Brad Phillips gives Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) the honor for worst media disaster of the month.
Archives for June 2015
Want to Use a Taser on a City Official?
For the price of a $5 raffle ticket, Van Meter, Iowa is offering its residents a chance to use a police Taser on a city official, the Des Moines Register reports.
“City hall is selling the tickets as part of a public safety fundraiser. The raffle winner will get the chance to Taser or spare City Administrator Jake Anderson or Councilman Bob Lacy at the Van Meter Fire Association Street Dance July 18.”
GOP Won’t End Filibuster to Scrap Obamacare
“Senate Republicans appear to be closing the door on gutting the filibuster, brushing aside calls from presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush and Scott Walker to consider lowering the 60-vote threshold for repealing Obamacare,” The Hill reports.
“Sources close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) say there’s virtually no chance he will go along with abolishing the filibuster, something he has strongly criticized in the past.”
Wonk Wire: Republicans need to accept Obamacare is here to stay.
Mexico Will Boycott ‘Miss Universe’ Pageant
Mexico will not send a contestant to this year’s Miss Universe pageant after part-owner Donald Trump made comments insulting Mexicans, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Reuters also notes that a television company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has canceled a project with Trump after his comments.
Ted Cruz Auditions for ‘The Simpsons’
BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith told TPM that Sen. Ted Cruz is a natural on social media: “He’s good at the Internet and approaches going viral like it’s his job. He did these impressions like it was his job. He very briefly prepped with his staff and then just killed it.”
Christie Lies
Tom Moran: “Most Americans don’t know Chris Christie like I do, so it’s only natural to wonder what testimony I might offer after covering his every move for the last 14 years.”
“My testimony amounts to a warning: Don’t believe a word the man says. If you have the stomach for it, this column offers some greatest hits in Christie’s catalog of lies. Don’t misunderstand me. They all lie, and I get that. But Christie does it with such audacity, and such frequency, that he stands out.”
“When Christie picks up the microphone, he speaks so clearly and forcefully that you assume genuine conviction is behind it. Be careful, though. It’s a kind of spell. He is a remarkable talent with a silver tongue. But if you look closely, you can see that it is forked like a serpent’s.”
Ten Commandments Must Be Removed In Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Supreme Court said the Ten Commandments Monument at the state Capitol must be removed, Tulsa World reports.
“The plaintiffs said its placement at the Capitol constituted the use of public property for the benefit of a system of religion, which is banned by the Oklahoma Constitution.”
Majority Back Two Big Supreme Court Decisions
A new CNN/ORC poll finds that 63% support the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding government assistance for lower-income Americans buying health insurance through both state-operated and federally-run health insurance exchanges.
Slightly fewer, 59%, say they back the ruling which made same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states.
Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Union Fees
The Supreme Court “agreed to hear a challenge to the way public-sector unions finance their operations. Union officials said a ruling against them would deal a blow to organized labor,” the New York Times reports.
“Limiting the power of public unions has been a long sought goal of conservative groups, and they welcomed Tuesday’s development.”
Quote of the Day
“Whoo-oo-oa, whoooa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Would I write a check for $10 million? No, no I wouldn’t.”
— Billionaire GOP donor Ken Langone, quoted by National Journal, when asked if he’ll write a big check to Chris Christie’s super PAC.
The Latest on Wonk Wire
Here’s what’s trending on Wonk Wire today:
- Republicans Need to Accept That Obamacare is Here to Stay
- What Would the Nation Without Gerrymandering Look Like?
- Which Professions Are the Whitest?
- Does the SCOTUS Redistricting Verdict Really Help Democrats?
- Republicans’ Refocus Their Strategy for Killing Obamacare
- Marriage Won’t Turn Gay Population Into Republicans
Christie Finds Two Paths to White House Blocked
Gov. Chris Christie, “whose meteoric rise as a national Republican in his first term was matched only by his spectacular loss of stature at home in his second, is set to enter the 2016 presidential race on Tuesday morning bearing little resemblance to the candidate he once expected to be,” the New York Times reports.
First Read: “There are two paths to winning a party’s presidential nomination. One, you sell yourself as the right candidate to win over the base on the issues — i.e., the ideological warrior. But that was never going to be Christie’s route. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Christie had a problem with GOP primary voters BEFORE Bridge-gate. Two, you sell yourself as the person who is the most electable, the candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton — i.e., the winner. But that route for Christie looks much less promising for him than it did two years ago.”
Christie Moves to Loosen Gun Laws
“At 9:30 p.m. on the eve of his Republican presidential campaign kickoff, Gov. Chris Christie announced a change to state firearm policy on an issue that has been riling gun rights activists,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.
“The governor also signaled support for loosening New Jersey’s strict gun control laws.”
KKK Plans Rally at South Carolina Capitol
“The Ku Klux Klan will hold a rally at the S.C. State House next month to protest efforts to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds,” the Columbia State reports.
The GOP Needs to Change
Charlie Cook: “The momentous events of the last week can be interpreted in numerous ways. But one thing has become increasingly clear: The Republican Party needs to change.”
“Simply put, Republicans are loaded up in a car, racing toward a generational cliff with their eyes focused on the rearview mirror, with many (but notably not all) oblivious to the societal changes taking place all around them and the growing wedge building between their comfort zone and presidential swing voters… Republicans need to do some soul-searching about their future and their relationships with voters of generations to come. Vibrant parties change with the times, adapt themselves to changing conditions and circumstances. Maybe this past week will help the GOP do this.”
Bush Will Release 33 Years of Tax Returns
Jeb Bush “is planning to release 33 years of tax returns Tuesday – the most ever by U.S. presidential candidate,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The decision to release more than three decades of financial information comes as Mr. Bush aims to demonstrate he is more transparent and accessible than his opponents, particularly Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. She has filed the financial disclosure form required for presidential candidates but has not made her tax returns public.”
Cruz Says States Should Ignore Gay Marriage Ruling
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told NPR that states should ignore the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling.
Said Cruz: “Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it… The parties to a case cannot ignore a direct judicial order, but it does not mean that those who are not parties to a case are bound by a judicial order.”
Many Presidential Hopes Ride on New Hampshire
“As soon as he makes his presidential announcement tomorrow, Chris Christie will race to New Hampshire for a town hall. The embattled New Jersey governor has little choice: he has to go all-in on the Granite State,” Politico reports.
“Trouble is, he’s not alone. Jeb Bush and Rand Paul are also heavily invested in New Hampshire. So are a handful of GOP long-shots ranging from George Pataki to John Kasich, all of whom will be focusing their campaigns almost entirely on the first-in-the-nation primary state. Never before have so many White House hopefuls bet so much on a single primary.”
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