Here’s the first installment of who’s running, who might run, and who people think should run for the GOP nomination for President:
Declared
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1. Jeb Bush: Yes, ANOTHER BUSH. We’ll NEVER be rid of them, they just keep spawning. Jeb facts:
Five of his business associates have been convicted of crimes; one remains an international fugitive on fraud charges. In each case, Bush said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing and said some of the people he met as a businessman in Florida took advantage of his naiveté. (Washington Post, June 28, 2015)
A ringing endorsement for the leader of the free world. Here’s a Jeb Bush quote that’s interesting:
“…it’s a huge challenge for single moms to raise children in the world that we’re in today, and it hurts the prospects, it limits the possibilities of young people being able to live lives of purpose and meaning…”
Unlike Jeb’s wholesome 2-parent home where:
In 2002, his daughter Noelle, was arrested at age 24 for alleged prescription fraud while trying to buy a tranquilizer, Xanax.
In 2005, his son, Jeb Jr., then 21, was arrested in Texas for public intoxication and resisting arrest. (Politico, April 2014)
1994, Son George P. was arrested on burglary charges for breaking into the house of a girlfriend, and accused of”criminal mischief” for driving his vehicle over two front lawns in the neighborhood. (Telegraph, August 2000)
Not that the “family values” crowd cares about stuff like that as long as there are two parents at home: Huckabee’s kid tortured and killed a dog, Sarah Palin’s offspring are public brawlers, and Rand Paul’s son is a drunk driver. Of course Jeb’s better half probably wasn’t the best role model:
In 1999, his wife, Columba, was fined for declaring only $500 worth of goods to U.S. Customs on her return from Paris, where she actually made close to $20,000 in purchases. (Politico, April 2014)
Needless to say, we’d have to nail down anything of value before she moved into the White House.
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2. Ben Carson: God encourages yet another hopeless candidate:
“I really don’t want to do this, to be honest with you. I was looking forward to a relaxing retirement, you know, with a beautiful home in Florida by a golf course. I finally said, ‘Lord, I don’t want to do this, but if you’re going to open the doors, I will go through with it.’” (Huffington Post June 2016)
What a practical joker, that God. Ben facts:
Caught plagiarizing in college, allowed to rewrite the paper; goes on to plagiarize numerous people in his book America the Beautiful (Buzzfeed, January, 2015)
“…Carson went from favored black son of Motown to alien friend of Rush Limbaugh. With his edgy, oddball rants on race, constantly spiced with an incessant focus on the “black laziness” archetype, Carson only cares about what white conservatives think. (The Root, May 2015)
Unfortunately, Ben Carson stepped out of the operating room and right on to the crazy train. Here are a few unhinged statements that prove beyond a doubt that he is a Republican:
… a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight,” he told Cuomo, “and when they come out, they’re gay.
America is very much like Nazi Germany
Called The Affordable Care Act “the worst thing that has happened to this nation since slavery.” (Bernard Goldberg, March 2015)
… argued that feminists are partially responsible for the events that have taken place in Ferguson…
“Usually the father figure is where you learn how to respond to authority…
As the writer points out:
Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown both had fathers in their lives, but why let facts get in the way of forming a biased opinion? (Ebony, December 2014)
What an insult to Carson’s own single mother who, in spite of being unable to read, and living on public assistance for a time, managed to raise a future brain surgeon.
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3. Chris Christie, the scandal plagued Governor:
Standard & Poor’s has downgraded New Jersey’s credit rating eight times under Christie’s watch – a record for a New Jersey governor.
(NBC News, September 2014)…awarded a $150 million no-bid contract to AshBritt, a Florida-based firm. Just days after the deal was done, AshBritt donated $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association, of which Christie was then vice chairman. (Politico, January 2014)
… spent $360,000 of his taxpayer-subsidized expense account over the last five years.
Perhaps most conspicuously, Christie spent $82,594 to buy concessions at football games during the NFL season in 2010-2011 on 58 separate occasions.
… nearly one-third of the federal house aid money allocated to Hurricane Sandy victims went to areas of New Jersey that weren’t particularly impacted by the storm.
“… $47.6 million, earmarked for new affordable housing projects—landed in Essex and Middlesex counties…while many hard-hit Jersey Shore communities in Ocean saw relatively little of it.”
… moved the retirement savings of public workers like teachers, firefighters, and police officers over to private financial firms on Wall Street…
“While Christie says the pension system cannot afford to maintain current retirement benefits, pension fees paid to financial firms have quadrupled to $600 million a year… or $1.5 billion in total since he took office in 2010.”
(Salon, May 2015)
Obviously another graduate of the Conservative School of Fiscal Responsibility. You can read more about Christie’s not so stellar record here.
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Ted Cruz: The GOP candidate with the most stunning record of outright lying.
A full 54 percent of Ted Cruz’s statements have been rated “false” or “pants on fire” by PolitiFact. Another 20 percent are only “half true.” That’s 74 percent of Cruz’s statements failing the truth test. (Burnt Orange Report, April 2013)
[Claimed the government] “seeks to ban our ammunition.” The Obama administration sought to ban a certain type of armor-piercing bullet, not all types of ammunition.
…claimed that as a result of the Affordable Care Act “millions … have lost their health insurance.” In fact, about 10 million people on net gained insurance between September 2013 and December 2014…
…vowed to repeal “every word of Common Core,” which he called an effort by the federal government to “dictate school curriculum.” …the standards were developed by governors and state education officials and voluntarily adopted by states, and the curriculum is set by state and local school officials. (Fact Check.org, March 2015)
In announcing his presidential candidacy, Sen. Ted Cruz painted a bleak picture of “economic stagnation” and “record numbers” of small-business failures. He’s off base on both counts.
- Far from being stagnant, the U.S. economy has chalked up five straight years of growth, gaining nearly 11.5 million jobs since early 2010.
- It is actually new business establishment openings that have recently posted the biggest gains on record. The number of business establishment deaths is currently well below the record — which was set in late 2008 . (Fact Check.org, March 2015)
These are typical Cruz headlines:
Cruz Distorts ACA Impact on Seniors, Children
Cruz Misses Mark on Endangered Species
Cruz Cherry-picks Terrorism Comments
It’s not surprising that Ted Cruz is truth challenged, he learned from the best. His father Rafael literally invented his own biography, as we have documented on this site.
These four candidates are just the tip of the iceberg. Next week we’ll take a look at Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal.