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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - November 12, 2015
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- A Wall Street Journal poll conducted by Google Consumer Surveys found that Donald Trump and Marco Rubio won Tuesday night’s GOP debate. Twenty-four percent of those who watched the debate said Trump won, with Mr. Rubio closely following at 23 percent. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson tied for third place with 13 percent. (Wall Street Journal)
- According to NBC News, “Western Illinois University's mock election predicted Bernie Sanders and running mate Martin O'Malley will win the 2016 presidential election with 404 electoral votes to Jeb Bush-Marco Rubio's 114 votes. In the popular vote, Sanders earned 741 votes (49 percent) to Bush's 577 (38 percent). ...The famously accurate mock election correctly predicted the outcomes of the 2008 and 2012 elections, and the university claims it's the ‘largest and most elaborate mock presidential simulation in the nation.'" (NBC News)
- Poll: According to a poll conducted by the Behavior Research Center, Ben Carson (23 percent) and Donald Trump (21 percent) are in a virtual tie among registered Arizona Republican primary voters. Marco Rubio garnered 15 percent, Jeb Bush eight percent and Ted Cruz five percent. (Behavior Research Center)
- Poll: According to a New York Times/CBS News poll, among likely Democratic primary voters, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders 52 percent to 33 percent. Martin O’Malley is far behind with 5 percent support. (New York Times/CBS News)
Democrats
- Reforming Wall Street will likely be discussed during Saturday night’s Democratic debate. Clinton, Sanders and O’Malley all support changing the way Wall Street does business and have proposed imposing “a levy on the sale of securities.” According to The Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Sanders is pushing a 0.5% tax on the sale of stocks, and smaller levies on bonds and derivatives. A similar, though smaller, tax is favored by Mr. O’Malley, a former Maryland governor. Mrs. Clinton...is backing a much more limited levy, aimed at ending certain practices involved in ultrafast computerized trading. Her campaign declined to give details of how big the tax would be and how much it could raise.” (Wall Street Journal)
Hillary Clinton
- On Thursday morning, Hillary Clinton received the endorsement of Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.). In a statement, Cárdenas said, "I've met with Secretary Clinton and discussed the priorities we both have, and that is how I know she is the most experienced candidate for president, with the best plan to revitalize our economy and keep our nation on top.” (Latin Post)
- On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton criticized Donald Trump’s immigration plan in the following tweet: “The idea of tracking down and deporting 11 million people is absurd, inhumane, and un-American. No, Trump. -H.” (Clinton’s Twitter account)
- During a campaign event on Wednesday, a man said, "I want to reach through and strangle her [Carly Fiorina].” Clinton laughed, instead of reprimanding the man for his comment. After some Republicans took issue with Clinton’s response, her campaign released the following statement: “At today's event, a veteran told a story about losing his job at HP, expressing his frustration at the way he was treated. He was using a figure of speech that should not be taken literally. Hillary Clinton doesn't hesitate to speak out against hateful or threatening rhetoric, but this vet did not intend to express either of those things, and Republicans should not try to pretend otherwise." (People Magazine)
Martin O’Malley
- Martin O’Malley “will make history” by “becoming the first presidential candidate to knowingly sit down with a family headed by an illegal immigrant,” according to the Washington Times. Immigrant-rights groups are asking the presidential candidates to sit down for “DAPA Dinners.” The dinners are named after President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parental Arrivals executive order, which has been delayed by a federal appeals court. His executive order would allow certain undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation. (Washington Times)
- During Tuesday night’s GOP debate, O’Malley tweeted: “I raised the minimum wage in Maryland & as Pres. I'd fight to #RaiseTheWage. No surprise, GOP candidates don't agree. #FightFor15 #gopdebate.” (International Business Times)
Bernie Sanders
- On Thursday morning, Bernie Sanders was endorsed by the American Postal Workers' Union. Union President Mark Dimondstein said, "We should judge candidates not by their political party, not by what they say, not by what we think they stand for, but by what they do. Applying that criteria, Sen. Bernie Sanders stands above all others as a true champion of postal workers and other workers throughout the country." (Politico)
- During a speech on Wednesday, Sanders discussed supporting veterans and patriotism. He said, "To my mind, if patriotism or love of country means anything, it means that we do not now, or ever, turn our backs on those who defended us. It means we keep our promise to those who kept their promises to us. ...The bottom line is that if we are serious about our patriotism and about defending those who defended us it means that all of our veterans get the benefits and the health care they need and that they were promised and that they get that health care in a timely manner." (CNN)
- Cornel West, a “noted civil rights leader, academic and author will campaign for Bernie Sanders this weekend in Iowa.” (The Des Moines Register)
- During Tuesday night’s GOP debate, Sanders tweeted: “We already have the biggest military in the world, yet veterans sleep out on the streets. Will Republicans talk about this? #GOPDebate.” (International Business Times)
Republicans
Jeb Bush
- On Wednesday, former Senator Bob Dole endorsed Jeb Bush for president, and announced that he will serve as Bush’s chairman for veteran outreach. Dole said, “I consider nearly all the Republican candidates to be my friends, but I have determined that Jeb Bush is the most qualified. Jeb has the proven leadership skills and executive experience needed to fix the problems facing our country — from the anemic economy to America's weakened standing among world leaders. Jeb's conservative reform agenda and forward looking vision on issues including 4 percent economic growth, defeating [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] and taking care of our veterans are in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton’s strategy to continue the failed policies of the present Administration. I will do all I can to be helpful to Jeb’s campaign.” Dole also said that he likes “nearly all” of the 2016 GOP candidates, “Except Cruz.” (The Hill, The New York Times)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Bush claims that reductions to federal income and corporate taxes, along with regulatory reforms, could spark 4-percent economic growth, raising wages and making the U.S. more competitive globally.” (The Des Moines Register)
Ben Carson
- On Wednesday, Ben Carson discussed accusations that he included false stories in his book “Gifted Hands.” He told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, “I defy you to find anybody who can go back and very accurately detail everything that happened 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. You can give the general flavor and that’s what I did, working with a co-writer. You’re never going to have the exact details in that kind of situation.” (The Hill)
- During a speech at Liberty University on Wednesday, Carson discussed the importance of being well-informed and took a swipe at Bernie Sanders’ proposal to offer free college to everyone. Carson said, “If people are not well informed, they just [listen to] unscrupulous politicians and news media and off the people go in the completely wrong direction, listening to all kinds of propaganda and inculcating that into their way of thinking. It becomes easy to swallow things. If you don’t understand our financial situation and someone comes along and says, ‘free college for everybody,’ they’ll say, ‘oh how wonderful,’ and have no idea they’re talking about hastening the destruction of the nation. ...There is nothing that’s really free.” (The Hill)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Carson believes free government services and handouts do not fix long-term poverty. He advocates for scaling back such programs and increasing educational and technical-skills opportunities primarily through the private sector.” (The Des Moines Register)
Chris Christie
- On Wednesday, when Chris Christie was asked about the protests over allegations of racial insensitivity at the University of Missouri and Yale University, he said, "I think part of this is a product of the president’s own unwillingness and inability to bring people together. When people think justice is not applied evenly and fairly, they take matters into their own hands. The lawlessness that the president has allowed to exist in this country just absolutely strips people of hope. Our administration would stand for the idea that justice is not just a word, but it’s a way of life. Laws will be applied evenly, fairly, and without bias to everyone." (Washington Post)
- During an interview on CNN on Wednesday, Christie discussed healthcare. He said, “What I'd say to the 330 million people of America is grab onto your wallet because Hillary Clinton's next move is to have universal health care, single-payer system with the government taking over the whole health care system. That's what she and her socialist friend Bernie Sanders are going to advocate for ... and I'm going to stop it. Fact is we should go to a state-based market solution that's what would be best for health care." (CNN)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Christie published a five-point economic plan he says will enable 4 percent annual growth in GDP. It calls for simplifying the tax code, reducing government regulation, developing a national energy strategy, incentivizing work and investing in research and innovation. He has also called for reducing the cost of college by requiring universities to disclose their expenses on tuition bills and directing a larger portion of federal college aid to the neediest students.” (The Des Moines Register)
Ted Cruz
- On Wednesday, Ted Cruz criticized some of his GOP rivals for their comments on immigration. He said, "Last night, you listened to one Republican after another who said, 'Gosh, it would be mean to enforce our immigration laws.’ And I would point out, by the way, everyone talks about how compassionate it is to grant amnesty to 12 million people here illegally. They're very compassionate, but it's not very compassionate if I say, 'I'm going to give away your job.' That's the opposite of compassion." Cruz, who opposes amnesty, also said, "In my view, if Republicans nominate for president a candidate who supports amnesty, we will have given up one of the major distinctions with Hillary Clinton and we will lose the general election — that is a path to losing.” (NBC News)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Cruz has blamed Democratic policies under President Barack Obama for increasing income inequality. To address inequality, Cruz has called for increased economic growth, which he says will come from reducing government regulations and tax reform, like imposing a flat tax. He has also said every able-bodied adult should be required to work or look for work if they are receiving government assistance.” (The Des Moines Register)
Carly Fiorina
- During Tuesday night’s debate, Carly Fiorina’s campaign posted her comments about simplifying the tax code to three pages on her Facebook page and linked to an example of a three page tax plan. The post stated, “We need to radically simplify the tax code so that we can re-start the real engine of growth in our economy. That means our tax code needs to go from 73,000 pages down to about three pages. We also need to move from revenue-neutral to revenue-reducing tax reform, because the federal government spends far too much money. In order to do both of those things, we need to lower every rate and close every loophole. I will support a low, flat tax for businesses and individuals so that we fix the tax base and grow the economy. The Hoover Institution and Congressman Michael Burgess, M.D. both developed tax plans that do exactly this. Under their plans, both businesses and individuals can file their taxes on a simple form. They won’t need armies of accountants, lawyers, and lobbyists to figure out how to take advantage of loopholes and game the system because there will be no system to game.” (Fiorina’s Facebook page, Breitbart)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Fiorina’s plan to close the economic opportunity gap revolves around welfare reform. She believes people develop a dependence on welfare programs that causes them not to seek out better opportunities for fear of losing their benefits. While Fiorina doesn’t want to do away with welfare programs entirely, she would like to see them radically reorganized so they work better to lift people out of poverty. Wrapped up in her opinions on income inequality is her assertion there needs to be a climate that supports entrepreneurship and helps small and family-owned business prosper, which she says will also help lift people out of poverty.” (The Des Moines Register)
Jim Gilmore
- Security is Strength, a super PAC supporting Lindsey Graham, released an ad stating that Graham is the only military veteran in the presidential race. On Wednesday, Jim Gilmore, who served in the military as an intelligence agent, said, “One of the things all veterans feel strongly about is someone who misstates his or her experiences. That is why I was surprised to see Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the other candidates for president, has a super PAC that is running national television ads claiming he is the 'only veteran' in the presidential race. That's obviously not true." In an interview, Gilmore added, “I'm one of the two veterans in the race ... I have empathy and understanding of veterans that I think other candidates — there's no reason for them to have it. I have actual experience. And from a managerial standpoint, we have to get things done. We have to understand that we have to make it a priority." (Washington Examiner)
Lindsey Graham
- Although Lindsey Graham did not appear in either debate on Tuesday night because of his low poll numbers, he made his presence known on the social media platform Sidewire, commenting on the minimum wage, Syria and job creation. In his final comment of the night he wrote, “Thanks Sidewire - I enjoyed a debate where I could have input and a glass of wine at the same time.” (ABC News)
- Graham commented on being excluded from Tuesday’s debate, telling ABC News, “My fate isn't going to be determined by a debate in Milwaukee. My fate will be determined by the people of New Hampshire. And I'm going to show up and go to as many places as I can – weddings, funerals, friendly divorces, birthday parties. If you want to see Lindsey Graham, give me a call.” (ABC News)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Graham has lamented the fact that the middle class seems to be most in need of help, but said raising the minimum wage is not affordable. Rather, he’d focus on growing the economy to create demand for middle-class labor.” (The Des Moines Register)
Mike Huckabee
- During an interview on the Fox Business Network on Wednesday, Mike Huckabee discussed immigration. He said, “[W]e have to secure the border. We have to take the economic advantage out of the illegal immigration equation, which is what I think the Fair Tax does, but securing the border means do what we did in San Diego 20 years ago with a double fence, add the personnel and the electronic surveillance. It cut the apprehensions by 95% and crime in San Diego — violent crime went down 54%. So we know what works, let’s do it. As far as the 11 million, I don’t believe in amnesty, but neither do I believe in trying to pretend we’re going to fix that until we first show Americans that we’re serious about securing the border.” (Breitbart)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Huckabee believes the implementation of the Fair Tax will benefit low-income wage earners, giving them more of the paycheck to spend on goods and services or to invest or save.” (The Des Moines Register)
Bobby Jindal
- During the GOP debate on Tuesday, Bobby Jindal attacked Chris Christie’s conservative credentials and said, "I'll give you a ribbon for participation. And a juice box." Jindal’s “attempt to compare Christie to a Little League kid getting a participation trophy” was popular on Twitter. When asked in an interview if his comments were “unpresidential...Jindal said that people needed to ‘lighten up.’” He added, "Just trying is not enough. If somebody hasn't cut government spending in their state capitols as governor, they haven't cut it as a senator, what makes us think they'll cut it as a president?" (NOLA.com)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Jindal believes the best way to close the economic opportunity gap is to improve the American economy. He's suggested lowering the tax code and getting rid of regulations to help the private sector bring more jobs to the U.S.” (The Des Moines Register)
John Kasich
- During a campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday, John Kasich said his first priority as president would be “to stimulate the economy and bring down the national debt.” (WACH FOX 57)
- Kasich discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs, education and immigration during a campaign event in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina on Wednesday night. He said that the VA “system right now is so broken. A veteran should be able to get health care where it's closest to them. They should have a choice.” Discussing education, he said, “We need to get kids excited about learning. If you don't get them excited about learning you could lose them.” On immigration, he said, “For the 11 million that are here, in my view if they've been law abiding they should pay a penalty. They broke the law. They should not have a path to citizenship but a path to legalization and they should assimilate.” (ABC WJCL 22)
- According to The Des Moines Register, Kasich has developed a comprehensive plan for job creation by balancing the federal budget, cutting taxes, reducing federal regulations, encouraging increased energy production, and sending some federal programs back to the states and local governments, where he believes they can be operated more efficiently and at a lower cost.” (The Des Moines Register)
George Pataki
- According to The Des Moines Register, George Pataki “said two things contributing to income inequality are poor education and single-parent households. He said he supports things like expanded child care tax credits, but not increasing the minimum wage. Primarily, though, he said he supports reducing the regulatory burden on companies so they can expand and grow jobs that will in turn help the middle class.” (The Des Moines Register)
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul discussed healthcare reform during his “Pints for Liberty” campaign event in Ames, Iowa on Wednesday. He said, “I have practiced medicine for 20 years. More government is not the answer.” He added that “more freedom and competition is what is needed to provide meaningful reform,” according to the Ames Tribune. (Ames Tribune)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Paul proposes a “Fair and Flat Tax” plan that will eliminate payroll taxes completely and introduce a 14.5 percent flat tax rate for all individuals and businesses. The first $50,000 for a family of four would not be taxed, and low-income families would retain the earned-income tax credit. Paul says his flat tax plan will end corporate welfare and eliminate lobbyists and tax lawyers. He says this plan will create 2 million jobs.” (The Des Moines Register)
Marco Rubio
- During a campaign event on Wednesday, Marco Rubio discussed strengthening the military, cutting taxes and family values. He said, “You also feel it in our society, where a growing number of people feel out of place in their own country, because those of us who hold traditional values are stigmatized as haters and bigots. The family, the most important institution in society — without strong families, nothing else matters — and the family is under duress.” (Washington Times)
- On Wednesday in three separate interviews, Rubio was asked about immigration. In each interview he discussed “his three-step reform pitch, which includes increasing border security, modernizing the legal-immigration system, and establishing a path to legal status that could take decades,” according to Business Insider. He told NPR's Steve Inskeep that he supports a "very long" path to citizenship, and that he would “direct more immigrants toward temporary work permits.” Rubio said, "I personally am open to that, but again, after 10 years on the work permits ... after you have a green card for five years, then you apply for citizenship. If you add up the years, that's a lot of years.” (Business Insider)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Rubio often speaks about helping new and small businesses through deregulation and tax reform, creating more opportunities for employees to become employers. He’d also reform personal taxes and benefits to lower-income workers. In addition, Rubio wants to overhaul higher education to give more individuals access to training or degrees that lead to higher-wage jobs. Rubio also wants to change union rules that he says doesn’t benefit workers.” (The Des Moines Register)
Rick Santorum
- According to The Des Moines Register, Rick Santorum “believes lower taxes, less government regulation and fiscal restraint are keys to spurring the nation’s economy. He wants to reform federal government entitlement programs and reduce legal and illegal immigration. He is particularly emphasizing a revival of manufacturing in the United States while expanding access to foreign markets. He also favors an increase in the minimum wage by 50 cents per year for three consecutive years.” (The Des Moines Register)
Donald Trump
- During an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, Donald Trump discussed his immigration plan. He said, "You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely. You have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they're waiting to come in legally." (BBC)
- During Tuesday night’s debate, Trump said he “got to know him [Vladimir Putin] very well because we were both on ’60 Minutes,’ we were stablemates, and we did very well that night.” FactCheck.org, checked Trump’s claim that he met Putin and found that the two did not meet during taping. Although the two appeared on the same episode of “60 Minutes,” Putin was interviewed in Moscow and Trump was interviewed in Manhattan. (FactCheck.org)
- On Wednesday, Trump repeated his statement that the minimum wage should not be raised. In an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” he said, “We have to become competitive with the world. Our taxes are too high, our wages are too high, everything is too high. What's going to happen is now people are going to start firing people.” (The Hill)
- According to The Des Moines Register, “Trump argues that as president he can increase domestic employment and manufacturing through his negotiation and deal-making skills — including, perhaps, by threatening tariffs and other taxes on imported goods.” (The Des Moines Register)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- During an interview with Yes! Weekly, Jill Stein discussed why various social movements are joining the Green Party. She said, “As the Democratic Party became sold out to the big money interests, like the Republicans, everyday people have been increasingly squeezed. I think there was a lot of hope that the Obama administration was going to represent salvation of the Democratic Party. To put it very simply, it didn’t happen. The lesser evil turned out to be just as bad by most measures, whether you look at the Wall Street bailout, the offshoring of our jobs, the neglect of labor and unions, the skyrocketing costs of health care, the continued urgent needs, the debt that our students and young people are really locked into, the growing crisis of foreign policy, the endless and expanding immoral wars, which are making us less safe, not more safe, and finally the meltdown of the climate.” (Yes! Weekly)
- During the same interview, Stein discussed her economic policy: The Green New Deal. When asked how she would create “a more just economy,” she replied, “I think our first step would actually be to push through the job creation program. It contains living wage jobs so it contains the work that has to be done to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. That would happen with 20 million jobs. When that happens, it would pose so much pressure to jobs that aren’t paying these wages, that it would really force them to do the same. To some extent the Green New Deal pays for itself because it enables massive reductions in military spending, both military spending and in health that is sick-care spending, because the benefits are so profound and immediate. It pays for itself as well.I think that would be the first step because it is such a comprehensive great leap forward that it begins a whole set of downstream improvements that flow when incomes start being generated. When people have jobs, then you suddenly have a tax base. It just enables so many improvements to take place when you have a vibrant and thriving economy. One of the biggest hits that created the current deficit was the downturn in revenues with the downturn of the economy. In part, this would massively improve tax income to our government, even prior to any specific tax increase.” (Yes! Weekly)
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Important dates in the 2016 presidential race
- Polls and Straw polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
