What the hell has gotten into the Republican party?
I broke my own rules and watched the debate in Texas last week (Thursday). Boy was that a mistake. I don’t like the way Trump performs during the debates, and yes, I believe it is a performance. He interrupts and calls the other candidates names…very un-presidential, Both Rubio and Trump had tantrums reminiscent of my daughter when she was three.
All three of the candidates failed to follow the time rules. Once again, showing their complete lack of give a shit.
Whatever respect I had for Rubio vanished in a series of interviews and clips from him the following day. I believe criticism is justified on the issues; but you know what, I really don’t like the personal attacks.
I’ll get off my soap box now, let’s do a little fact checking. Just a few little tidbits follow…I’m disgusted.
Trump claims: We [the USA, has] the highest taxes anywhere in the world. We pay more business tax and personal tax.
Fact checkers: Personal Tax [False]. The USA ranked #17 of 34 countries for total tax revenue per capita in 2014. When comparing tax revenue as a percentage of a country’s GDP, the use ranks 27 out of 34. Business tax [True*]. The USA does have the highest corporate tax rate of 35%. However, in practice, the average tax rates for {profitable} companies comes in at 12.6%, and as a matter of GDP, the business tax rate is 2.6%, bringing the USA to #11 out of 34 countries. The data comes from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.
Trump claims:He doesn’t have a potty mouth.
Fact checkers: [False]. C’mon….his track record. CNN goes into details, which I’m not going to. I think we can all agree he’d make a sailor blush.
Trump claims: He’ll build a wall and have Mexico pay for it.
Fact checkers: [False]. The USA has a trade deficit of $58 billion (yes, that’s a B) + all the illegal drug profits. Trump puts the cost of the wall somewhere between $10 – 12 billion dollars. A Washington firm has calculated “the wall” will cost roughly $25 billion, double Trumps guestimate. I honestly don’t see Mexico either reducing their trade surplus (which goes to their private businesses) to pay for the wall, nor do I see congress willing to come up with the dough. So I’ll just put this in the same category as having Iraq pay for the Persian Gulf War (how’d that work out for us?).
Trump claims: Trump attacked Kasich on Ohio jobs, stating the oil industry was responsible for the majority of the 400,000 jobs created.
Fact checkers: [False]. Ohio has attracted nearly $22 billion in energy investments. The improving economy in Ohio was due to the auto and plastic industries. The BLS confirms that roughly only 15,000 jobs were created because of fracking.
Cruz claims: He is consistent on illegal immigration.
Fact checkers: [True]. He has campaigned to fight amnesty and build a wall on the border.
Cruz claims: Trump is for socialized medicine.
Fact checkers: [False]. Trump is opposed to socialized medicine (medicine and hospital services are paid for by taxpayers). He favors universal health care (all citizens receive coverage). Trump discusses universal health care in his book “The America We Deserve.”
Rubio Claims: Obamacare is a certified job killer.
Fact checkers: [False]. In a 2015 survey, only 4% of employers with >50 employees said they shifted some employees to part-time hours so they wouldn’t qualify for health care. An additional 4% indicated they were reducing the number of full-time employees they planned to hire because of the cost of health benefits.
Rubio Claims: Trump hires undocumented workers.
Fact checkers: [True*]. In 1983 Trump was sued and ended paying an undisclosed amount for hiring illegal workers. But it wasn’t “Trump,” it was a polish contracting company that hired the undocumented workers.
Wanna see something scary? This is my zip code polling results on a Republican page:
Chuck
I liked Ted Cruz policies. Interesting chart on truthfulness. I too, do not like personal attacks, they need to stick to the issues concerning the USA and how those issues might be resolved.