2016 GOP hopefuls define themselves as they weigh in on ISIS, economy, array of key issues

Potential 2016 presidential candidates have for months test driven their foreign and domestic policy positions in interviews and speeches across the country. But the real test for many voters, as is often the situation, is how the hopefuls response to world-shaping events.
Most of the debate has been limited to the wide field of potential Republican candidates with ObamaCare and how to handle the growing threat of the Islamic State largely dominating the early part of this year.
And the Obama administration’s tentative nuclear deal last week with Iran has been no exception.
“Obama’s dangerous deal with Iran rewards an enemy, undermines our allies and threatens our safety,” said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, an early 2016 favorite.
Like all of the potential GOP candidates, Walker has used the agreement to strike a sharp contrast with Democrats.
He also has vowed, if elected, to pull the U.S. from the international deal on “day one” of his presidency.
Jeb Bush, another top potential candidate and a former Florida governor, said the reported details of the Iran deal include significant concessions to “a nation whose leaders call for death to America and the destruction of Israel.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the only major GOP candidate who has officially declared a 2016 bid, is taking a more reserved approach, saying after the framework deal was reached Thursday that he was still examining the exact details.
However, he has been far more outspoken on the issue of ObamaCare and the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups.
OBAMACARE
To be sure, Cruz has been among the most forceful in his opposition to ObamaCare, considering his efforts in September 2013 to “defund” President Obama’s signature health-care law forced a partial government shutdown.
Nevertheless, the effort, which angered Republicans as well as Democrats, was just one of the first-term senator’s breakout moves that put him on the national political map.
The commitment to repeal the 2010 law, which even remained strong enough last year to help Republicans win the Senate, was largely muted when the Supreme Court decided several months ago to take up the issue of federal subsidies for some ObamaCare insurance buyers.
Still, lawmakers and potential 2016 candidates such as Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio have moved to fill the void with a plan if the high court declares subsides in some states unconstitutional.
Rubio, set to officially announce next week whether he will run in 2016, recently outlined his plan in a FoxNew.com op-ed that offers refundable tax credits to help Americans who lose their subsidies to buy health insurance.
“After the downfall of ObamaCare  -- which I believe has been inevitable from the beginning, but may be precipitated by the Supreme Court decision later this year -- a plan such as this will restore our people’s access to quality care,” Rubio wrote.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told an enthusiastic crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February that he still wants to repeal “every single word” of ObamaCare.
ECONOMY
Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina is trying to establish herself within the crowded potential GOP field as the candidate who best understands executive decision making, beyond the being party’s only female candidate so far.
Fiorina also recently told “Fox News Sunday” that she can appeal to voters with her “deep understanding of how the economy actually works, having started as a secretary and become the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has focused in part on what he considers an under-performing economy under Obama and recently in Iowa discussed a plan to fix the federal tax code, which he thinks would improve the situation for Americans.
He said the country’s 2 percent annual growth in gross domestic product shows the recovery from the recession is "the worst in modern history."
"The fact is that we tax too much in this country already, and we tax in a way that's much too complicated," he reportedly said. "We tax that money at every step along the way.”
ISIS
The rise and growth of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq continues to be a global concern, though the re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Yemen has recently dominated headlines.
Dr. Ben Carson, another potential GOP candidate, recently told NBC: “We have to eradicate (ISIS) now. We have to use every means possible to do that."
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of Capitol Hill’s most hawkish members, has suggested that coalition airstrikes alone will not stop ISIS and told CBS that 10,000 American "boots on the ground" would be needed to stop the Islamic extremist group in Iraq and Syria.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he has been mis-characterized as an isolationist and that his plan to defeat ISIS would largely be based on arming the Kurds, the disenfranchised ethnic groups in Iraq that has been successfully fighting ISIS for months.
“The only people over there that can fight and have been showing some ability to fight are the Kurds,” Paul told Yahoo News. “The president has been sending weapons to Baghdad. They’re not adequately getting to Kurdistan. I would fund them directly. I would take some of the weaponry that we have left over in Afghanistan and I would send that directly to the Kurds.”
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The religious freedom law that recently passed in Indiana is being supported by social conservatives and potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates Bush, Carson, Jindal, Rubio and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum.
The law prohibits the state and local governments from infringing on a person's religious beliefs without a "compelling" interest. Critics say it opens the possibility that businesses could discriminate against gays, lesbians and others.
“It's never been used for that purpose,” Santorum said Wednesday on Fox News' “Fox & Friends.” “This law is not a new law. … I voted for it, and so did almost everybody else in the Congress. We believe that the First Amendment should be in practice in America, that people should have religious liberty. ... It doesn't mean that automatically anybody who claims a religious exemption of cause wins the debate. It says it has to be considered.
A similar federal law was sign in 1993 and Arkansas lawmakers passed their version last week.

Netanyahu urges US to seek 'better deal' with Iran over its nuclear program

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. and other world powers to seek a firmer deal with Iran Sunday over that country's nuclear program and said that he’s "not trying to kill any deal,” just a “bad deal.”
"I think the alternatives are not either this bad deal or war. I think there's a third alternative. And that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure, until you get a better deal," the Israeli Prime Minister told CNN's "State of the Union". "A better deal would roll back Iran's vast nuclear infrastructure and require Iran to stop its aggression in the region, its terror worldwide, and its calls and actions to annihilate the state of Israel."
On Thursday, the United States and five other world powers reached agreement with Iranian officials on the framework of a deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program. The deadline for a final agreement is June 30.
The deal aims to cut significantly into Iran's bomb-making technology while giving Tehran relief from international sanctions. The commitments, if implemented, would substantially pare down Iranian nuclear assets for a decade and restrict others for an additional five years.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that it had obtained a document drawn up by experts in Netanyahu's office that gives a glimpse of the arguments the Israeli leader plans to raise, targeting vague language in the system of inspections and its failure to address issues beyond the nuclear program.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Netanyahu said the agreement outline "could be a historic bad deal because it leaves the preeminent terrorist state of our time a vast nuclear infrastructure ...  Thousands of centrifuges will be left, not a singular facility, including underground facilities will be shut down."
Netanyahu added that the framework leaves Iran with “the capacity to produce material for many nuclear bombs.”
On ABC's "This Week", Netanyahu also warned that a deal could “spark a nuclear arms race among the Sunni countries in the Middle East.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Netanyahu said “restrictions placed on Iran are temporary, after a few years, Iran will have unlimited access.”
According to a U.S. document summarizing last week's agreement, Tehran is ready to reduce its number of centrifuges, the machines that can spin uranium gas to levels used in nuclear warheads, and submit to aggressive monitoring and inspections of its nuclear facilities.
But the Israeli analysis claims the system of inspections is not as thorough as proclaimed because it does not explicitly force the Iranians to open their sites "anywhere, anytime."
It also claims the agreement is vague about what happens to Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, a key ingredient in producing nuclear bombs, or how sanctions might be re-imposed if Iran violates the deal.
While Iran is not supposed to enrich uranium with its advanced centrifuges for 10 years, the deal permits limited "research and development" of the advanced centrifuges, according to the U.S. document. Israeli officials say this means that Iran could immediately put these centrifuges into action after the deal expires or breaks down.
Netanyahu said Sunday that Iran has “cheated in the past on this, in this case, with this deal, what’s been illegitimate is being legitimized not only the ability to maintain but in a few years to increase it, that’s very dangerous.”
However, President Obama staunchly defended the framework of the nuclear agreement with Iran as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to prevent a bomb and bring longer-term stability to the Middle East.
"It's been a hard period," Obama said in an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman published Sunday. He added that it is "personally difficult" for him to hear his administration accused of not looking out for Israel's interests.
He insisted the U.S. would stand by Israel if it were to come under attack, but acknowledged that his pursuit of diplomacy with Tehran has caused strain with the close ally.
Obama argued that successful negotiations presented the most effective way to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but insisted he would keep all options on the table if Tehran were to violate the terms.
"I've been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch, and I think they should understand that we mean it," Obama said. "But I say that hoping that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement — and that it ushers a new era in U.S.-Iranian relations — and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbors."
Obama said there are many details that still need to be worked out with the Iranians and cautioned that there would be "real political difficulties" in implementing an agreement in both countries. He reiterated his opposition to a legislation that would give the U.S. Congress final say in approving or rejecting a deal, but said he hoped to find a path to allow Congress to "express itself."
The White House plans an aggressive campaign to sell the deal to Congress, as well as to Israel and skeptical Arab allies who worry about Iran's destabilizing activity in the region. The president has invited leaders of six Gulf nations to Washington this spring and said he wanted to "formalize" U.S. assistance.

Happy Easter

Cracks appear in Democratic-Jewish alliance in wake of Iran agreement

Many U.S. Jewish leaders are unnerved both by the new Iran nuclear agreement and the public falling out between President Barack Obama and his Israeli counterpart, developments that are creating a rift in the durable alliance between Jews and the Democratic Party in the run-up to the 2016 elections.
Worried that Iran might still develop a nuclear weapon despite the accord announced Thursday, the Jewish leaders say they feel torn between an Obama administration that has pressed hard for a deal and an Israeli government that has repeatedly warned that Iran is a grave threat to the Jewish state and can’t be trusted to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
A group of Jewish Democratic House members met with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough in his office last week and cautioned that for them to help “sell a very unpopular [Iran nuclear] deal to our constituents,” Mr. Obama must “increase his popularity with our constituents,” said a Democratic congressman involved in the meeting.
Republicans have begun making moves to try to capitalize on this unease, hoping to peel away Jewish votes and campaign contributions that have historically skewed Democratic.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he and his cabinet strongly oppose the current deal to regulate Iran's nuclear program.
Republican congressional leaders have been critical of the proposed Iran deal, and the GOP’s likely 2016 presidential contenders have largely opposed it. It isn’t clear congressional Republicans have a way to block any final deal, and experts warn that even if a Republican wins the White House in 2016, it won’t be as easy to wipe off the books an international agreement as campaign rhetoric may suggest.
Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic front-runner, has voiced guarded support for the Iran deal, casting it as “an important step toward a comprehensive agreement that would prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” Many Jewish leaders have said that if Mrs. Clinton, who enjoys strong ties to the Jewish community, becomes the party’s nominee, that would help salve the discontent with the White House.
The lawmakers who met with Mr. McDonough last week also urged that Mr. Obama soften his tone toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and avoid “getting into a daily argument with” him, one participant said.

Gretchen's Take: Still stunned at stupidity of email scandal

You get one shot at trying to become president. Alright. Maybe two.  But if you're doing it for a second time you're actually under more scrutiny the second time around than the first. That's why I still remain stunned at the stupidity of Hillary Clinton's email scandal. She had to have known it would be a big problem. The big question now is -- how much will it affect her likely candidacy down the road?
After the news first came out, polls showed Clinton hadn't been hurt by the revelations. People who liked her before still did -- and people who didn't -- didn't. But now the new swing state polls should make Hillary Clinton’s advisors nervous.  As we discussed, in the key swing states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania .. her numbers have dropped in favorability.  But as any pollster will tell you, it’s the negative numbers that can matter the most.  And when you look at just Florida alone, Clinton’s unfavorable scores rose from 39 percent in February to 46 percent in march.
It appears one press conference didn't do the trick to change voters' minds. And this story may be far from over. 

'I was born, I blinked, and it was over': Florida grandmother's self-penned obituary goes viral

When Emily Phillips was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February, she knew she didn’t have long to live.
So she decided to give the world a farewell in her own words.
The Florida grandmother’s self-penned obituary has taken the Internet by storm since she passed away last week, and has received more than 5,100 “likes” on Facebook since it was shared by The Florida Times-Union on Tuesday.
“It pains me to admit it, but apparently, I have passed away,” Phillips, 69, writes in the obituary’s opening. “Everyone told me it would happen one day, but that’s simply not something I wanted to hear, much less experience.”

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 (Courtesy of Bonnie Upright)

From there, Phillips, a longtime public school teacher who lived in Orange Park, takes the reader on a journey through her life. Her recollections of walking to Hazelwood Elementary School in Hazelwood, N.C. Her father calling square dances. Performing skits for the 4-H Club in fifth grade. Being a beauty pageant competitor. Leading the high school band down King Street in New Orleans for Mardi Gras when she was head majorette.
The obituary’s tone shifts between humorous and sentimental, and Phillips pauses to reflect on the little moments of her journey and takes a stab at some of life’s more existential questions.
“So many things in my life seemed of little significance at the time they happened, but then took on a greater importance as I got older,” Phillips says. “The memories I’m taking with me now are so precious and have more value than all the gold and silver in my jewelry box.”
Phillips began writing the obituary soon after she was diagnosed with the terminal illness in February, her daughter, Bonnie Upright, told FoxNews.com on Friday. At first, Upright says, the family was resistant, but listened when her mother insisted they hear her read it.
“We laughed where we were supposed to laugh, cried where we were supposed to cry, and looking back at it now … it really was one of the most special moments in my entire life,” Upright said, adding that the warm response to the obituary has soothed the family’s heartbreak.
“Being able to smile through the tears on my face has been an incredible experience, and an incredible gift that mom left us,” she said.

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 (Courtesy of Bonnie Upright)

Phillips is survived by her husband, Charles; her daughter Bonnie and her son, Scott; and five grandchildren: Sydney, 18; Jake, 15; Emma, 9; William, 9; and Charlie, 4.
“So ... I was born; I blinked; and it was over. No buildings named after me; no monuments erected in my honor. But I DID have the chance to know and love each and every friend as well as all my family members. How much more blessed can a person be?” Phillips writes. “So in the end, remember ... do your best, follow your arrow, and make something amazing out of your life. Oh, and never stop smiling.”

Tehran would be able to return to its nuclear activities if the West withdraws from an agreement that is expected to be finalized in June, Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview on state-run TV that Iran has the power to take “corresponding action” and “will be able to return” its nuclear program to the same level if the other side does not honor the pact.
"All parties to the agreement can stop their actions (fulfillment of their commitments) in case of violation of the agreement by the other party," Zarif said.
Iran’s chief negotiator said the framework of the deal announced by Iran and six world powers on Thursday in Switzerland was not binding until it is finalized June 30.
Zarif said Iran is “committed” to implementing its part of any final agreement providing Western countries fulfill their promises. He said Iran wants to have a “moderate, constructive and proud presence” in the world.
If the deal is finalized, it would cut significantly into Iran’s bomb-capable nuclear technology while giving Tehran quick access to bank accounts, oil markets and other financial assets blocked by international sanctions.
Despite the criticism by hardliners, the deal has been overwhelmingly backed by Iran's establishment, including President Hassan Rouhani who pledged in a speech to the nation on Friday that Iran will abide by its commitments under the nuclear deal.
Zarif received a hero's welcome upon his return to Tehran on Friday Crowds of cheering supporters surrounded Zarif's vehicle and chanted slogans supporting him and Rouhani.
Zarif said in the interview he “objected” to Secretary of State Kerry using the world “suspension” rather than “termination” regarding the sanctions against Iran.
Zarif attributed Kerry's action as being aimed at addressing rifts between the Obama administration and Congress over the deal. Republicans are almost universally opposed to President Barack Obama's diplomatic effort; Democrats are divided.
He said the deal if finalized by June would nullify all U.N. Security Council resolutions against Iran's nuclear program and lead to the lifting of U.S. and European Union sanctions.
Zarif said the Switzerland agreement showed that the West cannot halt Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes such as power generation and cancer treatment. Western countries suspect that Iran's nuclear program has a military dimension.
Without naming any country, Zarif assured Iran's neighbors such as Saudi Arabia which are concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions that Tehran is not after regional domination.
"We are not after a nuclear bomb. We are also not after hegemony in the region, too," Zarif said.  "Security of our neighbors is our security, too."
Saudi Arabia has expressed concern about growing Iranian influence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon which have large Shiite Muslim populations. A Saudi-led military coalition is now carrying out airstrikes in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels who are supported by Iran.

Top US public employee union AFSCME gave $65M in 2014, mostly to Democrats, progressive groups

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- the country’s largest trade union for public employees -- gave more than $65 million last year to politicians, lobbyists and activist groups, according to 2014 federal reports obtained by Watchdog.org.
AFSCME is funded by roughly 1.4 million members and mandatory fees taken from 125,255 nonmembers. Critics argue AFSCME gets its revenue from taxpayers so its donations are essentially indirect support for Democratic politicians, political activist groups and bigger government.
AFSCME’s 2014 report to the Labor Department showed $64,585,115 in Political Activities and Lobbying spending.
The union also reported more than $1 million in donations to political nonprofits as Contributions, Gifts and Grants, with $126,500 going to MSNBC host Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
AFSCME’s direct campaign contributions and super PAC expenditures last year helped Democrats in Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and elsewhere.
The union’s largest donation of 2014 was a $4.3 million contribution to the Democratic Governors Association.
But the vast campaign AFSCME spending, the federal reports show, was overshadowed by tens of millions of dollars in contributions to progressive advocacy groups including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Center for American Progress and National Council of La Raza, the Illegal immigrant advocacy group.
Click here to read more from Watchdog.org.