Archives for June 18, 2015 at 8:31 pm EDT

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Senate Approves Defense Bill Then Blocks It

June 18, 2015 at 8:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

The Senate “passed a $600 billion defense policy bill that would rein in pension costs, ban the use of torture and authorize lethal offensive weapons for Ukraine. But it then immediately rejected a measure to pay for it, the first battle in a spending fight that could end in a government shutdown this fall,” the New York Times reports.

“The blocking of the military appropriations bill was the first in a series of rejections Democrats have promised as they try to force Republicans into reopening budget talks.”

Politico: “The 50-45 vote on Thursday afternoon is part of a larger tactical blueprint from Democratic leaders: Reject every spending bill until the GOP agrees to start negotiating a broad bipartisan budget deal — and weather GOP accusations that Democrats are turning their back on military service members and national defense.”

Walker Won’t Talk About Discussions with Foreign Leaders

June 18, 2015 at 4:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 45 Comments

Gov. Scott Walker (R) said that he “will stop talking about private meetings with world leaders after British Prime Minister David Cameron disputed that he had disparaged President Barack Obama’s leadership in private comments to the Wisconsin governor,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Said Walker: “I’m just not going to comment on individual meetings I had with leaders like that, be it there or anywhere else.”

Obama Surrenders on Gun Control

June 18, 2015 at 3:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 114 Comments

There were two emotions evident in President Obama’s statement about the murders of nine people at a church in South Carolina last night, Chris Cillizza writes.

“The first was anger — at the fact that he was, once again, addressing the country in the wake of a mass shooting. The second was more along the lines of resignation — a head-shaking weariness about the almost-certain fact that this latest shooting would do little to move the needle on gun control legislation.”

Court Says States Can Reject Confederate License Plates

June 18, 2015 at 3:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

The Supreme Court ruled that Texas “did not violate the First Amendment when it refused to allow specialty license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag. Such plates, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the majority, are the government’s speech and are thus immune from First Amendment attacks,” the New York Times reports.

“The vote was 5 to 4. The court’s other three liberal members joined Justice Breyer’s majority opinion, as did Justice Clarence Thomas.”

Poll Finds Close Senate Race in Pennsylvania

June 18, 2015 at 1:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

A new Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) leads challenger Joe Sestak (D) by just four points, 35% to 31% — within the poll’s margin of error — though 34% of voters remain undecided.

House Passes Fast-Track Trade Bill

June 18, 2015 at 1:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

“The House passed legislation to restore presidential power to ease trade pacts through Congress, as Republicans and pro-trade Democrats drove through a new fast-track bill a week after liberals brought down a similar measure in an uprising against their own president,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The 218-208 vote was the House’s second attempt to give President Barack Obama the power to submit trade deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments. But the course forward is uncertain. The fate of the fast-track legislation is intertwined with a related measure to help workers hurt by international trade. Many pro-trade Senate Democrats say they won’t vote for the fast-track bill without evidence the workers’ aid program will pass both chambers.

Walker Holds Clear Lead Among Conservatives

June 18, 2015 at 1:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “is the clear favorite of conservative voters as he readies an expected bid for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2016,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “can each claim about a quarter of the most conservative party members, the poll shows. While ardent conservatives only account for 1 in 10 Republican voters, they are more likely to vote in primary contests and take an active role in politics. He also wins a large share of conservative-leaning voters who are less inclined to see every issue in terms of black and white.”

Quote of the Day

June 18, 2015 at 12:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 59 Comments

“The reason I think we need to seal our borders completely, all of our borders—north, south, east, west—is not so much because I’m afraid of somebody in Honduras … I’m afraid of someone from Syria that wants to bomb us and wants to do bad things.”

— Ben Carson (R), quoted by National Journal.

GOP Launches Campaign Against Non-Candidate

June 18, 2015 at 12:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) still hasn’t decided whether she’ll run for Senate, National Journal reports.

“But that hasn’t stopped New Hampshire Republicans from already spending over a million early dollars against” her. That’s because the “biggest boost Republicans could give” Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s (R) “reelection campaign at this point would be to either damage the popular Hassan ahead of her campaign or maybe even dissuade her from running at all.”

Ballot Measure Inc.

June 18, 2015 at 11:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

The Center for Public Integrity looks at the “powerful electoral-industrial complex” funded by moneyed interests that belies the quaint notion of “citizen democracy” that ballot measures are assumed to represent.

“Active in the 26 states that have citizen-initiated ballot measures, the network of pollsters, direct mail specialists, lawyers, consultants, signature gatherers and voting data whizzes were paid at least $400 million for 85 statewide measures across the country in 2014… In presidential election years, state and local measures are a billion-dollar industry.”

Lawmaker Calls on Police to Find ‘Jackass’ Shooter

June 18, 2015 at 9:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 36 Comments

South Carolina state Sen. Larry Grooms (R) called on police to catch the “jackass” who shot and killed his friend and colleague, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney (D), along with eight others during a Bible study last night in Charleston, TPM reports.

Said Grooms: “He was my colleague but he was also my brother in Christ, and the news of his death and the deaths of the others, made me physically ill.”

He added: “The first thing we do, we’ve got to find this jackass and bring him to justice. It’s evil. He is evil.”

Walker Takes More Steps Towards White House Bid

June 18, 2015 at 9:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

In his firmest step yet toward a White House bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has created a “testing the waters” committee that will allow him to raise money for an eventual campaign, Bloomberg reports.

“The new committee allows Walker to raise resources to be directly controlled by him and his prospective campaign. The new fund is on top of Our American Revival, a tax-exempt group he’s had since January, and a super political action committee, Unintimidated PAC, formed in April by former top aides.”

South Carolina Shootings Likely to Influence Primaries

June 18, 2015 at 9:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

First Read says the shootings last night in South Carolina “will influence — one way or another — next year’s primaries in the state.”

“Do note that this is the second high-profile race-related crime in South Carolina — after a policeman was caught on camera shooting a fleeing black man. So these shootings will forge a backdrop to both the Democratic and Republican primaries that will take in South Carolina early next year. The two events aren’t connected, but yet they are.”

Iowa and New Hampshire Fret About Power Loss

June 18, 2015 at 7:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 51 Comments

“For nearly a half century, Iowa and New Hampshire have played a pivotal role in American electoral politics. But their top place on the nominating calendar is under threat like never before,” the Boston Globe reports.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) “added their voices this week to dozens of political figures who have complained their states’ stature will be undercut by Fox News’ plans to limit the first presidential debate to the top 10 GOP candidates in national polls. The network’s truncated invitation list could do the job usually handled by Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary — winnowing a crowded field.”

“The signs abound that the selection process is changing as candidates shift their strategies to run a national primary campaign, instead of one that runs solely through early nominating states.”

Graham Explains Why He Never Married

June 18, 2015 at 7:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

“There are many subjects South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to talk about on the campaign trail, but it’s the fascination about his bachelor status that has surprised him most,” CNN reports.

“So Graham — best known as a flame-thrower on immigration reform and an outspoken critic of President Obama’s foreign policy — has opened up about his lost loves and a near proposal to a Lufthansa flight attendant in a 126-page e-book released on his website this week.”

What If Supreme Court Rules Against Obamacare?

June 18, 2015 at 7:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

Wonk Wire: Economists predict “shockwaves” if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare subsidies.

Bush Team Seeks to ‘Weaponize’ Fundraising Total

June 18, 2015 at 7:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

“The super PAC supporting Jeb Bush, now walled off from the candidate because of campaign finance rules, hopes to ‘weaponize‘ its fund-raising total for the first six months of the year,” the New York Times reports.

“The comment from Mike Murphy, a veteran adviser to Mr. Bush who is now running the political action committee that will back the campaign, came as the group is focused on raising as much money as possible in the final days of its first fund-raising period, contributing to what is expected to be a significant financial edge over the rest of the Republican field.”

GOP Candidates Urged to Reject Gay Marriage

June 18, 2015 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

CNN: “Candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination will be urged Thursday to sign a pledge promising to support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. The National Organization for Marriage’s request comes as the nation waits to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will rule this month to legalize same sex marriage across the country.”