The 7th Republican Primary Debate for Election 2016 was held in Iowa.  Wasn’t there only three each for Romney and McCain?  Our top tier candidates who participated in the debate are, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich.  This debate did not begin with opening statements.  The candidates were simply introduced.  Kentucky Senator, Rand Paul got the largest cheer from the audience and Bret Baier said that Iowa must be near Kentucky.

Megyn Kelly began by asking Ted Cruz about Donald Trump and what message his choosing not to attend sends to the voters of Iowa.  Cruz said I’m a maniac and everyone on the stage is stupid, fat, and ugly.  And Ben, you’re a terrible surgeon.  Now that we’ve gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way, I want to thank everyone here for showing the men and women of Iowa the respect, to showing up and make the case to the people of this state and the people of the country why each of us believe we would make the best Commander in Chief.

Megyn Kelly said that Cruz had once praised Trump as someone who was an effective voice against the Washington Cartel and that he was glad that Trump was running as a Republican, but when he started to criticize you, your message changed and you suddenly started to portray him as the voice of the Washington Cartel and suggested he would do the Democrats’ bidding.  Which is it?

Cruz answered, if Donald engages in insults I don’t intend to reciprocate.  I have not insulted Donald personally and I don’t intend to.  I am glad Donald is running, I’m glad he has produced enormous enthusiasm.  And to every Donald Trump voter, I hope to earn your support.  Now there is a difference between personal insults and attacks.  Between going into the mud with ad hominems and focusing on issues and substance. 

Chris Wallace asked Marco Rubio how he can united all of the factions in the GOP.  Rubio said this campaign is not about Donald Trump.  He’s an entertaining guy, he’s the greatest show on Earth.  This campaign is about the greatest country int he world and a President who has systematically destroyed many of the things that made America special.  We usually elect presidents who want to change the things that are wrong in America.  Barack Obama wants to change America.  Barack Obama wants America to be more like the rest of the world.  We don’t want to be like the rest of the world.  We want to be the United States of America.  That is why Hillary Clinton cannot win this election.  Hillary Clinton said this week that Barack Obama would make a great Supreme Court Justice.  The guy who systematically and habitually violates the Constitution on the Supreme Court?  I don’t think so.  If I am the nominee I will unite this party and we will defeat Hillary Clinton and we will turn this country around once and for all after 7 years of the disaster that is Barack Obama. 

Bret Baier said to Jeb Bush, it’s hard for anyone with your pedigree to avoid being called establishment.  He said that 3 others on the stage are splitting the mainstream republican vote and thereby handing this nomination to over to an anti-establisment candidate and isn’t that a problem?  Jeb said, we’re just starting.  The first vote hasn’t been counted.  He doesn’t deny being establishment.  Why don’t we let the process work?  I trust Iowans.  I kind of miss Donald Trump, he was a little teddy bear to me.  We always had such a loving relationship.  Look, I’m an establishment because my dad, the greatest man alive, was President of the United States and my brother was President?  Fine, I’ll take it.  And I guess I’m part of the establishment because Barbara Bush is my mom.  This election isn’t about pedigree it’s about people that are hurting.  We need a leader that will fix things and have a proven record to do it. 

Megyn Kelly addressed Christie and said that you tout your record as a Republican from a blue state who knows how to get things done and reach across the isle.  We don’t want anyone reaching across the isle.  Let democrats do the reaching for a change.  However, many republicans feel that reaching across the isle and getting things done isn’t great if you get the wrong things done.  I just said that! And they prefer to stand on principle rather than compromise.  Why are they wrong and you’re right?  Christie said they’re not wrong, but what’s wrong is your premise in the question.  You can do both.  No Christie, you can’t.  We don’t need anything more done.  Let’s start getting things undone. 

Brett Baier said to Paul, you’re definitely not in the establishment category, but in the beginning of this campaign you said you were your own man, when asked about your father, Ron Paul.  Cruz says that he is the intellectual and political heir to your father’s 2012 campaign and the liberty movement.  And your father now says that it’s realistic that Donald Trump will be your party’s nominee.  So did you make a mistake by not more fully embracing your father politically at the beginning of this campaign?  Rand Paul said that there is probably no man I respect more than my father.  He was probably the most honest man in politics.  In no way have I ever said that I don’t embrace my father.  I love my father and appreciate everything he’s done for the country.  I don’t think that liberty movement vote is going to Ted.  He didn’t show up.  We had an Audit the Fed vote, which was the biggest thing my dad had been advocating for 30 years.  Ted didn’t have time to show up.  He was the only Republican that didn’t show up.  I think that vote is going to stay in the Paul household.  It’s going to grow.  The NSA is another big issue.  Ted said he was for NSA reform.  But then he told Marco Rubio that he was for the NSA collecting 100% of your cell phone records.  I don’t think Ted can have it both ways.  We think we’re going to do very well in Iowa with the liberty vote. 

Cruz responded, well I agree with Rand that I very much respect Ron Paul.  You’ve got to be able to bring together conservatives, evangelicals, and libertarians and stitch together a winning majority.  When it comes to the Audit the Fed Bill, as Rand knows well, I was an original sponsor of the bill.  It didn’t have the votes to pass and I had commitments to be at a town hall in New Hampshire, but I look forward to signing that bill into law as President and to auditing the Fed and providing needed accountability at the Federal Reserve.

Rand replied, the bulk collection of your phone data, the invasion of your privacy did not stop one terrorist attack.  I don’t think you have to give up your liberty for a false sense of security.  Even the court declared it to be illegal. 

Wallace said to Kasich, you call yourself an inside/outside guy, a reformer who knows how to get things done, but you reject the establishment label.  Why do you reject it?  I’ve been a reformer for all my career, fighting to reform welfare, fighting to reform the Pentagon, also being in a position to balance the budget.  We cannot fix things in this country, Social Security, the border, balancing the budget, getting wages to grow faster (waving his stiff fingers around) unless we lead as conservatives, but we also invite people in from the other party.  We have to come together as a country.  No, John, we’ve come together for far too long.  It’s time to put the brakes on compromise.  Every compromise is a step away from the Constitution.  And we have to stop all the divisions.  I’ll keep heading in that direction, believe me.  Oh, we believe you, that’s why you aren’t leading in the polls.

Wallace said, Dr. Carson, I want to pick up on that with you.  What about the idea of running for President with no experience in government at all?  Carson said, I will gladly confess that I am the only one on this stage with no political title.  You’re not going to hear a lot of polished political speech from me.  But you will hear the truth and I don’t think you have to be a politician to tell the truth.  If fact, sometimes it’s not that way.  I’ve had more 2AM phone calls than everybody here put together making life and death decisions, put together very complex teams to accomplish things that have never been done before.  We need people who think out of the box and can solve problems.  We don’t need more of the same solutions, we need different solutions to solve the problems and save our nation.

The topic moved to terrorism and Wallace said Cruz has talked about carpet bombing
ISIS and seeing if the sand will glow, but opposed giving Obama authority to enforce his red line in Syria and three years in a row, you voted against the Defense Authorization Act.  How do you square your rhetoric with your record?  Cruz said, Chris, I will apologize to nobody for the vigorousness with which I will fight terrorism, go after ISIS, hunt them down wherever they are and utterly and completely destroy ISIS.  You claim it is tough talk to discuss carpet bombing, it’s not tough talk, it is a different fundamental military strategy than what we’ve seen from Barack Obama.  Barack Obama over 7 years has dramatically degraded our military.  Want to know what carpet bombing is?  It’s what we did in the first Persian Gulf War, 1100 air attacks a day.  Saturation bombing that utterly destroyed the enemy.  Right now Barack Obama is launching between 15 and 30 air attacks a day.  He’s not arming the Kurds.  We need to define the enemy.  We need to rebuild the military to defeat the enemy.  Yes, rebuild our military, but let’s not arm anyone else.  That never works well in the end.  And we need to be focused and lift the rules of engagement, so we’re not sending our fighting men and women into combat with their arms tied behind their backs. 

Rubio said that today we are on pace to have the smallest Army since the end of World War II, the smallest Navy in 100 years, the smallest Air Force in our history.  You cannot destroy ISIS with a military that’s being diminished!  When I am President, we are rebuilding the U.S. Military. 

Cruz said that Reagan faced the same diminished military after Carter and what he did was began with tax reform and regulatory reform unleashing the engine of the American free enterprise system.  It brought booming economic growth and that growth fueled rebuilding the military.  I intend to do the exact same.

Christie was asked why he compared Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz to Obama as being inexperienced for the job.  He never really answered and gave a speech about how we shouldn’t elect Hillary.

Jeb was asked about his criticisms of Rubio and Cruz and their ideas about how to fight terror.  Jeb rambled on about how he has a lot of ideas for fighting ISIS and Cruz was asked to respond.  He said I would note that the last four questions have been, Rand, please attack Ted, Marco, Please attack Ted, Chris please attack Ted, Jeb Please attack Ted.  Chris Wallace said, it is a debate sir.  Cruz responded, no, a debate actually is a policy issue, but I will say this, gosh, if guys ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage.  He got applause.  Chris, the most important determination any voter is going to make in this election is who is best prepared to be Commander in Chief.  Who has the experience, who has the knowledge, who has the judgement, who has the clarity of vision and strength of resolve to keep this country safe?  That is what this debate is all about.  And I would suggest, let’s stay focused on those issues rather than just attacks directed at each other.

Rand Paul said that the issue in Syria is a very important one.  It’s one we need to get right.  The question is, should we be bombing both sides of the war?  Some want to topple Assad and bomb ISIS and Assad simultaneously.  I think that’s a really, really bad idea.  In fact I’ve said for several years that arming the allies of ISIS will make the situation worse.  What we really need to do is to defeat ISIS, but if you defeat Assad, what you will wind up with is a larger and more powerful ISIS that occupies that space.  You may well see an ISIS that takes over all of Syria. 

Kasich tried to butt in and said that if he didn’t no one would hear what he had to say on this foreign policy issue and everyone wants to hear it.  Megyn Kelly said that they want to turn the page to domestic terror, because they are partnering with Google on this debate and they’re telling them that their search results have gone through the roof.  The searches for terror issues, for safety issues in America have gone up 400% since 2008.  Now, in combating this threat, Senator Rubio, you’ve advocated closing down mosques, diners, any place where radicalization is occurring, but the Supreme Court has made clear that hateful speech is generally protected by the 1st Amendment.  In other words, radical muslims have the right to be radical muslims unless they turn to terror.  Doesn’t your position run afoul of the 1st Amendment?

Rubio said that’s the problem, radical muslims and radical islam is not just hate talk it’s hate action.  They blow people up.  Look what they did in San Bernardino, look at the attack they inspired in Philadelphia that the White House still refuses to link to terror.  Where a guy basically shot a police officer three times, he told the police, I did it because I was inspired by ISIS, and to this day the White House still refuse to acknowledge that it had anything to do with terror.  Yes, when I am President of the United States if there is some place in this country where radical jihadists are planning to attack the United States, we will go after them wherever they are.

Megyn asked, Senator Paul, do you agree with that?  We’re going to close down mosques, we’re going to close down diners?  Paul said, I think that’s a huge mistake to be closing down mosques.  But I would say that if you want to defend the country it begins with border security and this is where I’ve had my disagreement with Senator Rubio.  When he brought forward the Gang of 8 Bill to give citizenship to those who came here illegally, I put forward and amendment that says we should have more scrutiny on those who were coming as students, immigrants and refugees.  Because we had two refugees come to my town in Bowling Green and try to attack us.  Marco opposed this, because they made a deal with Chuck Shumer that he would oppose any conservative amendments.  I think that’s a mistake and I just don’t think Marco can have it both ways.  You can’t be in favor of defending us against islam, radical islam, if you’re not for border security. 

Marco said, I’m not aware of anyone who is not in favor of fully vetting people that are trying to come into this country other than perhaps Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  I think we all support that.  Rand’s amendment was not the right way to do it.  When I am President of the United States, if we don’t know who you are or why you’re trying to come, you are not going to get in.  You’ll never walk back your pro-amnesty stance, Marco.

Megyn Kelly said that 2 radical muslims killed 14 people in San Bernardino.  Neighbors of the terrorists said that they did not report the couple because they were afraid they would be accused of profiling.  Now you have said that we should not profile.  How do you square that with the San Bernardino case, Chris Christie?  Christie said because you can do it without profiling, Megyn.  You can do it on the facts.  What those folks knew was that these folks had weapons.  They knew that they were talking about trying to take our country and attack it.  No they didn’t know that, Chris.  They saw weapons, that’s all.  So what?  Weapons are a right.  The only thing they had going for them, if they used it, was profiling.  That’s not profiling, that’s law enforcement.

Megyn said, they didn’t know they were going to attack the country!  Chris then said, they knew that they were talking about the issues of attacking people Megyn.  Megyn said, No, that’s not true, the neighbors said they saw men going in and out of the garage, they saw packages being delivered, they saw muslims, and they did not think that was enough to call the cops.  Do you?  Christie said, listen, I think what people should do is use their common sense.  And the fact is, let law enforcement make those decisions.  In other words profiling, Chris!  Profiling is common sense! 

Megyn turned to Carson.  This week a female muslim who served in the U.S. Air Force asked Hillary Clinton if the United States is still the best place to raise her three muslim children.  Do you think the GOP message on muslims has stoked the flames of bias on this as the democrats suggest and how would you answer this veteran?  Carson said, I don’t know about the GOP messaging, but I can tell you about my messaging.  We need to stop allowing political correctness to dictate our policies.  It’s going to kill us if we don’t.  In the Holy Land Foundation trial, 2006 in Texas, they had a memorandum that talked about the fact that Americans would be easy to overcome and commit civilization jihad, because they were going to be trying to protect the rights of the very people who were trying to subvert them.  Teddy Roosevelt said, we are a nation of immigrants.  As such, anybody is welcome, from any race, any country, any religion, if they want to be Americans.  If they want to accept our values, our laws, if not they should stay where they are. 

Now, on to Kasich, Megyn Kelly brought up encryption technology which protects smart phones from hacking.  Tech guys and MIT scientists warn that if they create a way for the FBI to have a back door into our encrypted communications, then the bad guys will exploit it too.  This would cause more security problems than it would solve.  Are they wrong?  Kasich started waving his fingers around and said the joint terrorism task forces need resources and they need tools.  Who cares about the 4th Amendment?  Those are made up of the FBI, State and local law enforcement.  It’s best not to talk about back doors and encryption, it’ll get solved.  I was there when Reagan rebuilt the military.  I was there in ’89 when the wall came tumbling down.  I was there when we went in the Gulf War and we didn’t win that war just from the air.  We won the war by assembling a group of Arab leaders in the Rose Garden who stood with America.  If we want to destroy ISIS it has to be in the air and on the ground, with our friends in the Arab world and our friends in Europe. 

Bush was asked about a Wounded Warrior charity that wasted millions on travel and lavish accommodations and would he police these charity organizations.  Bush said, Of course and there’s all sorts of ways.  Unless you count constitutional ways, of course.  But who needs enumerated powers anymore?  This is simple.  If a charity is wasteful, don’t give to that charity.

A question came in from someone named Mark Watson, who makes Youtube videos and is an Army veteran.  He asked, as an African American living near Ferguson, I’ve seen the strain between police officers and their communities first hand.  Now there are great tools like body cameras that can protect both officers and citizens, but we all currently have better cameras in our pockets. Why aren’t we using technology available to better protect our communities?  Hey Mark, ask your community leaders.  This isn’t even remotely close to the job of a President. The question was given to Rand Paul, who said, I’ve supported legislation to allow body cameras, I’ve been to Ferguson and I’ve been trying to look for solutions to our criminal justice problem.  Why Rand?  Where is solving local criminal justice problems addressed as a federal responsibility in the Constitution?  One thing I discovered in Ferguson was that 1/3 of the budget for the city was being reaped by civil fines, people were just being fined to death.  I also think the war on drugs has disproportionately affected our African American community.  What we need to do is make sure our war on drugs is equal protection under the law and that we don’t unfairly incarcerate another generation of young African American males.  How about ending the unconstitutional federal war on drugs and let states decide what is and is not a crime, Rand? 

Christie was asked if he could name one thing that the federal government does now, that it should not do at all!  Oooh!  Oooh!  Can I take this!  Where would I start!  Almost everything they do domestically.  Slash it all.  Every agency, every unconstitutional law, the war on drugs, and every federal entitlement, like welfare and food stamps.  All of it!  Christie said, let’s get rid of Planned Parenthood funding.  Agreed!  That too!  Get rid of all funding of businesses, i.e. subsidies.  Brett Baier asked if he could think of anything bigger than that.  Christie said when you think of thousands upon thousands of babies murdered in the womb, I can’t think of anything bigger than that. 

Baier said that millions of people have health care now due to Obamacare and asked Cruz if he repealed Obamacare, would he be fine if those people don’t have health care insurance and what is his specific plan for covering the uninsured?  Cruz said that we have seen now in six years of Obamacare that it’s been a disaster.  It is the biggest job killer in this country.  Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, lost their doctors, lost their health insurance and seen their premiums skyrocket.  If I am elected President we will repeal every word of Obamacare.  Once that is done, everyone agrees we need health care reform.  It should follow the principles of expanding competition and empowering patients and keeping government from getting in between us and our doctors.  Three specific reforms. Number one, we should allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, which will drive down the cost of low cost, catastrophic health insurance.  Number two, we should expand health savings accounts, so people can save in a tax advantaged way for more routine health care needs.  Number three, we should work to delink health insurance from employment, so if you lose your job your health insurance goes with you and it is personal, portable, and affordable.

Baier said, Governor Bush, you’ve advocated for statehood for Puerto Rico.  That’s all we need.  Two more democrat Senators and more democrat congressmen.  The Puerto Rican economy is collapsing.  Only about 1 million of it’s 4 million residents are currently employed.  Should American citizens, who you say are already over taxed, bail out Puerto Rico as well?  Bush said, no, they shouldn’t and I believe that Puerto Rico ought to have the right to self determination.  They already do, Jeb. How about leaving them alone.  They don’t want to be a state.  We don’t want it either. 

Megyn told Rubio that when he ran for Senate he opposed legalization and citizenship for illegal immigrants.  You promised repeatedly that you would oppose it as a U.S. Senator as well.  She played video examples of Rubio saying it.  Then she said, within two years of being elected you were cosponsoring legislation to create a path to citizenship, in your words, amnesty.  Haven’t you already proven that you cannot be trusted on this issue?  Rubio said, no, because if you look at the quote, it’s very specific, and it says blanket amnesty.  I did not support blanket amnesty.  So, just play word games and everything is fixed!  Megyn said, you said more than that.  You said earned path to citizenship is basically code for amnesty.  Wow!  I have to say, Megyn is actually hitting the RINOs hard for being RINOs tonight!  Rubio couldn’t flounder his way out of this.  He said at the time and the context of that was in 2009 and in 2010 where the last effort for legalization was an effort done in the Senate.  It was an effort lead by several people that provided almost an instant path with very little obstacles moving forward.  In other words, bupkis.  Can’t get out of this one.  He tried changing the subject to keeping ISIS out of America.

Bush said that there should be a path to legal status for the 12 million people.  I wrote a book on it, it’s on Amazon, for $2.99.  It’s not a best seller.  Rubio said, that’s the book where you changed your position on immigration.  You used to support a path to citizenship.  Bush said, so did you!  The crowd cheered.  Marco stumbled over his words over and over and said, you wrote a book where you changed your position from a path to citizenship to a path to legalization.  And the bottom line is this.  We’re not going to be able to do anything on this issue until we first bring illegal immigration under control.  The two worst candidates on immigration, Rubio and Bush argued for several minutes over who was worse than the other.

Megyn moved to Cruz and said when Senator Rubio proposed that bill, you proposed an amendment.  It would have allowed for legalization, but not citizenship, when pressed why you supported legalization, you claimed you didn’t, like you just did.  You argued that this was just a poison pill amendment, something designed to kill the bill and not actually get it through, but that is not how it sounded at the time.  She played videos of Cruz talking about wanting immigration reform to pass with his amendment.  Unlike the clips of Rubio which were long and uncut, these were numerous and very short clips and choppy.  She asked Cruz, was that all an act?  It was pretty convincing.  Cruz said, you know the amendment you are talking about is one sentence, it’s 38 words.  Anyone can go online at TedCruz.org and read exactly what it says.  In those 38 words it said, anyone here illegally is permanently ineligible for citizenship.  It didn’t say a word about legalization.  Megyn said, but the bill allowed both citizenship and legalization.  Cruz said, but Megyn, the bill was a thousand pages, I introduced a series of amendments, each designed to fix problems in the bill.  The fact that each amendment didn’t fix every problem didn’t mean that I supported the rest of the bill.  I’ll tell you who supported my amendment.  Jeff Sessions, the strongest opponent of amnesty in the United States Congress.  And he did so, because taking citizenship off the table was important and it revealed the hypocrisy of the proponents of this bill who were looking for votes.  We can solve immigration.  We just heard an argument back and forth that we can’t solve immigration.  I have a detailed plan on my web site.  It was designed with Iowa’s own congressman, Steve King and Jeff Sessions.  We have the tools in federal law to do this now.  We can build the fence, we can triple the border patrol, we can end sanctuary cities by cutting off funding to them.  We can end welfare for those here illegally.  What is missing is the political will, because too many Democrats and sadly too many Republicans don’t want to solve this problem. 

Megyn said, Senator Paul, you know how Washington works, do you buy that?  He said, I was there and I saw the debate.  I saw Ted Cruz say we’ll take citizenship off the table and then the bill will pass.  The bill would involve legalization.  He can’t have it both ways.  What is particularly insulting though, is that he is the king of saying, oh you’re for amnesty.  I was for legalization.  I think if you have border security, you can have legalization.

Cruz said, John Adams famously said, facts are stubborn things.  The facts are very simple.   When that battle was waged, my friend Senator Rubio chose to stand with Barack Obama and Harry Reid and Chuck Shumer to support amnesty and I stood along side Jeff Sessions and Steve King and we lead the fight against amnesty.  If you want to know who’s telling the truth, you should look and ask people like Jeff Sessions and Steve King and Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin. 

Megyn Kelly said to Rubio, even Chuck Shumer, your cosponsor, agrees with Ted Cruz on this.  Rubio said, this is the lie that Ted’s campaign is built on.  That he’s the most conservative guy and everyone else is a RINO.  The truth is Ted, throughout this campaign, you’ve been willing to say or do anything in order to get votes.  The audience booed Rubio.  Now, you want to trump Trump on immigration.  

Cruz responded, you know I like Marco, he’s very charming, he’s very smooth.  But the facts are simple.  When he ran for election in the state of Florida, he told the people of Florida, if you elect me, I will lead the fight against amnesty.  When I ran in Texas I told the people of Texas, if you elect me, I will lead the fight against amnesty.  We both made the identical promises.  But when we came to Washington we made a different choice.  Marco chose to go the direction of the major donors to support amnesty because he thought it was politically advantageous.  I honored my commitment and as President I will honor every commitment. 

YouTube creator Dulce Candy, a Mexican immigrant said that she served in the armed forces in Iraq, became a citizen and is now an entrepreneur.  She asked if America is not a welcoming place for immigrant entrepreneurs, will the American economy suffer?  Megyn Kelly gave the question to Carson.  He said that we are a land of immigrants, but we have to be intelligent about how we form our immigration policies.  That’s why I have called on us to declare war on the Islamic State.  We need to reorient our immigration policies and our visa policies for people who are coming into this country because there are many people out there who want to destroy us.  If you’ve got 10 people coming to your house and you know one of them is a terrorist, you’re probably going to keep them all out.  We have to figure out a way to make sure we keep America safe. 

Wallace said that Cruz prides himself to standing up to the DC Cartel, but there is a price to be paid for it.  13 Senators have endorsed other candidates.  None have endorsed you.  Does your style get in the way of your ability to get things done?  Cruz said, Chris, you are exactly right, that I am not the candidate of career politicians in Washington.  The endorsements that I am proud of are the over 200 thousand volunteers across this country who have signed up to volunteer for our campaign.  The endorsements I am proud of are from leading conservatives like Iowa’s own Congressman Steve King and conservative leaders like Doctor James Dobson and over 700 thousand contributions nationwide.  This is a grass roots campaign.  When I ran for Senate, I told the people of Texas that I’m not going there to go alone to get along.  Washington is broken and the people I have been accountable to every single day in the Senate are the 27 million Texans who I represent.  If I am elected, every single day I will do two things.  Tell the truth and do what I said I will do.

Megyn said, Governor Bush, poll after poll shows you running among the worst in your party against Hillary Clinton.  Yet you and people supporting you continue to blanket the airwaves with cutting ads, not against Clinton, but against your fellow Republicans.  Do you think you do more harm than good attacking those candidates who have the best chance of defeating Mrs. Clinton?  Bush said, I’ve seen polls where I am beating Hillary Clinton regularly and I believe I can, because I have a proven record.

Baier said to Rubio, the people of Florida have you in third, trailing Donald Trump by 24 points.  If the people who know you best have you there, why should the rest of the country elect you?  Rubio said, Iowa, on Monday night you’re going to go to a caucus site and be the first Americans that vote in this election.  Let me tell you what the answer better not be.  It better not be Bernie Sanders.  Bernie Sanders is a socialist.  I think Bernie Sanders is a good candidate for president… of Sweden.  We don’t want to be Sweden.  And Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being the Commander in Chief.  One of her first acts as President may very well be to pardon herself.  Anyone who lies to the families of Americans who have died in the service of this country can never be Commander in Chief of the United States.

Christie said that he would prosecute Hillary and she would never get within 10 miles of the White House.  The days of the Clintons in public housing are over.

Regarding his increasing Medicaid, Kasich was asked about his quote where he said that when he meets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates he’s going to ask what he did for the poor and not what you did to keep government small.  Kasich said that he took the growth of Medicaid from over 10% to 2.5% without cutting off one person.  We have treated the drug addicted in our prisons and released them into the community and our recidivism rate is less than 20%.  The mentally ill have been stepped on for too long in this society and we are beginning to treat them.  In terms of my faith, I study scripture and I know the people who live in the shadows need to have a chance. 

Wallace brought up Kim Davis in Kentucky, saying she refused to issue same sex marriage licenses, saying that it violated her religious belief. It violated the Kentucky Constitution, too.  Governor Christie, you said that she must follow the law or be moved to another job that would be in keeping with her conscience.  Some conservatives say that violates her religious liberty.  Also, she is elected, not hired.  She can’t be moved to a different job.  Christie said, what I said Christ is that the law needs to be followed.  What law?  There is no law that legalizes gay marriage in Kentucky.  If Mrs. Davis wanted to step aside and get rid of her ability to have to do that, there should be someone else in that office who it didn’t violate their conscience and they could follow the law of the State of Kentucky.  Again, it isn’t a law of the State of Kentucky.  It is an unconstitutional ruling of the Supreme Court to throw out the law and constitution of the State of Kentucky.  The Supreme Court has no such power enumerated in article 3 of the Constitution.  What I did say was that the person who came in for a license needed to get it.  If it is mandated that applicants must receive licenses, then why license an activity in the first place?  Christie started trying to compare this to taking on ISIS.

Wallace said to Rubio, you said that Christie changed his position on gun control, Common Core, and backing Obama’s nomination of Sonya Sotomayor.  He said you’re wrong on the facts and you can’t slime your way to the White House.  I assume in the last two weeks you’ve done some fact checking.  Do you want to take anything back?  Rubio said, yeah, I would encourage people to go on my web site, MarcoRubio.com, we put all the facts up there, so people can see it for themselves.  I think if you do not understand that our Judeo Christian values are one of the reasons why America is such a special country, then you don’t understand our history.  Why are we the most generous people in the world?  Why do Americans contribute millions of dollars to charity?  It is not because of the tax right off.  It is because in this nation, we are influenced by Judeo Christian values that teach us to care for the less fortunate.

Rand Paul was asked about his desire to turn abortion back over to the states and would he be ok with a liberal state keeping it legal?  Rand said that he thinks abortion is always wrong and he has a variety of solutions, both state and federal.  Just last week I introduced the Life at Conception Act, which would say that the 14th Amendment would defend an individual even in the womb.  On the broader question of religion in politics, I think liberty itself requires a virtuous people.  Os Guinness the theologian said liberty requires restraint, but the only restraint consistent with liberty is self restraint.  Wallace asked, do you favor the idea that abortion should be a states’ rights issue and that if a liberal state wants to make it legal that that’s their choice?  Rand said, no both, both a federal and a state approach.  I have said we could leave it to the states, but have also introduced a federal solution.  Roe V. Wade nationalized the issue.  If you actually had the court reverse Roe V. Wade, it would become a state issue once again.  I think it would be better the less abortions we have, so the more states that we have that made abortion illegal, the better. 

Brett Baier mentioned that Rubio wanted to tear up Obama’s Iran deal on day one, to which Rubio agreed and said that he would.  Kasich said he would not and that if they violated one dotted I or one crossed T, we slap back on sanctions.  The deal isn’t even legal and Kasich wants to honor it.  It is a violation of Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Brett said that Lybia is the newest base for ISIS and they are setting up training camps there.  He asked Christie if he would deploy troops to Lybia to take out ISIS there?  Christie said that this is one of those places where Hillary Clinton has so much to answer for and why she is completely unqualified to be Commander in Chief.  We need to bring in our allies and take out ISIS every place that it is around the world, so that together, all of us could take ISIS out, destroy it and then move on to come back to our country to protect our homeland security and make sure that the American people are safe.

Megyn said to Rand Paul, you have said that Bill Clinton’s history with women is fair game in this campaign.  How do you answer those who say you don’t hold the sins of a husband against the wife?  Rand Paul said, well you know, I have never really brought this up unless asked the question.  I don’t blame Hillary Clinton at all for this.  I don’t think she’s responsible for his behavior.  But I do think that her position as promoting womens’ rights and fairness to women in the workplace, that if what Bill Clinton did, any CEO in our country did with an intern, the would be fired.  They would never be hired again.  She can’t be a champion of womens’ rights at the same time she’s got this that is always lurking out there.  I combine this also with the millions upon millions of dollars they’ve taken from regimes in the Middle East who treat women like cattle. 

Another Youtube question came in from someone named Nabela Noor.  She says she is a muslim American, born and raised in the U.S. who creates beauty and lifestyle videos.  She said that in 2015 the number of hate crimes against muslims in the U.S. has tripled.  On social media, I’ve seen many attacks directed towards fellow muslims.  This culture of hatred is only driving ISIS to radicalize, recruit and incite violence.  As President, what would you do to address this toxic climate and promote increased tolerance in the United States.  Why do we have to keep being subjected to brain dead questions from YouTube liberals?  This isn’t a Democrat debate.  Want my answer?  I’d love to answer this one.  I have no tolerance for islam, because the koran demands zero tolerance for me.  A muslim is a muslim and I don’t care if you are a 500 pound beauty and lifestyle video maker on YouTube, you have the same koran and practice by mandate, the same jihad.  This is stage one.  Demand tolerance.  That is stage one jihand by definition.

They gave the question to Bush who said, I think it’s important that when we’re running for the highest office in the land, we recognize that we’re living in dangerous times and we have to be serious about it.  Our words have consequences.  Donald Trump for example, believed that in reaction to people’s fears we should ban all muslims.  Well that creates an environment that’s toxic in our own country.  No Jeb, muslims create the toxic environment.  Bullets and bombs are toxic.  Nabela is a rising entrepreneur.  She wants to pursue the American Dream.  No, you didn’t listen to her.  She wants America to accept her culture, she doesn’t want to accept American culture.  She’s and American citizen.  She should not feel uncomfortable about her citizenship.  She’s not the threat, the threat is islamic terrorism.  Made easy by lulling you into a false sense of security by jihad stage 1, gaining acceptance as peaceful.  We need to deal with ISIS in the Caliphate.  We need a strategy to destroy ISIS there.  You can’t do that without the cooperation of the muslim world.  Bingo!  And you won’t get it.  This muslims is asking us to cooperate with her, not the other way around, Jeb. 

Wallaces said, Senator Cruz, you called to an end to the renewable fuels standards, which mandate that refineries blend bio fuels including ethanol into gasoline as you well know, ethanol is a big industry in this state, 10 billion dollars a year. That government mandates we pay for.  Last week, Terry Branstad, the popular Governor of Iowa, said that you’re bank rolled by Big Oil and that Iowans would be making a mistake supporting you.  Why should those voters side with you over the six term Governor of the state sir?  Cruz said, well Chris I’m glad to discuss my views on ethanol and energy, I think God has blessed this country with enormous natural resources and we should pursue all of the above.  But I don’t believe that Washington should be picking winners and losers and I think there should be no mandates and no subsidies whatsoever.  And indeed my tax plan that I’ve introduced, it’s a simple flat tax for everyone.  It will produce enormous economic growth and it eliminates every mandate, every subsidy, so there’s no subsidies for oil and gas, no subsidies for anyone.  Now, it is true that there are a bunch of lobbiests, and a bunch of Democrats in this state spending millions of dollars trying to convince the people of Iowa that I somehow oppose ethanol, it’s not true.  I have introduced legislation that would phase out the ethanol mandate over 5 years, but that is in the context of having no mandates whatsoever for anyone.  And I would note, there’s a much more important government regulation to ethanol and that is the EPA’s blend wall that makes it illegal to sell mid level blends of ethanol and gasoline.  I will tear down the EPA’s blend wall which will enable ethanol to expand its market share by up to 60%.  All without mandates, all without any government mandates whatsoever through the marketplace.  And I’ll note finally Chris, there is a reason that Iowa’s Congressman Steve King, perhaps the fiercest defender of farmers in this state, is chairing my campaign, because he understands that I’m committed to a fair and level playing field for every energy source without lobbiests and without Washington picking winners and losers. 

Ben Carson said, I’m very much against the government being involved in every aspect of our lives.  Last year there were an addition 81,000 pages of government regulations.  If you stack that up it would be a three story building.  This is absolutely absurd.  And they insinuate themselves into everything.  As far as the renewable fuel standard is concerned, certain promises were made.  Certain government contracts were issued which extend all the way to the year 2022.  I feel that it is probably unfair to withdraw the rug, because people have invested money and energy into that.

They went directly from ethanol to closing statements beginning with Rand Paul.

Rand Paul: Well thanks for having me, it’s great to be back!  I’m an eye surgeon from Bowling Green, Kentucky.  I miss doing eye surgeries.  I still get to do a little bit.  I did a couple of cataract surgeries over Christmas holidays.  I got to go to Haiti last year and gotten to do some incredible things.  Got to be on the floor of the Senate.  It’s just been amazing to me.  But the thing that is most important to me and caused me to run for office is I’m worried about the country and how much debt we’re adding.  And I am the one true fiscal conservative who will look at all spending and that’s the only way we will ever balance our budget.  Thank you.

John Kasich: You know one of our biggest national security issues is the world looks at us sometimes and we look at each other and say why can’t we solve problems.  What?  Biggest national security issue?  Looking at each other.  Well I’ve got news for you, we can.  We can in fact create jobs and provide job security.  We can create a situation where wages begin to rise.  We can create a situation for our children to be able to get a decent job to pay down their college debt.  We can reassume our role in the world.  But all this has to come together when we have a positive attitude, an optimistic approach.  An ability for us to set the tune as conservatives but to invite other people in to be part of that orchestra.  You see ladies and gentlemen at the end of the day I’m an optimist, because I’ve seen so many things get accomplished in my life time and we can do it again together all of us to strengthen this country.  Work together.  Thank you.  What in the world did he say?

Chris Christie: On September 11th my wife was two blocks from the World Trade Center.  When the buildings came down she was trapped in her building and I didn’t hear from her for over 6 hours.  We had three children, 8, 5, and 1.  And I had to confront the possibility of being a single parent.  Terrorism in this country scares everyone.  And the fact is, we need a Commander in Chief who not only understands how to protect us, but feels in here what it means to face the possibility of loss.  I’ve faced it.  I’ve prosecuted terrorists.  I have made the decisions that need to be made as a governor to protect us and as President of the United States no one will keep this country safer than I will. 

Jeb Bush: We desperately need a conservative leader as President of the United States.  Well, then, did Jeb just drop out of the race?  I have a proven record as Governor of the State of Florida as a conservative leader.  And I also have detailed plans to fix the mess in Washington D.C.  As President I will restore and rebuild our military, restore the alliances, and keep us safe.  And as our party’s nominee I will defeat Hillary Clinton in November.  I ask for your support on the caucuses come Monday night and I will make you proud as our party’s nominee.  Thank you very much.

Ben Carson: I want to thank the people of Iowa for being so welcoming to me.  Please think of our founding fathers as you listen.  We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the benefits of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.  Folks, it’s not too late.  Enough said.

Marco Rubio: The Bible commands us to let our light shine on the world.  For over 200 years America’s light has been shining on the world and the world has never been the same again.  But now that light is dimming a little after seven years of Barack Obama.  And that’s why Monday night what will happen here in Iowa is so important.  I’m asking you for your vote.  Caucus for me on Monday night, ’cause if I’m your nominee I will unite this party and I will defeat Hillary Clinton.  And when I’m President America’s light will shine again and the 21st century will be a new American century.

Ted Cruz: In 93 hours, the media noise will soon be over and it’s now for the men and women of Iowa to decide.  Our country is in crisis, we’re worried for the future of our children and we’ve been burned over and over again.  The central question in this race is trust.  Who do you know will kill the terrorists, defend the Constitution, and repeal Obamacare?  Who do you know will stop amnesty and secure the borders?  Who do you know will defend life, marriage, and religious liberty?  Examine my records, pray on it, and I would be honored if you and your family would come caucus for us on Monday night.

Overall, I’d say the debate was fine, they stayed on policy topics for the most part.  I just think it’s time for the RINOs to start dropping out.  We should be down to about 5 candidates at the most right now.  There are far too many debates with the same large number of candidates, most of which are dead weight taking up time.  It would be better to have fewer candidates and keep the debates to one hour.  Also, if we are going to have YouTube questions, let’s have them from conservatives, not abject moron liberals.  I am steaming mad, sick and tired of that.

AMP (Anna Maria Perez)

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