Ken Cuccinelli in 2013 Virginia gubernatorial debates
On Abortion:
I believe life begins at conception
McAuliffe suggested Cuccinelli campaigned for the state Senate in Fairfax on transportation so he could oppose abortion rights once he got elected. "You come in pretending to be one thing and then you say something else," McAuliffe said, calling
Cuccinelli the "true Trojan horse of Virginia politics." Cuccinelli has been decried by Democrats as an extremist who is hostile to women on such issues as abortion.McAuliffe suggested that Cuccinelli's position on gay issues and abortion nearly
jeopardized Northrop Grumman from locating its corporate headquarters in the state. Cuccinelli said his views on homosexuality or gay marriage had not changed: "The notion that because I believe marriage ought to be protected, because I believe life
begins at conception... there are lots of Virginians who share my sincerely held beliefs. And your notion that this somehow chases business out of Virginia would be laughable if it weren't so offensive," he said.
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Abortion:
No new abortion restrictions as governor
Asked about whether he would push for more restrictions on abortion as governor,
Cuccinelli said: "I do not expect to use the political capital of the governor's office to be moving those pieces of legislation. My focus is on job creation and job growth."
Source: Washington Post on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Civil Rights:
Traditional marriage ought to be protected
Asked about gay marriage, McAuliffe said he supported equality and would sign a bill giving gays the right to marry in Virginia if it ever got to his desk. Then he pivoted on Cuccinelli, saying the attorney general had "continually attacked gay
Virginians," referencing the attorney general's remarks on gay lifestyle, and his letter to colleges and universities instructing them to remove sexual orientation from their anti-discrimination language. "There are consequences to mean-spirited,
hateful comments," McAuliffe said, after suggesting that Cuccinelli's position on gay issues and abortion nearly jeopardized Northrop Grumman from locating its corporate headquarters in the state.Cuccinelli said his views on homosexuality or gay
marriage had not changed, but he was ready for the attack. "The notion that because I believe marriage ought to be protected, because I believe life begins at conception ... there are lots of Virginians who share my sincerely held beliefs."
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Civil Rights:
Homosexuality is against nature and harmful to society
On gay marriage, McAuliffe said he would sign a bill overturning Virginia's ban on such unions if it reached his desk. Cuccinelli was asked whether he stood by comments he made several years ago, that homosexuality was "against nature and harmful to
society."Cuccinelli said that his beliefs about "the personal challenge of homosexuality" had not changed but that as governor, he would strive to make Virginia a place where everyone has equal opportunity.
Source: Washington Post on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Health Care:
Opposes ObamaCare and opposes delaying its implementation
Cuccinelli reiterated his opposition to President Obama's health-care plan, but he also criticized Obama for not following his own law by postponing the legislation's employer mandate for one year.
McAuliffe, meanwhile, made clear that he still supports the law and stressed that he thinks Virginia should accept the measure's invitation to expand the state's Medicaid program, which Cuccinelli opposes.
Source: Washington Post on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Immigration:
Path to citizenship ok as part of compromise
On immigration, McAuliffe said it would be "one of my finest hours" as governor if he could sign a state version of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to some immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as minors.
Cuccinelli said he wanted to see "some sort of compromise reached on immigration" and said a path to citizenship "could be part of the proposal."
Source: Washington Post on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Tax Reform:
Cut taxes by $1.4 billion a year
On economic policy, Cuccinelli declined to say how he would pay for his plan to cut taxes by $1.4 billion a year. He said he would study all tax loopholes and close those that no longer make sense. Woodruff pressed him, but he declined to elaborate.
McAuliffe said the plan "would be devastating to our economy."
Cuccinelli countered that McAuliffe was "saying whatever he thinks he has to say to get elected." And he called McAuliffe's own economic plans "pure flimflammery."
Source: Washington Post on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jul 21, 2013
On Environment:
Kill rats around Occupy DC camps; don't move them to VA
Cuccinelli smells a rat. He is outraged by a DC law that regulates how exterminating companies capture pests. Cuccinelli has been sharply critical of the Occupy movement; he has discussed published reports about an increase in rat populations around
Occupy DC camps. Then he's turned to the DC pest-control law and painted it as an example of ridiculous regulation. The DC law "doesn't allow them to kill the dang rats," Cuccinelli said in a Jan. 13 interview. "They have to capture them in families."
Cuccinelli said the law requires relocation of the trapped rats [including] setting them free in Virginia.
The law cited by Cuccinelli does prohibit using various traps to catch some kinds of urban wildlife. The law also calls for catching animals
alive and relocating whole pest families when possible. But here's the catch: The pardon does not extend to rats. The first page of the law specifically exempts "commensal rodents"--common rats and mice that pilfer human food. So Cuccinelli got it wrong.
Source: PolitiFact.com on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jan 13, 2012
On Health Care:
Challenged & won on Constitutionality of ObamaCare's mandate
No one has fought President Barack Obama's health care reform law more effectively than Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. The Republican is spearheading the legal challenges against the bill, especially the "individual mandate" provision that
would require most Americans to buy health insurance. Cuccinelli won a major victory in Dec. 2010 when a federal judge found that provision of the law to be unconstitutional, and the case is expected to wind up before the US Supreme Court. Asked about
Obama's recent statement that he would support legislation that would allow states to opt out of the mandate if they can find another way to expand coverage without driving up health care costs, Cuccinelli said he doesn't expect much to come from the
president's comments. "They put four enormous conditions on what they call the opting out, and one of them that I would point to first is that it has to be deficit-neutral. You think he's going to let the states do that?" Cuccinelli asked. "I doubt it."
Source: PolitiFact.com on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Mar 7, 2011
On Health Care:
ObamaCare has 6 years of costs vs. 10 years of tax revenue
Ken Cuccinelli said on March 1st, 2011 in an appearance on Fox News that the health care bill has "six years of costs against 10 years of tax revenue." The claim that the health care bill charges 10 years of taxes and for only six years of services is
widely used by Republicans.Two of the highest-profile elements of the bill start in 2014, roughly four years after the law took effect. The virtual marketplaces known as health care exchanges would start that year, enabling those who are uninsured to
buy insurance. In addition, that's the year for a major expansion in eligibility for Medicaid. And a 10-year phase out of the "doughnut hole"--the gap in Medicare drug coverage--began last year. The Republican argument that benefits don't kick in until
2014 is true if you're looking at those big provisions. But many smaller provisions have already taken effect. And many of the major tax changes will be delayed by a few years. We rate this claim Half True.
Source: PolitiFact.com on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Mar 7, 2011
On Energy & Oil:
Opposes tailpipe emission rules for CO2 reductions
Cuccinelli said on Jan. 17th, 2011 in a speech to Tea Party activists, that EPA tailpipe emissions rules, "if fully implemented with all the regulations that go with it, they will keep the temperature from rising nearly 5/100 of a degree Fahrenheit.
By 2050."Only 0.05 degrees by 2050? Is that really what the EPA was claiming these rules would do? The EPA's massive document on greenhouse gas emission standards, page 4-101, said: "EPA modeled the anticipated potential effect on climate change and
found that in year 2100, the rule would reduce temperature increases by 0.006-0.015 degrees Celsius," based on pushing fuel efficiency from 33.8 mpg up to 39.5 mpg.
Those Celsius figures translate to a range from 0.011 to 0.027 degrees Fahrenheit.
He actually erred in the agency's favor by overstating the size of projected reductions. He also missed the date, but again erred in the EPA's favor. Because his mistakes were minor and in the EPA's favor, we rate his claim as True.
Source: PolitiFact.com on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jan 28, 2011
On Environment:
EPA should stand for "the Employment Prevention Agency"
Cuccinelli said on Jan. 17th, 2011 in a speech to Tea Party activists, Cuccinelli, an unabashed critic of global warming claims, called the Environmental Protection Agency "the Employment Prevention Agency." While discussing the
EPA's endangerment finding that greenhouse gasses "threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations," Cuccinelli voiced contempt for new regulations.
Source: PolitiFact.com on 2013 Virginia governor debates
Jan 28, 2011
Page last updated: Dec 05, 2018