Cruz Expresses Rare Disagreement With Trump

The past couple months in politics have brought about some of the most intense feeling of excitement, inspiration, and frustration that American has ever seen. Most of the reason for this is because of the vocal Republican poll leader, Donald Trump. Throughout his campaign he has received intense criticism from his fellow republicans. However, it seems that those who criticize him, only end up hurting their numbers in the end. “The Republican candidates that have attacked the front-runner, as Trump gleefully notes, have either faded to the rearguard of the GOP race or dropped out entirely. And the trio of candidates that have been most reluctant to attack him — Cruz, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — are likely to occupy center stage at CNN’s Republican presidential debate next week in Las Vegas.”

The only Republican candidate to resist criticizing Trump, is Ted Cruz. Until now. In regards to the recent terrorist attack in Paris, Trump proposed a solution that would see a complete ban on Muslim entry to the United States; and for the first time Cruz disagreed with Trump. “I do not agree with his proposals. I do not think it is the right solution,” Cruz said. And that was it. Cruz did not comment any further.

This marks the first time the either Cruz or Trump have expressed disagreement with each other.  It will be very interesting to see if Trump will now crash through the “respect barrier” set up between him and Cruz and unleash his fury of criticism. on the Cruz campaign.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/08/politics/ted-cruz-donald-trump-disagreed/
http://www.educationviews.org/ted-cruz-vs-donald-trump-common-core/

Bobby Jindal. Great Governor. Bad Presidential Candidate?

http://floridapolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Bobby-Jindal-2.jpg

Running in the Republican primaries, Bobby Jindal is currently the 55^th governor of Louisiana and has previously served as a representative in the House for Louisiana’s 1^st district. Jindal announced his candidacy in June 24^th of 2015 and since has struggled in the Republican primaries.

Jindal was the second Indian-American to become a member of congress and later became the first Indian-American governor in the US.  If Jindal were to be elected, he would be the first Indian-American President of the United States and first Indian-American to make it through the primaries for that matter.

Though not likely that Jindal will win the Republican primary, it should be interesting to see how his campaign fairs.

Jindal seems to have some qualifications in the realm of healthcare legislation, having graduated from Brown University with Biology and Public Policy degrees and Oxford with a Masters Degree in literature with a concentration in healthcare policy.  He also had worked as the head of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals starting at the young age of 24. Jindal went on to save Louisiana’s Medicaid program from deficit, turning it into a surplus. Louisiana also became 3^rd in the country for Childhood healthcare screenings under Jindal’s leadership.  If Jindal can make it to a primary debate, it would be interesting to see his opinions on healthcare reform.

It seems that Jindal has carried a strong state bias in favor of Louisiana as opposed to the rest of the country.  His qualifications are surprisingly good in terms of domestic policy, however, I’m not so sure that he would fair well as president. Jindal’s policy seems to have been largely focused upon the socio-economic improvement of Louisiana.  It’s my personal opinion that he would be best suited as governor of Louisiana; the presidency involves too many issues outside the realm of socio-economic reform that Jindal is just not qualified for.

If anything, reading into Jindal’s credentials and political history has instilled in me less of a partisan slant.  I honestly thought Jindal was an idiot before researching him, but I’m honestly convinced that he’s the best suited person to govern Louisiana at the moment.

For more info and references go to:

• https://www.bobbyjindal.com/about/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jindal
• http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-gop-primary

Taking a Look at Trump’s Questionable Past

In an article released by Politico on Sunday, Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner was the subject of much debate, as they took a look at his past political views, which people regarded lately as wishy-washy. With a glimpse into Trump’s past we can see that he was not always an advocate of the GOP. There are questions about his opinion of President Reagan, who is highly regarded as the benchmark for traditional, conservative values.  In his book The Art of the Deal, Trump stated, “[he was] so smooth, so effective a performer” [that] only now, seven years later, are people beginning to question whether there’s anything beneath that smile.” Trump was also never a fan of George W. Bush, and was actually registered as a Democrat in 2001, before coming back to the Republican Party in 2009

Not only is his allegiance to the Republican Party questionable, but he also was supportive of the Clinton Administration and stated about Hillary Clinton that “No one can deny her good intentions”, also calling her “smart and resilient.” This coming from the current GOP front-runner, in the 2016 election, who loves more than anything bashing the opposition, which he has done to former Secretary of State Clinton on multiple occasions.

Do these Details about Trump’s past hurt his appearance as a strong conservative candidate? Will this contribute to the demise of The Donald? Check out the full article here, and decide for yourself. With a GOP debate scheduled for later this week, hopefully we will find out soon. Regardless, this is going to be “Huggeee”.

Opinion: Trump’s Rise in the Polls a Result of Static Campaign Finance Reform?

For the last few months, Presidential candidate Donald Trump has been leading the polls in the Republican primaries. At times he has made ridiculous assertions that Mexico should pay for the wall between Mexico and America and that the hypothetical wall should be extended far off the coast of California and into the pacific. Besides disregarding the dignity of human rights and the root cause of the Latin American immigration issue, Trump has made numerous absurd and insensitive comments regarding women. Most recently he is engulfed in controversy over his comments regarding the face of fellow Republican Party candidate Carly Fiorina.

So just how is it that a man as outspoken and unfiltered as Trump is holding such a commanding lead in the polls? While surely some of it can be attributed to the sensationalist nature of the media, many members the general public are claiming that they favor Trump over other candidates, as his campaign finances are self-funded. Many feel that since Trump is not bought and paid for by wealthy donors or by Super PACs like many of his counterparts are.

Trump claims that while candidates, such as Jeb Bush, may have over $100 million in their campaign funds, they are – in reality – puppets. In the most recent Republican primary debates on Wednesday night, Jeb Bush was once again presented the question of being a puppet to his campaign donor. Bush predictably rebuked the question claiming that he has received over $100 million in donations towards his campaign because of the effectiveness of his tax cuts. Bush went on to cite how over the last 8 years he has cut over $19 billion in taxes alone during his time in office.

While it may be true that donors see Bush’s tax breaks as an incentive to donate to his campaign, the reality of the situation is that Bush didn’t answer the question regarding his campaign finances correctly. In reality, Bush has only actually raised $11.4 million since he announced his decision to enter his name into the Presidential race. The figures that Bush was referring to were actually raised by the Super PAC ‘Right to Rise’. In the first half of 2015 alone, the Super PAC has raised over $103 million.

The reason that Bush’s response is under scrutiny here is because under the current legal sanctions, Super PACs are not allowed to conspire with candidates. What Bush was implying with his response during the debates on Wednesday was that he was indeed conspiring with the Super PAC Right to Rise rather than the Super PAC was simply promoting the candidacy of Bush outright for being in their organizations opinion the most qualified candidate Further his comments imply that he is indeed cooperating with Right to Rise.

Based on a 1976 Supreme Court case directly to related to campaign finances, we can see that under the current legal system, it is absolutely necessary that candidates do not conspire out of cooperation out of fear of political corruption. Current Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy reiterates this with the following statement:

“The absence of prearrangement and coordination of an expenditure with the candidate or his agent not only undermines the value of the expenditure to the candidate, but also alleviates the danger that expenditures will be given as a quid pro quo for improper commitments from the candidate.”

The legal distinction demonstrated here demonstrate the perceived safeguard measures taken to ensure that politicians are indeed not becoming ‘puppets’ as Bush is currently being accused of being. However such notions become invalidated when we analyze responses such as Bush’s that his own personal campaign finances and that of the Super PAC that supports him are one in the same. It creates a perception within the public sphere that Super PACs and Presidential candidates are in fact conspiring together for their own interest rather than for the interest of the public good.

The question I believe that we are left with is why exactly is it that the Supreme Court has not taken more drastic measures to enforce the regulation of campaign finances? The cost of the Supreme Court not taking more direct action on the matter has allowed illogical choices for the Presidency such as Trump to gain public favor as many see his self-financed campaign to be legitimate and incorruptible. If this is the cost that society is going to see from static campaign finance reform, then society as a whole is in for some dark times in the coming future.

Kim Davis and Mike Huckabee; a Holy Alliance

Kim Davis, a county clerk from Kentucky, has made waves in the media recently for her religious convictions. Davis was jailed 2 weeks ago when she refused to issue a marriage licenses to a homosexual couple. She remarked, “it is not a light issue for me. It is a heaven or hell decision”. Davis believes, as an apostolic Christian, that gay marriage is a sin and refuses to have her name on any state document that grants people this right.

Davis was incarcerated earlier this month when a judge deemed her in contempt of court. However she was released only five days later when the courts decided that her five deputies could issue same sex marriage licenses given that she wouldn’t interfere with said duties.

Although the Supreme Court ruled it a constitutional right earlier this summer that all people, regardless of sexual orientation have the right to marry, Davis’s actions represent a legitimate portion of the country that sees this as an immoral imposition by the federal government. One of the most outspoken of the presidential candidates reflecting this ideal is Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor has made Christian values the cornerstone of his campaign so its not surprising that he has rallied around Davis and her movement. Seeing this as an attack on religion by the government, Mr. Huckabee firmly believes that Davis is being jailed for practicing her faith, he exclaimed earlier this month in an interview, “It was what I call the criminalization of Christianity, she had strong conviction. This violated her basic conviction.” The candidate was so zealous in his support of Davis that on the day she was released he organized a rally in support of her. Huckabee led a teary-eyed Davis to a stage facing 500 people while “Eye of the tiger” blared on the loud speaker. Mr. Huckabee’s actions regarding this case exemplify the growing rift within the Republican Party between moderates and far right social conservatives like him on issues of marriage equality and religious freedom. However large this division may be, the former governor of Arkansas has played right to his audience and could, in the coming campaign trail, mark himself as the champion of religious freedom and conservative family values.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/04/us/kim-davis-things-to-know/

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/courier/opinion/york-kim-davis-rally-showed-huckabee-s-hidden-strength/article_7e94df84-6ba8-5eb2-98ea-441e64b0574e.html

Is Trump Really For Real?!

With the latest polls coming in, 10 out of the last 11 polls, Donald Trump has been proving to come out on top on the Republican side. About 2/3 of GOP voters had said that they would be happy and content with Trump as the Republican nominee. As scary as it may seem, Trump seems to be doing something right on the Republican side. From a CNN poll, 67% of Republicans said they would be “satisfied” with Trump as president.

When Trumps temperament comes into question, the majority of voters, 57%, had said that they think that he has the right temperament to be president. From an poll done by ABC, it had been found that 6/10 Republicans agree with Trump and his view on immigration. Trump is the first candidate to announce an immigration reform also, making him seem like he means business.

Politics Runs in the Family

Just when we thought we have seen the last of the Bush family, another member of the family makes jump into the ring for the presidential election. In the world of politics, Jeb Bush as been overlooked but now its his turn. Jeb Bush moved to Florida from his hometown in Texas in the early 1980s. When he first moved to Florida he became a real estate developer and broker. He ran for state governor in 1994 which was not triumphant in his attempt but when he re-ran for governor in 1998, he won and remained victorious until 2007.

During his time as Governor of Florida he ran into the issue of the 2000 presidential election. During the 2000 presidential election the voting system was corrupt by invalid ballots in the state of Florida. As a result of this issue Bush removed himself from anything that had to do with the election which ended in his brother becoming President of the United States.

After his many terms as governor he was forced to resign after about nine years of  serving as Governor until his term limit. Once he finished his terms as governor of Florida, Bush continued to be involved in Common Core Standards, national education and immigration reform. It was not until December of 2014 that he decided to run for President of the United States. He officially announced his Presidential running on June 15 of 2015 which will make him the third person of his family to campaign for the nation’s highest position.

At the GOP debate last night things got real interesting when Rand Paul brought up the issue of smoking weed.  This issue brought on the debate between state rights and federal law which brings the 10th amendment into question. Jeb Bush admitted after a long silence that “40 years ago [he] smoked marijuana.” The issue was not that he smoked marijuana, it lies more with in the recent epidemic of drug use. Many of the candidates agreed that this epidemic is getting out of control and is taking the lives of many Americans.
http://www.biography.com/people/jeb-bush-201294
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/17/jeb-bush-marijuana-republican-debate

The Forgotten Candidate: Rick Santorum

What a difference four years make.

In 2011 a relatively unknown former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania named Rick Santorum announced he was seeking to become the Republican Party’s nominee for the 2012 Presidential Election.  Santorum was competing with people in Iowa whose names were Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and the fiery Newt Gingrich.  It seemed as if Iowa caucus goers were sure to pick any of these three candidates instead of the unknown Santorum.

This begs the question why did Santorum even put his name in the race?

Santorum’s evangelical message, however, started to resonate with Iowans.  All of a sudden Santorum was gaining momentum throughout Iowa, and polls had him finishing as high as second. On the night of the Iowa caucus it came down to Romney and Santorum, but Romney was able to squeak by with eight votes over Santorum.

BUT NO SO FAST!

After recounting the votes two weeks later it was determined that Santorum was actually the winner of Iowa.  This momentum catapulted Santorum into the GOP spotlight.  In the following primary states, people were flocking to see him and to hear his socially conservative message. Santorum would take this momentum and go onto win in Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota in the early months of 2012.

As a result of this new found popularity and success, Sanotrum became the punching bag for fellow GOP hopefuls, and soon the media started questioning his political record and statements.  Once the spring of 2012 rolled around Santorum was facing an uphill.  Mitt Romney was starting to assert his dominance over the GOP field and due to a sickness with his daughter, Bella, Santorum had to suspend his campaign.  Finally on April 10, 2012 Rick Santorum withdrew his name from the GOP field, giving a clear path for Romney to win the nomination.

Now fast forward about three and half years later.

Rick Santorum finds himself at the bottom of almost every major poll.  Nationally he is polling around one percent and in Iowa he is polling around one and half percent.  Yet, just three years ago polls were being conducted to determine if he could beat President Obama.  Now he is floating around in GOP candidacy obscurity.

For example:  In 2011 thousands of people showed up for his rallies in Iowa, now in 2015, only ONE person showed up.

Yes. One person.  Her name is Peggy Toft.  I guess it will make for a good story around the table during Thanksgiving…

In 2015, Santorum seems to be old news.  His socially conservative message which was the hallmark of his 2012 presidential run has fallen on deaf ears in 2015.  In addition, with so many candidates with similar political stances it is hard for Santorum to separate himself from the GOP field, which he was able to do in 2012.

Currently Rick Santorum is where he started in 2011,  a second (or eleventh)  thought GOP candidate.