The Latest: GOP presidential candidates meet for 4th debate

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates are debating for the fourth time in the 2016 nomination contest, this time in Milwaukee, as they compete to narrow down the wide-open contest.

Fox Business News moderator Maria Bartiromo ignited a chorus of boos from the Republican audience in Milwaukee by referring to Hillary Clinton's resume as "impressive."

Sen. Rand Paul says humans play a role in climate change, but President Barack Obama's policies to curb carbon emissions aren't the way to address it.

[...] he said there was a role for the Federal Reserve to play, noting: What the Fed should be doing is number one, keeping our money tied to a stable level of gold and number two, being a lender of last resort.

[...] while Kasich says, "China does not own the South China Sea," he credits President Barack Obama for moving U.S. naval forces into the region to keep them in check.

Carly Fiorina is jabbing rival Donald Trump in the fourth Republican presidential debate, saying she met privately with Putin — "not in a green room for a show."

Fiorina says she would not negotiate with Putin now because the U.S. is in a position of weakness, and should first bolster the military in the region to make sure "Putin understands the United States of America will stand with its allies."

Donald Trump says he's fine with Vladimir Putin playing a role in trying to "knock the hell" out of the Islamic State in Syria.

The former Florida governor says during the main-stage Republican debate that the Islamic State group is the biggest threat facing the United States.

Paul says the U.S. should be negotiating from a position of strength, but Congress has given up too much of its power to the president in making the deals, leaving the legislative branch as a bystander.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is lobbing the first attack of the night at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio by questioning his conservative credentials on taxes and military spending.

[...] Paul isn't holding back, also slamming Rubio's plan to expand the child tax credit, which Paul says amounts to a new expensive welfare program.

Bush said during Tuesday's fourth Republican presidential debate that his highest priority is simplifying the tax code to stimulate the economy and pay down the national deficit.

Talking about his economic plans during the main stage Republican debate, Cruz identified "five major agencies that I would eliminate: the IRS, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce and HUD."

According to his website, the plan also includes the Department of Education.

The moment was reminiscent of a Republican debate in 2011, when former Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to remember one of three federal agencies he pledged to eliminate, saying, "Oops."

Paul says he has several budget plans, all designed to shrink government spending.

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina says as a cancer survivor she knows better than anyone the importance of people with pre-existing conditions having access to health insurance.

Fiorina brought up her own battle with cancer when talking about her plans for health care reform during the fourth Republican presidential debate Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says Republicans will lose the presidential race if they offer amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Framing this as an economic issue for many Americans, Cruz is asking how the press would feel if "people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's prescription for economic growth and job creation includes reducing regulations and the corporate tax rate, repealing the president's health care law and modernizing higher education.

Donald Trump is celebrating a federal appeals court decision undercutting part of an executive order from President Barack Obama that would allow some people in the country illegally to stay.

Bush also supports a pathway to legal status, and speaks more to the political dynamic of the divisive issue.

Asked about rising income inequality during the main-stage Republican debate, Paul says the Federal Reserve is partially to blame by keeping interest rates low.

Paul also argues that income inequality is worse in cities and states with Democratic leaders, saying "if you want less income inequality, move to a city with a Republican mayor or a state with a Republican governor."

Cruz is touting his plan for a 10 percent flat personal income tax and a 16 percent business tax during the fourth Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is opening the Republican debate by reminding voters he's the only acting executive on stage and telling them he's the only candidate who knows how to balance the federal budget.

To get there again, he says he'd freeze discretionary spending and cut Medicare growth without eliminating benefits.

Kasich says it's a moral imperative for politicians to create an environment that promotes job creation and helps lift people out of low-wage jobs.

The answer, he says, is to reform taxes, ease the way for businesses and make higher education more accessible, particularly for vocational training.

Billionaire developer Donald Trump says during the prime-time Republican debate that he opposes a $15 minimum wage, enacted Tuesday in his home state, New York.

Carson says he appreciates having worked as a lab assistant early in life, and says the experience gave him more than was reflected in the wage.

Each of the four Republican candidates onstage is making a very different closing argument about why he is the best qualified candidate to be president.

The New Jersey governor and the former Pennsylvania senator both argued during the undercard Republican debate that federal interest rates have been kept low to support President Barack Obama.

[...] White House spokesman Josh Earnest insisted the Fed acts independently, saying the administration "goes to great lengths" to ensure the Fed can make decisions solely on the economy's interests and to prevent those decisions from being influenced or even tainted by politics.

[...] New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says: I'll tell you the thing that disturbs me the most about the Democratic Party is they're not standing behind our police officers in this country.

An energized Jindal criticized Christie's record in New Jersey during the undercard Republican debate, arguing he had grown social programs like Medicaid.

Chris Christie says if he's president, China will have no doubt the United States "means business," whether fighting cyber warfare or projecting military strength.

Christie, continuing to turn attacks toward Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, says the Obama administration has a "weak and feckless" foreign policy toward China.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says Wisconsin workers should ask Republican presidential candidates opposed to the Export-Import Bank "why we're tying one hand behind their back and saying go out and compete."

Santorum's defense of the Export-Import Bank comes after General Electric Co. announced in September it was shutting down a plant in Waukesha, not far from the site of Tuesday's debate in Milwaukee, and blamed Congress' refusal to fund the Export-Import Bank.

Jindal said Tuesday during the Republican undercard debate in Milwaukee that the most important question facing voters in the upcoming presidential election is whether people are willing to cut the size of the government to grow the economy.

Jindal is struggling to break through in the crowded Republican field, and has not been on the main stage in any of the four GOP debates.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says better job training for people coming out of high school is key to strengthening the manufacturing industry.

Christie says he wants to make the tax code fairer by getting rid of all deductions except for home interest and charitable donations.

Trump and Carson are the leaders in the wide-open contest for the Republican presidential nomination and will be standing next to each other at center stage Tuesday night.

GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio is getting debate night help from a new political group called "Baby Got PAC."

The spot compliments other Republican presidential hopefuls but promotes Rubio as the strongest potential opponent to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The ad quotes media reports that Clinton supporters — including former President Bill Clinton — view the 44-year-old Florida senator as her toughest potential general election opponent in a field of 15 candidates.

Super political action committees can take unlimited amounts of money from contributors but cannot coordinate with the candidates they seek to help.