Vocabulary from the Twelfth Republican Debate, March 10, 2016

The twelfth Republican Debate took place on March 10, 2016 in Coral Gables, Florida. This debate was much calmer and more focused on issues than the last few Republican debates have been. Without name calling and interrupting. candidates engaged in a substantive discussion of issues like trade, the threat of ISIS, climate change and saving the Social Security system. Here are 25 words they used, starting with those our list builder found "most relevant."
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. monkey around
    do random, unplanned work or activities; spend time idly
    If you've had wealth throughout your lifetime, when the time comes to be on Social Security, you'll still get it. It will just simply be less. And for those people who depend on that Social Security, they'll get their full benefit. That's the way it will work. And we don't have to monkey around with the retirement age. And how do I know that? I've done all this before.
    - Governor John Kasich
    Here, "monkey around" means to change or alter, with the suggestion that this change is done in a poor manner.
  2. tariff
    a government tax on imports or exports
    To import something into the United States is not very expensive, but many of these countries we can't export to because their tariffs are too high.
    - Senator Marco Rubio
  3. parameter
    any factor defining a system and determining its performance
    They[ISIS] have no laws. They have no rules. They have no regulations. They chop off heads. They drown 40, 50, 60 people at a time in big steel cages, pull them up an hour later, everyone dead. And we're working on a different set of parameters. Now, we have to obey the laws...But we have to expand those laws, because we have to be able to fight on at least somewhat of an equal footing or we will never ever knock out ISIS and all of the others that are so bad.
    - Donald Trump
    This was part of Donald Trump's response when he was asked about his previous comments about going after the families of terrorists in addition to the terrorists themselves.
  4. rapprochement
    the reestablishing of cordial relations
    And we're going to have in some way or another a rapprochement with Turkey. And I frankly think the Europeans went in the wrong direction when they rejected Turkey from joining in to the economic sphere of Europe. The simple fact of the matter is, a lot of these Muslim countries, they are just -- they can't believe the stuff they see out of people who have distorted their faith.
    - Gov. Kasich
  5. silver lining
    a positive aspect of a difficult situation
    Now, the one silver lining of Obama abusing executive power is that everything done with executive power can be undone with executive power, and I intend to do that.
    - Senator Ted Cruz
  6. rampant
    occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way
    I will do everything within my power not to touch Social Security, to leave it the way it is; to make this country rich again; to bring back our jobs; to get rid of deficits; to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse, which is rampant in this country, rampant, totally rampant.
    -Donald Trump
  7. demote
    assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
    Senior executives should be held accountable if the V.A. [Veterans' Affairs] outreach isn't working. The problem is no one's being held accountable. Even after we passed that law, no one's been fired for no outreach. No one's been fired for calls going to the voicemail. No one's been disciplined. No one's been demoted. When I'm president of the United States, if you work at the V.A. and you are not doing a good job, you will be fired from your job at the V.A.
    -Sen. Rubio
  8. insolvency
    the lack of financial resources
    Social Security right now is careening towards insolvency, and it's irresponsible. And any politician that doesn't step forward and address it is not being a real leader. We need to see political courage to take this on and save and strengthen Social Security.
    - Sen. Cruz
  9. debilitating
    impairing strength and vitality
    In less than five years, only 17 percent of our budget will remain discretionary; 83 percent of the federal budget in less than five years will all be spent on Medicare, Medicaid, the interest on the debt.
    That's -- all of it will be eaten up by that. That's a debt crisis. And it will be debilitating to our economy and our children deserve better than to inherit a debt crisis.
    - Sen. Rubio
  10. codify
    organize into a system, such as a body of law
    I know what the good deal. I'll tell you what the good deal now, it's already codified. Here's a good deal -- Cuba has free elections, Cuba stops putting people in jail for speaking out, Cuba has freedom of the press...
    - Sen. Rubio
  11. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    Some of these people, frankly, have never voted before -- 50 years old, 60 years old, 70 years old -- never voted before.
    -Donald Trump
    Donald Trump was asked about his vision for the Republican Party, and he emphasized that his candidacy is reaching out to many people the Republicans have not reached before.
  12. expertise
    skillfulness by virtue of possessing special knowledge
    But I'm going to have Ben very involved with education, something that's an expertise of his.
    - Donald Trump
  13. discretionary
    not earmarked; available for use as needed
    In less than five years, only 17 percent of our budget will remain discretionary; 83 percent of the federal budget in less than five years will all be spent on Medicare, Medicaid, the interest on the debt.
    That's -- all of it will be eaten up by that. That's a debt crisis. And it will be debilitating to our economy and our children deserve better than to inherit a debt crisis.
    - Sen. Rubio
  14. careen
    pitching dangerously to one side
    Social Security right now is careening towards insolvency, and it's irresponsible. And any politician that doesn't step forward and address it is not being a real leader. We need to see political courage to take this on and save and strengthen Social Security.
    - Sen. Cruz
  15. unwavering
    marked by firm determination or resolution
    Well, I'd like to say to all of you, the American people, I have run an unwavering, positive campaign for president of the United States. I have tried to be positive in such a way as to show my record, my accomplishments, my vision.
    And I wanted to raise the bar in presidential politics so our kids can take a look at the way you can run for president and you will someday maybe be president of the United States.
    - Gov. Kasich
  16. facet
    a distinct feature or element in a problem
    I don't want anybody's money. I will tell you something. We're going to go out to bid in virtually every different facet of our government. We're going to save a fortune.
    - Donald Trump
    To a question about how he is going to pay for his Social Security plan, Donald Trump suggested that the government can save money by getting different vendors to bid on a great many government contracts, causing competition between the vendors which would drive down the price.
  17. fanciful
    indulging in or influenced by the imagination
    If we're going to stop bankrupting our kids and grandkids, you've got to be willing to take on the lobbyists, which means not just some fanciful waste, fraud and abuse, but specifying these are the programs I'll eliminate so that we can take care of the hard working taxpayer.
    - Sen. Cruz
    Senator Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump for not being specific enough about what he would cut under the umbrella term
    " waste, fraud and abuse."
  18. embolden
    give encouragement to
    These groups are not interested in a deal with Israel. What they are interested in is ultimately removing the Jewish state and occupying its entire territory. So maybe in 30 years the conditions will exist, but they do not exist now. And to have a president forcing the Israelis to the table is harmful to the Israeli and emboldens Israel's enemies.
    - Sen. Rubio
    In response to Donald Trump's previous assertion that he would like to remain neutral in negotiations between Israel and Palestine, Senator Rubio is referring here to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and contends that staying neutral would be a disaster.
  19. stringent
    demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
    Well, I -- I do believe we contribute to climate change, but I don't think it has to be a, you know, either you're for some environmental stringent rules or, you know, you're not going to have any jobs. The fact is, you can have both.
    - Gov. Kasich
  20. hamstring
    make ineffective or powerless
    The way you defeat terrorists is pretty straightforward. It's difficult to do, but it has to be done. When I'm president of the United States, the best intelligence agencies in the world that right now have been hamstrung. They're going to be expanded. And the best intelligence agencies in the world are going to find terrorists.
    - Sen. Rubio
    Senator Rubio contends that under President Obama our Intelligence Agencies have been unable to do their jobs effectively.
  21. stagnant
    not growing or changing; without force or vitality
    If your wages have been stagnant for 20 years; if you can't pay the bills, how does it help you to have a president come and say, ... "I'm going to put a 45 percent tax on diapers when you buy diapers, on automobiles when you buy automobiles, on clothing when you buy clothing." That hurts you.
    It's why we've got to get beyond rhetoric of China bad, and actually get to how do you solve the problem. Because this solution would hurt jobs and hurt hard-working taxpayers in America.
    - Sen Cruz
    Senator Cruz was responding to Donald Trump's proposal to (at least threaten) China with a 45% percent tariff on Chinese goods coming into this country. Cruz maintains that that price hike will be passed on to the American consumer, and therefore such a tariff is a bad idea.
  22. robust
    sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction
    If we're Americans rather than Republicans and Democrats, we get together, we can solve all of these problems.
    We can provide financial security, we can drive the wages up, we can get kids jobs with a more robust economy
    - Gov. Kasich
  23. incendiary
    inciting action or rebellion
    And I'll tell you, frankly one concern I have with Donald is that although his language is quite incendiary, when you look at his substantive policies on Iran, he has said he would not rip up this Iranian nuclear deal. I think that's a mistake.
    - Sen. Cruz
  24. reciprocal
    something that has a mutual relation to something else
    A much better solution that works is the tax plan I've laid out which would enable our exports to be tax-free, would tax our imports, would not raise prices for Americans, and would not result in reciprocal tariffs. Fix the problem and that's what's missing from what Donald says.
    - Sen. Cruz
    This quote summarizes Senator Cruz's approach to the tariff situation.
  25. expedite
    process fast and efficiently
    The fact of the matter is we have to have an expedited process. When people cheat, when countries cheat and they take advantage of us, we need to blow the whistle. And as president of the United States, I absolutely will blow the whistle and begin to stand up for the American worker.
    - Gov. Kasich
    Governor Kasich is talking here about abuse of the free trade system, that can result in, for instance, Americans losing their jobs. The "expedited process" he refers to is important, he says, so we can fix the problems when the arise, and not look back after the fact when the jobs are already lost.
Created on Thu Mar 10 23:42:56 EST 2016 (updated Fri Mar 11 08:11:49 EST 2016)

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