Big Government

Conservatives can deny ¡Jeb! the Republican Party presidential nomination. Really. Want to be part of that? It will take more than just voting.

One of the clear distinctions in the debate was on the issue of illegal immigration, where businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argued for strict border controls while establishment-backed candidates Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich appealed to emotion and politic. Perhaps the most interesting exchanges on illegal immigration were those that didn’t occur. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose Presidential campaign has been shadowed by his support of the Gang of Eight Senate amnesty bill, demurred from mentioning the issue.

During last night’s presidential debate, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush appeared to spurn an attempt from Sen. Marco Rubio to engage in some small talk.

Taking on crony capitalism, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas openly declared that he would not bail out the banks a la 2008. Dr. Ben Carson took that position as well, saying he had no interest in protecting bankers from their excessive risk-taking. Carly Fiorina spoke eloquently and at length about how Obamacare was a creature birthed by large corporations, including the pharmaceutical industry. She also noted that crony capitalism is one step away from socialism.

Author Brett Decker sees the TPP as another step on the long path away from fidelity to the U.S. Constitution. “You know, I don’t think the Founders would recognize anything about this country,” he said. “The whole secrecy around this thing… as much as 20 years I’ve been in this town, it shocked me how you couldn’t see this thing, it couldn’t be public. The public wasn’t allowed to see it before it was voted on and approved. Is that really what this country’s about, where we can have this ‘Great Wall of Paper’ in a new law, and the public isn’t allowed to know what it is?”

Donald Trump’s campaign manager said Trump is committed to renegotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement with the 11 nations and then honoring the Constitution by getting two-thirds of the Senate to approve those bilateral agreements.

Former failed Presidential candidate Bob Dole endorsed Jeb Bush after last night’s debate in Wisconsin, describing him as the most qualified candidate to run against the Democrats.

Author Michelle Malkin reviews the Republican primary debate on Breitbart News Daily, as well as discussing how the candidates have addressed the issues raised in the new book she co-authored with John Milano, Sold Out: How High-Tech Billionaires & Bipartisan Beltway Crapweasels Are Screwing America’s Best & Brightest Workers.

Carly Fiorina recommended five steps to reduce the size of government and “really get this economy going again”: zero-based budgeting, instead of giving government agencies automatic spending increases every year; passing the Raines Act to shift power away from unaccountable bureaucrats to Congress; holding a top-to-bottom review of all regulations so we can roll many of them back; holding government officials accountable for their performance; and reforming the tax code.

GOP presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich came out in support of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement during the fourth GOP primary debate hosted by Fox Business, saying the deal is “critical.”