The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
Jeb Bush
Former governor of Florida
The son and brother of former presidents, before he ever ran for office Jeb Bush built a portfolio of scandals so deep that a federal prosecutor described him to be either ?crooked or stupid.? He worked with and even lobbied for expatriate Cubans who were busted by the FBI (known as the Recarey ?bust-out? scam), and was even part of the Oliver North-Contra scandal.
After entering the political field himself, on just his second day as governor Bush ended the Florida High Speed Rail Authority, a transportation project funded mostly by the private sector that had begun four years earlier. The next year, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment calling for return of the project, but Bush again withheld its funding.
Bush was also a supporter of the Enron thieves, hosting a fundraiser for one of its executives even though the company lost $335 million from Florida’s state employee pension fund.
He’s been criticized for repeatedly stating false information on education funding (which he thinks should be decreased), on US relations with the Vatican, and in promotion of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Bush is also known for fatal flip-flops. A book he co-authored in 2013 argues that illegal immigrants should be denied access to citizenship; on the same day the book was released, though, he told national media the exact opposite sentiment.
While a verbal opponent to the Affordable Care Act, Bush has earned $2 million as a board member of Tenet Healthcare, a company projected to earn $100 million from ACA funding this year alone.
Like many other of today’s Republicans, he openly promotes the Marxian economic theories of free trade and no government regulation of business.
Visit Liberal America for future updates on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
Kelly Ayotte ??Haley Barbour ??John Bolton
