The Republican Presidential Candidates’ Debates

E-Newsletter No. 24_______December 2015

First, an update… As we mentioned last month, our elected representatives in Washington DC have passed legislation to (again) suspend the country’s debt ceiling until March 2017. As part of that legislative “success” our representatives gave themselves a deadline of December 11th to pass spending appropriation bills for the federal government’s fiscal year that began on October 1st. We will give you another update next month.

The Republican presidential candidates held their third and fourth debates on October 28th in Boulder, Colorado, and November 10th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Many of the candidates discussed some of the spending and other fiscal challenges facing the country –

Chris Christie – Let me be honest with the people who are watching at home. The government has lied to you and they have stolen from you. They told you that your Social Security money is in a trust fund. All that is in that trust fund is a pile of IOUs for money they spent on something else a long time ago…. 71% of federal spending today is on entitlements and debt service.

Bobby Jindal – We keep stealing from our children. That is immoral. That is wrong, and we are creating more government dependents…. Barack Obama has done a lot of damage to our country. I think one of the worst things he has done is try to change the idea of America to be one of dependence.

Ted Cruz – ….the current [tax] system isn’t fair. Washington is fundamentally corrupt. Every page [of the tax code] reflects a carve-out or a subsidy, and it is all about empowering the Washington cartel.

Carly Fiorina – This is how Socialism starts. Government causes a problem, and then government steps in to “solve” the problem. This is why we need to take our government back.

Marco Rubio – This election is about the future. The Left and the Democratic Party have no idea about the future. All of their ideas are the same tired ideas of the past – more government, more spending. For every issue before America, their answer is a new tax on someone, and a new government program.

Jeb Bush – Hillary Clinton has said that Barack Obama’s policies get an “A”. Really? One in ten people right now aren’t working or have given up altogether. That is not an “A”. One in seven are living in poverty. That is not an “A”. One in five children are on food stamps. That is not an “A”. It may be the best that Hillary Clinton can do, but that is not the best that America can do.

Rand Paul – This is the unholy alliance that people need to know about between the Right and Left. The Right and Left are spending us into oblivion. We are borrowing $1 million a minute…. We have to ask the question – Where is money best spent – in the private sector or in the government sector?…. Liberty thrives when government is small. I want a government so small you can barely see it.

Mike Huckabee – I’ve got five grandkids. I do not want to walk my five grandkids through the charred remains of a once-great country called America, and say “Here you go. $20 trillion of debt. Good luck making something out of this mess”.

Marco Rubio – Washington is out of touch through the fault of both political parties… We have a $19 trillion bipartisan debt…. If the next four years are anything like the last eight years, our children will be the first Americans ever left worse off by their parents.

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Our Editorial Board agrees that next year’s presidential election represents a clear choice between an ever-expanding federal government, or taking back our government from the Washington cartel. Our government needs to support policies that promote personal responsibility and provide Opportunity for All. Our government needs to stop showing any favoritism to special interest groups, and end crony capitalism. And we need to stop stealing from our children and grandkids. If not us, who? If not now, when?

Best wishes for a happy holiday season, and a brighter 2016. We can get this fixed.

US Debt Clock – – November 1st – $57,203 per citizen / December 1st – $58,060

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