Candidates Voices Heard as Promised in 4th GOP Debate
MILWAUKEE, Wis. The economy and national security took center stage at Tuesday night's Republican debate. It was the fourth time the GOP candidates have gone head to head.
As promised, the moderators kept their focus on key issues: jobs and taxes. One by one each candidate touted their solutions for a stagnant economy.
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage was one of the first topics on the floor.
Dr. Ben Carson started the conversation by saying he would not support an increase in the minimum wage. Instead, Carson said the focus should be on the roots of social problems.
"Every time we raise the minimum wage, the number of jobless people increases That's what we need to be thinking about. How do we allow people to ascend the ladder of opportunity, rather than how do we give them everything and keep them dependent?" challenged Carson.
"If you raise minimum wage you're going to make people more expensive than a machine," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio added on the topic.
Carson and Mainstream Media
Carson took the time to face his critics head-on after a week of attacks from the mainstream media.
"I have no problem with being vetted. What I do have a problem with is being lied about and then putting that out there as truth. And I don't even mind that so much if they do it with everybody," he told moderators.
"When I look at somebody like Hillary Clinton, who sits there and tells her daughter and a government official that 'No, this was a terrorist attack,' and then tells everybody else that it was a video. Where I came from, they call that a lie," stated Carson.
Taxes and Government Spending
Ohio Gov. John Kasich addressed the federal budget and government spending, adding how he's been successful in the area of balancing a budget as governor of Ohio.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz explained how he would push forward with a 10 percent flat tax.
He discussed his plan, noting it would abolish the IRS and pointed people to his website for details.
"It's easy for everyone to say cut spending; it's much harder to put out chapter and verse the programs you'd put in place to keep the burden of our children and grandchildren," he said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said every one of President Barack Obama's works in progress should be repealed, speaking specifically about healthcare and climate change regulation.
"We should repeal the rules because the economic costs far outweigh the benefits," he said.
"This isn't just about Replacing a Democrat with a Republican now, it's about challenging the status quo," former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said, adding that Americans must hold government officials accountable for their performance.
Kasich said turning things around with jobs and the economy is a must, "and our most important moral purpose as leaders in the political system is to make sure we create an environment for job creation so people can live their dreams and realize their God-given potential. That's why it's so important."
"If we put more money in people's pockets, they'll be more generous than less generous," Carson said.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spoke about lower taxes and more money in the private sector.
"My tax plan is the only one that actually balances the budget," he said. "My plan gets rid of the payroll tax."
I think whats important about the tax debate is, is that we have to ask the question, where is money best spent, in the private sector or in the government sector? I want a government really, really small, so small you can barely see it. So, I want lower taxes and much more money in the private sector," he added.
Bush said reforming the tax code would be his priority if he became president.
"Growing the economy is the first job if we are going to be serious about dealing with the debt," he said.
Rubio told the audience the most important job for anyone is being a parent when asked about his tax plan. He says his plan is a pro-family plan and includes a child tax credit.
"In 35 of 50 states childcare costs more than college," he said, arguing for the need for the tax break for families.
Paul questioned Rubio's plan, saying it was just a welfare transfer and it didn't look like a conservative plan.
Business mogul Donald Trump talked about how all the GOP candidates had different tax plans, and though they might be different.
"Each one of those tax plans is better than the mess we have now," he said.
Immigration
Trump also doubled down on his plan for immigration reform.
"We are a country of laws," Trump said. "We need borders. We will have a wall. The wall will be built. The wall will be successful."
"And if you think walls don't work, all you have to do is ask Israel. The wall works, believe me. Properly done. Believe me," he continued.
Kasich disagreed, saying a plan to deport millions of people was "silly."
"If people think that we are going to ship 11 million people who are law-abiding, who are in this country, and somehow pick them up at their house and ship them out to Mexico -- to Mexico, think about the families. Think about the children. So you know what the answer really is? If they have been law-abiding, they pay a penalty. They get to stay. We protect the wall. Anybody else comes over, they go back," Kasich said.
"Try going illegally to another country... see what they do," Cruz said, adding that any immigrants should come legally to the U.S. He said that if doctors, lawyers and journalists were crossing the border and lowering the wages for American workers in those areas, more Americans would agree over immigration reform.
National Security
Trump also bumped heads with Bush, this time on the matter of national security.
"As far as Syria, if Putin wants to go in, and I got to know him very well because we were both on '60 Minutes.' We were stablemates, and we did very well that night. But, if Putin wants to go and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it, 100 percent. And I can't understand how anybody would be against it," said Trump.
Bush disagreed.
"Donald's wrong on this," the former Florida governor said. "He is absolutely wrong on this. We're not going to be the world's policeman, but we sure as heck better be the world's leader."
"There's a huge difference where without us leading, voids are filled," he continued. "And the idea that it's a good idea for Putin to be in Syria, let ISIS take out Assad, and then Putin will take out ISIS? I mean, that's like a board game; that's like playing Monopoly or something. That's not how the real world works."
"We should have a no fly zone in Syria. There are -- they are barrel bombing the innocents in that country. If you're a Christian, increasingly in Lebanon, or Iraq, or Syria, you're going to be beheaded. And, if you're a moderate Islamist, you're not going to be able to survive either," he said.
Fiorina came out swinging as well, saying she would not be in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"One of the reasons I've said I wouldn't be talking to Vladimir Putin right now is because we are speaking to him from a position of weakness brought on by this administration. So, I wouldn't talk to him for awhile," she said.
"But, I would do this. I would start rebuilding the Sixth Fleet right under his nose, rebuilding the military -- the missile defense program in Poland right under his nose," she vowed.
"I would conduct very aggressive military exercises in the Baltic States so that he understood we would protect our NATO allies and I might also put in a few more thousand troops into Germany -- not to start a war, but to make sure that Putin understands that the United States of America will stand with our allies," Fiorina said.
Rubio called Putin an "organized crime figure that runs a country."
"I've never met Vladimir Putin, but I know enough about him to know he is a gangster," he said.
Rubio said Putin is doing what he is doing because Obama has had no strategy in the Middle East.
"For goodness sake, there is only one pro-American free enterprise democracy in the Middle East; it is the state of Israel," the Florida lawmaker said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were noticibly absent from the mainstage but took their turn at the undercard debate along with former Sen. Rick Santorum and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
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Christie kept his focus on Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
"Is Washington doing that good a job for you right now?" challenged Christie. " And the fact is that if you listen to Hillary Clinton, she has made it very clear she believes that she can make decisions for you better than you can make them for yourself," he continued.
Deregulation
Debators discussed the deregulation of businesses to grow the economy, reform what some of them called an outdated education system, and repeal Obamacare.
"We won't just save the American dream, we'll use it to reach more people and change more lives." Rubio said.
When asked what she would do to lift the regulations that are crushing American businesses, Fiorina said our economy is held back by a "regulatory thicket."
"Obamacare should be repealed because it's failing," Fiorina said, stating it is crushing the American family. "It is failing to help the people it was meant to help."
When questioned on what the alternative would be, she said the states should have the power to step in and manage high-risk pools.
Finances
Bush discussed the overreach of Washington on community banks, stating he is worried this has harmed the economy.
Carson said the "creep" of regulation has turned into a "stampede" of regulation, and it's hurting the poor.
"We have to come back to the fundamental principles that made America great," he said.
"You know why these banks are so big? The governement made them big," Cruz said, pointing out that small banks can't keep up with all the regulations coming out of Washington.
Fiorina said, "We need to try the one thing in health insurance that we've never tried we need to try the free market, the free market where people have to compete."
"This is how socialism starts," she added, talking about how regulation after regulation chokes capitalism.
Cruz said Washington shouldn't bail out major banks, but offer them a loan at a higher interest rate instead.
On Hillary
"Hillary Clinton has said that Barack Obama's policies get an 'A.' Really?" Bush asked. "One in 10 people aren't working or have given up looking for work, one in seven people live in poverty, and one in five are on food stamps. That is not an 'A.' It may be the best that Hillary Clinton can do, but it's not the best America can do."
Bush criticized the Democratic front-runner throughout the night, but he wasn't alone.
Cruz added, "Hillary Clinton embodies the cronyism of Washington."
Moderator Neil Cavuto quietly noted, "Alright, I think it's fair to say you're not fans of Hillary Clinton's resume."
The tone was a lot different in this debate than the last held by CNBC and following the debate the candidates praised Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal for what they called a good debate and sticking to the issues.
The candidates will have a month away from the mainstage and then it's off to the next debate, which will take place December 15 in Las Vegas.
