CNN 2015 GOP primary debate: on Jobs


Donald Trump: FactCheck: Yes, Trump wanted a casino, and Jeb opposed it

Jeb Bush asked about Trump's statement that politicians could be bought: "The one guy that had some special interests that I know of that tried to get me to change my views on something--that gave me money--was Donald Trump," Bush said. "He wanted casino gambling in Florida."

That's when Trump cut him off--and failed to tell the truth. "I didn't," Trump said. But for more than 21 years, Trump did. He and his company have repeatedly been on record trying to get casino deals in one form or another in Florida.

Trump didn't just stop with his one false denial. He doubled down. Immediately after Trump said "I didn't" want casinos in Florida, Bush corrected him: "Yes you did. You wanted it and you didn't get it because I was opposed."

Trump, cutting him off: "[If I'd wanted it], I promise I would have gotten it."

Wrong again. As early as 1994, just before Florida voters rejected expanded gambling, Trump told The Miami Herald: "I'm going to be the first one to open up if Floridians vote for them."

Source: Politico FactCheck on 2015 Republican two-tier CNN debate Sep 17, 2015

Donald Trump: 2013: Failed to persuade Florida legislators on large casino

[Did Trump try unsuccessfully to get casinos into Florida while Jeb Bush was governor? Yes.] From hiring lobbyists to taking a former business partner to court, Trump's interest in getting a piece of Florida's gaming industry has been documented in news articles from Tallahassee to Miami. Trump's involvement in expanding Florida gaming--an effort that regularly fails in the state Capitol due to the influence of conservative lawmakers--is well-known among state capital reporters, politicians and lobbyists alike.

As early as 1994, Trump [said he would open a casino if voters approved it]. A decade later, Florida approved casinos. Today, Florida has 15 of them. None are owned by Trump. But he tried after he bought the Doral Golf Resort & Spa near Miami and joined the failed fight to have lawmakers approve new, large "destination-resort" casinos. "If Miami doesn't do casinos, that would be a terrible mistake," Trump told The Miami Herald in 2013. But Trump didn't get what he wanted.

Source: Politico FactCheck on 2015 Republican two-tier CNN debate Sep 17, 2015

Ben Carson: Minimum wage should probably be raised; then index it

Q: You have said that you want to raise the federal minimum wage?

CARSON: Let me say what I actually said about raising the minimum wage. I was asked should it be raised, I said, probably, or possibly. But, what I added--which I think is the most important thing--I said we need to get both sides of this issue to sit down, and talk about it. Negotiate a reasonable minimum wage, and index that so that we never have to have this conversation again in the history of America. I think we also have to have two minimum wages, a "starter," and a "sustaining" because how are young people ever going to get a job if you have such a high minimum wage that it makes it impractical to hire them?

Q [to Walker]: You have called raising the minimum wage a "lame idea"?

WALKER: I don't want to argue about how low things are going to be, I want to talk about how do we lift everyone up in America. That's what we've done in Wisconsin, that's exactly what we'd do federally.

Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

Lindsey Graham: Increasing the minimum wage makes it harder to hire people

When my mom and dad owned a restaurant, the bar, the pool room, if you increased the minimum wage it'd been hard to hire more people. I'm not going to increase the minimum wage, I'm going to try to create an environment where somebody else will open up a restaurant across the street to hire you away at a higher rate, or they'll have to pay you more to keep you.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

Rick Santorum: Focus on improving life for average American workers

I will be out there talking about how we have to control immigration. How we have to look after the American worker.

The focus of this debate should be on how we're going to win this election and help improve the quality of life for American workers.

Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

Rick Santorum: Fewer than 1% of Americans earn minimum wage; let it go up

The GOP is a party that supports special interest tax provisions for a whole bunch of other businesses, but, when it comes to hardworking Americans who are at the bottom of the income scale, we can't provide some level of income support? What I've proposed is not that would be harmful to the American public, but a $.50 cents an hour increase over three years, which is what I'm proposing. By the way, 90 percent of American workers don't own a business. Most are wage earners.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary undercard debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

Scott Walker: Don't raise minimum wage; raise whole economy

Hillary Clinton talks about the minimum wage. That's her answer to grow the economy. The answer is to give people the skills and the education so they make far more than minimum wage. I don't want to argue about how low things are going to be, I want to talk about how do we lift everyone up in America. That's what Reagan talked about. It wasn't how bad things were, it was how to make it better for everyone.
Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

Ted Cruz: Pass a flat tax and abolish the IRS, and jobs will follow

Q: How will the world look different once your Air Force One is parked in the hangar of your presidential library, like Reagan's here?

A: If I'm elected president, here at home, we'll reignite the promise of America. Young people coming out of school, with student loans up to their eyeballs, will find instead of no jobs, two, three, four, five job opportunities. How will that happen? Through tax reform. We'll kill the terrorists, we'll repeal Obamacare, and we will defend the Constitution, every single word of it.

Source: 2015 Republican two-tiered primary debate on CNN Sep 16, 2015

  • The above quotations are from CNN Two-Tier 2015 GOP primary debate
    First Tier: Eleven candidates by polls
    Second Tier: Four other Republicans    .
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2016 Presidential contenders on Jobs:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018