***Horse Race LiveWire*** 3 Days to South Carolina: Cruz Goes Nuclear on Trump, Rubio

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by BREITBART NEWS16 Feb 201614406

Welcome to Breitbart News’s daily live updates of the 2016 horse race. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Ben Carson will participate in CNN’s town hall event tonight as Donald Trump’s town hall event airs on MSNBC. South Carolina’s Republican primary is on Saturday. Democrats will caucus in Nevada on Saturday. 

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Highlights: 2/16/16

•Hillary suffers a nearly 3 minute-long coughing fit
•Team Bush, Rubio have spent over $80 million and $50 million on ads respectively
•Rubio says he’ll support the GOP nominee in the general, even if it’s Trump or Cruz

Highlights: 2/17/16

•Jeb Bush at 1% in South Carolina poll
•Trump doing a phone-in interview on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show
•Trump blasting Fox News and Megyn Kelly on Twitter again
•Cruz goes off on Trump, Rubio at press conference
•South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorses Rubio over Jeb

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Tony Lee: Though Jack Welch had high praise for Cruz after the debate, he sounded too much like a lawyer trying to win points in the weeds while going after Trump. Cruz was strong in appealing to conservatives on a host of issues but he could have come across much better if he had remembered that he was in a town hall setting and not in a courtroom tonight.

Earlier in the day, Haley was booed at a Trump town hall event.

Meanwhile, at Trump’s town hall event:

10:55: Cruz says his favorite cocktail is scotch. Guilty pleasure when he wasn’t running for president was watching movies and playing video games. He says Cruz’s iPhone drives his wife crazy because he plays so many games on it. Cooper asks Cruz about his Simpsons/Princess Bride impersonations and Cruz says part of it is “you have to have fun.” He says Republicans reach  young people with substance–point out that the Obama economy is hammering them along with the national debt–and loosening up, cracking jokes, and having fun. Cruz talks about the Cruz street art that went viral last year and he pointed out that he decided to have some fun with them by posting on Facebook that he noticed a glaring error in the posters–he doesn’t smoke cigarettes.

10:52: Question is on most important cabinet position. Cruz says it’s a three-way tie between Secretary of State/Secretary of Defense/Attorney General. He says “Winston Churchill is coming back to the Oval Office” when he is president. He says a Secretary of State in a Cruz administration would be someone like John Bolton. He blasts the lawlessness of the Obama administration (“one of the saddest legacies”) and says it is “sad” that the media accepts as a given re: Hillary’s email scandal that whether someone is prosecuted depends on what some hack in the White House thinks. He says the only fidelity in Cruz Department of Justice will be to the law and the Constitution.

10: 47: Cruz says he will use executive actions to end Common Core, undo Obama’s executive amnesty. He will rip up the Iran Deal to “shreds” and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. And re: getting things done legislatively, Cruz points out that the last time conservatives defeated the Washington Cartel was in 1980 when Reagan’s grassroots army defeated the Washington establishment just four years after Reagan almost successfully primaried a sitting GOP establishment GOP president. Cruz would call on his grassroots army to compel Congress to enact his agenda.

10:42: Cruz says he will not respond in kind when others are impugning his character during the campaign. He says people in the GOP establishment say “Ted is unlikable in Washington” because he is keeping his promises to the men and women who elected him like trying to defund Planned Parenthood and leading the fight against Obamacare and the “Rubio-Schumer amnesty bill.”

Cruz says he and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)helped defeat Rubio’s amnesty bill in the House and that is why the D.C. establishment that loves amnesty dislikes him.

10:37: Cruz says Rubio and Trump scream “liar, liar” when Cruz points to their record and calls them out on their past statements. He points out that he was correct in saying that Trump supports Planned Parenthood and Rubio supports 1) giving citizenship to all of the country’s illegal immigrants, 2) granting citizenship to illegal immigrants even if they have criminal convictions, 3) supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in Florida, and 4) went on Univision and said in Spanish that he would not rescind Obama’s executive amnesty in his first day in office. Cruz says Rubio never disputed any of the substance. “Truth matters,” Cruz says, adding that Jeff Sessions, Mark Levin, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly have also been lying.

10:35: Cruz says he has surged because conservatives trust him more than Trump on judges.

10:33: Cruz says we should not be confirming a Supreme Court nomination during a lame-duck period. He says Scalia, “a lion of the law” single-handedly changed the law and was the Court what Reagan was to the presidency. He says this nomination has the potential to dramatically shift the balance of power on the court and says that 2016 should be a referendum on the Supreme Court.

10:29: Cruz defends his natural-born status and says you cannot write off the possibility of Trump suing him but it will not succeed because it will not be a “meritorious lawsuit.”

10:27: Cruz says America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia has been “fraught with complications.” He blasts the Saudis for paying off terrorists so they don’t destroy the Kingdom and says friends do not fund jihadists who want to kill them. Cruz says oil prices fluctuate because of the Fed and says the Fed should be audited. Cruz also calls for the return to the Gold Standard.

10:22: Cruz says we are seeing an “assault” on religious liberty and Judeo-Christian values. He says life, marriage, and religious liberty are intertwined and says “you should know them by their fruits.” Cruz asks the questioner to ask candidates what they have done to protect life, marriage, religious liberty. He calls the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision “nothing short of tragic” and blasts establishment Republicans for echoing Obama’s talking points about “settled law.” Cruz says it was a “lawless” and “illegitimate” decision that will not stand because it is inconsistent with the Constitution. Cruz says religious liberty has been a lifelong passion of his and cites his successful defenses of the Pledge of Allegiances, the Ten Commandments. He points out that he also defended the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial Cross and won 5-4 in the Supreme Court.

10:20: Cruz says it was “ridiculous” that Donald Trump slammed George W. Bush for not keeping the country safe and defended impeaching George W. Bush. He said Trump had no proof that Bush committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.” He says it draws into question Trump’s judgment that he supports views associated with Michael Moore and the fever swamps on the left.

10:17: Cruz blasts GOP candidates for being okay with women being drafted to serve. He says the military should not be engaging social experiments or be governed by  “political correctness.” Cruz says “we will not be drafting our daughters into combat on the front lines” if he is president. He says it makes “no sense.” Cruz also blasts the Obama administration’s rules of engagement that tie the arms of our servicemen and women behind their backs.

10:12: Cruz thanks the questioner for his service and says Obama doesn’t “believe in the mission of the military” and weakens and degrades them while not standing by our troops. He says veterans across South Carolina have expressed their frustration. He says after Carter weakened the military, Reagan ushered in an economic boom and rebuilt the military to bankrupt the Soviets and win the Cold War. Cruz says he will unleash the American economy to grow the military in order to defeat ISIS.

He says getting rid of Assad will be worse for America because ISIS will become even more powerful and Syria will become like Libya.

10:10: Cruz mentions his wife is the daughter of missionaries. He says Heidi (his best friend) will be involved in economic development and educational empowerment issues as First Lady. Cruz says school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century and his wife cares about giving minorities more educational opportunities. He admits that he sings to his wife when he calls her and sings “I just called to say I love you.”

10:06: Cruz smartly punts when he is asked to choose between Clemson and South Carolina. He says he will “shamelessly waffle” and say he “loves them both.”

10:05: Cruz is worried that Obama will give Guantanamo back to Cuba at the end of his term and undermine America’s national security. He blasts Obama for releasing Guantanamo prisoners American soldiers bled and died to capture. He says they will return to the battlefield in the future to harm Americans.

10:02: Cruz on Obama’s plans to visit Cuba. Cruz says he will not visit Cuba as President so long as the Castros are in power. He blasts Obama’s foreign policy for “alienating and abandoning” our friends. He says no administration has been more “hostile” to Israel than the Obama administration. He says Obama should be pushing for a free Cuba and it is a “mistake” for him to visit. He slams the Obama administration for silencing Cuban dissidents and speaks about how his father/aunt were tortured in Cuba.

10:oo: Cruz says Apple should be forced to unlock the phones of the San Bernardino terrorists but not be forced to have backdoor encryption technology in all of their phones.

9:58: Cruz says Trump’s sister is a radical, “pro-abortion” judge and slams Trump for suggesting that his sister would be a great Supreme Court Justice. He also slams Trump for giving to Democrats who are very pro-abortion. He says there is no universe where he could write a check to people like John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer. He says anyone who does that does not care about Supreme Court Justices.

9:57: Cruz says Planned Parenthood is the “largest abortionist” in the country and says he doesn’t think Planned Parenthood does “anything wonderful.” He slams Trump, saying he doesn’t think anyone who is pro-life can say that Planned Parenthood does wonderful things. Cruz does not believe Planned Parenthood should

CBS Poll: Trump Poised for Landslide Win Over Establishment in South Carolina

AP

by Mike Flynn14 Feb 2016

A new poll from CBS News conducted before Saturday’s GOP debate, shows Donald Trump with 42 percent support among Republicans, and a massive 22 point lead over second-place candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The three candidates vying for the “establishment lane” — Jeb Bush, Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)combine for just 30 percent support.

The poll of likely Republican primary voters, drawn from a larger sample of 1,300 registered voters, shows Trump with 42 percent, followed by Cruz with 20 percent.

Rubio is third with 15 percent, ahead of Kasich with 9 percent and of Jeb Bush with 6 percent. Ben Carson also has 6 percent, tied with Jeb Bush for last.

Trump leads the field by wide margins among both “moderate” and “conservative” Republican voters. Trump also leads Cruz by 16 points among evangelical voters, 41-25. Cruz edges Donald Trump among “very conservative” voters by 4 points, 37 percent to 33 percent.

One major caveat to this poll is that the number of “very conservative” voters included in the poll sample is very low, compared to prior elections. In both 2008and 2012, Republican voters who identified themselves as “very conservative” made up roughly 35 percent of the electorate. In this poll, they are just 27 percent of the sample.

That said, Trump’s lead is so large that even if “very conservative” voters turned out in historic numbers, it wouldn’t likely tip the balance that much based on current trends.

It is important to keep in mind that the poll was conducted from Wednesday to Friday, before Saturday’s Republican debate in Charleston.

It was also conducted, obviously, before news of the death of Sumpreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was announced. The possibility of the next President making an immediate Supreme Court appointment raises the stakes of the primary and general even higher.

Only Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are currently ready to be President, according to the poll of South Carolina Republicans. Strong majorities of Republicans, 58 and 57 percent respectively, said Trump and Cruz were ready on day one, while just 28 and 27 percent said they were not.

A slim plurality of Republicans said Bush and Kasich were ready, while a plurality said Marco Rubio was not ready. By an overwhelming 33 point margin, Republican voters said Ben Carson was not ready to be President.

Just less than half of Republicans, 42 percent said they were certain in their candidate decision. Around a quarter, 23 percent, said it was likely they could change their mind still.

In 2012, 56 percent of South Carolina Republicans made their final decision in the last three days of the campaign. In 2008, just34 percent made a final decision in the last three days.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this latest poll is the terrible headwinds against the three “establishment” candidates, Bush, Kasich and Rubio. Together, they earn just 30 percent support from likely Republican voters.

While the media focuses on which position each will finish, the levels of their actual support are very low. In New Hampshire, the three candidates devoted considerable personal time campaigning and, together, spent well over $60 million in paid advertising. In actual voting, however, the three commanded less than 40 percent of the Republican vote.

Even if their vote were combined in South Carolina, the three would be running 12 points behind current frontrunner Donald Trump.

When asked their opinion of the “Republican establishment,” 45 percent of likely Republican voters said it was a “bad thing.”

Only 11 percent said it was positive. Bush, Kasich and Rubio are battling for the “establishment” lane, but it seems to be a road to nowhere in a Republican primary this year.

More than two-thirds of Republicans, 68 percent, want the next President to stand up to Democrats. Less than one third want a Republican President to “negotiate more effectively” with Democrats. For all their resources, endorsements and attention from national pundits, Bush, Kasich and Rubio may simply be the wrong candidates in 2016.

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CBS Poll: Trump Poised for Landslide Win Over Establishment in South Carolina

AP

by MIKE FLYNN14 Feb 2016

A new poll from CBS News conducted before Saturday’s GOP debate, shows Donald Trump with 42 percent support among Republicans, and a massive 22 point lead over second-place candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The three candidates vying for the “establishment lane” — Jeb Bush, Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)combine for just 30 percent support.

The poll of likely Republican primary voters, drawn from a larger sample of 1,300 registered voters, shows Trump with 42 percent, followed by Cruz with 20 percent.

Rubio is third with 15 percent, ahead of Kasich with 9 percent and of Jeb Bush with 6 percent. Ben Carson also has 6 percent, tied with Jeb Bush for last.

Trump leads the field by wide margins among both “moderate” and “conservative” Republican voters. Trump also leads Cruz by 16 points among evangelical voters, 41-25. Cruz edges Donald Trump among “very conservative” voters by 4 points, 37 percent to 33 percent.

One major caveat to this poll is that the number of “very conservative” voters included in the poll sample is very low, compared to prior elections. In both 2008and 2012, Republican voters who identified themselves as “very conservative” made up roughly 35 percent of the electorate. In this poll, they are just 27 percent of the sample.

That said, Trump’s lead is so large that even if “very conservative” voters turned out in historic numbers, it wouldn’t likely tip the balance that much based on current trends.

It is important to keep in mind that the poll was conducted from Wednesday to Friday, before Saturday’s Republican debate in Charleston.

It was also conducted, obviously, before news of the death of Sumpreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was announced. The possibility of the next President making an immediate Supreme Court appointment raises the stakes of the primary and general even higher.

Only Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are currently ready to be President, according to the poll of South Carolina Republicans. Strong majorities of Republicans, 58 and 57 percent respectively, said Trump and Cruz were ready on day one, while just 28 and 27 percent said they were not.

A slim plurality of Republicans said Bush and Kasich were ready, while a plurality said Marco Rubio was not ready. By an overwhelming 33 point margin, Republican voters said Ben Carson was not ready to be President.

Just less than half of Republicans, 42 percent said they were certain in their candidate decision. Around a quarter, 23 percent, said it was likely they could change their mind still.

In 2012, 56 percent of South Carolina Republicans made their final decision in the last three days of the campaign. In 2008, just34 percent made a final decision in the last three days.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this latest poll is the terrible headwinds against the three “establishment” candidates, Bush, Kasich and Rubio. Together, they earn just 30 percent support from likely Republican voters.

While the media focuses on which position each will finish, the levels of their actual support are very low. In New Hampshire, the three candidates devoted considerable personal time campaigning and, together, spent well over $60 million in paid advertising. In actual voting, however, the three commanded less than 40 percent of the Republican vote.

Even if their vote were combined in South Carolina, the three would be running 12 points behind current frontrunner Donald Trump.

When asked their opinion of the “Republican establishment,” 45 percent of likely Republican voters said it was a “bad thing.”

Only 11 percent said it was positive. Bush, Kasich and Rubio are battling for the “establishment” lane, but it seems to be a road to nowhere in a Republican primary this year.

More than two-thirds of Republicans, 68 percent, want the next President to stand up to Democrats. Less than one third want a Republican President to “negotiate more effectively” with Democrats. For all their resources, endorsements and attention from national pundits, Bush, Kasich and Rubio may simply be the wrong candidates in 2016.

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John Kasich Campaign Under Investigation for Possible Illegal Robocalls in New Hampshire

The Associated Press

by PATRICK HOWLEY8 Feb 2016309

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The John Kasich campaign is under investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General after complaints that the campaign allegedly sent pre-recorded robocalls to New Hampshire residents who are on the national no-call list, which is illegal under New Hampshire state law.

A Kasich adviser denies any wrongdoing.

Breitbart News has obtained an audio recording of a robocall that the Kasich campaign apparently sent out to at least one person in New Hampshire. The robocall ended up on the answering machine of at least one individual, Amhert’s James Burke, who is on the nationwide “no-call list.”

The Attorney General provided a memo to the Jeb Bush campaign saying that an investigation is underway and that there are no exceptions to the law. The Kasich campaign initially claimed that the robocalls were not illegal because real live people dialed the numbers and only left a recorded message if the person on the other line didn’t pick up. But the attorney general interpreted the statute to mean that even if a human dialed the number, the campaign would still be in violation so long as a recorded message was left.

“The AG’s interpretation of the statute is confusing,” Kasich surrogate and senior adviser Tom Rath, a former New Hampshire attorney general, told Breitbart News. “It was confusing to interpret it that way.”

Pressed for clarification, Rath changed his quote.

“It was sufficiently confusing that he decided to issue a press release clarifying what they felt the law meant,” Rath said.

Rath added that he had nothing more to say on the matter.

Jeb Bush campaign general counsel Megan Sowards recently sent a letter to the state Attorney General’s office thanking it for providing “guidance” on the issue. The Attorney General’s office claimed that there is “no material exclusion” to the ban on sending robocalls to people on the no-call list. Sowards said that the Kasich camp, which includes a pro-Kasich super PAC, has not stopped engaging in the practice, despite the Attorney General’s guidance.

“Dear General Foster:  Thank you for providing written guidance making clear that RSA 664:14-a’s prohibition against prerecorded political messages delivered to New Hampshire voters on the federal do not call list ‘has no material exclusion; it is absolute,'” Sowards wrote, adding:

Despite your office’s very clear guidance last week, today our campaign received evidence that New Day for America, the Super PAC allied with John Kasich’s presidential campaign, has delivered a pre-recorded message to an answering machine of a New Hampshire resident on the federal do not call list. The message has all of the hallmarks of one recorded by a professional actor reading from a script instead of a volunteer leaving an individualized message.

The New Hampshire attorney general’s office provided guidance on the matter in a memo obtained by Breitbart News. According to the memo:

A “prerecorded political message” is defined by RSA 664:14-a, I, as a prerecorded audio message delivered by telephone by: (a) candidate or political committee: or (b) any person when the content of the message expressly or implicitly advocates the success or defeat of any party, measure, or person at any election, or contains information about any candidate or party. As applied to candidates for nomination in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary (“Primary”), it is clear by the definition that the statute applies to prerecorded (1) audio messages, (2) delivered by telephone, and (3) containing information about or advocating the success or defeat of any person competing in the Primary.

The statute restricts the delivery of audio messages meeting the definition of a prerecorded political message in two ways…The second restriction is the one relevant to the present inquiry. It prohibits the delivery of a prerecorded political message to any telephone number on any federal do not call list. RSA 664:14-a, III. The prohibition has no material exclusion; it is absolute. The statute makes no distinction between a prerecorded political message delivered by a live person or an automated dialing machine, nor does the statute distinguish between prerecorded political messages received by a live person or a telephone answering device. If the number called is on a federal do not call list, no prerecorded political message may be delivered. RSA 664:14-a, III.

The Kasich campaign did not provide comment for this report.

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Second Place Remains Wide Open in New Hampshire Polls, with Donald Trump in First

Associated Press

by JORDAN SCHACHTEL7 Feb 2016117

Five different polls have been published Sunday indicating that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to win Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

However, full-scale battle for second place has emerged, with establishment candidatesSen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jeb Bush, and Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) consistently polling in the double-digits, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), an anti-establishment conservative, also polling favorably.

Meanwhile, support in the Granite State for outsider candidates Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson continue to fall, as the two candidates continue to poll in the single digits, along with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

The poll results do not reflect the outcome of Saturday night’s ABC News debate, as the surveys were gathered beforehand.

In the five polls, Trump averaged 32 percent. Kasich averaged 12 percent, Rubio averaged 15 percent, Bush averaged 10 percent, Christie averaged 5 percent, Fiorina averages 3.5 percent, and Carson averaged 2.5 percent.

Trump leads all the polls. But Rubio gets three second-places and two third-place scores, including tied scores. Kasich gets two second-place finishes, Bush gets one third-place score.

Below is a summary of where the Republican candidates placed in the five polls released Sunday, ranked by their finish in the following polls in order:Monmouth, CNN/WMUR, Boston Herald/FPU, Umass/7News, ARG.

Donald Trump: 1(+16); 1(+17); 1(+15); 1(+22); 1(+14)

Sen. Marco Rubio: T3; 2; 3; 2; T2

Sen. Ted Cruz: 4; 3; 2; 3; 5

Gov. John Kasich: 2; 4; 4; 5; T2

Jeb Bush: T3; 5; 5; 4; T4

Gov. Chris Christie: 6; 7; 6; T6; 6

Carly Fiorina: 7; 6; 7; 7; 7

Dr. Ben Carson: 8; 8; 8; 8; 8

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) maintains his lead in New Hampshire. However, a Boston Herald/FPU poll among likely voters said his lead is down to only 7 percentage points. A loss in New Hampshire would be a devastating blow to the Vermont Senator, who has, since early January, been a favorite to win the state’s delegates.

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Marco Rubio’s 7 Top Achievements in U.S. Senate

Disney, AP

by JULIA HAHN4 Feb 2016Washington D.C.412

Following Rick Santorum’s inability to name a single achievement of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the media sought to answer the question for themselves. Yet many reporters appear to have come up empty handed.

As The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizzawrites, a “major part of the problem is that Rubio doesn’t have all that many accomplishments in the Senate.”

“When Rubio is asked to name his single greatest achievement in the Senate, do you hear crickets?” tweeted the National Journal’s Ron Fournier.

Though Rick Santorum was unable to name the accomplishments of the man he just endorsed, there are indeed several accomplishments that are quite noteworthy. Below are a few of Sen. Rubio’s achievements that Rick Santorum could have identified on MSNBC this morning:

(1) The Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight Bill

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York hasdescribed the 2013 Rubio-Schumer bill as Rubio’s “signature accomplishment.” Although Santorum seemed reluctant to mention it, Rubio’s immigration bill is probably the first accomplishment that comes to mind when anyone thinks of Rubio’s very brief career in the U.S. Senate.

Rubio’s immigration bill would have tripled the issuances of green cards, doubled the dispensation of foreign worker visas, and granted citizenship — and, thereby, welfare access and voting privileges — to illegal immigrants.

Reports ranging from the The National Review, to the Tampa Bay Times, to the Washington Post, to the New Yorker have all suggested that the Gang of Eight bill would have likely not passed the Senate if not for Sen. Rubio’s tireless efforts. Indeed, Rubio was the key salesman of the Obama-backed immigration agenda. As Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker reported at the time, Rubio served as “the Gang’s official ambassador to the right,” and was able to convince prominent conservatives to promote the open borders legislation.

Lizza wrote: “[Democratic Senator Bob] Menendez told me that Rubio’s role was to ‘work over the conservative universe, particularly the conservative opinion-maker universe,’ in order to ‘neutralize them’ and, in some cases, ‘proselytize them.’ Schumer said, ‘He’s the real deal.’”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin told Lizza, “[Rubio] has been invaluable… He’s willing to go on the most conservative talk shows, television and radio, Rush Limbaugh and the rest.”

Moreover, Rubio was also able to successfully strike down all conservative amendments to the Gang of Eight’s proposal. As Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pointed out, ““Marco and Schumer basically had a secret deal to block all amendments.” Indeed, Rubio joined Chuck Schumer in voting down an amendment offered by Sen. Thune, which would have required the completion of a double-layer border fence. He also successfully defeated an amendment offered by Sen. Vitter, which would require the implementation of an exit-entry tracking system in order to prevent foreign nationals from illegally overstaying their visas.

(2) Obamatrade

Sen. Rubio cast the 60th and deciding vote to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. By giving President Obama fast-track powers, Rubio essentially helped to ensure the passage of not only the TPP, but all subsequent trade pacts, which are now liberated from Senate filibuster, amendment process, and constitutional treaty vote.

This represents a significant legislative victory for the young Senator, who previously endorsed TPP and described Obama’s trade deal as the “second pillar” of a President Rubio’s three-pillar foreign policy strategy.

Moreover, Rubio was also successful in promoting foreign currency manipulation by helping to vote down a provision to crack down on the illicit practice that had been proposed by Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).

(3) Blocking Curbs to Muslim Immigration

Rubio told Sean Hannity he’d “hate” to block funding for Obama’s refugees, and suggested that curbs on Muslim migration would be unconstitutional. This pro mass-migration offensive helped give Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) the space he needed to wave in a vast new group of Muslim migrants.

Rubio further lent aid and comfort to Paul Ryan by joining a large group of Senators invoting down a proposal offered by Sen. Rand Paul to curb Muslim migration. Sen. Paul’s  amendment would have suspended visa issuances to more than 30 Muslim countries with active Jihadist populations.

Rubio has been one of the most ardent champions for increasing Muslim migration. The U.S. has admitted roughly 1.5 million migrants from Muslim countries since 9/11 on a permanent lifetime basis. Yet Rubio has sought to grow that number vastly. In 2015, Rubio introduced an immigration bill which would have allowed for an unlimited increase in Muslim migration.

(4) Enabling His Corporate Backers to Replace Americans With Foreign Workers

In 2015, Florida Disney laid off scores of Marco Rubio’s constituents and replaced them with low-wage foreign workers brought in on H-1B visas. However, before terminating their American employees, Disney forced Rubio’s constituents to train their lesser-skilled foreign replacements.

If Rubio had spent his political capital in 2013 trying to reform the H-1B program, instead of massively expanding it, he could have saved these careers of these Disney workers, instead of enabling their termination by leading the charge for more foreign workers. In 2013, Rubio’s aide even told Ryan Lizza that “There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it. There shouldn’t be a presumption that every American worker is a star performer. There are people who just can’t get it, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. And so you can’t obviously discuss that publicly because–.”

At this point another Rubio aide jumped in, asserting, “But the same is true for the high-skilled worker,” to which the first Rubio aide replied, “Yes, and the same is true across every sector, in government, in everything.”

Shortly before the Disney workers got the axe, Rubio introduced legislation in January of 2015 to massively expand the H-1B program. Rubio’s 2015 Immigration Innovation Act would have tripled the number of H-1B visas. Interestingly, the bill was endorsed by Disney’s CEO Bob Iger via his immigration lobbying group, the Partnership for a New American Economy. According to Open Secrets, the Walt Disney Corporation is one of Rubio’s biggest financial backers, having donated more than $2 million.

Unfortunately, Rubio’s success in protecting his corporate backers’ ability to increase their bottom line has gone virtually unreported in the corporate media. This perhaps explains why so few are able to list his Senatorial achievements.

For instance, Julia Preston of the New York Times has written multiple articles about the Florida Disney’s H-1B scheme. Yet Preston fails to mention the fact that Florida Senator Rubio introduced legislation to triple the H-1B program, nor does Preston like to mention that Disney is one of Rubio’s financial backers. To demonstrate, here are several stories in which Preston writes about Rubio’s corporate backer replacing Rubio’s constituents with H-1Bs, yet makes no mention whatsoever of Rubio nor Rubio’s H-1B legislation:

Pink Slips At Disney, But First Training Foreign Replacements

In Turnabout, Disney Cancels Tech Worker Layoffs

Lawsuits Claim Disney Colluded To Replace U.S. Workers With Immigrants

Disney Has No Comment On The Recent Reversal of Layoffs

Senator Seeks Inquiry Into Visa Program Used At Disney  [The Senator mentioned here in Preston’s story is Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). In contrast to Sen. Rubio — who provided cover to Disney’s cheap-labor practices by pushing to expand H-1Bs — Sen. Nelson joined Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to propose legislation that would reduce the number of H-1Bs and eliminate visas for low-wage jobs. Preston’s story makes no mention of Sen. Rubio nor his desire to expand H-1Bs.] 

(5) Blocking Food Stamp Reform

In 2011, Marco Rubio voted against a Republican proposal which the Congressional Budget Office projected would save the U.S. government $10 billion by reining in the abuse of the food stamp program. The measure was backed by almost all Republicans and opposed by virtually all Democrats. The measure, as Sen. Jeff Sessions explained when he proposed it, would have eliminated what is known as the “categorical eligibility” for food stamps, which makes people “automatically eligible” to receive government benefits even if that household has “substantial assets.” Rubio was one of only seven Republicans to oppose the measure, but his no vote helped stall momentum for food stamp reform– which remains elusive.

Rubio’s campaign did not respond to Breitbart’s request for explanation as to why Rubio voted against the 2011 food stamp reform.

(6) Benghazi

As George Will pointed out, Sen. Rubio gave his “enthusiastic support of the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton intervention in Libya.” Indeed, as the Washington Examiner wrote at the time in a piece entitled “Rubio takes the lead to support Obama’s war in Libya.”

“Rubio proposes that the Senate authorize the president’s use of force in Libya, and that the authorization state that the aim of the use of force should be the removal of the Qaddafi regime,” the piece said.

George Will notes that “Rubio supported this third adventure in regime change in the Muslim world since 9/11, perhaps on the principle that practice makes perfect.”

The destabilization and chaos that resulted from the overthrow of Qaddafi not only provided an operating ground for ISIS, but also provided the conditions that led to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.

(7) Worst Attendance Record

Reports note that Sen. Rubio has amassed one of the worst attendance records in the Senate, which is quite an achievement. The Washington Post writes, “Since the beginning of the year, Marco Rubio has cast votes about two-thirds of the time he could have — the worst attendance of any senator seeking a presidential nomination.” The Sun Sentinel editorial board noted, “Rubio has missed more votes than any other senator this year. His seat is regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings. He says he’s MIA from his J-O-B because he finds it frustrating and wants to be president, instead… But two other candidates — Sens. Rand Paul andSen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have missed only 10 Senate votes during their campaigns for the White House. You, on the other hand, have missed 59, according to a tally by Politico.”

By contrast, Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley set the record for the “longest temporal stretch of perfect attendance in senatorial history,” as Roll Call reported earlier this month. Roll Call notes that the Senator has “not missed a recorded vote in 22 years, six months and six days.”

—

Given the media’s reluctance to report on the young Senator’s achievements, it is perhaps understandable why Santorum was unable to identify any of Rubio’s achievements when put on the spot.

Although the media seems loath to report it, Sen. Rubio has been one of the most ardent and successful champions of the donor-class’s open borders trade and immigration agenda. While other establishment Republicans such as Jeb Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), or Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been unsuccessful in promoting the donor-class’s priorities, Rubio has repeatedly demonstrated his adept ability to deliver for his donors — evidenced by his ability to win praise from prominent conservatives like Rush Limbaugh even as he pushes policies that Limbaugh and others have warned would wipe out conservatism.

This perhaps explains why Rubio’s campaign has been enthusiastically embraced by some of the most powerful mass migration advocates, like Paul Singer and Larry Ellison.

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Trump Rallies the ‘Noisy as Hell Majority’ in Rubio and Jeb’s Backyard – ‘Kicking Ass in Florida’

AP Photo/Michael Snyder

by JEFF POOR AND CAROLINE MAY13 Jan 20161,746

PENSACOLA, FL — Before a capacity crowd of nearly 12,000 at the Pensacola Bay Center on Florida’s panhandle, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump compared President Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter, taunted the media, and lampooned his political opponents.

After being introduced by George Scarborough, brother of MSNBC “Morning Joe” host and former congressman Joe Scarborough, Trump walked out to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and immediately took aim at the press. He first took on the cameramen in attendance, much like he had in Biloxi, MS, a week and a half earlier, castigating them for their unwillingness to pan around the facility and show the size of the crowd.

“I only wish the press was honest and they would show you,” Trump said. “They’re not going to show you. They’re the most dishonest people you’ll ever meet – bad people, bad people… really dishonest people.”

The Republican presidential front-runner slammed President Barack Obama for his State of the Union address “where everybody fell asleep” and scoffed at the president’s proclamation that the economy had nearly recovered — saying median incomes are lower now than they were at the start of Obama’s presidency.

In addition to criticizing Obama, Trump reacted to Gov. Nikki Haley’s (R-SC) response to the State of the Union, embracing her criticism of him earlier in the day as “angry.”

“I said, I am angry — I’m pretty angry because I hate what’s happening to our country. I am angry,” Trump explained as the crowd chanted “Trump! Trump!”

Trump pointed to a CNN appearance earlier in the day in which he was asked if he was an angry person.

“I was supposed to say, ‘No, I’m very, very happy?’” he said. “I’m thrilled. I’m thrilled to be giving Iran $150 billion.’”

Instead, Trump said he responded, “Yeah, I’m really angry because we’re being led by really stupid people that don’t know what they’re doing.”

Many of Trump’s supporters have deemed themselves to be the “silent majority,” in reference to a term used by Richard Nixon during his 1968 campaign. However, Trump declared them to be the “noisy as hell majority,” based on the attendance and enthusiasm of his events.

The businessman continued, pointing to the two U.S. boats that Iran seized yesterday in advance of Obama’s State of the Union address.

“This could only happen to Obama right-smack before his speech,” he said. “This is Jimmy Carter stuff. What’s going on now, we are back in the age of Jimmy Carter. Remember the hostages? Remember the hostages, and we couldn’t get them back? So, I look at it and I hate watching that.”

Trump’s prior visits to the Gulf Coast have been in Alabama and Mississippi. This was his first trip to the Panhandle region in Florida.

Florida’s primary is slated for March 15, and according to a Real Clear Politics average of polls that include polls from the Florida Times-Union and St. Pete Polls, at 33 percent, Trump has a commanding 12-point lead over his closest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (R-FL). But he also has big leads over two Floridians, 17 points ahead of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and 22 points over former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL).

“Trump is kicking ass in Florida – can you believe that?” he said of his poll numbers as the crowd cheered.

Trump also riled up the crowd when he mentioned the failures of the past two Republican presidential nominees, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA).

“You know what happened, I backed McCain and I lost. I backed Romney – gave him a lot of money, both of them – and I lost,” he said. “And I said this time, I’m going to do it myself.”

Trump said he would make ending so-called gun-free zones on military bases one of his top priorities upon being sworn in.

“You have gun-free zones on military bases. I would end that in my first hour in office,” he declared.

After once again taking another shot at the media for not highlighting the crowd, Trump said there were 5,000 people who were turned away for lack of space. He then ended the rally with a pledge lead the country in a “winning” direction.

“We’re going to win at everything we do,” Trump said. “Other countries are going to respect us because we’re winners, not losers. We’re going to win at every single level. We’re going to win so much – you’re going to beg me. You’re going to say, ‘Mr. President, we’re so tired of winning we can’t take it anymore. Please don’t win anymore.’”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

Follow Caroline May on Twitter @c_maydc

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