Heritage Foundation think tank will release a 24,000-word report on GOP Candidates on Monday

Heritage Action wants more specifics from Ben Carson, has concerns about Marco Rubio’s higher education plan and worries about Carly Fiorina’s ties to the GOP establishment. 

Source: Washington Post Newsletter PowerPost

 

The political arm of the prominent conservative think tank will release a 24,000-word report on Monday, exactly 365 days before the general election, evaluating a dozen Republican candidates on their records and policy positions. The group will not explicitly endorse a candidate, but they’ve vetted the contenders across half a dozen categories.

Researchers for Heritage, which embraces with gusto its role as a thorn in the side of Republican congressional leadership and an enforcer of ideological purity, have been working on the “Presidential Platform Review” project since April.

“Americans are not looking for a president to simply manage the status quo in Washington,” said Michael A. Needham, CEO of Heritage Action, a 501(c)(4). “They want someone that will fight the well-connected special interests and advance policies that work for everyone. Fortunately, conservatives have a deep and visionary field to choose from.”

Ten Republicans came to Greenville, S.C., in September for a forum put on by the group, a reflection of the clout that Heritage President Jim DeMint still has in his home state. Donald Trump canceled at the last minute, citing a “significant business transaction.” His absence made the cattle call, which drew thousands of conservative activists from across the country, feel less theatrical and more substantive.

Early excerpts, shared exclusively with The Daily 202, suggest that the forthcoming review will follow a similar mold. Here are some key nuggets:

— “Dr. Carson’s instincts on opportunity-related issues like education and welfare policy appear to be sound, but he has not put forward a detailed policy agenda addressing impediments to mobility. … Dr. Carson has suggested that many of the poorest in America might be better off through the implementation of welfare policy designed to discourage idleness. … However, he has also supported policies that would harm jobless Americans such as an increase in the minimum wage pegged to inflation.”

Ben Carson at the Heritage event (Chris Keane/Reuters)

— “Rubio has innovative ideas on opportunity, though not all are consistent with limited government principles. … His most promising idea is to reform the higher education accreditation system, which currently limits the flow of federal aid to institutions approved by self-interested accreditation bodies … Rubio’s proposal is more prescriptive than some alternative accreditation reform proposals. This reliance on government-set criteria also carries through to his proposal to increase federal involvement in publicizing data on student outcomes. … No doubt the higher education lobby would do all it could to lobby government to focus on metrics that play to the strengths of the institutions that benefit from the status quo.”

Carly Fiorina at the Heritage event(Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

— “Fiorina has recently delivered a strong critique of crony capitalism, but has previously aligned herself with the Washington establishment. … On some of the specific policy debates relating to government favoritism, Fiorina has taken bold positions placing her at odds with the political establishment [e.g. doing away with the Export-Import Bank]. … However, some aspects of her record suggest Fiorina is not universally opposed to policies that favor well-connected businesses at taxpayers’ expense. During the 2010 election cycle, Fiorina was critical of bailouts, but during the 2008 campaign, Fiorina argued that the Troubled Asset Relief Program ‘was, unfortunately, necessary because credit is tight for hardworking Americans and small businesses.’ And while acknowledging that ‘simply throwing money at technology is not a solution,’ Fiorina praised the Obama stimulus for its spending on  broadband subsidies.”

• “On amnesty, Fiorina has supported the DREAM Act for those who came illegally to the United States as minors … [and] she has expressed openness to granting special legal status to those who have violated the law and come to the country illegally.”
• “Tapped by John McCain’s presidential campaign as a key surrogate, Ms. Fiorina was eager to defend policies like cap and trade that she now claims to oppose. As the National Republican Senatorial Committee-endorsed candidate for Senate in California, Fiorina defeated a more conservative challenger in her primary. And since her stint as Vice-Chair of the NRSC in 2011, she has attacked conservatives working against the Washington establishment in efforts like the fight to defund Obamacare.”

Ted Cruz addresses a Heritage summit in D.C. early this year (Photo by Andrew Harnik for The Washington Post)

— “Ted Cruz has been willing to pay a political price for taking on government favoritism. … Though Senator Cruz initially voted for the trade bill that served as a bargaining chip for Ex-Im allies to secure reauthorization, he later switched his vote and exposed the backroom deals that had been struck by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling him out on the Senate floor for lying to the American people. It cost him political capital in the U.S. Senate, but in doing so, Senator Cruz demonstrated real leadership.”

— Judging them not viable, Heritage opted not to study the records of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki or former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.