Monday, June 22, 2015

2016 Presidential Candidates: Republicans, Part 1

The way our system is set up, electoral votes in most states are winner-take-all. That essentially disenfranchises most voters in the general election; most states' outcome is a foregone conclusion, meaning your vote doesn't matter. Tennessee's electoral votes will all go to the Republican candidate, so why bother voting for President?

The primaries are a different issue. Your vote there matters much more. The problem, of course, is that there are just so many candidates to get familiar with. The below is my attempt to summarize major public statements and headlines regarding the various declared candidates, with links to relevant news articles. Each name links to the Politifact fact-check of that candidate, and their overall record for truth or lies.

We'll start with the Republicans, because they're just so much more interesting lately. There are so many I'm going to have to break them up into multiple posts. I'm going to do the declared candidates first, in alphabetical order by last name, then cover the likely prospective candidates. I am not covering Jack Fellure or Mark Everson. There's virtually zero information about them.

Note that many of these points may seem like negatives, against the candidates. That is not by design. It is likely a consequence of most headlines about candidates in general being negative. I have, however, injected some commentary. I try to roast all candidates equally. Also note that some candidates have many more points than others. This is also not by design; some simply have fewer headlines about them to choose from.


Jeb Bush
Former governor of Florida, brother of W Bush, son of HW Bush.
Ben Carson
Ted Cruz
  • Opposes net neutrality while loudly demonstrating his ignorance on what it actually is, calling it "Obamacare for the internet"
    • "It would put the government in charge of determining Internet pricing, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices." Everything about that sentence is wrong!
  • Claims global warming isn't happening
  • Thinks emergency care is cheaper than preventive care
  • Missed 10% of votes the Senate held during his time in office
  • Opposes disaster aid from federal government to the states... except his own
  • Supports unlimited campaign contributions
    •  Because it would make things more fair, you see!
  • Shut down the government because his party lost an election, and doesn't regret it
    • Oh, and led protests of the government shutdown 
  • Said that the recent court decisions on gay marriage and Obamacare are "some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation's history"
    •  Aside from, you know, literally thousands of others... get some perspective, man
  • Wants to subject the Supreme Court to retention elections because he doesn't like their decisions 
    • Don't like the way the system works? Break the system.
  • Completely fails to understand how Christians can be opposed to actions of the state of Israel
  • And while it's not about Cruz personally, his father has some very strange pseudo-Christian views of his son being a fulfillment of some made-up end-times prophecy...
Carly Fiorina
  • Completely failed to run HP
  • Opposes net neutrality
  • Lies about corporate tax rates
    • US corporate tax rates are nominally high, but the actual collection rate (i.e. the number that matters) are quite low because of so many loopholes
Lindsey Graham
  • Is willing to raise taxes under some circumstances
    • Of course, his idea of raising taxes is very limited, but it's better than the usual "revenue isn't the problem" lie
  • Seems to have at least some support for environmental issues, if only to bow to political reality and not because he actually believes in them
  • Wants to eliminate habeas corpus, doesn't think imprisoned people should need to be proven guilty
  • Rejects his own party's multiple reports on the Benghazi attacks
  • He said that Obama is not a Socialist, he's a good man!
    • Of course, he also says he's extremely liberal, which you can only say if you have no idea what extreme liberals would actually do...
  • Says you can't govern based on anger, wants to govern based on realism instead
  • Has a completely awful record on foreign policy matters
Mike Huckabee

This guy was governor of Arkansas, ran for President, and now has a Fox News show. He has basically made a living speaking in public for most of my life, so he has more positions than I can possibly cover here. I summarize him thus: America is, was, and should become a Christian nation, wherein his particular version of Christian beliefs are given force of law. This version of Christian beliefs include:
  • Christian education in public schools, including young-earth creationism
  • Support of Israel removing Palestinians from Palestine
  • Banning all non-thereputic abortions, including pregnancies from rape
  • Banning gay marriage or adoption
  • Amending the Constitution to these ends
He's surprisingly sane on some other issues, and kinda nuts on others. Here's a survey of some things that caught my attention, but like all the candidates, I hope you'll read more:
  • Says school shootings happen because God has been removed from schools
    • ...despite the fact that church shootings are far more common...
    • ...and which god is he worshiping, that can be removed from schools? 'Cause mine can't be...
  • Thinks only women who can't control their libido need birth control
  • Thinks we're moving towards the criminalization of Christianity
    • Called the Obama administration "openly hostile toward the Christian faith"
  • Arranged parole for a rapist who raped and murdered again
  • Rejects the principle of judicial review
  • Supports a 30% federal sales tax
    • Cut taxes on the rich, raise taxes on the poor...
  • Says that vaccines don't cause autism! Yay reality!
    • Isn't it sad that I have to point out that he's sane about this?
  • Doesn't understand how the ACA handles pre-existing conditions
  • Wants to vastly increase the size of the American military
    • How is this to be funded? Unclear.
    • But he supports peaceful options with Iran
  • Told people to not enlist in the military until an overtly Christianity-enforcing President is in place
    • Never mind that the last time we had one of those, our military ended up with thousands of dead and tens of thousands of wounded...
George Pataki

And here we find the opposite of Huckabee. For a man who's been in the public spotlight for nearly twenty years, he has relatively few headline-making position statements on major national issues, and most of them are over a decade old. He talks the usual small-government talk, but he's at least somewhat out of step with the typical Republican positions on abortion, the environment, and gun control, which gives me hope he can think independently. I have no reason to think this man is either incompetent or insane.
  • Worked to repeal the ACA
  • Opposes a national sales tax (as of 2000)
Rand Paul

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