Mike Pence in 2016 Vice Presidential prospects
On Crime:
OpEd: even-minded on ending racist police brutality
Many are curious to know what is Pence's stance on Black Lives Matter? Depending on your viewpoint, it's either unfortunate or positive that Gov. Pence hasn't said much about the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunate in that there's no way to know
his true feelings on BLM, but positive in that he hasn't publicly spoken out in bigotry or jumped to conclusions.What he has said publicly paints him as fairly even-minded when it comes to the controversial movement aimed at ending racist
police brutality. While he called the shootings of police officers in Dallas last week a "horrific ambush," he didn't blame Black Lives Matter for the shooting, which in 2016, makes him the Republican equivalent of the Dalai Lama.
Pence went on to say that his heart goes out to the two men who lost their lives at the hands of police before the Dallas shootings as well, though he didn't mention their names. Pence hasn't proven himself to be racist (or at least anti-BLM).
Source: Bustle.com, "Pence On Black Lives Matter": 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 17, 2016
On Immigration:
Offensive & unconstitutional to ban Muslims from entering US
Pence has previously taken issue with some of Trump's national security proposals, calling his proposal to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the
U.S. "offensive and unconstitutional" in a December tweet.
Source: CNN.com 2016 Veepstakes, "Pence foreign policy"
Jul 15, 2016
On Immigration:
Return to country of origin before illegals get citizenship
Pence's record in the House: Pence supported proposals to allow illegal aliens to gain legal status, even while denying that such policies amount to amnesty. During the 2007 debate on amnesty legislation, Pence originated the idea of requiring illegal
aliens to leave the country and then being permitted to return legally--an idea that Donald Trump has flirted with during the course of his presidential campaign. Pence voted against the DREAM Act amnesty and generally championed measures aimed at
enforcing immigration laws.Pence's record as Governor: Pence has had to deal with the effects and the costs of our nation's failed immigration policies. He publicly blamed Obama administration policies for the surge of unaccompanied alien minors
entering the US. In addition, he challenged Pres. Obama's illegal use of executive power to grant de facto amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, joining with Texas & 24 other states in a lawsuit that blocked two sweeping Obama executive amnesty programs
Source: FAIR website, ImmigrationReform.com on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 15, 2016
On War & Peace:
Supported Iraq war and sending more US troops there in 2007
Pence, near the beginning of his 12-year tenure in the U.S. House, voted for the resolution authorizing the 2003 Iraq invasion. Pence, who chaired the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, was also a prominent backer of the
2007 "surge" strategy sending more U.S. troops to the faltering effort in Iraq, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer at the time that "the surge is working" while also defending the original decision to invade despite the absence of weapons of mass destruction.
Source: CNN.com 2016 Veepstakes, "Pence foreign policy"
Jul 15, 2016
On War & Peace:
Military action to crush ISIS
A Donald Trump-Mike Pence administration will "support military action to crush ISIS," Pence said. "We've got to exercise the full strength of the United States of America," Pence told Fox News, "diplomatically and militarily.
"This is a military enemy," he said of the Islamic State. "What happened in Orlando, what just happened in Nice--these are terrorist attacks that are inspired by a military organization. We have to recognize that we are in a struggle."
In his first major interview since Trump's announcement on who would get the No. 2 slot, Pence said that "we have to recognize and speak plainly about the impact and the influence of radical Islam. But let's focus on the enemy. The enemy is ISIS.
We know where they are. It's a metastasized version of Islam that is radical Islam that's being used as a justification for simply a power grab in the region," the governor said. "That's what this caliphate is."
Source: Newsmax.com, "Military Action," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 15, 2016
On Corporations:
Pushed manufacturing tax cuts & corporate tax cut
Pence signed tax cuts for corporations and high-income individuals that already failed in other Red States. In March 2014, Pence followed the lead of other Republican governors around the country by passing a package of supply-side corporate and income
tax cuts that he claimed would increase business activity and economic growth in the state. Similar trickle-down economic models "collapsed" after being implemented by Govs. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and failed to produce discernible
results for Gov. John Kasich in neighboring Ohio. As was the case in Ohio and elsewhere, Pence's tax cuts effectively redistributed the state's tax burden onto local governments that were stripped of nearly $1 billion in annual revenue.
An additional manufacturing tax cut pushed by the governor in 2015 was projected to cost the state between $35 million and $240 million annually. [Sources: The Associated Press, 3/25/14; The Indianapolis Star, 3/25/14, 2/3/15]
Source: Media Matters on 2016 Veepstakes: "What Media Should Know"
Jul 14, 2016
On Education:
Replaced Common Core with state-standards version
Indiana was quick to adopt, and quickest to drop, Common Core state standards, pleasing no one with final results. Indiana was one of the first of 44 states to adopt the Common Core state standards in 2010, and it was the first state to "turn its back"
on the standards in 2014.Pence pushed for the adoption of new standards that were "identical or nearly the same" as Common Core, leading to rapid standards and testing changes that left educators and students in a state of confusion.
Pence earned praise for getting rid of Common Core, but the cheers subsided when drafts of the new standards were released. Critics complained that many of the standards were identical or nearly the same as Common Core standards--more than
70% by one accounting. But those backing Common Core weren't celebrating either. Just enough Common Core principles had been removed that supporters of the standards consider Indiana's proposal little more than a watered down version.
Source: Media Matters, "What Media Should Know," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 14, 2016
On Energy & Oil:
Climate change is not a resolved issue in science
Pence was asked if he is "convinced that climate change is man-made." Pence responded: "I don't know that that is a resolved issue in science today. Just a few years ago, we were talking about global warming. We haven't seen a lot of warming lately.
I remember back in the '70s we were talking about the coming ice age." [MSNBC.com, 2/21/14] Pence similarly stated on the May 5, 2009, edition of MSNBC's Hardball that "I think the science is very mixed on the subject of global warming."
In July 2014, Pence sent a letter to Indiana's congressional delegation encouraging them to defund the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which fights climate change by placing the first-ever federal limits on carbon pollution from power
plants. Pence has since indicated that he will comply with the Clean Power Plan if it is upheld by the Supreme Court, but Indiana remains one of the states challenging the plan's legality. [The Hill, 7/10/14; Post-Tribune, 6/25/16; ClimateWire, 2/26/16]
Source: Media Matters, "What Media Should Know," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 14, 2016
On Free Trade:
Supports TPP and trade agreements with Pacific Rim and China
Before he became Trump's vice-presidential nominee, Mike Pence supported every free-trade agreement that came before him. That record puts him squarely at odds with Trump on one of the signature issues of the businessman's presidential campaign.-
Pence backed trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, Panama, Peru, Oman, Chile and Singapore during his House tenure from 2001 through 2012.
- He voted to keep the US in the World Trade Organization and to maintain permanent normal trade relations
with China, the country Trump repeatedly criticizes for unfair trade practices.
- Pence also has publicly supported the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement of Pacific Rim nations, which Trump opposes and has likened to rape.
Pence wrote, "Reducing tariffs and other trade barriers is something that Congress must do. I encourage your support for any trade-related measures when they are brought before the Congress."
Source: Washington Post, "Huge supporter," on 2016 Veepstakes
Jul 14, 2016
On Jobs:
Blocked statewide & local minimum wage increase
Pence signed a law capping Indiana minimum wage and employee benefits. In 2013, Pence mustered Republican State House opposition to a proposal that would have increased Indiana's minimum wage to
$8.25 per hour despite national support for raising the wage to $9. According to The Times of Northwest Indiana,
Pence had previously signed legislation "prohibit[ing] local governments from requiring businesses [to] pay a higher minimum wage, or offer any working condition or benefit, such as paid sick leave, if it's not mandated by state or federal law."
On May 6, 2015, Pence continued his campaign against living wages by repealing a law guaranteeing that "prevailing wages" be paid to workers on publicly funded construction projects. [The Times of Northwest Indiana, 11/12/13, 5/6/15]
Source: Media Matters on 2016 Veepstakes: "What Media Should Know"
Jul 14, 2016
On Jobs:
Defended Indiana's "Right-To-Work" law
On Feb. 1, 2012, Indiana set off a cascade of union-busting legislation from Republican statehouses in the Midwest when it became the first state in more than a decade, and 23rd state overall, to enact a so-called "right-to-work" law. The law, barring
union contracts from requiring that non-union members pay representation fees, was signed by outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels, and created a template for future GOP-led attacks on unions in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In separate rulings delivered in
Sept. 2013 and July 2014, two judges in Lake County, IN, concluded that the legislation violated "the state constitution's guarantee of compensation for services." Stating unequivocally that "Indiana is a right-to-work state," Gov. Mike Pence appealed
the ruling to the state's Supreme Court and won a unanimous decision upholding the law in November 2014. [AFL-CIO, 1/19/12; The New York Times, 2/1/12; The Times of Northwest Indiana, 7/25/14, 8/22/14; Courthouse News Service, 11/10/14].
Source: Media Matters on 2016 Veepstakes: "What Media Should Know"
Jul 14, 2016
On Principles & Values:
I'm Christian, conservative, & Republican, in that order
During Mike Pence's six terms in Congress and four years as governor, the born-again Christian described himself as a "happy warrior" for conservative principles.
A former radio talk show host who compared himself to "Rush Limbaugh on decaf," Pence emphasized his communication skills, creating a radio studio in his congressional office and winning a leadership post focused on messaging.
Republican ...in that order," said Pence, on numerous occasions.
Source: Indianapolis Star on 2016 Veepstakes: "Pence: His Own Words"
Jul 14, 2016
On Immigration:
Temporarily suspend immigration from terrorist havens
"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorists represent a threat to the United States," Pence said. Pence insisted that "we got to do something different." "The American people need to
know who these people are. We have a proud tradition of refugee resettlement in my own state of Indiana -- but that has to be subordinated to the safety and security of the American people."
Source: Fox News on 2016 Veepstakes, "Pence echoes Trump"
May 21, 2016
On Government Reform:
Campaign finance reform is on the road to political serfdom
Mike Pence voted against the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act; declared the Citizens United ruling a "major victory." Pence joined Sen. Mitch McConnell's legal challenge to McCain-Feingold and attached a rider to Justice Department
funding that would have prevented DoJ from enforcing McCain-Feingold's ban on electioneering communication spending. He said, "We are on the road to serfdom in American politics with campaign-finance reform."
Source: EndCitizensUnited.org on 2016 Veepstakes
Apr 1, 2015
On Social Security:
Cutting Social Security should be on the table
Pence spent 12 years in Congress as a leading fiscal conservative. During his tenure he backed efforts to reform Social Security. In 2010, when asked whether he'd support making cuts to Social Security, Pence told CNN, "I think everything has to be on
the table." When asked if he'd raise the retirement age, he said, "I'm an all-of-the-above guy. We need look at everything on the menu." At the time, he said any reforms should just affect Americans under the age of 40.
Source: CNN.com on 2016 Veepstakes, "Pence on Social Security"
Apr 9, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Voted for Carter in 1980 over Reagan but views changed since
Mike Pence has been running for office basically since grade school-the only thing that has changed is his political party. The native Hoosier was born in 1959 to a family of Irish Catholic Democrats (in that order). Growing up in Columbus, he kept a
box of Kennedy clippings; by 15, he was youth coordinator for the Bartholomew County Democrats. After high school, Pence headed an hour southeast to Hanover College, where he majored in history. Hanover was also where Pence went through two important
transformations. The first was political. Pence worked on his senior thesis with a professor who was a strict originalist who loaded his syllabus in his infamous Constitutional and Legal History class with the Founders' own writings, and
Pence began to warm to the ideas of limited government. It took time (he still voted for Carter in 1980), but Pence's politics were beginning to change.
Source: Indianapolis Monthly on 2016 Veepstakes, "INcoming"
Jan 2, 2013
On Principles & Values:
I was Tea Party before it was cool
Pence insisted on a polite tone--"Rush Limbaugh on decaf," was one of his slogans--and he regularly invited Evan Bayh, Frank O'Bannon, & even John Gregg, whom he called "my favorite Democrat," for interviews. But Pence's convictions continued to deepen.
When Richard Lugar ran for president in 1996, Pence used his show to criticize Lugar for not being "conservative enough." There's no doubt that, during his 12 years in Congress,
Pence spent a lot of energy on social issues. "Our present crisis," he argued in a 2010 speech, "is not merely economic and political but moral in nature." But Pence proved to be far more than a social crusader. In fact, it's hard to find an issue on
which he didn't take--and passionately advocate for--a far-right position. It all adds up to a more consistent record than that of most Bush-era conservatives. As Pence put it in a 2011 interview: "I was Tea Party before it was cool."
Source: Indianapolis Monthly on 2016 Veepstakes, "INcoming"
Jan 2, 2013
On Social Security:
Down-the-road raising of the Social Security retirement age
Top Republican leaders in the House offered a fairly strong signal on Sunday that they would favor a down-the-road raising of the Social Security retirement age as part of an effort to revamp the entitlement program. Later during the "Meet the Press"
program, Mike Pence was asked if he supported the idea. The Indiana Republican stammered around for a bit, echoing the same talking point concerning the need for "an adult conversation about domestic spending and entitlements."
Source: Huffington Post, "Retirement Age": 2016 Veepstakes
Aug 8, 2010
On Corporations:
Corporate tax cuts create jobs & grow economy
In 2014, Pence signed a bill reducing the corporate income tax to 4.9 percent from 6.5 percent by 2021, making it the second-lowest in the country. And he's proposed even further cuts to business taxes, pressing lawmakers to phase out the business
personal property tax entirely. "With this bill, we give counties the opportunity to incentivize additional investment in new technology and heavy equipment. We make it easier for companies to expand and create jobs here in Indiana."
Source: WFAA.com 2016 Veepstakes on Indiana Voting Records, bill SB1
Feb 4, 2005
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2021