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North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls For Bringing Back Public Hangings

Video: The GOP's Racial Politics

GOP Field To Uninsured Woman: You're On Your Own

NEWS FLASH

RNC Chairman Compares Obama To Italian Cruise Ship Captain Accused Of Manslaughter | RNC Chairman Reince Priebus compared President Obama to Francesco Schettino, the Italian cruise ship captain who took off in a lifeboat after his ship ran aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany and is suspected of multiple counts of manslaughter. “In a few months, this is all going to be ancient history,” Priebus said in response to a question about the brutal GOP primary, “and we are going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama who is abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president.” At least 17 people died in the cruise ship disaster. Watch it:

Economy

Norquist: Republicans Will Impeach Obama If He Doesn’t Extend Bush Tax Cuts

By Tanya Somanader posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jan 29, 2012 at 11:02 am

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist has long held a tight grip on the marionette strings of the GOP. Wielding undue influence as the head of the Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist ensures that Republican lawmakers sign his anti-tax pledge and threatens them with electoral defeat should they even think of deviating from it. Norquist has marked a successful few years, killing the deficit super committee agreement, batting down a tax increase on millionaires, and, of course, ensuring the extension of the Bush tax cuts.

Pleased with his headway, Norquist is now mapping out how he can ensure further anti-tax victories by securing Republican majorities. In an interview with the National Journal, he mused that a GOP mandate would obviously enact an extension of the Bush tax cuts, work to maintain a repatriation holiday for corporate profits, and even pass House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan that jeopardizes Medicare. But when asked what Republicans should do if faced with a Democratic majority that won’t keep the tax cuts, Norquist had a simple answer: “impeach” Obama.

NJ: What if the Democrats still have control? What’s your scenario then?

NORQUIST: Obama can sit there and let all the tax [cuts] lapse, and then the Republicans will have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach. The last year, he’s gone into this huddle where he does everything by executive order. He’s made no effort to work with Congress.

Norquist certainly revels in his power, but suggesting Republicans impeach the president over tax cuts is wildly outlandish. According to the constitution, the president, vice president, or public officials can only be impeached for “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Preserving a tax cut that gives more to the top 1 percent than the average income of the 99 percent hardly qualifies. But if Norquist’s only goal is to “crush the other team,” it seems he’ll stop at nothing to do so.

Security

Real Time Panel Embarrasses Dana Rohrabacher After He Claims Obama Wants ‘To Gut The Military’

By Ben Armbruster posted from ThinkProgress Security on Jan 28, 2012 at 11:57 pm

On HBO’s Real Time Friday night, host Bill Maher said the Republicans “were such sour pusses” during President Obama’s State of the Union speech last week. “Just in your own self interest, wouldn’t it be good to fake it when he’s talking about American succeses?” Maher wondered. Panelist Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) told Maher why the Republicans were in such a foul mood:

ROHRABACHER: Here we have a president of the United States who is just profusely saying how wonderful he thinks of the military and we know, all of us who are sitting in the audience, he’s trying to gut the military!

Maher, co-panelists Kennedy from Reason TV, MSNBC’s Martin Bashir and even the audience joined in to collectively chastise the California Republican for his blatantly false claim. “That’s absolutely not true,” Kennedy said, later adding, “I love the military. I like my SEALs groomed and ready to go but you have to tell the truth.”

“Can I give you the facts?” Maher asked Rohrabacher. “So far every budget Obama has had has increased military spending,” he said. “This year they’re asking a reduction from $531 billion to $525 billion, 1.6 percent. You mean our freedom is in trouble because of that 1.6 percent?” Maher later added, “How paranoid do you have to be to say that this guy is gutting our military?” Watch the clip:

Of course, Maher, Kennedy, Bashir (and the audience) are right, Obama is not gutting the military, not even close. And while the Obama administration has outlined a plan to reduce military spending by nearly $500 billion over the next 10 years, that figure is taken from levels of projected spending. As the New York Times noted this week, “over the next four years, the Pentagon budget would rise each year, reaching $567 billion by 2017.” The Time adds that “adjusted for inflation, the increases are small enough that they will amount to a slight cut of 1.6 percent of the Pentagon’s base budget over the next five years.”

NEWS FLASH

BREAKING: Five More Arrested in News Corp Phone Hacking Scandal | Earlier today, Scotland Yard arrested five more individuals, including a police officer, in the ever-growing News Corporation phone hacking scandal in the United Kingdom. While previous arrests focused on phone hacking at the now-closed News of the World tabloid, today’s arrests are related to allegations of phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s flagship tabloid, the Sun. According to the BBC, those arrested today include: “Graham Dudman, a former managing editor; Fergus Shanahan, a former deputy editor; Mike Sullivan, the paper’s crime editor; and Chris Pharo, the paper’s head of news.”  With today’s arrests, 13 total people have been arrested in the course of the investigation into News Corporation’s alleged bribery of police officers.  If News Corporation is found to have bribed police officers or other public officials, the company could also face serious legal consequences in the United States under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Justice

Hispanic Conference Leaders Norm Coleman And Carlos Gutierrez Don’t Know Who Kris Kobach Is

By Alex Seitz-Wald and Scott Keyes posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jan 28, 2012 at 12:29 pm

MIAMI, Florida — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been one of the most influential figures in immigration policy over the past few years, authoring the infamous anti-immigration laws passed in Arizona, Alabama, and South Carolina. This has made him highly controversial, but GOP front-runnner Mitt Romney touted Kobach’s endorsement. “With Kris on the team, I look forward to working with him to take forceful steps to curtail illegal immigration,” Romney said in press release earlier this month.

Some Hispanic Republicans have called on Romney to disassociatie himself from Kobach — the “dark lord of the anti-immigration movement” — warning his embrace will alienate Hispanic voters.

But when ThinkProgress tried to ask two key Romney backers, who also helped organize a major gathering of Hispanic Republicans here, if they worried about Kobach, we ran into a problem — they didn’t even know who he was. At the Hispanic Leadership Network conference Friday, where Romney spoke earlier, we spoke with former Senator Norm Coleman and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who have both endorsed Romney and who both helped organize the conference as chairman of its main sponsor and co-chair of the conference itself, respectively.

Asked if he thought that Kobach’s association with Romney could hurt the GOP frontrunner, Gutierrez replied, “I don’t know Kris Kobach, sorry.”

When asked the same question, Coleman stalled for a moment before telling us, “I don’t know Kobach, to be honest.” When told who he is, Coleman replied, “I have no idea.” Watch Coleman’s response:

Justice

GOP Bill Tries To Drive Wedge Between Undocumented Servicemembers And Undocumented College Students

By Adam Peck posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jan 28, 2012 at 10:57 am

During Monday night’s debate, the two Republican presidential front runners voiced their support for a modified DREAM Act that covers only those undocumented immigrants who are willing to serve in the United States military, and not those who attend a college or university in pursuit of a degree.

Now, a Florida Republican has introduced a bill to do just that:

Inspired by Monday night’s Republican presidential debate over immigration, Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, filed a bill that would give young people who serve in the military — not college students — a path to U.S. citizenship.

“If somebody is willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” Rivera said.

Rivera’s plan is called the Adjusted Residency for Military Service Act — the ARMS Act. It’s a variation on the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to some children of undocumented immigrants who were brought illegally to the United States by their parents.

The new push for a military-only version of the DREAM Act is a not terribly subtle attempt by the Republican presidential nominees to create a wedge between military DREAMers and the college student DREAMers who have been lobbying for the bill for years. Rep. Rivera says that he is introducing the bill because it is all that Congress will likely be able to pass, even though polls show the DREAM Act has overwhelming support from every demographic, including Republicans.

Romney, Gingrich and Rep. Rivera are also at odds with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who yesterday said that immigration was a “secret weapon for economic competitiveness,” a view shared by President Obama during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Politics

Swiss Mitt: Romney’s Latest Out-Of-Touch Debate Moments

By Jeff Spross and Tanya Somanader on Jan 28, 2012 at 9:30 am

Along with his his trademark laugh, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has riddled the campaign trail with some of the most epically tone-deaf quotes, including “I like being able to fire people,” “I’m also unemployed,” and, of course, “corporations are people to, my friend.” But at CNN’s GOP presidential debate in Jacksonville, FL on Thursday, Romney racked up the out-of-touch remarks.

Already under fire for his offshore accounts, his tax returns, and his profits from foreclosed homes, Romney sought to defend exactly why he had a Swiss bank account. “I don’t know of any American president who has had a Swiss bank account,” Gingrich said.

In what is sure to resonate with struggling middle-class Americans, Romney defended himself by noting that it’s not he, but his “trustee” that manages his investments. “I have a trustee that manages my blind trust” and “wanted to diversify” the portfolio, he said, no less than seven times. Take a look at Romney’s rough moments last night:

Romney finished the exchange with a knowing nod when Gingrich noted that comparing his wealth with Romney’s is “like comparing a tiny mouse to a giant elephant.” Indeed, Romney’s complete inability to relate to the plight of struggling middle-class Americans certainly makes his wealth the elephant in the room.

Justice

Group Delivers Hundreds Of Tacos To Connecticut Mayor Who Insulted Latinos With ‘Tacos’ Comment

By Travis Waldron posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jan 27, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Trays of tacos delivered to Mayor Maturo (Photo via New Haven Independent)

Latinos in East Haven, Connecticut delivered hundreds of tacos to the town’s mayor Thursday, just two days after he made a flippant, derogatory comment about them while discussing alleged police discrimination and violence in his community.

In the wake of those allegations, Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. was asked what he would do to reach out to the Latino community. “I might have tacos when I go home, I’m not quite sure yet,” Maturo said. The comment drew strong rebukes from area Latinos, and one group responded with a campaign to respond, as CNN reported today:

That set off the activist group, a local branch of the Reform Immigration for America organization, which said that anytime someone texts the word “taco” to 69866, it will deliver a taco to the mayor on their behalf.

They’ve received more than 2,600 texts, the group said in a statement Thursday.

Maturo twice apologized for the comments, saying his words were largely a product of stress.

Still, some 500 tacos were placed inside his office; the rest are already being rerouted to local food-assistance outlets.

The 500 tacos that were placed in Maturo’s office were eventually donated to a food-assistance charity, but even that drew controversy. Maturo issued a statement after the drop-off saying his office donated the tacos to charity. The group that delivered the tacos to his office, Reforming Immigration for America, then took to Twitter, saying Maturo’s claim was false.

“Now, Mayor Maturo claims they’re donating tacos to the soup kitchen. WE did that, he left knowing we were on our way,” the group posted on its Twitter account. Another post called the mayor’s statement “false and misleading.”

Economy

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Bungles Foreclosure Question, Allows GOP Candidates To Escape Without Offering Housing Plans

By Travis Waldron posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jan 27, 2012 at 6:45 pm

American homes have lost $7 trillion in value over the last five years and four million homeowners are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure, but thus far, the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidates have offered little in the way of solutions for the housing crisis that is holding back the economic recovery. Few states have been hit harder than Florida, where prices have dropped 45 percent since 2006, half of recently-sold homes are in default, and 23 percent of of homes are delinquent or in foreclosure.

That made last night’s debate, which was held in Jacksonville, the appropriate place to ask the remaining Republican candidates how they would address the crisis. Voters, in fact, were waiting to hear the candidates’ answers.

Unfortunately, the debate’s moderator, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, bungled his opportunity, turning to a submitted question that couldn’t have possibly led to substantive answers from the candidates. And then, after Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney gave answers littered with falsehoods and turned the discussion toward each others’ investment portfolios, Blitzer failed to press them for actual plans to deal with housing:

BLITZER: We have a very important subject: housing. Not only here in Florida, foreclosures really, really bad, but all over the country. A lot of people are wondering if the federal government contributed to the housing collapse in recent years. We got a question that came into us. Let me put it up there and I’ll read it to you: How would you phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Does the private mortgage industry need additional regulation?

Watch it:

Blitzer’s original question focused on what the candidates would do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage firms that have been targets of Republican ire since the crisis began. But it was private industry, not Fannie and Freddie, that sparked the crisis. More than 84 percent of the subprime loans in 2006 were issued by private lenders, including 83 percent of the loans that went to low- and moderate-income borrowers.

Blitzer could have asked Republicans to address the misconception that Fannie and Freddie sparked the housing crisis. He could have pressed Romney on what seemed like a change of position on housing in Florida. He could have asked where the candidates stood on the plan President Obama put forward in his State of the Union address to refinance mortgages, or asked what the candidates would do about the rampant fraud and abuse that private lenders perpetuated during both the housing boom and its subsequent bust. And yes, he could have pressed Romney to find out how much he knew about his investments into funds that profited off of Florida foreclosures.

But he didn’t. The result, as Reuters noted today, were soft outlines of policies that “could prolong the pain for years,” aren’t supported by market data, and showed little understanding of how the crisis happened in the first place. The Republican candidates continue to dodge questions about what, specifically, they plan to do about the housing crisis. Unfortunately for voters, questions like Blitzer’s only make it easier for those dodges to continue.

Health

North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls For Bringing Back Public Hangings, Starting With Abortion Providers

By Marie Diamond posted from ThinkProgress Health on Jan 27, 2012 at 6:00 pm

The last legal public hanging in America took place in 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. The “event” attracted 20,000 people and turned into such a sickening spectacle that many credit it with ending the practice in the U.S.

But one North Carolina Republican believes that as a country we’ve grown soft since banning public hangings and is calling for them to reinstated as a deterrent to crime. If Rep. Larry Pittman had his way, “abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers” would be first in line for the gallows:

Republican Rep. Larry Pittman, who was appointed to the District 82 House seat in October, expressed his views in an email sent Wednesday to every member of the General Assembly. [...]

“We need to make the death penalty a real deterrent again by actually carrying it out. Every appeal that can be made should have to be made at one time, not in a serial manner,” Pittman wrote in the email. “If murderers (and I would include abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers, as well) are actually executed, it will at least have the deterrent effect upon them. For my money, we should go back to public hangings, which would be more of a deterrent to others, as well.”

As ThinkProgress reported, last year Republicans in South Carolina, Nebraska, and Iowa pushed legislation that would essentially legalize the murder of abortion providers. Such radical sentiments have been echoed by prominent conservatives like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who said during his 2004 campaign, “I favor the death penalty for abortionists.”

Education

Virginia Opts To Keep Shorter School Year So Kids Have More Time To Ride Roller Coasters

By Guest Blogger posted from ThinkProgress Education on Jan 27, 2012 at 5:15 pm

Our guest blogger is Isabel Owen, an education policy analyst at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The Virginia state senate belives a student's time is better spent riding this rollercoaster than being in a classroom.

Yesterday, the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee put the interests of the tourism industry ahead of the needs of students by voting to kill three bills that would allow school boards to set their own calendar. The bills would have overturned the so called Kings Dominion Law, named for the amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. The law currently prohibits schools from starting before Labor Day, in an effort to boost late season tourism revenue:

The action by the Senate Education and Health Committee followed testimony from a string of tourism representatives, who said that moving the first day of school before the holiday weekend would hurt the industry at a time when it could ill afford to lose revenue.

Putting the tourism industry ahead of the needs of schools is an obvious blow to students. Proponents of rolling back the law cite research showing that students who have more time in school do better on exams and are more likely to go to college. A long summer vacation is particularly detrimental to low-income children who don’t have access to engaging programming during the summer. Indeed, more than 1,000 schools nationwide have broken free from the traditional confines of the school schedule and lengthened the school year to incorporate more time for academics, enrichment and teacher planning.

Speaking at an event at the Center for American Progress last year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made clear that it is time for students to spend more time — not less — in school. “We know that far too many of our nation’s young people get to a certain point by June, thanks to their teachers hard work and commitment, and they come back in September further behind than when they left, and we just have to do something about it,” he said.

The issue is also one of governance. As Delegate Joe Morrissey (D) noted, the persons making the call about when schools should start should not be amusement park owners. “Who is going to make the decisions,” Morrissey asked. “I suggest that it not be Tweety bird or Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob that makes those decisions. They ought not to be making education decisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

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Politics

Romney’s ‘Blind Trust’ Was Not Very Blind

By Josh Israel on Jan 27, 2012 at 4:30 pm

Mitt RomneyThinkProgress reported earlier this week that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) profited from thousands of Florida foreclosures through a Goldman Sachs investment fund.

When pressed on this by his rival, Newt Gingrich, in last night’s Republican debate, Romney disclaimed any responsibility for or knowledge of his own investments:

ROMNEY: First of all, my investments are not made by me. My investments for the last 10 years have been in a blind trust, managed by a trustee. Secondly, the investments they’ve made, we’ve learned about this as we made our financial disclosure, have been made in mutual funds and bonds

Watch it:

The term “blind trust” indicates that an investor has designated someone else to handle their investments and that the investor does not know what those investments are. In his 2006 Massachusetts state disclosure, Romney wrote that “under the terms of the blind trust, the Governor may have no knowledge of the specific holdings or management of the trust” except for very broad categories like “publicly traded stocks.”) Romney had called the use of such trusts a “ruse” in his 1994 senate campaign.

Last August, Romney filed his legally-required public financial disclosure report. As required, his signature appears on the form certifying that the infromation is “true, complete, and correct” to the best of his knowledge. From at least the time he completed that form, it ceased to be a “blind trust” as he knew what was in it.

But Romney’s comment suggests that the trust was “blind” for ten full years before that. It was not.

During his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, Romney disclosed the assets of his “blind trust” in his August 2007 filing. As a result, the trust ceased to be “blind” then, as well.

A ThinkProgress Economy analysis reveals that Romney’s 2011 “blind trust” disclosure identified 43 investments in 13 entities or financial services firms offering investments (CDs, mutual funds, bonds etc.). Of those, 33 were in entities or firms offering investments where he also had investments in his 2007 disclosure. And that 2007 form noted Romney had at least nine current or recently-sold investments with Goldman Sachs, worth millions of dollars.

While the particular funds varied (different mutual funds with Goldman, different bonds or CDs with the Federal Home Loan Banks, etc.), it strains credulity to for Romney suggest that he didn’t know his money was likely in Goldman Sachs between 2007 and 2011.

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Justice

Rubio Calls Out Conservatives For ‘Harsh And Intolerable And Inexcusable’ Rhetoric On Immigration

By Alex Seitz-Wald and Scott Keyes posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jan 27, 2012 at 3:50 pm

MIAMI, Florida — Speaking at the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network conference here today, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) warned his fellow conservatives against using rhetoric towards immigrants that is “harsh and intolerable and inexcusable“:

“We must admit that there are those among us that have used rhetoric that is harsh and intolerable and inexcusable,” Rubio said. “And we must admit — myself included — that sometimes we’ve been too slow to condemn that language for what it is.”

While Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, did not mention them by name, his words could have been intended for GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney who spoke immediately after him at the conference. Both have taken immigration policies well to the right of President Bush, with Romney going even further than Gingrich in saying that he would veto the DREAM Act.

Rubio is a rising star in the GOP and extraordinarily popular among the Hispanic conservatives at the conference, and his words received a very warm reception here. His comments came after he was interrupted by two undocumented students who confronted him for not supporting the DREAM Act.

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Health

VIDEO: Romney Uses Obama’s Words To Defend Health Care Reform

By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Health on Jan 27, 2012 at 3:10 pm

At last night’s GOP presidential debate, Rick Santorum challenged Mitt Romney on the similarities between the health care reform he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts and President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “Your mandate is no different than Barack Obama’s mandate. It is the same mandate,” Santorum charged. “You take over 100 percent, just like he takes over 100 percent, requires the mandate. The same fines that you put in place in Massachusetts are fines that he puts in place in the federal level. Same programs.”

The comparison immediately put Romney on the defense, who claimed, “I didn’t say I’m in favor of top- down government-run health care,” and explained that he expanded access to “private insurance” and allowed people to “choose any plan” within a state-run exchange. “There’s no government plan,” he added. “And if you don’t want to buy insurance, then you have to help pay for the cost of the state picking up your bill, because under federal law if someone doesn’t have insurance, then we have to care for them in the hospitals, give them free care. So we said, no more, no more free riders.”

Romney’s description of his plan sounded so much like Obama’s rational for the federal health care law that ThinkProgress has compiled a video comparing how both politicians describe their reforms. Watch it:

Indeed, Romneycare and Obamacare share more than a dozen common provisions, for a full comparison, click here.

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LGBT

Tennessee State Senator Falsely Claims HIV Came From The Gay Community, Cites Advice Column From 1988 As Evidence

By Amanda Peterson Beadle posted from ThinkProgress LGBT on Jan 27, 2012 at 2:25 pm

Tennessee state Rep. Stacey Campfield

Tennessee state Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), the man who sponsored Tennessee’s “don’t say gay” bill and once compared homosexuality to bestiality, now has a theory about the spread of HIV/AIDS. On Thursday, Campfield told the Huffington Post’s Michael Signorile that it’s virtually impossible to spread HIV/AIDS through heterosexual sex and that AIDS came from the gay community:

“Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.”

“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex…very rarely [transmitted].”

Campfield went on to add that the lifespan for gays and lesbians is “very short. Google it yourself.” Campfield justified his comments by citing an advice column from 1988 and a Christian apologetics website.

But the facts don’t back up Campfield’s vicious lies. Most women who have been infected with HIV were infected through heterosexual sex, many from their husbands or boyfriends. In 2007, women made up more than 60 percent of adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Global Council on Health reports that the male-to-female transmission of HIV is twice as likely as the female-to-male transmission. Not to mention the fact that his claim that gays and lesbians have shorter lifespans has already been thoroughly debunked.

Campfield has a history of degrading the LGBT community. But his lies downplay the HIV risk that women face by trying to incorrectly make it only a gay issue.

Update

Campfield defended his outrageous comments, saying he was simply speaking “on the fly,” and that while he’s not an AIDS historian, “I’ve read and seen what other people have read and seen and those facts are out there.”

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NEWS FLASH

Rick Santorum: Gingrich And Romney ‘Bought Into The Global Warming Hoax’ | In his final question at the Florida Republican presidential debate on CNN, Rick Santorum told Wolf Blitzer why he was more likely to defeat President Obama than Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. “Cap and trade!” Santorum said. “Both of them bought into the global warming hoax!”

Related Posts

Justice

Undocumented Students Confront Rubio During Speech At Hispanic Conference

By Alex Seitz-Wald and Scott Keyes posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jan 27, 2012 at 1:15 pm

MIAMI, Florida — Two undocumented students confronted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during his speech here this morning at the Hispanic Leadership Network conference over his lack of support for the DREAM Act. Holding signs that read “Rubio: Latino Or Tea-Partino?” (Latin or Tea Partier?), the students were quickly escorted out of the Doral Golf Resort & Spa ballroom, where Rubio was speaking ahead of GOP presidential candidates, by security.

To his credit, Rubio said the two young men were “very brave” for raising “this legitimate issue” and urged them to stay to hear the rest of his speech. Instead, they were met by Doral City Police officers outside the ballroom, who pulled the students — one gave his name as Joe, preferring not to use a last name — away from reporters. Watch it:

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