It looks like Jeb Bush is going to run.

[grouchy]

According to Fox News....."actively exploring the possibility of pursuing the nomination". Also forming a Pac.

[ralph]

I'll never vote for him .

[grouchy]

I'll never vote for him .

OK, why?

[LibraryLady]

IMO, he should listen to his mother who said not to run...the nation has "Bush fatigue"

my comment here: "...as well as "Clinton fatigue."

[planosteve]

That's kind of ridiculous. All he would have to do is pick up the phone and ask Sheldon Addelson if it's OK.

[Mark]

I'll never vote for him .

OK, why?

He'll never get my vote under any circumstances because he is a squishy moderate, just like all the other Bushes.

Jeb is favor of amnesty for illegal aliens. He is in favor of common core. Etc....

Name all the major policy issues in which Jeb differs from Hillary Clinton.

[ralph]

yeah , Mark gave the answer Grouchy , all the bushs are moderates on the issues that matter to me [immigration and illegal immigration] . That includes the old man all the way down to 'gwb' and this jeb . Didn't answer sooner as I was out .

[grouchy]

I'll never vote for him .

OK, why?

He'll never get my vote under any circumstances because he is a squishy moderate, just like all the other Bushes.

Jeb is favor of amnesty for illegal aliens. He is in favor of common core. Etc....

Name all the major policy issues in which Jeb differs from Hillary Clinton.

Mark, I was not saying I want Mr. Bush to be our next President. I was simply asking Ralph why he would "never" vote for him.

[grouchy]

yeah , Mark gave the answer Grouchy , all the bushs are moderates on the issues that matter to me [immigration and illegal immigration] . That includes the old man all the way down to 'gwb' and this jeb . Didn't answer sooner as I was out .

Thank you Sir. BTW, how do you feel about Ronald Reagan?

[ralph]

RR was alright Grouchy and at the time I approved of his amnesty at the time as his arguments made sense . So , Reagan did it and I approved that amnesty for the 3 to 5 - 6 million . Course that was 1986 [ I think] and I trusted USA government and politicians as being honorable and trustworthy .

[BillB]

Bush will run. Romney will run. Perry will run. Christie will likely run.
Out of that bunch, I'll vote for Romney.

[GFB]

Bush will run. Romney will run. Perry will run. Christie will likely run.
Out of that bunch, I'll vote for Romney.

Ditto..if those are the choices.

If Scott Walker runs..I'll be voting for him.

[Mark]

Give me Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, or Rand Paul. Otherwise, I am returning to voting third party.

[Sangersteve]

Here are the top six reasons many conservatives oppose Jeb:

Ripping Conservatives. Jeb has spent an awful lot of time ripping conservatives to the media – a familiar sight, given that 2008 and 2012 presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney did the same before primary season. In 2012, Jeb told BuzzFeed:

Ronald Reagan would have, based on his record of finding accommodation, finding some degree of common ground, as would my dad – they would have a hard time if you define the Republican party – and I don't – as having an orthodoxy that doesn't allow for disagreement, doesn't allow for finding some common ground.

Similarly, Jeb told The Wall Street Journal CEO Council that any Republican nominee should “lose the primary to win the general without violating your principles.” Just a few weeks ago, Bush visited Senator John McCain (R-AZ) on Capitol Hill, where he heard typical McCain-speak from the 2008 nominee. According to McCain, “I just said to him, ‘I think if you look back, despite the far right’s complaints, it is the centrist that wins the nomination.’”

And just two weeks ago, he encouraged Republicans to stop trying to repeal Obamacare. “We don’t have to make a point any more as Republicans,” he stated. “We have to actually show that we can, in an adult-like way, we can govern, lead.”

Common Core. Bush has been the leading Republican advocate for the federalized education standards known as Common Core. His foundation ran an ad campaign in favor of Common Core. He recently said that debate over Common Core was “troubling,” and said he had “lost my patience” with those opposing Common Core. Additionally, accusations of crony capitalism have begun to dog Jeb over his support for the program.

Immigration. Jeb told BuzzFeed, “I do feel a little step with my party” on the issue of illegal immigration. In April, he said:

I'm going to say this, and it'll be on tape and so be it. The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families -- the dad who loved their children -- was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.

In 2013, Bush said:

Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans, over the last 20 years. Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity.

In July, Bush wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal stating that Republicans should embrace comprehensive immigration reform despite the wave of thousands of illegal immigrant children crossing the southern border:

Congress should not use the present crisis as an excuse to defer comprehensive immigration reform. Whether President Obama is making health-care policy by fiat or using the Environmental Protection Agency to circumvent the lawmaking process, we have too often seen what happens when the president oversteps his constitutional authority. Avoiding similar disastrous results will require legislative action by both parties.

And even after Obama’s executive amnesty, Jeb pushed comprehensive immigration reform.

This, of course, is his chief appeal to many of the so-called big brains in the Republican Party. The New York Times reports that Jeb is willing to break with the base on illegal immigration, because both he and his advisors believe that Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election thanks to his harsher position on the border. “We often say, ‘Let Jeb be Jeb,’” said advisor Mike Murphy.

Warmth With The Clintons. Last week, former President George W. Bush told CNN’s Candy Crowley that his family was incredibly close with the Clinton family. In the process, he called Hillary Clinton his “sister-in-law,” although he added that he thought Jeb could beat Hillary in a presidential race. And last year, Jeb gave an award to Clinton, stating, “We recognize the commitment of someone who has devoted her life to public service,” and handed her the 2013 Liberty Medal for “her ongoing efforts to advocate for the rights of women and girls worldwide.” Hillary returned the love:

Today, Jeb and I are not just renewing an American tradition of bipartisanship, we’re keeping up a family tradition as well. We also share something that is far more important than any of our political differences. We both love this country and we believe in the wisdom of our founders and the constitution.

The event fell one day before the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed the American ambassador.

Taxes. Jeb has refused to sign the Americans for Tax Reform pledge not to raise taxes. In 2012, Bush was asked by the House Budget Committee whether he would trade $1 in tax increases for $10 in spending cuts. He replied that he would. Of course, Democrats have repeatedly offered that deal, only to pull the football at the last second, increasing spending and taxes.

The Bush Legacy. George W. Bush was a horror show for conservatives in his second term, and raised spending dramatically in his first term. George H.W. Bush made “read my lips” a punch line with regard to Republican credibility for years. H.W. Bush lost to Clinton in 1992, and his lack of conservatism even opened the door to fringe candidate Pat Buchanan and led to the rise of Ross Perot. The prospect of yet another Bush/Clinton election leaves most conservatives queasy.

Jeb does not have the base. But he may have the coastal Republican cash – and the temporary love of the media, until he wins the nomination. That divide will define his presidential run.

[Mark]

MIchelle Malkin nails it...


Jeb Bush: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Waterboy

Allow me to unite America's left, right and center in just three words: No, Jeb, No.
Former GOP Florida governor Jeb Bush made the obvious official this week when he announced on Facebook that he's "actively exploring" a 2016 White House run. Of course, he's running. That's what inveterate politicians do.

Well, I hate to break it to Jeb Inc. There's no popular groundswell for Bush Part III. None, zip, nada. Independents, progressives and conservatives are all weary of the entrenched bipartisan dynasties that rule Washington and ruin America. Only in the hallowed bubble of D.C. and New York City elites does a Jeb Bush presidential bid make any sense.

Jeb's indulgent (and ultimately doomed) enterprise has three privileged constituencies: Big Business, Big Government and Big Media. This iron triumvirate explains how the failed campaigns of so-called "pragmatic," "thoughtful" and "moooooderate" liberal Republican candidates such as John McCain, Jon Huntsman and Bob Dole ever got off the ground. The "Reasonable Republican," anointed and enabled by the statist Big Three, serves as a useful tool for bashing conservatives and marginalizing conservatism.

For Republicans who argue that Jeb is the most "electable" choice, I ask: What planet are you on? After two disastrous terms of Barack Obama's Hope and Change Theater, the last thing the Republican Party needs is an establishment poster child for Washington business as usual. I mean, really? A third Bush who's been working for his dad, his dad's friends or the government since 1980?

A Beltway-ensconced scion so chummy with the Clinton family that he awarded close family friend -- and potential 2016 nemesis -- Hillary a "Liberty Medal" last year as chairman of the National Constitution Center?

That's the GOP donor bigwigs' "fresh idea" for "American Renewal?"

To blunt criticism from the grassroots base on the right, Jeb's cheerleaders at the Wall Street Journal cite his "conservative" gubernatorial record of cutting taxes and privatizing jobs. So we're supposed to swoon when a GOP governor acts like he's supposed to act on standard, bread-and-butter GOP issues? Whoop-de-doo.

One thing Jeb's promoters won't be emphasizing: Over the course of his eight years in the Florida governor's mansion, government spending skyrocketed. The libertarian Cato Institute notes that Florida general fund spending "increased from $18.0 billion to $28.2 billion during those eight years, or 57 percent" and that "(t)otal state spending increased from $45.6 billion to $66.1 billion, or 45 percent."

Like big-spending father, like big-spending big brother, like big-spending second son and lil' brother.

I have another interpretation of Bush's "conservative" Florida years: It's called biding his time. Yes, Jeb put in his obligatorily GOP service on taxes and the Second Amendment. Not because he was wedded to deep-rooted principles, mind you. But because the "conservative" facade will come in handy during the primaries when he has to defend radical, divisive positions on his two defining national policy issues: Education and immigration.

Jeb Bush's agenda is neither left nor right. His agenda is the agenda of the D.C. headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Remember: The chamber is a politically entrenched synod of bipartisan special interests. As I've said before, these fat cats do not represent the best interests of American entrepreneurs, American workers, American parents and students or Americans of any race, class or age who believe in low taxes and limited government.

The chamber's business is the big business of the Beltway, not the business of mainstream America. And so is Jeb Bush's.

The Chamber supports mass amnesty for cheap, illegal alien workers. Jeb Bush supports mass legalization of cheap, illegal alien workers and accuses those of us who oppose it on constitutional, sovereignty, security and fairness grounds of lacking "compassion."

The Chamber supports the top-down, privacy-undermining, local autonomy-sabotaging Common Core racket. Jeb Bush spearheaded and profited from Common Core -- and accuses those of us who oppose it of opposing academic excellence for our own children. Jeb's problem isn't just Common Core. It's that he has no core. Instead of retreating from the costly federalized scheme that has alienated teachers, administrators and parents of all backgrounds, Bush has doubled down with his Fed Ed control freak allies and corporate donors.

The reign of Obama ushered in massive cronyism, corporate favoritism and Boomtown boondoggles galore. We've lived too long already under the boot of arrogant D.C. bureaucrats who've exploited their power to serve their friends.

No more business as usual: Stop Jeb Bush.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michelle ... /page/full

[OnTexasTime]

I am not going to say never until I know who the final choices are for the next four years of my life.

I regularly vote for caniddates who were not my first choice when it all started.

[PlanoSooner]

too big of a target for the braindead libs who will spout son-of-a-bush meme's till the cows come home.

i prefer him to not be the nominee..... not opposed to seeing him on the bottom of the ticket

[grouchy]

I am not going to say never until I know who the final choices are for the next four years of my life.

I regularly vote for caniddates who were not my first choice when it all started.

Jon-Glad to see you posting!