Jeb Bush, son of former president George H.W. Bush, brother to former president George W. Bush, stands poised to continue the family line with his expected run at the 2016 presidential election. At this time, Jeb Bush seems to be affirming his stance against abortion and his desire to see Puerto Rico become a state.
Jeb Bush’s support of making Puerto Rico a full-fledged state dates back to 1980, when he was working on his father’s presidential campaign.
“Puerto Rican citizens, U.S. citizens, ought to have the right to determine whether they want to be a state. I think statehood is the best path, personally. I have believed that for a long, long while. I’m not new to this.”
Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, speaks fluent Spanish and his wife hails from Mexico. According to CNN , those in favor of statehood believe it will bring more rights and benefits for the Puerto Rican citizens, and those opposed fear it will increase the dependency on the United States government as well as increase the tax bill. Currently, they do not pay personal income tax.
Jeb Bush says he lives “the immigrant experience” http://t.co/BAdLTwnyIJ pic.twitter.com/NBx01FQRqd
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) April 28, 2015
It is important to note that, though the commonwealth voted in favor of statehood for the first time in 2012, Congress has the final say. Jeb Bush believes the new president should sway Congress on which way to go.
“This should be a question of self-determination. That’s just a question of principle and morality, I think. It’s not a question of politics.”
Another hot topic which will surely prove to stir quite a bit of controversy is the stance Jeb Bush takes against abortion, and Planned Parenthood. The Huffington Post reports that Jordan Seculow , a Christian attorney, stood in for Jeb Bush at the Faith and Freedom Summit in Iowa. Seculow spoke on the importance of cutting funds for Planned Parenthood.
“We have got to defund Planned Parenthood, by the way, and Gov. Bush supports those efforts.”
Abortion-Rights Backers Bash Jeb for Pro-life Stance http://t.co/dzBYbaYckq #Newsmax via @Newsmax_Media
— Jordan Sekulow (@JordanSekulow) April 28, 2015
Supporting the right to life is not new to Jeb Bush. Several years ago, Bush fought in defense of brain-damaged patient Terry Schiavo. Terry’s husband wanted to remove her from life support. Her parents did not agree.
“I acted on my core belief that the most vulnerable in our society should be in the front of the line. They should receive our love and protection.”
It may be refreshing to see a presidential candidate such as Jeb Bush stand firmly to his beliefs, even if they are unpopular. What do you think about Jeb Bush for president?
[Image via the Daily Beast ]
