All three declared Republican candidates get high marks from the Club for Growth, the fiscally conservative group that often intervenes in GOP primaries.
Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio all have good records on economic freedom, according to reports on their votes released by the Club for Growth Thursday.
“Cruz, Paul and Rubio are the real deal, and we believe any one of them would be a pro-growth, limited government president,” said the group’s president, David McIntosh. “We’ve looked at their records and their rhetoric, and they give us hope for the future of the GOP on fiscal policies.”
When it comes to Rubio, “there’s little to argue about on his record” as a senator, according to the group’s analysis.
The group faults Rubio for submitting a tax plan that would lower the top income tax rate to 35 percent, rather than the 28 percent sought by Mitt Romney in 2012, in favor of a larger child tax credit. Immigration, the issue on which Rubio might have the greatest differences with the GOP base, is not included in the analysis.
Overall, however, the Florida senator is “outstanding” on taxes, in the group’s opinion, and in line with its priorities for cutting spending, reforming entitlements, reducing regulations and promoting school choice.
Paul, who represents Kentucky, is a “true champion of economic freedom,” the group says. The only blemishes on his tax record are support for a tax break that would benefit horse racing and NASCAR and his plan for “economic freedom zones” of low taxes for poor areas. The Club argues that the zones would distort the market. Cities like Detroit shouldn’t be awarded benefits for mismanagement,” Paul’s white paper says.
Cruz, elected to the Senate from Texas in 2012, has a short voting record. Nevertheless, in those two years, “Senator Cruz made a name for himself as one of the strongest advocates in the U.S. Senate for economic freedom and the Constitution.”
“Cruz has shown a willingness to do what he can to stop adding to the nation’s debt – even if it includes embarrassing members of his own party,” Cruz’s report says, praising him for addressing voters directly in advocating for the defunding of Obamacare.
Of the three candidates, Paul has the highest lifetime score on the ranking, at 98 percent. Cruz is next at 96 percent, with Rubio at 93 percent.
While other presumed candidates have not been analyzed, the three white papers contain some clues as to the club’s assessment of some of them.
The group criticizes Rubio for supporting a Medicaid plan as a member of the Florida legislature devised by former Gov. Jeb Bush. Bush is exploring a presidential run.
It also fault’s Rubio’s endorsement of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president in 2007, citing fiscal conservatives’ “distaste” for Huckabee. Huckabee is receiving significant support in polling on the 2016 Republican primary.
