# The 2016 Republican candidates **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444 "2015-01-09T22:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 93
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1842 "2015-07-26T02:11:52Z")
Only if the President were a Republican. If he were a Democrat, he would leave the agency funded to do whatever important work it is that it does, and appoint new people to it to replace the drunks. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1843 "2015-07-26T02:20:29Z")
Apparently he couldn’t do that in this case. He wanted her to resign, which was entirely appropriate, and when she refused, he defunded her agency, also within his rights and powers as governor. Unless such a scenario is specifically prohibited in Texas law, then an abuse of power investigation is a farce. I’d also note that no one disputes the facts of the case, so whatever happens is entirely based on the law. There are no secrets, this was done entirely out in the open. If it’s corruption, it’s the strangest corruption case ever. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1844 "2015-07-26T04:05:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Apparently he couldn’t do that in this case. He wanted her to resign, which was entirely appropriate, and when she refused, he defunded her agency, Why? Why did he defund her agency, and how did that accomplish anything he wanted? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2015, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1845 "2015-07-26T04:12:05Z")
Because agencies headed by criminals aren’t worth funding. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1846 "2015-07-29T22:56:45Z")
[Jim Gilmore has announced his candidacy.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-gilmore-president_55b93e52e4b0b8499b18351d) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1847 "2015-07-30T00:38:45Z")
You mean he’s announced his _existence_. Whoever he is. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1848 "2015-07-30T03:24:14Z")
He’s just as qualified as all the other Virginia governors. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1849 "2015-07-30T05:15:19Z")
Marco Rubio: > [@](#): > > [Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/30/marco-rubio-posts-shamefully-insensitive-tweet-about-cecil-the-lion-images/) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1850 "2015-07-30T05:53:59Z")
They’re trying to ACORN Planned Parenthood! What nitwit dreamed up this idea? ACORN had no friends except poor folks. PP is almost as respectable as the PTA! Shit, what would be worse for the Republican Party, winning or losing? Shooting yourself in the foot! Shotgun or assault rifle? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1851 "2015-07-30T05:57:02Z")
IT’s no lose for the Republicans. PP doesn’t actually need taxpayer funding, and its supporters would step up anyway even if that did mean a serious shortfall. No real damage to PP, but it makes conservative activists happy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1852 "2015-07-30T06:02:06Z")
OK, so all this high dudgeon, PP gets defunded, and nothing really happens. And the troglodytes who crave this outcome will never notice that nothing changed, and remain fat, dumb and happy. So they really are as stupid as they seem? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1853 "2015-07-30T06:03:52Z")
It would end federal funding of abortion, which is a major conservative goal. But no, short of banning abortion, there’s nothing the government can actually do to hurt PP. That’s the beauty of limited government. Liberals should get on board. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1854 "2015-07-30T09:41:52Z")
Huck is wooing black voters, and unlike with other Republicans, he’s been successful in the past. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-huckabee-looking-for-a-niche-woos-blacks-in-gop-primaries/2015/07/27/cf6fc468-3081-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mike-huckabee-looking-for-a-niche-woos-blacks-in-gop-primaries/2015/07/27/cf6fc468-3081-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7_story.html) Plus he knows his strengths. Don’t go to the NAACP, go to churches. Huck knows how to speak Churchese. > [@](#): > > There were signs in Manning that Huckabee, at a minimum, will find a friendly audience. After the former governor led a prayer for Tricia Bouttry, a black congregant who is battling breast cancer, she said, “I didn’t know anything about him, but his speech was so uplifting and his prayer was so heartfelt, I cried. > > “I’m a Democrat, but he would have my vote,” said Bouttry, 51, a mental health worker. “I want somebody who’s spiritual in the White House — a pastor that knows the word as president.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1855 "2015-07-30T10:57:09Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It would end federal funding of abortion, … The [Hyde Amendment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Amendment) did that some 40 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1856 "2015-07-30T11:08:12Z")
Yet Planned Parenthood gets federal funding. Yeah, I know, it’s segregated, but money is fungible. There’s little question that federal funding helps PP do abortions. I do have a concern though. Being a rule of law conservative, I don’t like bills of attainder. Unconstitutional and all, and just because a court might uphold it, I want more from my politicians. So I have a question if anyone can answer it: Is Planned Parenthood funded by a specific line item in the budget, or do they apply for funding through programs that other health providers do, like Medicaid? If PP gets specific subsidies, then that shouldn’t be. It doesn’t need them and a good portion of America is morally opposed to what they do. But if PP just gets Medicaid funding when they do mammograms or whatever, then that shouldn’t be cut off. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1857 "2015-07-30T12:05:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Yet Planned Parenthood gets federal funding. Yeah, I know, it’s segregated, but money is fungible. There’s little question that federal funding helps PP do abortions. > > I do have a concern though. Being a rule of law conservative, I don’t like bills of attainder. Unconstitutional and all, and just because a court might uphold it, I want more from my politicians. > > So I have a question if anyone can answer it: Is Planned Parenthood funded by a specific line item in the budget, or do they apply for funding through programs that other health providers do, like Medicaid? If PP gets specific subsidies, then that shouldn’t be. It doesn’t need them and a good portion of America is morally opposed to what they do. But if PP just gets Medicaid funding when they do mammograms or whatever, then that shouldn’t be cut off. I would ask you back - Do the “other” activities of PP have positive community health benefits? Things like mammograms, pap smears, sexual health counselling - is it good for the public to have access to these services from a charity? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1858 "2015-07-30T12:09:22Z")
Yes, but charities already receive indirect federal funding from the charitable donations deduction. Charities should not receive federal funding unless they are being used to provide services through federal programs. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1859 "2015-07-30T12:51:47Z")
[Q sez](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-trump-surge-jeb-bush-slump-2016-poll-120795.html) Trump is well in front, Walker 2nd, El Jebe 3rd. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1860 "2015-07-30T13:14:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Q sez](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-trump-surge-jeb-bush-slump-2016-poll-120795.html) Trump is well in front, Walker 2nd, El Jebe 3rd. And Kasich got 5%, giving Perry a solid push in the direction of the kiddie table. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1861 "2015-07-30T13:23:36Z")
With Trump taking up all of the media attention, as he will at the debate, the rest of them are \*all \*at the kiddie table. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=92) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=94)