated that providing a pathway to citizenship was “an extreme way to go.”

John Kasich: Kasich remarked that he was “not for giving anybody a path to citizenship here.”

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME. 

Donald Trump: On CNN’s State of the Union in this past summer, Trump stated he was for “traditional marriage.”

Jeb Bush: In a campaign press release, Bush wrote, “Guided by my faith, I believe in traditional marriage.”

Chris Christie: Christie criticized the Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality.

John Kasich: Kasich opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions.

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

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]

Marco Rubio: Rubio said he voted against fair pay legislation because “all it really did is just help lawyers sue.”

Chris Christie: Christie vetoed “two sensible reforms that would help prevent women from getting cheated in their paychecks.”

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME. 

Ted Cruz opposed universal background checks for gun buyers.

Marco Rubio opposed bipartisan legislation to require background checks on gun purchases.

Rick Santorum opposed universal background checks for gun purchases.

John Kasich said of gun background checks: “I don’t think more laws are going to fix this.”

AND THE REST? THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.

Marco Rubio said that Muslims were like “Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren’t violent themselves.” [ABC’s This Week, 11/15/15]                             

Jeb Bush said he supported making Syrian refugees “prove” they’re Christian as part of the vetting process. 

Mike Huckabee said that “it’s time to wake up and smell the falafel” and close our borders to Syrian refugees.

Rand Paul supported reinstating a failed racial profiling program that targeted Muslims entering the country.

Rubio’s record on veterans’ issues is of great concern to our nation’s servicemembers, so he’s lucky to be in friendly territory this afternoon—addressing a group directly affiliated with the Koch brothers and their funding.

Rubio isn’t the only Republican presidential hopeful who has played puppet to the Koch brothers and their self-serving agenda. In August, Ted Cruz took his shot at addressing the same group in an attempt to win over the Koch brothers’ dark money.

When it’s all said and done, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and the other Republican presidential candidates have a poor record of service to our nation’s veterans and are pawns in the Koch brothers’ strategy to take the White House. The fact that access to important benefits and services are being denied to the men and women who fight for our freedom highlights how ill-prepared GOP hopefuls are to serve as our next Commander-in-Chief.

2016 GOP on Veterans Issues

Marco Rubio

Education

Marco Rubio voted to block further action on a bill that would have enhanced benefits for veterans including guaranteeing in-state tuition rates at all public universities for post-9/11 veterans. “Senate Republicans derailed efforts to move forward with a $21 billion bill to enhance health care, education and job benefits for veterans. Republicans stopped the veterans bill from moving on a procedural vote, which needed 60 votes. The final tally was 56-41. Republicans and Democrats normally agree on the need to enhance benefits for the nation’s 22 million veterans and their families, but Republican senators wanted to lower the amount of spending in the bill… The bill would have improved benefits for veterans, including better health care and dental services provided by the VA. It also would have guaranteed post-9/11 veterans access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in any state.” [ABC News, 2/27/14; S. 1982, 2/3/14]

Health Care

Marco Rubio supported privatizing the VA health care system. According to CNN, “A task force organized by Concerned Veterans for America said the VA should begin offering subsidized private insurance to veterans and transform its healthcare department into a nonprofit corporation instead of a government agency. The move comes in response to the scandal involving healthcare delays and data manipulation at VA facilities first reported by CNN. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, supported the proposed reforms, saying VA healthcare could improve by adopting the competition and flexibility of private healthcare.” [CNN, 2/26/15]

Marco Rubio supported transforming the VA health care system into a premium support model. At a health care policy summit hosted by the Concerned Veterans For America’s Fixing Veterans Health Care Task Force, Rubio said, “This premium support model is also exactly what we need to jolt the VA back to life. As soon as the VA is forced to compete with the private sector providers, it will increase the efficiency, the service and its innovation.” [Official Website of Senator Marco Rubio, 2/26/15]

Spousal Benefits

Marco Rubio voted against legislation that would ensure that “all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned.” In 2015, Rubio voted against an amendment that would “establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned and receive equal treatment under the law pursuant to the Constitution of the United States.” The Senate adopted the proposed amendment to the Senate’s FY 2016 budget resolution by a vote of 57 to 43, and later passed the amended resolution. [Senate roll call vote 121, 3/26/15; S. Amdt. 1063 to S. Con. Res. 11, 3/26/15]

VA Funding

Marco Rubio voted against providing $27 million for the Veterans Health Administration, as part of a $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery package. In January 2013, Rubio voted against a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, included provisions that “appropriate[d] the following amounts: […] Department of Veterans Affairs —$27 million through fiscal 2014 for the Veterans Health Administration, including $21 million for medical services and $6 million for medical facilities expenses. —$1.1 million for the National Cemetery Administration. —$531,000 for information technology systems. —$207 million for major construction projects through fiscal 2017.” The provisions were part of a larger bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “provide[d] about $50.5 billion for communities hit by Superstorm Sandy. Nearly all funding [was] designated as emergency spending exempt from discretionary caps, except for $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund.” The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 36; and, because the House had already approved the bill, it was then sent to the president, who signed it into law. [Senate roll call vote 4, 1/28/13; Congressional Quarterly, 1/28/13; Congressional Actions, H.R. 152; Congressional Quarterly, 1/30/13]

Marco Rubio effectively voted against considering the $142 billion FY 2012 Veterans Affairs, Military Construction, Military Housing and Related Programs appropriations bill. In July 2011, Rubio effectively voted against considering a bill that, according to the Congressional Quarterly Today, “would provide $142 billion in fiscal 2012 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction, military housing and related operations. The bill also includes $52.5 billion in advance fiscal 2013 appropriations for VA medical programs.” The vote was on a motion to end debate on the motion to proceed to consider the bill; the Senate agreed to end debate by a vote of 89 to 11. The bill later passed the Senate, and after the House agreed nearly five months later, the bill was committed to a conference committee. The resulting conference report passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the president on December 23, 2011. [Senate roll call vote 109, 7/13/11; Congressional Quarterly Today, All Congressional Actions, H.R. 2055; H.R. 2055, 5/31/11]

Ted Cruz

Education

Ted Cruz voted to block further action on a bill that would have enhanced benefits for veterans including guaranteeing in-state tuition rates at all public universities for post-9/11 veterans. “Senate Republicans derailed efforts to move forward with a $21 billion bill to enhance health care, education and job benefits for veterans. Republicans stopped the veterans bill from moving on a procedural vote, which needed 60 votes. The final tally was 56-41. Republicans and Democrats normally agree on the need to enhance benefits for the nation’s 22 million veterans and their families, but Republican senators wanted to lower the amount of spending in the bill… The bill would have improved benefits for veterans, including better health care and dental services provided by the VA. It also would have guaranteed post-9/11 veterans access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in any state.” [ABC News, 2/27/14; S. 1982, 2/3/14]

Spousal Benefits

Ted Cruz voted against legislation that would ensure that “all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned.” In 2015, Cruz voted against an amendment that would “establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned and receive equal treatment under the law pursuant to the Constitution of the United States.” The Senate adopted the proposed amendment to the Senate’s FY 2016 budget resolution by a vote of 57 to 43, and later passed the amended resolution. [Senate roll call vote 121, 3/26/15; S. Amdt. 1063 to S. Con. Res. 11, 3/26/15]

VA Funding

Ted Cruz voted against providing $27 million for the Veterans Health Administration, as part of a $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery package. In January 2013, Cruz voted against a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, included provisions that “appropriate[d] the following amounts: […] Department of Veterans Affairs —$27 million through fiscal 2014 for the Veterans Health Administration, including $21 million for medical services and $6 million for medical facilities expenses. —$1.1 million for the National Cemetery Administration. —$531,000 for information technology systems. —$207 million for major construction projects through fiscal 2017.” The provisions were part of a larger bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “provide[d] about $50.5 billion for communities hit by Superstorm Sandy. Nearly all funding [was] designated as emergency spending exempt from discretionary caps, except for $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund.” The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 36; and, because the House had already approved the bill, it was then sent to the president, who signed it into law. [Senate roll call vote 4, 1/28/13; Congressional Quarterly, 1/28/13; Congressional Actions, H.R. 152; Congressional Quarterly, 1/30/13]

Ben Carson

Health Care

Ben Carson questioned whether “we even need” the VA system. “World-famous neurosurgeon Ben Carson told WMAL’s ‘Drive at Five Show’ in Washington, D.C. Friday afternoon following VA Secretary Shinseki’s resignation that the greatest problem with the VA system is ‘too many layers of bureaucrats.’ […] ‘The real issue is that you got to get all that bureaucracy out of there and quite frankly, do we even need that system for most of our veterans? Why can they not be served at the local hospitals where they live and not have to drive 50 or a 100 miles to get a to a veterans facility? These are honored people in our society. They should be welcomed at any of our facilities and we should be honored to take care of them.’” [Daily Caller, 5/30/14]

Jeb Bush

Health Care

Jeb Bush supported transforming veterans’ health care into a voucher system. “Mr. Bush, sitting in front of an untouched breakfast at an IHOP in Colorado Springs, told a group of veterans that he favors transferring some elements of veterans’ care to private hospitals from government-run Veterans Affairs facilities. ‘This is where I think empowering people with the equivalent of a voucher that gives you the same economic benefit of receiving care inside of a clinic or a hospital,’ Mr. Bush said in a video of the public event recorded by the Democratic firm American Bridge. ‘If you had a chance to go to another place where the money followed the patient, it would give the veterans — you wouldn’t have these kind of hostile reactions, my job is protected for life, don’t mess with it.’” [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/15]

• Bush proposed a Koch brothers-backed “premium-support” option for voucherizing VA healthcare. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Last month in New Hampshire, Mr. Bush voiced support for 2014 legislation that allows veterans to see doctors outside the VA system if they experience long wait times or live more than 40 miles from the closest VA hospital. […]The effort to privatize elements of the VA system is a priority of the Koch brothers-backed group, Concerned Veterans for America, which in February called for creating a ‘premium-support private insurance option’ for current veterans and limiting eligibility requirements for future veterans.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/8/15]

Jeb Bush attempted to privatize portions of the VA health care system while Governor of Florida. According to CNN, “Jeb Bush’s effort as governor to partially privatize veterans health care services in Florida went so poorly it was ended shortly after Bush left office. That hasn’t stopped the former Republican governor, now in the early stages of running for president, from arguing veterans should be given the choice to see a public or private doctor, with either visit being paid for by the government. ‘All of these government programs should shift to the person who’s receiving the benefit and they should be empowered to have more choices, rather than be told what line you get into,’ Bush said recently in New Hampshire. […] But Bush’s experience outsourcing veterans’ nursing homes in Florida was a case study in privatization’s pitfalls. By the time it was over, Florida officials determined the state could provide higher-quality care at a better price for taxpayers.” [CNN, 5/1/15]

Chris Christie

Employment

Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a bill setting aside 3% of all state contracts for veteran-owned businesses. “A bill that would have set aside 3 percent of all state contracts for veteran-owned businesses was conditionally vetoed Tuesday by Gov. Chris Christie. The governor objected to the establishment of fixed percentage of contracts earmarked for veteran-owned businesses, according to his veto statement. In his suggested revisions, Christie deleted the section mandating that contracting agencies set aside 3 percent of their contracts for veteran-owned businesses and replaced it with language directing them to ‘give due consideration to veteran-owned businesses in awarding contracts.’’ [Asbury Park Press, 2/22/11]

Rand Paul

Education

Rand Paul voted to block further action on a bill that would have enhanced benefits for veterans including guaranteeing in-state tuition rates at all public universities for post-9/11 veterans. “Senate Republicans derailed efforts to move forward with a $21 billion bill to enhance health care, education and job benefits for veterans. Republicans stopped the veterans bill from moving on a procedural vote, which needed 60 votes. The final tally was 56-41. Republicans and Democrats normally agree on the need to enhance benefits for the nation’s 22 million veterans and their families, but Republican senators wanted to lower the amount of spending in the bill… The bill would have improved benefits for veterans, including better health care and dental services provided by the VA. It also would have guaranteed post-9/11 veterans access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities in any state.” [ABC News, 2/27/14; S. 1982, 2/3/14]

Spousal Benefits

Rand Paul voted against legislation that would ensure that “all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned.” In 2015, Paul voted against an amendment that would “establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring all legally married same-sex spouses have equal access to the Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned and receive equal treatment under the law pursuant to the Constitution of the United States.” The Senate adopted the proposed amendment to the Senate’s FY 2016 budget resolution by a vote of 57 to 43, and later passed the amended resolution. [Senate roll call vote 121, 3/26/15; S. Amdt. 1063 to S. Con. Res. 11, 3/26/15]

VA Funding

Rand Paul voted against providing $27 million for the Veterans Health Administration, as part of a $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery package. In January 2013, Paul voted against a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, included provisions that “appropriate[d] the following amounts: […] Department of Veterans Affairs —$27 million through fiscal 2014 for the Veterans Health Administration, including $21 million for medical services and $6 million for medical facilities expenses. —$1.1 million for the National Cemetery Administration. —$531,000 for information technology systems. —$207 million for major construction projects through fiscal 2017.” The provisions were part of a larger bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “provide[d] about $50.5 billion for communities hit by Superstorm Sandy. Nearly all funding [was] designated as emergency spending exempt from discretionary caps, except for $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund.” The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 36; and, because the House had already approved the bill, it was then sent to the president, who signed it into law. [Senate roll call vote 4, 1/28/13; Congressional Quarterly, 1/28/13; Congressional Actions, H.R. 152; Congressional Quarterly, 1/30/13]

Rand Paul effectively voted against considering the $142 billion FY 2012 Veterans Affairs, Military Construction, Military Housing and Related Programs appropriations bill. In July 2011, Paul effectively voted against considering a bill that, according to the Congressional Quarterly Today, “would provide $142 billion in fiscal 2012 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, military construction, military housing and related operations. The bill also includes $52.5 billion in advance fiscal 2013 appropriations for VA medical programs.” The vote was on a motion to end debate on the motion to proceed to consider the bill; the Senate agreed to end debate by a vote of 89 to 11. The bill later passed the Senate, and after the House agreed nearly five months later, the bill was committed to a conference committee. The resulting conference report passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the president on December 23, 2011. [Senate roll call vote 109, 7/13/11; Congressional Quarterly Today, All Congressional Actions, H.R. 2055; H.R. 2055, 5/31/11]

Lindsey Graham

VA Funding

Lindsey Graham voted against providing $27 million for the Veterans Health Administration, as part of a $50.5 billion Superstorm Sandy recovery package. In January 2013, Graham voted against a bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, included provisions that “appropriate[d] the following amounts: […] Department of Veterans Affairs —$27 million through fiscal 2014 for the Veterans Health Administration, including $21 million for medical services and $6 million for medical facilities expenses. —$1.1 million for the National Cemetery Administration. —$531,000 for information technology systems. —$207 million for major construction projects through fiscal 2017.” The provisions were part of a larger bill that, according to Congressional Quarterly, “provide[d] about $50.5 billion for communities hit by Superstorm Sandy. Nearly all funding [was] designated as emergency spending exempt from discretionary caps, except for $5.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund.” The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 36; and, because the House had already approved the bill, it was then sent to the president, who signed it into law. [Senate roll call vote 4, 1/28/13; Congressional Quarterly, 1/28/13; Congressional Actions, H.R. 152; Congressional Quarterly, 1/30/13]

Military Service

Lindsey Graham claimed to be “an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran, although he never got closer to the war than McEntire Air National Guard Base near Columbia where he was a military lawyer.” “U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham’s military service record has been called into question because the Republican congressman, who never went overseas, calls himself as a Gulf War veteran. Graham’s Internet web site biography lists him as an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran, although he never got closer to the war than McEntire Air National Guard Base near Columbia where he was a military lawyer. Graham, who said Wednesday he never intended to mislead people, processed wills for soldiers deploying to the Gulf and helped their family members with legal issues.” [Associated Press, 2/19/98]

The GOP’s Failure to Denounce Trump

The RNC

RNC Chair declined to say he would not support Trump as the nominee. “Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Tuesday condemned Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. ‘I don’t agree,’ Priebus said. ‘We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values.’ Priebus, speaking to the Washington Examiner during an interview on next week’s televised Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN, joined a growing chorus from within his party that has criticized Trump over his plan to implement a religious test for entry into the country. […] Priebus, pressed further on the implications of Trump’s plan on the future of the GOP and its presumed battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton in the general election, declined to answer. ‘That’s as far as I’m going to go,’ he said, referring to his initial answer.’” [Washington Examiner, 12/8/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz: “I will absolutely support the Republican nominee.” “Senator Ted Cruz said Tuesday he disagrees with Donald Trump on temporarily banning Muslims from entering the U.S., but he refused to repudiate his Republican presidential rival. ‘I disagree with that proposal,’ Cruz said. ‘I like Donald Trump.’ […] Cruz said he’d still support Trump or any other nominee. ‘I will absolutely support the Republican nominee and I hope and intend for that nominee to be me,’ he said.” [Bloomberg, 12/8/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio on Donald Trump’s potential nomination: “I’m going to support the Republican nominee.” GANGEL: “Jeb Bush says Donald Trump has dangerous views on national security and he has grave doubts about him as Commander in Chief. […] If he’s the nominee, would you enthusiastically support him?” RUBIO: “Well, I’m going to support the Republican nominee, and I’m comfortable that it’s not going to be Donald Trump, and I’m increasingly confident that it’s going to be me. And so I feel good answering that question.” [CNN’s State of the Union, 10/25/15]

Marco Rubio said he disagreed with Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims entering the United States, but did not denounce Trump as a candidate. “Florida Senator Marco Rubio, among the last of the large Republican field to weigh in, said, ‘I disagree with Donald Trump’s latest proposal. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together.’” [Boston Globe, 12/8/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson did not refuse to support Donald Trump as the nominee.  TAPPER: “A lot of Republicans have been fearful for a long time that Donald trump would leave the party and run in a third party independent bid. Donald trump tweeted today that a large majority of his supporters would vote for him even if he left the party to run as an independent. It seems a direct threat that he might leave. How much would that hurt the party, do you think, if he didn’t get the nomination and he was running a as a third party candidate? CARSON: Well, I believe that the party has pledged to be fair to him and to be fair to everybody. So I don’t see wherein that would be necessary, quite frankly. Obviously, if the people choose him, I think we have an obligation to respect the will of the people.” [CNN, 12/8/15]

Jeb Bush 

Jeb Bush said he would “absolutely” support the Republican nominee, regardless of who it was. TODD: “Well, it doesn’t sound like you can support him if he’s the nominee, why not say it?” BUSH: “Because it’s not going to happen. He’s not going to be the nominee. I will support the republican nominee and I’m working hard to make sure I’m it.” TODD: “So you will support the republican nominee no matter what the voters decide?” BUSH: “Absolutely. It’s not going to be Donald Trump.” [MSNBC, 12/8/15]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul said he would support Donald Trump if he were the Republican nominee for president. “Paul said he would still begrudgingly support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee. ‘I won’t be enthusiastic about it, I won’t be excited about it, but what I have said is I will support the nominee.’” [Yahoo News, 12/8/15]

Chris Christie

Chris Christie said earlier this month that he would support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president. BRZEZINSKI: “All right, I have some questions that we got off Facebook for you. Rapid fire.” CHRISTIE: “Rapid fire.” BRZEZINSKI: “Will you support Trump if he’s the nominee?” CHRISTIE: “Yes.” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 12/1/15]

John Kasich 

John Kasich on the day before Donald Trump proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States: “I signed a pledge that I would support the Republican [nominee.]” TAPPER: “On that line of criticism against the front-runner, Donald Trump, “The Washington Post” this morning in an editorial is calling for Republican leaders, Speaker Ryan, Leader McConnell, you, to state publicly that you would never endorse or vote for Trump. They feel like he is that negative an influence in American politics. Are you willing to do that?” KASICH: “Jake, I signed a pledge that I would support the Republican — I think that’s what we did at the first debate when we raised our hands. But, look, I have to tell you, I have been — I have been all over New Hampshire. I have had 37 town hall meetings and a zillion other meetings there. And I believe that Donald Trump will not be the nominee.” [CNN, 12/6/15]

Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina on Donald Trump: “I will support whoever the nominee of the Republican Party is.” GAYLE KING: “If Mister Trump becomes the nominee, would you support him?” CARLY FIORINA: “I will support whoever the nominee of the Republican Party is.” [CBS’ This Morning, 8/12/15]

Carly Fiorina called Donald Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States an “over reaction” but did not denounce him as a candidate. “The former Hewlett-Packard CEO drew a parallel with the speech President Obama gave Sunday night in the wake of the California attacks. ‘Unfortunately. I think Donald Trump’s over reaction is as dangerous as Obama’s under reaction,’ Fiorina said.” [NJ Advance Media, 12/8/15]

Worse, it’s not only their rhetoric – the GOP presidential candidates’ prejudiced and un-American polices confirm this hate. The GOP excludes and demonizes minorities to prey on the fears of their base.

Trump knows better than anyone that the GOP presidential field stands together.  Today on Morning Joe he said, “[The Republican candidates have] been condemning practically everything I say, and then they always come to my side… They’ve been condemning all of the things that I’ve been espousing, and now, most of them are on my side.”

GOP Islamophobia

Donald Trump

Donald Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. “Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump wants to bar all Muslims from entering the United States. In a statement from his campaign, Trump called for a ‘total and complete shutdown’ of Muslims entering the United States until elected leaders can ‘figure out what is going on.’ When asked by The Hill whether that would include Muslim-American citizens currently abroad, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks replied over email: ‘Mr. Trump says, ‘everyone.’’” [The Hill, 12/7/15]

• Donald Trump’s ban would apply to both potential immigrants and tourists. “Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he is calling for a ‘complete and total shutdown’ on Muslims entering the United States. Trump says in a statement released by his campaign Monday that his proposal comes in response to the level of hatred among ‘large segments of the Muslim population’ toward Americans. Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says Trump’s proposed ban would apply to ‘everybody,’ including Muslims seeking immigration visas as well as tourists seeking to enter the country.” [Associated Press, 12/7/15]

• Donald Trump’s ban would include American citizens abroad. “When asked by The Hill whether that would include Muslim-American citizens currently abroad, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks replied over email: ‘Mr. Trump says, ‘everyone.’’ Trump is quoted in the statement as saying that a significant number of Muslims harbor a ‘hatred’ toward America and as a result should be kept out of the country.” [The Hill, 12/7/15]

Donald Trump said he “would certainly implement” a national system to track Muslims in the United States. “Donald Trump ‘would certainly implement’ a database system tracking Muslims in the United States, the Republican front-runner told NBC News on Thursday night. ‘I would certainly implement that. Absolutely,’ Trump said in Newton, Iowa, in between campaign town halls. ‘There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases,’ he added. ‘We should have a lot of systems.’ When asked whether Muslims would be legally obligated to sign into the database, Trump responded, ‘They have to be — they have to be.’” [NBC News, 11/20/15]

Donald Trump falsely claimed that “Arab populations” in New Jersey “were cheer­ing as the World Trade Cen­ter came down.” “Trump told ABC’s This Week: ‘There were people that were cheer­ing on the oth­er side of New Jer­sey where you have large Ar­ab pop­u­la­tions. They were cheer­ing as the World Trade Cen­ter came down.’ If Trump ac­tu­ally saw this on tele­vi­sion, it was per­haps on a spe­cial chan­nel pro­duced only for him and some of his fol­low­ers. While In­ter­net posts al­leging this ex­is­ted im­me­di­ately fol­low­ing the ter­ror­ist at­tacks, po­lice de­part­ments and loc­al me­dia said then and say now there were no such cel­eb­ra­tions. In­ter­est­ingly, fel­low GOP can­did­ate Ben Car­son, who fol­low­ing Trump’s re­marks also said he saw the cheer­ing on TV, later said he had got­ten con­fused, and foot­age of the cel­eb­ra­tions was ac­tu­ally from East Jer­u­s­alem.” [National Journal, 11/30/15]

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz: “I will shut down the broken immigration system that is letting jihadists into our country.” “If I am elected President, I will direct the Department of Defense to destroy ISIS. And I will shut down the broken immigration system that is letting jihadists into our country.” [Ted Cruz press release, 12/6/15]

Ted Cruz employed an anti-Sharia activist as his Tennessee state chairman. “Republican Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is rejecting a call to drop an anti-Shariah activist as his state chairman for Tennessee. Kevin Kookogey, a former chairman of the Williamson County GOP, once criticized Republican Gov. Bill Haslam over the role of a Muslim staffer and a council that has advised two state departments on Islamic affairs. He presided over the 2012 passage of a resolution that said the governor had extended ‘preferential political status to Shariah adherents in Tennessee, thereby aiding and abetting the advancement of an ideology and doctrine which is wholly incompatible with the Constitution of the United States and the Tennessee Constitution.’ The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged Kookogey’s removal as Cruz’s Tennessee chairman, saying that keeping him in place would serve as what the group called ‘an endorsement of anti-Muslim hate.’” [Associated Press, 6/11/15]

Ben Carson

Ben Carson compared Syrian refugees to “dogs.” “‘If there’s a rabid dog running around in your neighborhood, you’re probably not going to assume something good about that dog, and you’re probably going to put your children out of the way,’ retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said Thursday in Mobile, Ala.,when he was asked about Syrian refugees. ‘It doesn’t mean that you hate all dogs by any stretch of the imagination, but you’re putting your intellect into motion.’” [Washington Post, 11/19/15]

Ben Carson said he would not support a Muslim for President of the United States. “Ben Carson says the United States should not elect a Muslim president. ‘I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that,’ the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate said Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’” [CNN, 9/21/15]

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio said that Muslims were like “Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren’t violent themselves.” “I don’t understand it. That would be like saying we weren’t at war with Nazis because we were afraid to offend some Germans who may have been members of the Nazi party, but weren’t violent themselves. We are at war with radical Islam, with an interpretation of Islam by a significant number of people around the world who they believe now justifies them in killing those who don’t agree with their ideology. This is a clash of civilizations. And as I said at the debate earlier this week, there is no middle ground on this. Either they win or we win, and we need to begin to take this seriously.” [ABC’s This Week, 11/15/15]

• Salon’s Elias Isquith: Marco Rubio implied “that all Muslims are morally equivalent to Nazis.” “As Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall has noted, this comment has not received nearly the amount of attention that it should. Because while it’s nothing new to hear the violent extremism of ISIS or al Qaeda compared to Nazism, it’s much less common to hear someone of stature imply that all Muslims are morally equivalent to Nazis. Not Germans, mind you, but Nazis — which means, of course, that Islam is equivalent to the Nazi Party.” [Salon, 11/21/15]

• TPM’s Josh Marshall: “The clear import of Rubio’s Nazi analogy is that we are in fact at war with Islam itself but that there are many Muslims who haven’t themselves committed acts of terrorism.” “As this crowd is fond of saying, words have meaning and they have consequences. And the clear import of Rubio’s Nazi analogy is that we are in fact at war with Islam itself but that there are many Muslims who haven’t themselves committed acts of terrorism. Read the actual words. That’s the only reasonable interpretation of the analogy as he states it. He doesn’t say it’s comparable to not mentioning Nazism because it might offend all Germans but that it’s like tiptoeing around the word ‘Nazism’ for fear of offending German members of the Nazi party. Again, in this framework all Muslims are comparable to Nazi party members. Just some haven’t gotten their hands dirty.” [Talking Points Memo, 11/19/15]

• Washington Post: Marco Rubio was “essentially casting the Paris attackers as products of Muslim society rather than a radical group apart from it.” “Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) said the attacks were part of a ‘clash of civilizations’ — essentially casting the Paris attackers as products of Muslim society rather than a radical group apart from it.” [Washington Post, 11/19/15]

• New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait: “If we tease out Rubio’s metaphor, the Muslim faith as a whole is equivalent to Nazism, and violent jihadi terrorists are the equivalent of the Nazi leadership.” “If we tease out Rubio’s metaphor, the Muslim faith as a whole is equivalent to Nazism, and violent jihadi terrorists are the equivalent of the Nazi leadership. Rubio has a knack for grasping the midpoint of Republican Party doctrine at any given moment, and his comments reflect the party’s renewed conviction that the war against terrorists must be defined in the broadest possible terms.” [New York Magazine, 11/16/15]

Marco Rubio said he was open to not allowing Muslim students to receive student visas in the U.S. “On Thursday morning, Rubio stood by his comments in an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum: MACCALLUM: You opened the door to perhaps not allowing Muslim students to receive student visas in this country. Did you mean that, 24 hours later? RUBIO: Yeah. Because, let me explain to you. We have to get proper perspective here. No one has a right to immigrate to the United States. No one has a right to visit the United States and no one has a right to get a visa to study in the United States.” [Think Progress, 4/24/13]

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush said he supported making Syrian refugees “prove” they’re Christian as part of the vetting process. “Asked whether he would bar moderate Muslims entirely, Bush said he wants to see what the vetting process looks like first. He was also asked how he would distinguish between Muslims and Christians. ‘You can prove you’re a Christian,’ he said. Pressed further on how, Bush shrugged his shoulders and replied: ‘I think you can prove it. If you can’t prove it, then, you know, you err on the side of caution.’” [CNN, 11/18/15]

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee on the refugee crisis: “It’s time to wake up and smell the falafel…We are importing terrorism.” “Former governor of Arkansas and current presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee responded to Friday night’s terrorist attacks in Paris by saying on Saturday that the United States should close their borders to Syrian refugees. ‘It’s time to wake up and smell the falafel,’ Huckabee told Fox News’ Bret Baier, referring to the traditionally Middle Eastern dish that is — perhaps unbeknownst to him — loved and made by Christians, Jews and Muslims. ‘We are importing terrorism.’” [Huffington Post, 11/16/15]

Mike Huckabee called Muslims “uncorked animals” and said Islam is “a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet.” “Speaking on his radio program on Monday, Huckabee prefaced his remarks by saying that he understood it was ‘politically incorrect’ to ‘say anything unkind about Islam.’ He then went on to suggest that Islamic teachings were to blame for recent unrest during the holy month of Ramadan. ‘Can someone explain to me why it is that we tiptoe around a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet in their so-called “holiest days,”’ Huckabee said. ‘You know, if you’ve kept up with the Middle East, you know that the most likely time to have an uprising of rock throwing and rioting comes on the day of prayer on Friday. So the Muslims will go to the mosque, and they will have their day of prayer, and they come out of there like uncorked animals — throwing rocks and burning cars.’”  [Huffington Post, 8/9/13]

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum endorsed racial profiling of Muslims. “In a discussion over balancing national security and privacy, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Tuesday he would endorse profiling, specifically of Muslims and young men, in order to enhance security at airports. ‘We should be trying to find the bomber, not the bomb,’ the former Pennsylvania senator said at the CNN debate, explaining his support for profiling. He cited the use of profiling in Israel as an example of how it would work. Asked to explain by debate moderator CNN’s Wolf Blitzer who would be profiled, Santorum said, ‘The folks who are most likely to be committing these crimes.’” [CBS News, 11/23/11]

Rand Paul

Rand Paul supported reinstating a failed racial profiling program that targeted Muslims entering the country. “So one would have thought that he would not try and do Lindsey Graham’s job for him and position himself as the frontman for the notorious National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) that is nothing if not surveillance-on-steroids. Implemented in the wake of 9-11, the program was a naked form of racial profiling that targeted Muslims and was finally suspended in 2011. Yet, Paul commented to Breitbart: ‘I’m going to have our subcommittee and maybe committee in Homeland Security look into whether or not we could reinstitute this NSEERS [National Security Entry Exit Registration System] program.’ So what did this program do? It not only singled out Muslims entering the country for extra interrogation at the airport (which is stupid because if they pose a threat then why grant them a visa at all?), it required Muslim foreign boys and men over 16 years already in the country to personally appear before Uncle Sam’s functionaries and register. […] So the entirely predictable upshot of the program was that although it managed to obtain not a single terrorism-related conviction, it did ruin plenty of lives of peaceful Muslims caught in its dragnet.” [Reason,7/18/15]

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham said that racial profiling of Muslims might be necessary to maintain national security. “The Maryland Democrat has sponsored the End Racial Profiling Act, which would prohibit law enforcement from using race or religion as a basis for search, seizure, or arrest for a half-dozen years. […] The only Republican to attend the Judiciary hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, voiced general support for the bill but said profiling groups like Muslims might be necessary to maintain national security.” [Daily Beast, 5/13/12]

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]

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 wheels haven’t simply come off the GOP’s outreach effort to minority voters, the car has been totaled. In a new video, Correct The Record highlights how, from Mitt Romney in 2012 to Jeb Bush and others in 2016, Republican presidential candidates can’t stop obsessing over their belief that “free stuff” is the only thing African-American voters are interested in.

For those keeping score at home, here’s the Republican presidential candidate word association chart:

What will they think of next??