STRATEGIC MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: Mitt Romney and Republican Presidential Hopefuls: All One and the Same!

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Brad Woodhouse, President, Correct The Record

DATE: Friday, June 12, 2015

Today, Mitt Romney will welcome six Republican hopefuls including Marco Rubio, Scott Walker and Lindsey Graham to his conclave in Utah to audition for his support. One may ask – why are these potential Republican candidates elbowing each other to win the backing of a failed presidential candidate who purposefully sought to exclude 47% of America?

The truth is that this cycle’s Republican hopefuls are nearly indistinguishable from Mitt Romney when it comes to their policies on issues affecting women, LGBT rights, and how to grow the economy. Marco Rubio, Scott Walker and Lindsey Graham have the same botched, cookie cutter, last-century policy visions benefitting only the wealthiest of Americans. These extremist positions haven’t worked for Americans in the past and won’t work in the future.

If Mitt Romney and the Republican party failed in 2012, why is the GOP chasing after Romney’s endorsement in 2016? Instead of adapting to advocate for the interests of all Americans, Republicans are proud to show that they’re still all one and the same.

Mitt and Mitt’s Guests: On The Issues

Mitt Romney is set to host six GOP contenders at a Utah retreat. [WSJ, 6/5/15]

Women’s Issues

Mitt Romney & Chris Christie

Mitt Romney pledged to “advocate for and support” the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that would impose a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks. “I will advocate for and support a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]

Chris Christie endorsed a 20-week abortion ban. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Monday joined other potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates in endorsing a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. ‘I am proud to be a pro-life Republican,’ Christie said in a statement to the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, which solicited endorsements of the legislation from Republicans. ‘I believe that every life is an individual gift from God, and that no life is disposable.’ The 20-week ban would block abortions at least two weeks before the fetus is viable outside the womb. Such a restriction appears to defy the Supreme Court, which decided in Roe v. Wade in 1973 that women have a right to seek an abortion until the fetus is viable, at around 22 weeks to 24 weeks.” [Huffington Post, 3/30/15]

Mitt Romney vowed to defund Planned Parenthood. “I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. And as president, I will support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood, which primarily performs abortions or offers abortion-related services.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]Mitt Romney on Planned Parenthood: “We’re going to get rid of that.” “In an outdoor interview with Ann Rubin of KSDK.com, Romney offered a few suggestions on how he would cut the deficit. ‘Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one, but there are others,’ he said. ‘Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.’” [Huffington Post, 3/13/12]

Chris Christie had “single-handedly defunded Planned Parenthood in New Jersey.” According to Bloomberg News, “Deb Huber, acting president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Organization for Women, said that the governor ‘single-handedly defunded Planned Parenthood in New Jersey.’ ‘He doesn’t brag about it in those terms, but wait until he runs for president,’ she said. ‘You may hear those words coming out of his mouth.’” [Bloomberg News, 7/28/14]Chris Christie’s funding cuts caused 6 abortion clinics to close between 2010 and 2014. According to Bloomberg News, “Chris Christie, who last week prodded Republicans to drop anti-abortion rhetoric to appeal to more voters, has steadily weakened access to the procedure in New Jersey. Even with a Democratic-controlled legislature committed to reproductive rights, the second-term governor’s annual funding cuts for women’s health services have prompted at least six clinics to close since 2010, according to lawmakers.” [Bloomberg News, 7/28/14]

Mitt Romney pledged to overturn a regulation mandating that employers provide their employees with insurance that covers contraception. “The Republican presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told CNSNews.com today that if elected Romney will rescind in its entirety a regulation finalized last month by the Obama administration that requires all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. […] Through his campaign press office, CNSNews.com asked Romney today via email about this: ‘Will Mitt Romney, on day one, rescind this mandate in its entirety—as the Catholic Church has urged the current administration to do—so that individuals, employers and insurers who have a ‘moral or religious objection to contraception or sterilization’ will not be forced to violate the tenets of their own faith or act against their consciences?’ Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded: ‘Yes–Governor Romney would rescind the mandate in its entirety.’” [CNS News, 2/3/12]

Chris Christie supported the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, which gave employers the right to deny their employees contraception coverage. “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Thursday that he supports the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, just weeks after saying on national television that he wouldn’t give his opinion on it. Christie, a potential 2016 presidential contender, offered his position on the Hobby Lobby case during a meet-and-greet event in Iowa. The Democratic super PAC American Bridge caught the exchange on video and sent it to The Huffington Post. ‘Do I support the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case? I do,’ said Christie, responding to a question from a man at MJ’s Restaurant in Marion, Iowa.” [Huffington Post, 7/17/14]

Mitt Romney & Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham sponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks. “Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham, are planning to ramp up their advocacy for an abortion bill around the high-profile anniversary of a former abortion provider’s murder conviction. The South Carolina Republican is organizing a group of his colleagues to speak in support of a bill that would federally ban abortions after more than 20 weeks of pregnancy, legislation that has the support of 41 Senate Republicans and has already passed the House.” [Politico, 5/8/14; S. 1670, 11/07/13]

Mitt Romney & John Kasich

John Kasich signed into law a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. “Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed a bill on Wednesday that bans abortions after 20 weeks if the fetus is determined to be viable, making Ohio the latest in a series of states to ban late-term abortions. The Ohio bill contains no exceptions for rape or incest and only a very narrow exception for health of the mother, which means that an Ohio physician must be able to prove in court that he performed a late-term abortion to save the woman’s life. If a doctor violates this rule, he could be arrested and lose his medical license.” [Huffington Post, 7/21/11]

John Kasich signed legislation essentially cutting off Planned Parenthood from $1.4 million in federal family-planning dollars. “In all, Kasich vetoed 22 items, including some earmarks. However, Ohio State University’s STAR House, which helps homeless youth, kept its $665,000 per year in funding. Significant abortion provisions in the budget were not changed. The bill essentially cuts off Planned Parenthood from about $1.4 million in federal family-planning dollars by re-prioritizing who can receive the money. Under the bill, abortion clinics must have a transfer agreement with a hospital, but they are prohibited from signing one with a public hospital. The bill also requires a doctor to perform an external ultrasound prior to an abortion to search for a heartbeat, and if one is found, the doctor must inform the woman. The doctor also must tell the woman the likelihood of the fetus surviving to a full term, and the bill redefines a fetus as ‘developing from the moment of conception,’ rather than when a fertilized egg has been implanted in the uterus.” [Columbus Dispatch, 7/1/13]

Mitt Romney & Marco Rubio

Mitt Romney pledged to “advocate for and support” the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that would impose a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks. “I will advocate for and support a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]	Marco Rubio supported bills that would ban abortions after 20 weeks after conception. “The Weekly Standard reported three weeks ago that Rubio agreed to shepherd the bill, and Rubio attributed delays to anti-abortion senators’ attempt to identify which clause of the Constitution would allow lawmakers to implement a 20-week abortion ban nationwide. Rubio and 27 other Republican senators signed onto a bill from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) in 2011 that would require lawmakers to point to which piece of the Constitution allows government expansion — and he said adherence to that idea is causing the slowdown, not cold feet. Rubio said ‘certainly’ the Constitution would allow a federal law banning abortions after 20 weeks — it’s just a question of which portion of the document. Rubio is also a co-sponsor of a bill from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) that would ban abortions after 20 weeks in the District of Columbia, an issue he said that is more easily constitutionally settled given the District’s federal status.” [Politico, 7/24/13]
Mitt Romney believed life begins at conception. “I spent a lot of time talking with people scientific in background as well as religious and spent a lot of time understanding when it was that as a society we needed to respect human life and came to the conclusion that it’s time to be very clear on that, that when conception occurs that human life has begun. I’m not talking about religious definitions, but scientific definitions — and that to respect human life, we have to do so from conception. And therefore, I indicated I am pro-life and will respect the rights of human life.” [Fox News’ Fox News Sunday, 2/26/06]	Marco Rubio said it was “settled science” that “human life begins at conception.” “Sick of taking flak for his climate-change denial, Senator Marco Rubio tried to change the topic (a classic crisis-management move) by accusing his critics of hypocrisy (another classic). It’s hypocritical, Mr. Rubio told Sean Hannity on Wednesday, for ‘all these people’ to ‘wag their finger’ at him about ‘science and settled science’ — because there’s another area of settled science they don’t like to discuss. ‘Let me give you a bit of settled science that they’ll never admit to. The science is settled, it’s not even a consensus, it is a unanimity, that human life begins at conception. So I hope the next time someone wags their finger about science, they’ll ask one of these leaders on the left: ‘Do you agree with the consensus of scientists that say that human life begins at conception?’ I’d like to see someone ask that question.’” [NY Times, 3/15/14]
Mitt Romney vowed to defund Planned Parenthood. “I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. And as president, I will support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood, which primarily performs abortions or offers abortion-related services.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]Mitt Romney on Planned Parenthood: “We’re going to get rid of that.” “In an outdoor interview with Ann Rubin of KSDK.com, Romney offered a few suggestions on how he would cut the deficit. ‘Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one, but there are others,’ he said. ‘Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.’” [Huffington Post, 3/13/12]	Marco Rubio voted to defund Planned Parenthood. “Rand Paul has previously voted to defund Planned Parenthood and said he would ‘stop the flow of tax dollars to groups who perform or advocate for abortion.’ Marco Rubio joined Paul in the vote to defund the health provider, and has made no secret of his plans to further restrict access.” [Salon, 2/27/15; Senate roll call vote 60, 4/14/11]
Mitt Romney pledged to overturn a regulation mandating that employers provide their employees with insurance that covers contraception. “The Republican presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told CNSNews.com today that if elected Romney will rescind in its entirety a regulation finalized last month by the Obama administration that requires all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. […] Through his campaign press office, CNSNews.com asked Romney today via email about this: ‘Will Mitt Romney, on day one, rescind this mandate in its entirety—as the Catholic Church has urged the current administration to do—so that individuals, employers and insurers who have a ‘moral or religious objection to contraception or sterilization’ will not be forced to violate the tenets of their own faith or act against their consciences?’ Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded: ‘Yes–Governor Romney would rescind the mandate in its entirety.’” [CNS News, 2/3/12]	Marco Rubio supported the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, which gave employers the right to deny their employees contraception coverage. “The Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision is a re-affirmation of America’s commitment to religious freedom and a reminder of why ObamaCare is such a flawed law that needs to be entirely repealed and replaced.” [Press Release – Office Of Senator Marco Rubio, 6/30/14]

Mitt Romney & Scott Walker

Mitt Romney pledged to “advocate for and support” the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that would impose a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks. “I will advocate for and support a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]	Scott Walker supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks. “Gov. Scott Walker said Monday he will sign a proposed 20-week abortion ban whether or not it includes an exemption for cases of rape or incest. […] Walker, who had previously expressed support for the bill that’s on a fast track in the Wisconsin Legislature, said it didn’t matter whether there was an exemption. As introduced, there is none in the bill.” [Chicago Tribune, 6/1/15]
Mitt Romney believed life begins at conception. “I spent a lot of time talking with people scientific in background as well as religious and spent a lot of time understanding when it was that as a society we needed to respect human life and came to the conclusion that it’s time to be very clear on that, that when conception occurs that human life has begun. I’m not talking about religious definitions, but scientific definitions — and that to respect human life, we have to do so from conception. And therefore, I indicated I am pro-life and will respect the rights of human life.” [Fox News’ Fox News Sunday, 2/26/06]	Scott Walker supported “personhood” legislation. “Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin spoke directly into the camera in a 30-second spot last fall and called abortion an ‘agonizing’ decision. He described himself as pro-life but, borrowing the language of the abortion rights movement, pointed to legislation he signed that leaves ‘the final decision to a woman and her doctor.’ That language was gone when Mr. Walker met privately with Iowa Republicans in a hotel conference room last month, according to a person who attended the meeting. There, he highlighted his early support for a ‘personhood amendment,’ which defines life as beginning at conception and would effectively prohibit all abortions and some methods of birth control.” [New York Times, 2/22/15]
Mitt Romney vowed to defund Planned Parenthood. “I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. And as president, I will support efforts to prohibit federal funding for any organization like Planned Parenthood, which primarily performs abortions or offers abortion-related services.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]Mitt Romney on Planned Parenthood: “We’re going to get rid of that.” “In an outdoor interview with Ann Rubin of KSDK.com, Romney offered a few suggestions on how he would cut the deficit. ‘Of course you get rid of Obamacare, that’s the easy one, but there are others,’ he said. ‘Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that.’” [Huffington Post, 3/13/12]	Scott Walker signed a budget that “eliminated over $1 million in state funding to Planned Parenthood clinics.” “A fifth Planned Parenthood health center closed in Wisconsin on Thursday due to state budget cuts that directed family planning money away from the provider. The Fond du Lac clinic did not provide abortion services. It offered birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, pregnancy tests, annual exams and breast cancer screenings to over 1,000 patients a year. A spokesperson for the clinic blamed the closure directly on Gov. Scott Walker (R), whose 2011-2013 budget eliminated over $1 million in state funding to Planned Parenthood clinics.” [Huffington Post, 9/25/14] Scott Walker bragged about having “defunded Planned Parenthood” in Wisconsin. “A few weeks before the November election, in an interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the governor sidestepped questions about his earlier opposition to abortion, and declined four times to answer directly when asked if abortion should be prohibited after 20 weeks — a position he had previously embraced. He also declined to restate his earlier opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest. But in a breakout speech in Iowa on Jan. 24, he drew loud applause from the crowd of conservative activists when he declared that he had passed ‘pro-life legislation’ in Wisconsin and ‘defunded Planned Parenthood.’” [New York Times, 2/22/15]
Mitt Romney pledged to overturn a regulation mandating that employers provide their employees with insurance that covers contraception. “The Republican presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told CNSNews.com today that if elected Romney will rescind in its entirety a regulation finalized last month by the Obama administration that requires all health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives, including those that cause abortions. […] Through his campaign press office, CNSNews.com asked Romney today via email about this: ‘Will Mitt Romney, on day one, rescind this mandate in its entirety—as the Catholic Church has urged the current administration to do—so that individuals, employers and insurers who have a ‘moral or religious objection to contraception or sterilization’ will not be forced to violate the tenets of their own faith or act against their consciences?’ Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded: ‘Yes–Governor Romney would rescind the mandate in its entirety.’” [CNS News, 2/3/12]	The Scott Walker administration stopped enforcement of state contraception mandate in cases of employers with religious objections after the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling. “Following a federal Supreme Court decision, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is halting enforcement of a state contraceptive mandate in cases of employers with religious objections. A spokesman for the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance said that state officials had no choice in light of the 5-4 ruling by the nation’s highest court last month in the Hobby Lobby Stores case.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/21/14]

Mitt Romney & Carly Fiorina

Mitt Romney supported “the reversal of Roe v. Wade.” “I support the reversal of Roe v. Wade, because it is bad law and bad medicine. Roe was a misguided ruling that was a result of a small group of activist federal judges legislating from the bench.” [Mitt Romney op-ed, National Review, 6/18/11]

Carly Fiorina said she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. “In January, after a radio host brought up DeVore’s charge that she was ‘personally pro-life, but when it comes to Roe v. Wade Carly Fiorina is something else,’ she responded, ‘Well, you know, I think it’d be helpful at some point if Chuck DeVore would quit mischaracterizing my record. . . . I absolutely would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if the opportunity presented itself.’” [New Yorker, 6/7/10]

Carly Fiorina supported the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, which gave employers the right to deny their employees contraception coverage. “Fiorina came out in support of the Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling, which gave the for-profit crafts company the right to deny its female employees four types of birth control, including the IUD, because of the deeply-held religious beliefs of the company’s owners. The businesswoman found herself in a particularly sticky situation when discussing the ruling on CNN’s State of the Union last July. ‘The women of Hobby Lobby had access to contraception through their company insurance plan before Obamacare; they have access to contraception — 16 forms of it — after the ruling,’ Fiorina said at the time. ‘But somehow, you know, this is the long arm of business and the Republican party reaching into the body of women. It’s ridiculous.’” [Bustle, 5/4/15]

LGBT

Mitt Romney & Chris Christie

Mitt Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions. “Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he is opposed to civil unions and gay marriage on the same day that President Barack Obama became the first president to support same-sex marriage. ‘Well, when these issues were raised in my state of Massachusetts, I indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name,’ the former Massachusetts governor told Denver Fox affiliate KDVR-TV. ‘My view is the domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but that the others are not.’” [Huffington Post, 5/9/12]

Chris Christie waged a losing legal battle to block marriage equality in New Jersey. “Christie dropped a legal fight to block same-sex marriage in New Jersey in 2013 after the State Supreme Court indicated it would not stop the unions, saying now: ‘Yeah, it is a settled issue in New Jersey.’ ‘When I know that I’ve been defeated you don’t bang your head against a wall and spend taxpayer money to do it,’ he said, explaining his decision. ‘Absent a change in the legislature, I think at the moment it’s settled law in New Jersey.’” [TIME, 7/12/14]

Mitt Romney & Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham opposed legalizing same-sex marriage. “During Loretta Lynch’s confirmation hearing Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tried to take the attorney general nominee down the slippery-slope argument often made against the marriage equality movement by inquiring what the legal difference is between marriage of same-sex couples and that of three or more people. ‘What is the legal difference between a state — a ban on same-sex marriage being unconstitutional but a ban on polygamy being constitutional?’ he inquired at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. ‘Could you try to articulate how one could be banned under the Constitution and the other not?’” [Huffington Post, 1/28/15]

Mitt Romney opposed a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. “In December 2007 Romney appeared on Meet the Press and was asked by Tim Russert whether he still supports ENDA. Here’s how the exchange went: MR. RUSSERT: You said [in 1994] that you would sponsor [Sen. Ted Kennedy’s federal] Employment Nondiscrimination Act. Do you still support it? GOV. ROMNEY: At the state level. I think it makes sense at the state level for states to put in provision of this. MR. RUSSERT: Now, you said you would sponsor it at the federal level. GOV. ROMNEY: I would not support at the federal level, and I changed in that regard because I think that policy makes more sense to be evaluated or to be implemented at the state level.” [The Nation, 12/19/11]

Lindsey Graham voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In November 2013, Graham voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would prohibit employers from “engaging in employment discrimination on the basis of an individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.” [S. 815, 4/25/13; Senate roll call vote 232, 1/7/13]

Mitt Romney & John Kasich

John Kasich opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions. “Ohio Gov. John Kasich revealed on Wednesday that he supports civil unions for same-sex couples. But don’t quote him on that. A spokesman for the Republican governor said Thursday that Kasich misspoke when he expressed support for the legal partnerships. The truth is, he doesn’t. ‘The governor’s position is unchanged,’ Kasich’s spokesman Rob Nichols said Thursday in a statement. ‘He opposes gay marriage and opposes changing Ohio’s constitution to allow for civil unions.’” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/21/13]

John Kasich removed protections for Ohio state employees that prohibited job discrimination based on gender identity. “Shortly after taking office in 2011, Kasich continued an executive order enacted in 2007 by former Democrat Gov. Ted Strickland that prohibits discrimination in state employment, including that based on sexual orientation. Kasich, however, chose to take out language that forbid state job discrimination based on gender identity.” [Columbus Dispatch, 3/31/15]

Mitt Romney & Scott Walker

Scott Walker said he supported “marriage between one man and one woman” and would defend Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. “In the Sept. 5 letter to Wisconsin Family Action, Walker says he passed legislation that gives women seeking abortions more information and health protection and that he cut off state funding for abortion providers. He went on to say he was defending the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. He said he swore an oath to uphold the constitution and he supports ‘marriage between one man and one woman.’” [Associated Press, 10/22/14]

Mitt Romney & Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina opposed marriage equality and supported California’s Proposition 8. “Carly Fiorina cited President Obama’s opposition to same-sex marriage to substantiate her belief that ‘marriage is between a man and a woman’ and moderate her support for Proposition 8: I do believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, but also have been consistent and clear that I support civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. The Defense of Marriage Act had broad bipartisan support. And actually, the position I’ve consistently espoused is consistent with that of our President and a vast majority of senators in the U.S. Senate…The voters were quite clear about their views on this [Proposition 8] and this is now going through a legal process.” [Think Progress, 9/1/10]

Middle Class Economy

Mitt Romney & Chris Christie

Mitt Romney pushed a tax plan that would cut rates for the wealthy while raising them for the middle class. “Mitt Romney’s plan revamping the tax code would end up cutting taxes for the richest 5 percent of Americans and raising taxes on everyone else, according to new independent study from the Brookings Institute and Tax Policy Center released Wednesday morning. The study finds that Romney’s plan would end up cutting taxes by about $87,000 on millionaires under a revenue-neutral model. The top 0.1 percent would see their after-tax revenue income rise by 4.4 percent. Meanwhile, the study estimates that the bottom 95 percent would see about 1.2 percent less after-tax income. They’ll see taxes rise about $500, according to the study.” [Business Insider, 8/1/12]

Chris Christie proposed tax cuts that “would largely benefit the state’s wealthier residents.” “Gov. Chris Christie’s proposal to cut income taxes by 10 percent would provide only modest financial relief to middle-class families who are struggling more under the weight of their property taxes, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. The governor’s plan would largely benefit the state’s wealthier residents, who pay a significantly higher rate under the state’s current progressive tax system, and so they would see greater savings, the analysis shows.” [Star-Ledger, 1/31/12]

Mitt Romney & Lindsey Graham

Mitt Romney wanted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy “indefinitely.” “Romney favors keeping the Bush tax cuts in place over what he calls a ‘sufficiently long period’ to give policymakers time to ‘restructure’ the entire federal tax code. Romney would reduce income tax rates for all Americans and limit some of the deductions wealthier Americans take, moves Romney said would keep the tax system progressive. ‘The president’s plan is aimed at small business and job creators. It will kill jobs in this country and hurt the middle class,’ Romney said. ‘The right answer is to extend the tax rates as they current exist indefinitely, until we put in place an entirely new and reformed system.’” [Radio Iowa, 7/9/12]

Lindsey Graham said it was “stupid” to allow tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. “South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday said President Barack Obama’s plan to let tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire was ‘stupid.’ During an interview on CNN, host Candy Crowley asked Graham if he would be willing to raise taxes on the middle class if Democrats refused to extend tax cuts for people making over $250,000. ‘I’m not going to do a short-term thing that’s stupid,’ the South Carolina Republican remarked.” [Raw Story, 8/5/12]

Mitt Romney & John Kasich

John Kasich pushed a tax plan that a Republican lawmaker described as a “regressive” proposal that raised “taxes on the poor and middle class.” “Gov. John Kasich touted his budget plan in Dayton on Tuesday, saying that income tax cuts and exempting some small businesses from income taxes will drive innovation in Ohio and create jobs. […] Meanwhile, lawmakers in Columbus began taking aim at some of Kasich’s tax proposals, which calls for offsetting a huge income tax cut with increases in sales taxes, cigarette taxes, oil and gas drilling taxes and the Commercial Activities Tax on businesses’ gross receipts. Ohio House Rep. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, said much of Kasich’s plan is ‘laudable’ but he called the sales tax ‘regressive’ and said the severance tax increases could lead to job losses at oil companies already coping with declining oil revenue. Antani also said he is concerned about ‘tax shifting,’ where one tax goes down but others go up. ‘To pay for (a tax cut) we don’t raise taxes on the poor and the middle class,’ said Antani. ‘We do it by cutting spending.’” [Dayton Daily News, 2/3/15]

Mitt Romney & Scott Walker

Mitt Romney proposed cutting the Earned Income Tax Credit. “On Wednesday, we took a look at how a $25,000 cap on itemized deductions would affect how Mitt Romney’s income tax cuts break down. But as the Brookings Institution’s Adam Looney pointed out in an e-mail to me, that’s not the full story. Romney is also proposing to junk the Alternative Minimum Tax, to cut the corporate income tax and – most pertinent to lower- and middle-income Americans — to let the stimulus’s expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other credits targeted at working families expire.” [Washington Post, 10/18/12]

Scott Walker slashed $56.2 million from the Earned Income Tax Credit over two years. “Walker could have restored the earned income tax credit that Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature cut in 2011 by $56.2 million over two years. That credit goes to the working poor who may not owe income tax but who do have children. It is meant to boost their wages and offset Social Security taxes and other taxes they pay. That year, Walker also ended annual inflationary increases for the homestead tax credit, which is a property tax break that shows up as a credit on income tax returns for low-income homeowners and renters.” [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 1/24/14]

Mitt Romney & Carly Fiorina

Mitt Romney opposed extending unemployment insurance for out-of-work Americans and suggested privatizing unemployment benefits. “Mitt Romney has a solution to America’s unemployment problems. Rather than giving Americans government help when they lose their jobs (help which he says will keep them unemployed), Romney suggests workers pay for their own unemployment insurance. The government, on the other hand, should spend its money spurring companies into making new jobs. As part of a sharply-worded attack on the Bush tax cut extension compromise published in today’s USA Today, Romney states his case that the extended unemployment insurance contained in the compromise will keep those out of work from looking for new jobs. In its place, Romney suggests ‘individual unemployment savings accounts over which employees would exercise direct control when they lose their jobs.’” [Talking Points Memo, 12/14/10]

Carly Fiorina opposed extending unemployment insurance before flip-flopping to say she would “probably” vote for extension after facing criticism. “Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina on Tuesday shifted her position on extending unemployment benefits, saying she would ‘probably’ support the extension if she were in the Senate. […] Earlier this month, the former Hewlett Packard chief executive said she opposed the extension because it would worsen the national deficit. Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer had been using Fiorina’s position to attack her as out of touch with average workers.” [Associated Press, 7/20/10]

Social Security & Medicare

Mitt Romney & Chris Christie

Mitt Romney proposed raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare. “Four days before critical primary elections, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney outlined a far-reaching plan Friday to gradually delay Americans’ eligibility for Medicare as well as Social Security. Romney said the shift, as people live longer, is needed to steer the giant benefit programs toward economic sustainability. […] The two programs provide retirement and health care benefits to tens of millions of older Americans. Beginning in 2022, Romney said, ‘we will gradually increase the Medicare eligibility age by one month each year.” [Portland Press Herald, 2/25/12]

Chris Christie proposed raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare. “Gov. Chris Christie has been pitching his controversial plan to overhaul so-called entitlement programs in New Jersey for weeks. Today, he unveiled a national proposal to reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. […] The proposal calls for raising the retirement age to 69 and raising early retirement to 64. The current retirement age is 67 for those born in 1960 or later.” [NJ.com, 4/14/15]

Mitt Romney & Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham proposed raising the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare. GRAHAM: “I don’t think you can look at entitlement reform without adjusting the age for retirement, like Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan did. It goes to 66, 67 here pretty soon for Social Security. Let it float up another year or so over the next 30 years, adjust Medicare from 65 to 67 over the next 30 years, means test benefits for people in our income level. I don’t expect the Democrats to go for premium support or a voucher plan, but I do expect them to adjust these entitlement programs before they bankrupt the country and run out of money themselves. So age adjustment and means testing for both Social Security and Medicare I think is eminently reasonable. And all those who’ve looked at this problem have done that over time.” [ABC’s This Week, 11/25/12]

Mitt Romney & John Kasich

John Kasich proposed raising the Social Security retirement age. “A plan promoted by Rep. John Kasich, R-Ohio, doesn’t require workers to open private accounts. But it might as well, because it penalizes them severely if they don’t. […] Kasich would also help finance his plan by gradually raising the retirement age, beyond today’s already scheduled increases.” [St. Petersburg Times, 10/14/00]

Mitt Romney & Scott Walker

Scott Walker suggested he would raise the Social Security retirement age. “During an interview with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker seemed to suggest that, should he be elected president, his birthday would be the dividing line for raising the social security retirement age. ‘We’ll talk about reform,’ Walker said, ‘but only for those — I was born on November 2, 1967 — for anybody older than me, we’re not touching social security.’ ‘People made decisions about their career and their employment,’ he continued, ‘and ultimately their retirement. For people — including me, and younger — yeah, we’re going to have to talk about reforms.’” [Daily Caller, 6/3/15]

Mitt Romney & Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina was open to raising the Social Security retirement age. “To cut domestic spending, she says, Congress should adopt zero-based budgeting to eliminate bad and duplicate programs. But on entitlement spending, she’s less urgent. ‘When we are satisfied that we don’t have hundreds upon hundreds of billions of dollars of waste, abuse, and corruption, then let’s start talking about raising the retirement age for Social Security,’ she says.” [Weekly Standard, 5/4/15]

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