Thomas Ravenel in TheDailyBeast.com
On Budget & Economy:
Federal spending is headed for a doomsday scenario
Ravenel's candor illuminates a desire to tackle the problems that Washington has so far ignored and may give voters a reason to take a look at his long-shot bid. With nothing left to lose and no one else to fear offending,
Ravenel is ready to unload on the Republican Party, incumbent politicians, the ballooning federal debt, and what he sees as a dangerous and unprecedented expansion of the federal government into the lives of Americans.
Now that he has been "emancipated" from the party label, the more libertarian Ravenel gladly holds forth on just about any issue that comes up. On federal spending he warns that the nation is headed for "a doomsday scenario."
"The federal government is making all these promises, but at some point, we're not going to be able to fulfill those promises," he says. "We're going to end up like dogs fighting for scraps."
Source: TheDailyBeast blog on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
On Civil Rights:
Stay out of marriage, but if not, treat gays equally
On marriage equality, he says he'd rather see the government stay out of marriage altogether. "But if we're going to have equal treatment under the law, if you're going to give certain benefits to heterosexual couples that are married, likewise treatment
must be given to those who are gay and married," he said. "A lot of Republicans are intimidated by strident, hateful anti-gay rhetoric from religious right leaders. I'm not cowed by these people. I don't have to be."
Source: TheDailyBeast blog on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
On Homeland Security:
I want a military that defends America, not Germany or Japan
The largest gulf between Ravenel and the GOP is on the role of the US military around the globe. He warns that the US has engaged in nation building, humanitarian missions, and picking winners & losers in countries where we have a track record of getting
it wrong. "I want a military that defends America, not a military that defends Germany or defends Japan," he said. "The EU has a GDP bigger than America's. I don't blame them. Why spend any money on your own military when America's got it covered?"
Source: TheDailyBeast blog on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
On Immigration:
Robust worker visa program, plus anything else reasonable
He does not appear to be cowed by anti-immigration activists who have blasted the Senate immigration reform bill as "Grahamnesty" because of Lindsey Graham's support for it. "These immigrants reinvigorate the American spirit," Ravenel says of those in
the country today. "That's why I love that show West Side Story, it's about the possibilities of now, that beautiful sense that something wonderful is around the corner. It's that spirit that sometimes we Americans take for granted."
Ravenel endorses a "robust worker visa program," but stops short of endorsing a path to citizenship for those in the United States already. "I am open to any ideas that sound reasonable. What's happening now is totally unreasonable and
it's bad for the economy. Saying let's control the border first and then we'll deal with immigration is like saying we can't deal with your cancer until your symptoms go away."
Source: TheDailyBeast blog on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
On War & Peace:
Republicans are pro-invading this or that country
With nothing left to lose and no one else to fear offending, Ravenel is ready to unload on the Republican Party, incumbent politicians, the ballooning federal debt, and what he sees as a dangerous and unprecedented expansion of the federal government
into the lives of Americans."As a Republican, if you're not anti-gay, anti-immigrant, pro-war and pro-invading this or that country, you get the cold shoulder," he said from his Mt. Pleasant, S.C. real estate office. "At some point you
rationalize certain viewpoints, cognitive dissonance notwithstanding, and you adopt that platform. And the Democrats do the same thing on their side."
He also speaks of the overarching need for Americans to reevaluate their relationship with their
government, "We need to ask not what your government can do for you, but what you can do for yourself and where necessary, what you can do for others."
Source: TheDailyBeast blog on 2014 South Carolina Senate race
Jul 4, 2014
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