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Christie Won’t Disclose Credit Card Bills

January 20, 2015 at 5:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 58 Comments

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) staff “has refused to release almost $800,000 in American Express card bills being sought by New Jersey Watchdog which has written that the governor’s travel is costing taxpayers a lot of money,” the Asbury Park Press reports.

“Last week, the investigative web site reported Christie’s State Police bodyguard costs have grown by 1,800 percent since Christie became governor. State records showed those costs were $959,856 — not including unreleased expenses — for the last quarter of last year.”

Late Congressman Kept Cash In Case of Terrorist Attack

January 20, 2015 at 4:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

The late Rep. C.W. Young (R-FL) kept $10,000 in his desk “because he believed the terrorists were going to attack the grid … and no one would be able to get to the banks,” his widow told Roll Call.

“Per a hand-written note her husband left for her, the money (theoretically seeded with $100 notes and $2 bills), was tucked into an envelope marked ‘Closing – Morning Dew’ — a cryptic reference to the home they sold in Arlington, Va., that the congressman apparently hoped would camouflage the loot from prying eyes.

Bush Courts Christie Donors

January 20, 2015 at 11:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

At a time when Gov. Chris Christie (R) “continued to signal strong interest in a potential 2016 presidential campaign, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was courting a group of top-tier New Jersey Republican donors, activists and officials right in Christie’s own back yard,” the Bergen County Record reports.

“Bush met with about 15 New Jersey Republicans — some of whom backed Christie’s two campaigns for governor — in a private, sit-down dinner at the Union League Club in midtown Manhattan on Jan. 8, according to three people who attended the dinner.”

Toomey Holds Narrow Lead in Pennsylvania

January 20, 2015 at 11:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Pennsylvania finds the U.S. Senate race is picking up pretty much where the 2010 Senate race left off with Sen. Pat Toomey (R) holding a narrow edge over challenger Joe Sestak (D), 40% to 36%.

Steyer Mulls One Term Pledge

January 20, 2015 at 11:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard 18 Comments

“Tom Steyer, the billionaire climate change activist weighing a run for U.S. Senate, is telling potential supporters he would commit to serving only one term if he can’t reach goals dealing with the environment, economy and education within six years,” the Sacramento Bee reports.

We Already Know What Obama Will Say Tonight

January 20, 2015 at 9:21 am EST By Taegan Goddard 10 Comments

Rick Klein: “The ‘spoilers’ strategy may sap what’s left of the drama of anticipation around Tuesday night’s State of the Union. But that drama has been dissipating naturally anyway – and that’s why the White House has to be pleased with the way it’s gotten items off the laundry list and into display cases. The community-college proposal, the president’s tax plan, the new paid-leave policy – these are all in the political bloodstream now. If we first learned of them Tuesday night, maybe one or two plans total would be expected to get traction. Maybe none of these things end up happening.”

“But the White House has found new ways to cut through the clutter and get presidential ideas front of mind, despite full Republican control of Congress. So yes, the trailers have given away some of the best stuff in this movie. But a State of the Union in the seventh year of a presidency is rarely going to be a blockbuster anyway. If the takeaway is just that the president has a solid script, that might be enough to be counted as a success.”

Democrats Stole the GOP Honeymoon

January 20, 2015 at 9:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

First Read: “Strikingly, however, Congress and Republicans haven’t seen their numbers go up. Just 16% approve of Congress’ job (unchanged since December), and only 23% approve of the job congressional Republicans are doing. Maybe more significantly, only 35% believe divided government — with Democrats controlling the White House and Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress — works well for the country. That’s a reverse from previous NBC/WSJ polls (in 1996, 1997 and 1999), which found majorities in praise of divided government.”

“And then there are the parties’ fav/unfav numbers. The public gives the GOP a 25%-46% rating, down from 30%-45% a month ago. By comparison, Democrats are at 35%-38%, when they were at 37%-39% in December. Bottom line: You can hardly tell from our NBC/WSJ poll that the Republican Party was the big winner from the midterm elections just two months ago. Somehow, Obama and the Democrats stole the Republicans’ post-election honeymoon. Or the Republicans somehow lost it.”

Ex-Wife Denies Lawmaker Abuse as He Mulls Senate Bid

January 20, 2015 at 8:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) and his ex-wife Ann asked the Chicago Sun Times if they could sit down and talk about their 1996 divorce.

Foster has begun weighing a run for Sen Mark Kirk’s (R-IL) seat in 2016 and he wants to pre-empt questions about his ex-wife’s divorce filing in which she requested he move out of the marital residence because “the Defendant has pushed, shoved, and caused physical abuse and emotional harm of the Plaintiff, thereby putting her in fear for not only herself but also for the parties (sic) minor children.”

Ann Foster “said she did not read it before signing and told the judge the allegation was absolutely not true, that there was never abuse of any kind.”

Santorum Hopes to Avoid Saying ‘Crazy Stuff’

January 20, 2015 at 8:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard 42 Comments

Rick Santorum told NBC News that he regretted that his 2012 presidential campaign in 2012 was largely defined by his anti-abortion stances and statements regarding contraception and other “crazy stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with anything.”

He blamed himself for opening his mouth and saying “dumb things.”

Bush Had Deep Ties to Troubled Firm

January 20, 2015 at 7:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard 20 Comments

“Previously unreported court documents suggest that” Jeb Bush was more involved with a Florida company “that marketed prefabricated housing materials for use in disaster zones and other places in need … than has been publicly known — and that he deepened his role even as others… grew concerned about its financial practices,” the Washington Post reports.

Jindal Insists Muslim ‘No Go Zones’ Exist in Europe

January 20, 2015 at 7:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard 80 Comments

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) continued to claim Muslim “no-go zones” exist in Europe, even as British political leaders and American media outlets issued statements reputing such statements, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.

In a London speech during his 10 day trade mission, Jindal “claimed there were Muslim communities in Europe that are not subjected to normal legal controls and allowed to enforce a version of Islamic religious law instead. Jindal labeled these Muslim communities — where Islamic law is supposedly enforced instead of the parent countries’ regulations — as ‘no-go zones.’

The Burning Question

January 20, 2015 at 7:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

Gerald Seib: “The next cycle in politics belongs to the party that can devise, articulate and implement a solution to today’s fundamental economic mystery, which is why the economy is growing but leaving wages stagnant, the middle class stuck and inequality on the rise. If we’re thinking either about the state of the union, or the state of the party, that’s the burning question.”

Clinton Building Data-Driven Campaign

January 20, 2015 at 7:22 am EST By Taegan Goddard 10 Comments

Hillary Clinton “is assembling a heavily research-driven campaign designed to prevent a repeat of her poor performance in 2008,” the Washington Post reports.

“Clinton still faces many of the same challenges she had seven years ago, when she went from being a juggernaut and most likely the first female president in American history to a perceived stumblebum out of touch with the political moment… But backers say this time Clinton is developing a smarter, more relevant campaign message… The former secretary of state is also trying to play down any sense of inevitability and aims to adopt many of the same data-focused strategies that Barack Obama used to snatch the race from her in 2008.”

Quote of the Day

January 20, 2015 at 7:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

“Would it kill Republicans to crack a joke? I actually think for some Republicans it might. You know, lighten up a little. … So many Republicans run a Soviet-style campaign.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by Politico.

Republicans Prefer Romney Over Bush

January 20, 2015 at 7:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard 10 Comments

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds Mitt Romney begins the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign with significant advantages over Jeb Bush, his chief rival for GOP establishment support.

“More than half (52%) of all Republicans still maintain a positive view of the party’s 2012 nominee, compared to just 37% who said the same about Mr. Bush, the former Florida governor. Mr. Romney does more than 20 percentage points better among self-identified tea party supporters and core Republican voters than does Mr. Bush, who last ran for office in 2002.”

Obama Uses State of the Union to Influence 2016 Debate

January 20, 2015 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments

“Key elements of the economic proposals President Obama will outline in his State of the Union address Tuesday appear to be aimed at driving the debate in the 2016 election on income inequality and middle-class economic issues, rather than setting a realistic agenda for Congress,” the AP reports.

The Hill: “The GOP hoped Obama would be humbled by the midterm elections that saw Democrats swept from power in the Senate. Instead, when Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress completely controlled by the GOP on Tuesday, Republicans will see a confident Obama who is bullish about his own approval ratings and no longer worried about anyone else’s reelection.”

White House Seeks Broader Audience Through Social Media

January 20, 2015 at 6:22 am EST By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments

“The Obama administration has revamped its digital communications strategy in an attempt to reach new audiences for the State of the Union speech — a classic old-media event — and sidestep the skeptical filter often applied by White House reporters,” the New York Times reports.

The Most Sarcastic Justice

January 19, 2015 at 5:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

Rick Hasen: “Justice Scalia is the most sarcastic Justice on the Supreme Court. He has been for at least the last thirty years, and there is good reason to believe no other Justice in history has come close to his level of sarcasm. Now your first reaction to this claim, if you are a (sarcastic) Supreme Court aficionado, is probably: ‘Well, duh!’ And your second reaction is likely: ‘Oh really? Well how can you prove that?'”