2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush recently managed to outrage some Americans when he said, “…people need to work longer hours, and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this rut that we’re in.”
Bush was attempting to point out that workforce participation needs to be raised and underemployed workers need more opportunities to go full time, but regardless of intent, it was not well received by many, especially those who are working two or three jobs as it is.
The full exchange is clear, but opponents pounced on the out-of-context sound bite.
What other sound bites are out there with respect to 2016 candidates, finances, taxes, and the economy? We’re glad you asked. Here are a few for your consideration that we tried not to take out of context.
Republican Marco Rubio — “…the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers — that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried.”
Republican Rand Paul — “…if you cut just one penny from every dollar we currently spend, the budget would balance within six or seven years.” That’s been called “The Penny Plan.”
Democrat Hillary Clinton — “Trickle-down economics have been failing women and families for decades.”
Democrat Bernie Sanders — “Nobody who works forty hours a week should be living in poverty.”
Republican Chris Christie — “We must create a flatter, fairer, simpler tax code.”
Republican Carly Fiorina — “I hear people talk about tax reform, and clearly we have to lower rates, but we have to simplify the tax code dramatically…a company or a wealthy individual can figure out all the loopholes in those tens of thousands of pages (of the tax code) that advantage them, but a regular family, or a small business, they don’t have the time and the resources.”
Republican Ted Cruz — “Imagine a simple flat tax…imagine abolishing the IRS.” (Wonder who would collect the taxes in that case….)
Republican Ben Carson — (regarding his “tithing” flat tax proposal) “We don’t necessarily have to do 10 percent but it’s the principle…you make $10 billion, you put in a billion. You make $10 you put in one. Of course, you’ve got to get rid of the loopholes.”
Republican Mike Huckabee — “…as Governor of Arkansas, I cut taxes and welfare, balanced the budget every year for ten years, and raised average family income by fifty percent.” Huckabee provided this voice-over for a campaign ad. The fifty-percent claim was rated as mostly false by Politifact because family incomes in Arkansas rose 59 percent during his tenure but on average across the U.S., family income rose 62 percent.
Republican Scott Walker — (regarding minimum wage in Wisconsin, from 2014) “Well, I’m not going to repeal it, but I don’t think it serves a purpose because we’re debating then about what the lowest levels are at. I want people to make, like I said the other night, two or three times that.”
Republican John Kasich — “Economic growth is not an end unto itself. It’s a means to an end, where everybody gets lifted.”
Democrat Martin O’Malley — “What the people of our country want is not ideology, not trickle-down economics, but middle-out economics, where we strengthen our middle class to grow our economy and to give our kids a better future.”
Republican Rick Perry — “I would suggest to you that people are tired of spending money we don’t have on programs we don’t want.”
Republican Rick Santorum — (with respect to raising taxes) “We need to get the economy growing. That doesn’t mean taking more money out of it.”
Republican George Pataki — “When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves.”
Republican Lindsay Graham — “…a dollar-for-dollar offset and a budget, I think, are two conditions to raising the debt ceiling.”
Republican Bobby Jindal — “We must not become the party of austerity, we must become the party of growth.”
Republican Jim Gilmore — His administration will grow the economy “so people don’t have to rely on handouts.”
Democrat Jim Webb — “Let’s work to restore true economic fairness in this great country, starting with finding the right formula for growing our national economy while making our tax laws more balanced and increasing the negotiating leverage of our working people.”
Democrat Lincoln Chafee — “I’m all for tax cuts as long as we can cut our spending. The difficulty has been that we cut the taxes but we don’t cut our spending.”
Finally, we end with Republican candidate Donald Trump, who said, “Capitalism requires capital. When government robs capital from investors, it takes away the money that creates jobs.”
Related stories:
- What to know about Hillary Clinton’s profit-sharing plan
- How much does Donald Trump say he’s worth?
- Presidential candidates and how much money they’ve raised
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