organize three separate debates and pull together interesting television when you have 16 candidates who all hold the sa
The GOP Presidential Debate NO MATTER HOW MANY CANDIDATES PARTICIPATE THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME POSITIONS
POSITIONS THAT ARE
OUT OF
TOUCH AND
OUT OF
DATE
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ou have to feel for the Republican debate organizers. It can’t be easy to organize three separate debates and pull together interesting television when you have 16 candidates who all hold the same, out-of-touch positions on the major issues—from opposing a pathway to citizenship, to dismantling Medicare, to propping up the failed trickle-down economics of the past. Frankly, when you’re relying on Donald Trump to bring intellectual dynamism to the stage, you know the situation is dire. From Jeb Bush to Scott Walker to Marco Rubio, to Donald Trump, to Rand Paul, to Scott Walker, the backward-looking policy proposals are virtually identical. To prove it, we’ve put together this quick reference guide. Some may choose to use it as a bingo-style drinking game. Our lawyers say we can’t explicitly endorse that. What we can say is that hearing the same tired, discredited arguments recited ten times in a row is enough to drive anyone to the bottle.
PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP......................................................2 MEDICARE FOR SENIORS........................................................3 MARRIAGE EQUALITY..............................................................4 UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS......................................5 FAILED TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS....................................6 WOMEN’S HEALTH...................................................................7 REPEALING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT...............................8 IGNORING CLIMATE REALITY..................................................9 PAYCHECK FAIRNESS AND EQUAL PAY.................................10
1
PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP:
Public Support: 72%
Jeb Bush
Donald Trump
Chris Christie
“In an apparent reversal from his past statements, former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that his immigration reform plan would ‘fall short’ of offering a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States -- a key provision being put forward by the bipartisan group leading reform efforts on Capitol Hill.” [NBC’s First Read, 3/4/15]
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. […] They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” [Washington Post, 6/16/15]
“Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is rejecting the idea of providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants as ‘extreme,’ reversing his stance ahead of a likely bid for president.” [The Hill, 3/19/15]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Scott Walker: Scott Walker on a path to citizenship: “I don’t believe in amnesty.” • Ted Cruz: Cruz: “I think a path to citizenship for those who are here illegally is profoundly unfair.” • Rand Paul: Paul introduced an amendment to remove a pathway to citizenship from immigration reform. • Mike Huckabee: Huckabee: “If you’re rewarding people who play outside the rules, and punish people who live within the rules, pretty soon nobody is going to play by the rules.” • Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio: “What I’ve never been for is a special pathway to citizenship.” [The Lead with Jake Tapper, 3/19/13] • Rick Santorum: Santorum opposed a path to citizenship. • Carly Fiorina: Fiorina opposed a path to citizenship.
2
MEDICARE FOR SENIORS:
Public Support: 67-71%
Ben Carson
Rick Perry
Jeb Bush
“Dr. Carson also advocates an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. […] He would eliminate Medicaid and Medicare, and for the poor, government would make the contributions to their health accounts.” [New York Times, 3/20/13]
“Perry, who referred to the justices as ‘nine oligarchs in robes,’ said he was not convinced that Social Security and Medicare were constitutional. […] ‘They’re a Ponzi scheme.’” [Los Angeles Times, 8/23/11]
“Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that we ought to phase out Medicare, the federal program that provides health insurance to Americans once they’re 65.” [Huffington Post, 7/23/15]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Scott Walker: Scott Walker said that cutting “entitlement programs” like Medicare and Social Security is “something that has to be done.” • Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz supported increasing the Medicare retirement age and transitioning it to a “premium support” voucher system. • Rand Paul: Rand Paul introduced legislation “that would end traditional Medicare.” • Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio claimed that Medicare and Social Security had “weakened us as a people.” • Bobby Jindal: Bobby Jindal presented a health care plan that proposed turning Medicare into a voucher system. • Chris Christie: Chris Christie called for an increase in the Medicare retirement age.
3
MARRIAGE EQUALITY:
Public Support: 63%
Rick Santorum
Scott Walker
Rick Perry
“Asked by a college student why he opposed the right of same-sex couples to wed, he responded that there was no compelling reason to allow it and suggested that it was akin to legalizing polygamy.” [Washington Post, 1/5/12]
“Scott Walker declared that if the Supreme Court rules for a Constitutional right to samesex marriage, he’d support a Constitutional amendment allowing states to ban it.” [Washington Post, 6/11/15]
“Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry reportedly compared gay people to alcoholism at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday.” [MSNBC, 6/12/14]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Lindsey Graham: Lindsey Graham compared marriage equality to polygamy. • John Kasich: John Kasich opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions. • Chris Christie: Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey. • Ben Carson: Carson said that “marriage is between a man and a woman,” and compared supporters of marriage equality to “people who believe in bestiality.” • Rand Paul: Rand Paul lamented the “moral crisis that allows people to think that there would be some sort of other marriage” in addition to “traditional” marriage. • Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz said a Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality was “naked and lawless judicial activism.” • Mike Huckabee: Huckabee said the SCOTUS ruling in favor of marriage equality was an “irrational, unconstitutional…flawed, failed decision.” • Bobby Jindal: Bobby Jindal opposed same-sex marriage and said that states had the right to reject same-sex marriage. • Jeb Bush: Jeb Bush: “Traditional marriage is what should be sanctioned.” • Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio opposed same sex marriage and lamented the “growing intolerance” toward people “who continue to support traditional marriage.” • Carly Fiorina: Carly Fiorina opposed marriage equality and supported California’s Proposition 8.
4
Public Support: 92%
UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ON GUN PURCHASES:
Mike Huckabee
Donald Trump
Marco Rubio
“The ongoing push to legislate universal background checks for gun purchases has parallels to policies of the Third Reich, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.)” [Huffington Post, 4/4/13]
“I do not support expanding background checks.” [Ammoland, 7/7/15]
“[Rubio] defended his opposition to the bipartisan compromise – drafted by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) – establishing background checks on firearm sales by arguing that such laws won’t deter criminals.” [NBC News, 4/15/13]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Jeb Bush: Jeb Bush said that background checks on firearms purchases should be a state issue. • Ted Cruz: Cruz opposed universal background checks for gun buyers. • Rand Paul: Paul signed a letter affirming that he would “oppose any legislation” that he believed would subject gun owners “to government surveillance.” • Scott Walker: Scott Walker opposed legislation to expand background checks on gun sales. • Ben Carson: Carson opposed expanding background checks and banning assault weapons. • John Kasich: Kasich pledged to oppose attempts to strengthen gun laws while governor. • Lindsey Graham: Graham voted against common-sense gun control measures like background checks, limiting high-capacity magazines, and banning assault weapons. [Senator Lindsey Graham press release, 4/18/13; Senate roll call vote 97, 4/17/13; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/17/13; Senate roll call 101, 4/17/13] • Rick Perry: Perry opposed background checks for gun purchases and supported allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry weapons in any public spaces, including schools. • Rick Santorum: Santorum opposed universal background checks for gun purchases.
5
Public Support: 29%
MORE FAILED TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS: Jeb Bush
Scott Walker
Marco Rubio
“In his inaugural address four years ago, Gov. Jeb Bush complained about the ‘crushing weight’ of Florida taxes. He has prided himself on cutting taxes every session since then. But for most Floridians, the state and local tax burden has become heavier still. It has been lightened only for the wealthiest, who were taxed the least to begin with.” [Editorial – St. Petersburg Times, 1/12/03]
“Walker could have restored the earned income tax credit that Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature cut in 2011 by $56.2 million over two years. That credit goes to the working poor who may not owe income tax but who do have children.[...] That year, Walker also ended… a property tax break that shows up as a credit on income tax returns for low-income homeowners and renters.” [Milwaukee JournalSentinel, 1/24/14]
“If he wins his party’s nomination, though, Rubio will have to defend a tax plan that, while said to address the challenges of the middle class, includes a huge break that all-but bypasses the middle and greatly boosts the rich. It was a tax plan that was even too large for Romney himself to run on.” [Washington Post, 4/14/15]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Ted Cruz: Wonkblog: Ted Cruz’s “flat tax” proposal was a “colossal giveaway to the rich.” • Donald Trump: Donald Trump opposed letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire. • Mike Huckabee: Mike Huckabee: Trickle-down economics were “largely true.” [God, Guns, Grits and Gravy, p. 145, 2015] • Ben Carson: Fox News’s Chris Wallace: Ben Carson’s “flat tax” plan would raise income taxes on the poor while the wealthy “make like bandits.” • John Kasich: John Kasich pushed an Ohio budget plan that a Republican lawmaker described as a “regressive” proposal that raised “taxes on the poor and middle class.” • Chris Christie: Chris Christie pushed tax cuts that “would largely benefit [New Jersey’s] wealthier residents.” • Lindsey Graham: Lindsey Graham said it was “stupid” to allow tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. • Rick Perry: Rick Perry pushed for a national tax policy that would result in a tax cut for “more than 95% of the highest-income households” while raising taxes on “more than half of households making $20,000 to $75,000.” • Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum proposed a tax plan that cut taxes for the top one percent by an average of 13.6%, while the bottom 20 percent would only receive a 0.3% cut on average.
6
WOMEN’S HEALTH:
Public Support: Majority of Americans
Mike Huckabee
Ben Carson
Rick Santorum
“Huckabee said Americans have ‘blood on our hands’ for failing to criminalize abortion and contended that reproductive freedom is much worse than the Nazi Holocaust.” [Right Wing Watch, 11/25/14]
“Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon-turnedconservative rock star — and an open follower of the Christian faith — likely ruffled liberal feathers with his most recent comment on abortion, during which he likened it to the biblical act of sacrificing humans.” [Washington Times, 7/2/14]
“GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape during an interview Friday, saying that women who face such circumstances should ‘make the best out of a bad situation.’” [Huffington Post, 1/23/12]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Scott Walker: Scott Walker declared himself “100 percent pro-life” and pledged to seek a complete abortion ban. • John Kasich: John Kasich signed into law a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest except for very narrow instances for the health of the woman. • Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz opposed abortion even for victims of rape and incest, and referred to birth control pills as “abortion-inducing drugs.” • Rand Paul: Rand Paul sponsored an anti-abortion “personhood” bill that could outlaw forms of emergency contraceptives. • Jeb Bush: As governor, Jeb Bush engaged in anti-choice activism that “shocked some state officials who believed he was reaching beyond the powers of his office.” • Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio supported bills that would ban abortions after 20 weeks after conception. • Rick Perry: Rick Perry signed into law controversial legislation that banned abortion after 20 weeks and shut down family planning clinics across Texas. • Chris Christie: Chris Christie had an “unprecedented anti-abortion position for a New Jersey governor.” • Bobby Jindal: Bobby Jindal opposed abortion in all cases, including rape, incest and when the health of the mother was at risk.
7
Public Support for repeal: 35%
REPEALING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: Jeb Bush
Rand Paul
Marco Rubio
“Jeb Bush says that Obamacare is a ‘monstrosity’ and wants the government to focus instead on a catastrophic coverage plan to help people who experience costly medical crises. [...] He said he’d rather see a health system that is ‘consumerdirected’ and gives the patient a relationship with his or her health provider.” [Politico, 3/19/15]
“Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a declared candidate, wrote on Facebook in August, ‘I won’t rest until ObamaCare is 100% repealed.’ He also, however, acknowledged that it would be difficult to repeal the legislation.” [International Business Times, 4/16/15]
“[Rubio:] The ObamaCare nightmare is only going to get worse for the American people as it gets implemented piece by piece in the coming months and years. It’s a bad policy that hurts workers, small businesses, people satisfied with their current care, and it will give the uninsured fewer health care choices. ObamaCare is disastrous and should be fully repealed.” [Official Website of Senator Marco Rubio, 5/10/13]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Donald Trump: Donald Trump said the Affordable Care Act was a “total catastrophe” and “a filthy lie” that “someone has got to repeal.” • Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz said he would repeal “every word of Obamacare” as president. • Scott Walker: Scott Walker said congressional Republicans must “redouble their efforts to repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court upheld the law. • Mike Huckabee: Mike Huckabee called the Supreme Court ruling that upheld provisions of the Affordable Care Act “judicial tyranny.” • Ben Carson: Ben Carson said the Affordable Care Act was “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.” • Chris Christie: Chris Christie called the Affordable Care Act “a failed federal program.” • Rick Perry: Rick Perry called the Affordable Care Act “criminal.” • Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum supported repealing the Affordable Care Act.” • Bobby Jindal: Bobby Jindal supported repealing the Affordable Care Act.
8
IGNORING CLIMATE SCIENCE:
Public Support: 83%
Donald Trump
Ted Cruz
Marco Rubio
“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” [@ realDonaldTrump, 11/6/12, 2:25 p.m. EDT]
“Cruz, the red-meat Texas senator with an army of conservative followers, raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he told the Texas Tribune that people who believe global warming is real are ‘the equivalent of the flat-Earthers.’” [Guardian, 3/27/15]
“Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a GOP star and possible 2016 presidential contender, does not believe human activity is causing climate change, he said Sunday. ‘I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it,’ Rubio said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’” [Los Angeles Times, 5/11/14]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • Jeb Bush: Jeb Bush said he was “tired” of the idea that “science has decided” that climate change is manmade. • Scott Walker: Scott Walker was “a key figure in the GOP’s battle against…proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules that are designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation’s electricity sector.” • Rand Paul: Rand Paul claimed that the science behind climate change was “not conclusive.” • Mike Huckabee: Mike Huckabee mocked the Obama Administration’s elevation of climate change as a critical issue. • John Kasich: John Kasich said he was not “laying awake at night worrying” about climate change. • Chris Christie: Chris Christie refused “to rejoin a regional cap-and trade program to combat climate change.” • Rick Perry: Rick Perry: Climate change is “all one contrived phony mess.” • Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum called the idea that humans are causing climate change “patently absurd.” • Carly Fiorina: Carly Fiorina: “Companies shouldn’t cave in to the demands of climate-change scientists.”
9
PAYCHECK FAIRNESS AND EQUAL PAY:
Public Support: 84%
Jeb Bush
Rick Perry
Rand Paul
“‘What’s the Paycheck Fairness Act?’ Bush asked, [...]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]
“Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday called the debate over equal pay for women that is lighting up the Texas governor’s race ‘nonsense,’ saying the Democrats should focus on ‘substantive issues.’” [Politico, 3/25/14]
“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.” [Huffington Post, 6/5/12]
And the rest? They’re all the same. • John Kasich: Women working in Gov. John Kasich’s office were paid an average of $9.81 per hour less than men. • Ted Cruz: Ted 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] • Scott Walker: Scott Walker repealed a Wisconsin law allowing victims of pay discrimination to seek damages in state courts. • Marco Rubio: Marco Rubio repeatedly voted against equal pay legislation, calling it “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] • Rick Perry: Rick Perry called the push for wage equality “nonsense” and vetoed fair pay legislation in Texas. • Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum opposed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, calling it “a trial lawyers’ bill.” • Lindsey Graham: Graham voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act & the Fair Pay Act. [Senate roll call vote 14, 1/22/09; Senate roll call vote 115, 6/5/12; Senate roll call vote 103, 4/9/14; Senate roll call vote 262, 9/15/14]
10
