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Bush Holds $100K Per Ticket Fundraiser

February 11, 2015 at 7:37 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“Jeb Bush will raise money on Wall Street on Wednesday at an eye-popping $100,000 per-ticket Park Avenue event hosted by private equity mogul Henry Kravis and his wife,” Politico reports.

“The price of admission to the event, which will raise funds for Bush’s Right to Rise super PAC, surprised even Wall Street veterans used to high-dollar fundraisers. The event comes as Bush continues a shock and awe approach to early 2016 fundraising that people close to the campaign say could eventually see the former governor reach a total of between $50 million and $100 million between the super PAC, a traditional political action committee and an eventual presidential campaign.”

Quote of the Day

February 11, 2015 at 7:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

“You go to war with the president you’ve got, which would give us all pause.”

— Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), quoted by the New York Times, on President Obama seeking war powers to fight the Islamic State.

Kitzhaber Tried To Shut Down Corruption Inquiry

February 11, 2015 at 7:15 am EST By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) “declared at a press conference Jan. 30 that he and fiancée Cylvia Hayes would fully cooperate with a review of corruption allegations by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission,” the Oregonian reports.

“He didn’t mention that, behind the scenes, their attorneys had been fighting for weeks to spare Hayes from any ethics inquiry.”

Is Aaron Schock In Trouble?

February 11, 2015 at 7:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

National Journal: “What began as an inquiry into Rep. Aaron Schock’s (R-IL) opulent scarlet-painted office has quickly spun into a weeklong media probe of the congressman’s lavish travel accommodations and real-estate dealings. Now, the looming question is: How serious are the allegations against Schock and what could they mean for the man who had been a rising star for the Republican Party?”

Brian Williams Suspended Without Pay

February 11, 2015 at 7:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

“Brian Williams, the embattled NBC news anchor whose credibility plummeted after he acknowledged exaggerating his role in a helicopter episode in Iraq, has been suspended for six months without pay,” the New York Times reports.

“The suspension culminated a rapid and startling fall for Mr. Williams.”

Dylan Byers: “There are two scenarios in which Williams returns: One, he pulls off a stunning apology tour and wins back the favors of the nation. Two, ‘Nightly’ tanks so bad under its new host(s) that NBC is forced to bring Williams back in a last-ditch effort. I wouldn’t place my money on a Williams’ return, but you can never underestimate the power of the redemption narrative, especially in this country.”

Bush’s Digital Chief Lasts Just One Day

February 11, 2015 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

“Jeb Bush accepted the resignation late Tuesday of the digital guru he had recruited for his likely 2016 presidential campaign after racially insensitive comments the aide previously made surfaced and threatened to undermine Bush’s bid for the White House,” the Washington Post reports.

Jeb Bush Leans Towards Father on Foreign Policy

February 11, 2015 at 6:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

“Jeb Bush faces a unique dilemma as he builds a Republican presidential campaign—whether to follow in the foreign-policy footsteps of his father or his brother,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“One early indication suggests he is leaning toward his father’s more pragmatic and restrained philosophy. The former Florida governor is considering naming Meghan O’Sullivan as his top foreign-policy aide; several people familiar with the deliberations describe her as the front-runner for the post.”

Jon Stewart Stepping Down from The Daily Show

February 10, 2015 at 7:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 78 Comments

“Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show,” Entertainment Weekly reports.

“Ending months of speculation about his future with the Comedy Central series, Stewart informed his studio audience during Tuesday night’s taping that he is stepping down as host of the show after 16 years.”

Politico: “Stewart, who became the host of ‘The Daily Show’ in 1999, has had an immeasurable influence on American politics and satire.”

Brownback Rescinds Protections for LGBT State Employees

February 10, 2015 at 7:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) “rescinded an executive order that had been in place since 2007 giving state employees protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or sexual identity — a move described as outrageous and deplorable by civil rights activists,” the Lawrence Journal-World reports.

Oklahoma Mulls Bringing Back Gas Chamber

February 10, 2015 at 7:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

“With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the first state in the nation to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death row inmates,” the AP reports.

Clinton Fundraising Off to Slow Start

February 10, 2015 at 6:09 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“The main super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton is struggling in its early efforts to line up cash towards a fundraising goal of as much as $500 million,” Politico reports.

“The group, Priorities USA Action, is trying to secure 30 or more pledges of at least $1 million apiece to be unveiled publicly when the former Secretary of State officially enters the race, sources say. But so far it has received only about ten firm commitments, and it is encountering resistance from top donors who have given to other Clinton-linked vehicles, including ostensibly aligned super PACs and even the apolitical Clinton Foundation.”

BuzzFeed: How a Clinton insider fight turned public

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 10, 2015 at 11:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

“I’ll always tell Wisconsinites the truth, to the best of my ability, and I’ll never vote my reelection mind. I’m not afraid to justify my votes. I generally have a pretty good rationale for voting the way I do.”

— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), quoted by The Hill.

Koch Network Has Already Raised $249 Million

February 10, 2015 at 10:23 am EST By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

Mother Jones: “At their most recent retreat in southern California two weeks ago, the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch and 450 of their donor-allies announced plans to spend $889 million over the next two years to influence state and federal elections and shape the national discourse. The money would go to bankrolling political activity, funding think tanks and academic research, and fueling grassroots organizing efforts around the country—all in support of the Kochs’ pro-business, free-market-centric ideology. That eye-popping, nine-figure goal made national headlines, but what wasn’t reported was that the Kochs and their allies were already well on their way to banking that huge amount of money.”

“Donors at the Palm Springs confab pledged $249 million toward funding the Koch brothers’ grand plan, according to two sources with knowledge of the fundraising haul.”

Bush Releases Emails from Time as Governor

February 10, 2015 at 9:52 am EST By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

Jeb Bush unveiled a website containing 250,000 emails from his time as Florida governor, as well as the first chapter of his new e-book, which chronicles his emails with Floridians, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Writes Bush: “My staff estimated I spent 30 hours a week answering emails, either from my laptop or BlackBerry, often while on the road. The idea of this book, through the use of these emails, is to tell the story of a life of a governor. No day is like the one before it… The unexpected became the expected.”

First Read: “The conspicuous push for transparency is intended as a clear contrast to some of the questions that dogged both Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton in their own past runs, but Democrats are quick to point out that there’s a lot more where those emails came from; Bush has said that he received 550,000 emails on his private account and another 2.5 million on his public one.”

Corker Rules Out White House Bid

February 10, 2015 at 9:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard 27 Comments

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) told Nashville Public Radio that he won’t run for president in 2016.

Said Corker: “I have no plans to pursue that. I’m very challenged with my current role as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. It’s involved me in things beyond what I ever anticipated… I haven’t thought of it by the way, in months and months and months, as I saw the field shaping up in a good way.”

Lawmaker Took Illegal Foreign Campaign Cash

February 10, 2015 at 9:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

A Federal Election Commission audit has found that former Rep. Quico Canseco (R-TX) “accepted $100,000 for his 2010 House bid from a family-owned business in Mexico, violating bans on foreign contributions,” the Houston Chronicle reports.

Money Flows Into Iowa and New Hampshire

February 10, 2015 at 8:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

“Republican presidential hopefuls are sending an outsize portion of their campaign funds to lawmakers in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as they attempt to win over influential figures ahead of the 2016 campaign, a new report finds,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

“It is not uncommon for politicians to use their PACs to give money to other candidates — leadership PACs, which most potential 2016 candidates have already launched, are structured primarily for that purpose. But giving such a high percentage of contributions to lawmakers in two small states offers a stark portrayal of the lengths to which contenders will go to curry favor with those voters.”

It Looks Like Rubio Is Running for President

February 10, 2015 at 8:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard 28 Comments

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “seems well past posturing about a presidential run,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Said Rubio: “I think you do a lot in the Senate to further national security issues and foreign policy. But I really think that when it comes to foreign policy and the national security of this country, the election we’re going to have in November of 2016 will be the most important election we’ve had in probably half a century, if not longer. And it’s very difficult to set the tone simply from the Senate. You can be one of many voices, and influential voices in the Senate. But ultimately, only the presidency can set the true tenor and direction of our foreign policy and national security.”

First Read: “Bottom line: Republicans better start looking for options to run for Rubio’s Senate seat in ’16.”