George Pataki

Other, 2015

"We all agree you have to secure the border. We have to make sure that people come to America legally. That has got to be step one. Step two is, we have to stop releasing criminals into the communities. If you are charged with a crime as an illegal alien, you should either be in jail or be deported. You should not released, as the Obama administration has done. Of course, we should outlaw sanctuary cities and hold them responsible. But we can't ignore 11 million people who are here. What are we going to do? We're not going to send them back, despite somebody saying we're going to drag kids out of classrooms and send them back. But we have to send a message that we are a nation that depends on the rule of law, and when your first act is to break the law, there has to be a consequence. So what I would do is require those who want to have legal status, not citizenship, come forward, acknowledge they broke the law, and if they do it again, they can be immediately deported, and then do what we do in communities across America when we want to sanction someone and that is community service."

Other, 2015

"We should get rid of Common Core"

Candidate's Website, 2015

Supports a "simpler" tax code but has not voiced support for a flat tax. "I'd throw out an incomprehensible tax code written by lawyers at the direction of lobbyists in the interests of the powerful and replace it with simpler, lower rates that are fair to us all."

Other, 2015

"One of the reasons I'm running is I was able to bridge that partisan divide with conservative policies and that's what we have to be able to do to do something like defund Planned Parenthood."

Other, 2015

"Well, first of all, the fact that we have a Justice Department that just ignores the federal law just undermines completely the people's respect for the rule of law. Whether you agree with it or not, the law is the law. The President took an oath of office to uphold it, and he has to do that. Now having said that, though, Hugh, I'm a great believer in the 10th Amendment. And I believe in both states there were referenda where the voters approved. So I would be very strongly inclined to change the federal law to give states, when they've had a referenda, the opportunity with respect to marijuana to decriminalize it, except for two factors. One is we have to know that neighboring states or the rest of the country are not being subjected to illegal marijuana because of the free selling of it and marketing in those states, and second with respect to young people. And in particular, I think Colorado went way too far in allowing marijuana to be placed in things like cookies or sweets that are obviously attracted to kids. So the bottom line is we uphold the law. I would not be adverse to changing the law if we could guarantee there was no spillover to, three things actually - no spillover to adjacent states, protection for minorities that are ironclad, and the third is there's no increase in dependency as a result of that. You know, if all of a sudden we see states like whatever the state that legalizes it is resulting in much higher dependency costs that the federal government has to pay for, then I think the federal government has the right to say you can't do that."

Other, 2015

Pataki is open to deploying U.S. troops to the Middle East to fight the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh). In 2015 he said, "I don't want to see us putting in a million soldiers, spend 10 years, a trillion dollars, trying to create a democracy where one hasn't existed. But send in troops, destroy their training centers, destroy their recruitment centers, destroy the area where they are looking to plan to attack us here and then get out."

Other, 2015

The LFDA was not able to find a position from Pataki on privatizating Veterans Administration Services. At the Voters First Forum Pataki said, "To have a health care system for our veterans that denies them service, where as many as one-third of those waiting in line for treatment have died before they even get there, and then an administration that lies about it is completely wrong. So we have to reform the health care system for our veterans. We also have to do more for their mental health."

Other, 2015

"Among other things, I am going to suggest that we have a tax rate on manufacturing that is the lowest in the developed world. Right now our corporate tax rate is the highest in the developed world."

Other, 2015

Pataki dentifies as pro-choice, but supports a ban on abortions after 20 weeks.

Other, 2016

"In 1995 newly-elected Governor George Pataki fulfilled a campaign promise and signed legislation reinstating the death penalty in New York, designating lethal injection as the new method of execution."

Other, 2015

"This is probably the most dangerous time for Americans here since September 11th, and to now have this void where the NSA cannot track lone wolves, they cannot use roving wiretaps against people they understand, probably are looking to engage in terrorist acts is completely wrong."

Other, 2015

Supports raising the retirement age to 68 by 2050, does not support ending social security for wealthy recipients

Other, 2015

"I think it is a horrible law. I honestly think it is the worst law passed in my lifetime. We have a great healthcare system, but there were two issues pre-Obamacare: one, was it was too expensive for many people, and the second was, the unavailability of health care for too many Americans. Those issues could have been easily solved without disrupting the entire national healthcare system."

Other, 2012

As Governor in 2001 Pataki signed a law mandating contraception coverage by employers. He has not given an opinion on the Hobby Lobby ruling, which related to religious exceptions to contraception coverage.

Other, 2015

"College is way too expensive. I think that universities and colleges have gotten used to the fact that students don't object to higher tuition or fees because they borrow it....We have to work with universities...to lower the costs and to provide options for students, so you're not stuck paying this one flat level if you don't want certain services. The second thing the federal government should do is not make money off of student loans." (Pataki has not specified if that means lowering interest rates and/or allowing students to refinance.)

Other, 2015

In July 2015 the National Journal reported that Pataki leans toward supporting TPP

Other, 2015

Opposes Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran