Feb
15
Virginia Law—Vaginal Probe Required of Women Seeking Abortions
February 15, 2012 | Comments Off
2/15/12 As Rachel Maddow said last night on her show, “Republicans in Virginia want a government so big that it can literally get inside individual citizens genitals by force and without their consent.” The Virginia House passed a bill yesterday mandating that women seeking an abortion must first undergo an invasive trans-vaginal ultrasound—a probe inserted into the vagina. Traditional ultrasounds cannot produce a clear image of the fetus at the early stage of pregnancy when the vast majority of abortions take place. The Virginia Senate has already passed this measure and Governor Bob McDonnell has promised to sign it. The state up in arms about a health insurance mandate will now require a woman to submit to a vaginal probe against her will.
Feb
12
GOP Boxes itself in on Obama Contraception Compromise
February 12, 2012 | Comments Off
2/12/12 The Catholic Health Association, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and Catholic Charities USA all support President Obama’s compromise on requiring contraception coverage. Yet Republicans appear hell-bent on opposing Obama’s plan to ensure that women receive health care coverage for contraception. Buoyed by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops’ continued opposition, the GOP plans to introduce legislation allowing any employer to deny contraception coverage in their health insurance plans. With most Catholic organizations on board with Obama’s plan, the GOP is on course to become the outspokenly anti-contraception party. Not a good place to be in a country where nearly every woman, including 98% of Catholic women has used birth control.
Feb
1
Romney really doesn’t care about the Poor—Just look at his Policies
February 1, 2012 | Comments Off
2/1/12 Mitt Romney’s foot landed in his mouth again today when he said, ”I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He was trying to say that his focus would be on helping the middle class. But Romney’s policies represent an all-out assault on the poor and the safety net he said is there to protect the poor. Romney supports the Paul Ryan budget plan, which cuts $700 billion from Medicaid, $127 billion in food stamps and slashes Pell Grants in half for low-income college students. Romney would cut taxes on the rich and raise taxes by 60% on low-income families. So, when Mitt Romney says he’s not concerned about the poor, believe him. He’s telling the truth.
Jan
30
Romney Aims to “Destroy” Gingrich in Florida but Gingrich Vows Fight to Convention
January 30, 2012 | Comments Off
1/30/12 With a massive financial advantage and with coordinated attacks from across the Republican Party, Mitt Romney has re-established his front-runner status and is poised for a big win in the Florida primary tomorrow. Romney and his Super PAC have outspent the Newt Gingrich forces by nearly $12 million on TV ads in the Sunshine State. Party establishment figures like Bob Dole, neo-conservatives like Elliot Abrams and even whack jobs like Ann Coulter have all launched attacks on Gingrich’s character and temperament. “It not about winning here anymore,” said a Romney staffer. “It’s about destroying Gingrich — and it’s working.” Gingrich vows however that he’ll be in the race until the GOP convention. Good news for President Obama and the Democrats.
Jan
20
Gingrich Wows SC Debate Crowd with Racial Dog Whistles and Media Attacks
January 20, 2012 | Comments Off
1/20/12 Newt Gingrich may win the South Carolina primary after raising the rafters in debates there last night and on Monday. He received raucous standing ovations on both nights. South Carolina still flies the flag of the Confederacy at their State Capitol. Hence, the crazed response to Gingrich saying Monday that President Obama is the “best food stamp president in American history.” Apparently, this crowd doesn’t care if people go hungry in the aftermath of the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. Last night, the crowd erupted when Gingrich went ballistic on the moderator for asking about his ex-wife’s claim that he requested an “open marriage.” The liberal media is apparently to blame for Gingrich’s serial adultery.
Jan
18
A Million Signatures to Recall Walker—Kathleen Falk is First to Announce Candidacy
January 18, 2012 | Comments Off
1/18/12 Opponents of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker turned in more than one million signatures yesterday, nearly twice the number needed to force a recall election. Walker caused a massive outcry when he pushed through legislation eliminating collective bargaining rights for public employees. “Faced with an all-out assault on all that matters to us, we reacted not with despair, not with anger, but with hope,” Kathleen Falk said in a video announcing her candidacy for the recall election. “Hope has inspired this movement, and the people of this movement inspire me.” Falk, the former Dane County Executive, a favorite of organized labor, is the first Democrat to challenge Walker. We hope and believe that Scott Walker’s political days are numbered.
Jan
14
Evangelicals’ Santorum Endorsement may help Romney
January 14, 2012 | Comments Off
1/14/12 A group of 150 evangelical leaders announced in Texas today their support for Rick Santorum. Their hope is to consolidate the conservative vote and stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination. “Rick Santorum has consistently articulated the issues that are of concern to conservatives, both economic and social,” said Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The endorsement comes a week before the pivotal South Carolina primary where polls show Santorum trailing considerably behind Romney, with Newt Gingrich running a close second. Santorum’s position may now improve, but probably at the expense of Gingrich who seemed to have the best chance of beating Romney in SC. The evangelicals may have actually given Romney a boost.
Jan
11
Author of Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Law Endorses Romney
January 11, 2012 | Comments Off
1/11/12 Mitt Romney received the endorsement today of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the author of Arizona’s hard-line anti-immigration law. In a press release, Romney said, “With Kris on the team, I look forward to working with him to take forceful steps to curtail illegal immigration and to support states like South Carolina and Arizona that are stepping forward to address this problem.” Romney recently said he would veto the DREAM Act if it came across his desk as President. Romney’s lurch to the right on immigration will no doubt help him sew up the Republican nomination. He’ll be sorry though in the fall when he is up against President Obama in the general election.
Jan
10
Romney Blunders his way toward Nomination
January 10, 2012 | Comments Off
1/10/12 Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire Primary tonight and became the first Republican candidate to ever win both New Hampshire and the Iowa Caucus. Romney’s victory comes a day after he said “I like being able to fire people.” But his win points up the weakness of his competition and the failure of conservatives to rally around a single candidate. Ron Paul finished second and Jon Huntsman who bet everything on New Hampshire lagged behind in third. South Carolina is next, where the GOP electorate is much more conservative and where Romney faces an onslaught of negative Super PAC ads. But with no clear conservative alternative, Romney could win there as well and come close to sewing up the nomination.
Jan
9
Snoozefest Saturday, Slugfest Sunday—Romney Hit from all Sides
January 9, 2012 | Comments Off
1/9/12 Forget Saturday night’s debate. Booooring! Sunday’s get-together was a different story. The non-Romney candidates came out swinging. “Pious baloney” Newt Gingrich sneered at Romney’s self-description as a non-politician, businessman. “You have been running {for office} for years and years and years,” Rick Santorum attacked Romney’s 2002 campaign for Senate. “He ran from Ronald Reagan,” Santorum said, and ran to the “left of Ted Kennedy” on gay rights, and abortion. Jon Huntsman slammed Romney for challenging his decision to serve as Ambassador to China under President Obama. “I will always serve my country first,” Huntsman said. The attacks will weaken the front-runner, but unless conservatives rally around a single candidate, Romney will be the nominee.
Jan
4
Romney a ‘Charlatan’ not a ‘Centrist’ says Axelrod
January 4, 2012 | 1 Comment
1/4/11 In the aftermath of Mitt Romney’s narrow Iowa win, the Obama campaign’s chief strategist had some choice words for the GOP frontrunner. David Axelrod, referencing Romney’s long history of egregious flip-flops, “Taking two positions on every issue, one on the left and one on the far right, doesn’t make you a centrist, it makes you a charlatan,” Axelrod said. “The principle that he seems to consistently hold is one of personal ambition and to take positions that are necessary at the time. That’s discouraging to conservatives, worrisome to moderates and a big problem for him throughout this process.” Axelrod and the Obama campaign are just getting warmed up.
Jan
4
Obama Defies GOP, Names Cordray Consumer Watchdog
January 4, 2012 | Comments Off
1/4/12 President Obama announced today the recess appointment of Richard Cordray as “America’s consumer watchdog.” Obama nominated Cordray last summer to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Cordray’s job, Obama told a rally in Ohio, will be to protect Americans “from the abuses of the financial industry” and to insure that “consumers will be treated fairly by mortgage brokers, payday lenders and debt collectors.” Republican Senators have filibustered Cordray’s nomination because they oppose Dodd Frank. Obama said that he would not “stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people.” Republican leaders, including Mitt Romney, expressed outrage, but this is a fight the President welcomes.
Jan
4
Iowa Leaves GOP Race in a Muddle
January 4, 2012 | Comments Off
1/4/12 Mitt Romney comes out of Iowa as a very weak front-runner with 75% of his party wishing for another nominee. Rick Santorum emerges as an un-vetted potential conservative challenger. But what will the country think when it learns of his anti-contraception views or his comparison of homosexuality with “Man on Dog” sex? Ron Paul will continue to be a thorn in everyone’s side. Newt Gingrich has a vendetta to settle against Romney for the millions spent by a pro-Romney Super PAC thrashing Newt on TV. Watch out for Jon Huntsman, who has bet everything on New Hampshire. Expect Romney to come under heavy fire from all sides in this weekend’s debates. The Iowa winner? President Obama.
Jan
3
On Caucus Day, Gingrich calls Romney a “Liar”
January 3, 2012 | Comments Off
1/3/11 Newt Gingrich called Mitt Romney a “liar” this morning. Gingrich’s recent bubble at the top of the polls in Iowa has been burst by a massive negative TV onslaught paid for by the Mitt Romney friendly Super PAC Restore our Future. Gingrich told CBS News. “This is a man whose staff created the PAC, his millionaire friends fund the PAC, he pretends he has nothing to do with the PAC…He’s not telling the American people the truth.” Gingrich also attacked Romney as a “Massachusetts moderate” falsely posing as a “real conservative.” Gingrich will not likely win the GOP nomination, but he will seriously rough up Romney trying. This weekend’s debates will be interesting.
Jan
2
Santorum Surges—Romney Benefits from Conservative Split
January 2, 2012 | Comments Off
1/2/12 We’ve been waiting for Rick Santorum to gain traction in Iowa. His neanderthal views against gay rights and reproductive freedom and his harshly hawkish foreign policy positions seem perfectly suited to Iowa Republican voters. After dating and dumping Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich as conservative alternatives to Mitt Romney, Iowa Republicans are now flirting with Santorum. Polls predict a close finish tomorrow between, Romney, Ron Paul and Santorum. If Romney wins, he can thank the failure of the conservative majority to coalesce behind a single candidate. Romney’s never broken 25%, but he might squeak out a win unless Santorum’s surge is sufficient to overtake him.
Dec
10
Big Win for Obama on Voting Rights in Ohio
December 10, 2011 | Comments Off
Ohio is one of many Republican-run states that have passed laws to restrict voting rights. But in Ohio, a crucial battleground state, Democrats have fought back. Organizers for the President and the Democratic Party announced yesterday that they have gathered enough signatures to put the voting restrictions law on the ballot next November. Meanwhile, the law, signed by Gov. John Kasich, which would have severely curtailed early voting, is blocked from going into effect. “If you look at the history in Ohio, when voting opportunities are expanded, Democrats win,” said Greg Schultz, State Director of Obama for America. It’s a big win, but there’s a long way to go in the fight to defeat the GOP assault on voting rights.
Dec
8
Sununu Attacks Gingrich, Affirms Romney’s Support for Ryan’s Medicare Killing Plan
December 8, 2011 | Comments Off
12/8/11 Speaking this morning on MSNBC, former White House Chief of Staff John Sununu attacked Newt Gingrich for throwing Paul Ryan “under the bus.” Gingrich famously called Ryan’s plan to kill Medicare “Right wing social engineering.” Sununu, who backs Mitt Romney for President, made it clear that his candidate supports the Ryan Plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program in 10 years. Sununu assailed Gingrich as a “faux conservative” and a “Gingrichite,” saying “All he cares about is Newt Gingrich.” But will Romney’s new attack dog end up biting Romney with his full-throated embrace of Ryan’s plan to end Medicare?
Dec
8
Gingrich’s Sister Supports Obama
December 8, 2011 | Comments Off
12/8/11 Candace Gingrich-Jones, half-sister to Newt, told Rachel Maddow last night that she would “work really really hard next year to make sure President Obama is re-elected.” Gingrich-Jones, a gay rights activist who works for the Human Rights Campaign, said her brother “is on the wrong side of history” in opposing equality for gay citizens. In an open letter published in the Huffington Post in November 2008, Gingrich-Jones wrote, “What really worries me is that you are always willing to use LGBT Americans as political weapons to further your ambitions. That’s really so ’90s, Newt. In this day and age, it’s embarrassing to watch you talk like that…In other words, stop being a hater, big bro.”
Dec
2
Serial Adulterer Gingrich Beneficiary of Cain’s Adultery
December 2, 2011 | 2 Comments
12/2/11 Herman Cain faces the music today in a sit-down with his wife, following charges that he engaged in a 13-year extra-marital affair. The “Cain Train” may well be making its final stop. Ironically, the clear beneficiary of Cain’s alleged infidelity seems to be serial adulterer Newt Gingrich, the latest anti-Mitt Romney candidate to rise in the polls. It remains unclear though whether the Christian conservative base of the GOP will swallow Gingrich’s version of “family values.” It’s obvious they don’t like Romney, but Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told Fox News that while Evangelicals embrace the idea of forgiveness, there is a difference between accepting an apology, and “placing your trust in him as president and Commander-in-Chief.”
Nov
15
Gov. Walker’s Chickens Coming Home to Roost
November 15, 2011 | Comments Off
11/15/11 The recall of Scott Walker began at midnight last night. Recall supporters must collect 540,208 signatures to force the Wisconsin Governor to face a recall election. Walker’s overreach in pushing to end to collective bargaining rights for public employees sparked a movement that has already sent two Republican State Senators packing for their role in the union busting effort. Walker may well be next. Mike Tate, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman, is optimistic that the Governor is on his way out. “We are putting together the resources, the team, the staff, the volunteers that we need to collect signatures from every single corner of Wisconsin.” We’ll be watching and hoping for Walker’s political demise.