Posts by AB

Thom Tillis to Campaign with Fellow Education Raider, Chris Christie

The Thom Tillis campaign is in freefall. For months and months, conventional wisdom had pegged North Carolina as one of Republicans' best pickup opportunities in the Senate. But disarray in Raleigh under the House Speaker's leadership, a disastrous budget overhaul that gutted education spending to give massive cuts to the wealthy, and a sustained disrespect toward women have left Tillis in a decisive hole. Four separate polls came out this week showing Hagan up by an average of over 5 points, leading even a GOP pollster to say, "the race has unmistakably shifted towards Sen. Hagan in recent days." So Tillis is calling in some help to stop the bleeding, in the form of one-time GOP presidential frontrunner Chris Christie. Well the two should have plenty to talk about. They can talk about budget problems. They can talk about ethics questions. But most importantly, they can talk about how each of them took an axe to funding for education, hurting schools and angering constituents. Thom Tillis has a lot to learn about putting his constituents first. Chris Christie is the least qualified person to teach him.

New Video Shows Sen. Pat Roberts Taking Credit for Farm Bill He Voted Against

New tracking footage from American Bridge shows Pat Roberts discussing the importance of the Farm Bill with members of the produce industry at a United Fresh Conference last week. Roberts states plainly that "we passed the Farm Bill," before getting into details about the specifics of implementation. Only there's  one problem: "we" didn't pass the farm bill, per se. Pat Roberts in fact was one of only 32 senators who voted against the Farm Bill, which luckily for Kansas, passed easily without his help.

Headline Speaks for Itself: "Rand Paul Vows to Repeal Every Prior Executive Order If Elected President"

Here's what Rand Paul said to a crowd of Tea Party supporters in New Hampshire last night:

"I think the first executive order that I would issue would be to repeal all previous executive orders,” Paul replied to resounding cheers through the Manchester pub, named for the beer bearing the namesakes of American revolutionary Sam Adams."

Don't take our word for it, Paul's comment was reported by Breitbart.com - not exactly a left-leaning news source. Said Paul in the Breitbart article: “Signing statements, altering legislation by the president, are wrong and unconstitutional and shouldn’t happen. Executive orders shouldn’t either.” [Breitbart.com, 9/11/14] More than ten thousand executive orders have been issued over the course of the nation’s history to make progress on critical issues like civil rights, national security and more. Now that Paul has expressed his commitment to rescinding each and every one of these executive orders, we would like to hear more details from him on why he would like to reverse these landmark efforts, including:

• The Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln, 1863: The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
• Executive Order 9981, President Harry Truman, 1948: Ended racial discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces.
• Executive Order 10834, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1959: Established specifications for the design of the current United States flag.
• Executive Order 10925, President John F. Kennedy, 1961: Ensured equal employment opportunities in the federal government, barring discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
• Executive Order 11063, President John F. Kennedy, 1962: Mandated an end to housing discrimination based on race.
• Executive Order 11905, President Gerald Ford, 1976: Banned political assassinations.
• Executive Order 11245, President Barack Obama, 2014: Prohibited workplace discrimination based on gender identity, in addition to sexual orientation in the federal government and within companies that contract with the federal government.

Lest you think this was merely a misspeak, we're here to remind you that just last month, in an interview with a local Kentucky NPR station, Senator Paul vowed that he would use executive orders "only to undo executive orders. There's thousands of them that can be undone."

The Cold Hard Truth About Doug Ducey's Cold Stone Legacy

The Wall Street Journal reported this week on the "10 worst franchise brands in terms of Small Business Administration loan defaults." Despite touting its rampant success as a reason he would make a good governor, Republican Doug Ducey's Cold Stone Creamery was found near the top of that list, with its franchisees "defaulting at more than double the rate for SBA borrowers who invested in" other chains, per the Journal's analysis. Like an ice cream cone in the summer heat, Cold Stone's business plan, for which Ducey has claimed credit, created a sticky mess for many franchise owners. Numerous franchisees have been quoted saying Cold Stone's business model was "defective" and pushed the cost of running a store so high that it was difficult for individuals owners to make a profit. Franchisees have called Ducey's business practices "deceptive," and said the company's business model pushed personal bankruptcies, cost savings, and homes. What does Doug Ducey have to say to Ken Gornall, who was left to fend for himself using his personal savings when his Cold Stone business was struggling - and eventually had to file for bankruptcy and lost his house? When asked by the press, Cold Stone declined to comment.

New Online Ad: Bruce Rauner: Adamantly Against What's Right for Illinois

Today, American Bridge is releasing a new online ad highlighting billionaire Bruce Rauner's attacks on minimum wage workers in Illinois.…

New Web Ad: Scott Walker's Ditch

American Bridge is releasing a new web ad today highlighting Scott Walker's failed economic record. The governor was once considered…

New Web Ad: Ducey Misleads On His Record At Coldstone

Former Cold Stone Creamery CEO Doug Ducey has repeatedly bragged about building his ice cream empire without any help from the…

Thom Tillis tries to mansplain away his contraceptives contradiction

In last week's North Carolina Senate debate, Speaker Thom Tillis declared his support for over the counter access to birth control, a statement that flies in the face of not only his earlier comments on contraceptives in particular, but his broader record on reproductive rights. Tillis' proclamation in last week's debate, no doubt a deliberate attempt to whitewash his position on these issues in the face of a significant gender gap in the race, rightfully earned the scorn of his hometown paper, the Charlotte Observer. The paper's Sunday editorial referred to Tillis' contraceptives comments as having the "pungent odor of politicking," considering his previous support for defunding Planned Parenthood and dangerous personhood amendments that could severely limit access to or even criminalize women's health services. The Observer notes that his support for over the counter birth control is "quite the turnaround," given that earlier this year, during his bid to secure the GOP nomination for Senate, Tillis agreed with his fellow GOP candidates that states should be able to ban contraceptives, according to a report from the Raleigh News & Observer.

Two More Months To Enjoy Scott Brown’s Hilarious Campaign

Republicans have their candidate in the New Hampshire senate race. But he'll be the first to tell you, he's not from New Hampshire.

Beyond that obvious shortcoming, Scott Brown comes with plenty of non-carpet baggage as well. As he enters a new stage in his disastrous attempt to become a New Hampshirite and then become a New Hampshire senator, here are the top 10 lowlights from his haphazard campaign thus far:

1. He said, "I'm not going to create one job" as Senator of New Hampshire -- although he seemed more interested in job creation in Massachusetts. [VIDEO]
2. In an attempt to close a massive deficit among female voters, Brown awkwardly dished out "hero awards" to female supporters, at least one of whom was confused, embarrassed, and not even sure who she would vote for.
3. He woke up to this lovely headline about sitting on the board at Kadant: "Brown’s $270K income from Mass. company exporting jobs overseas belies campaign promises"
4. In his attempt to pander to the right during primary season, Brown made a fool of himself by denying that man-made climate change was scientifically proven -- in direct contradiction with his position from 2012.
5. He got clobbered for helping to tank Jeanne Shaheen's bipartisan energy bill -- which was supported by Kelly Ayotte -- just to try to strip her of an accomplishment to run on.
6. He abruptly resigned from an advisory role at obscure Florida-based company froom which he had received $1.3 million in stock after questions began to swirl over the business's practices and his involvement.

Everything you need to know about today's oral arguments in Walker's John Doe Lawsuit

Today, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals will release oral arguments in a lawsuit stemming from a John Doe investigation into Walker’s 2012 recall campaign. The probe began in February 2012, when evidence surfaced of illegal campaign coordination between Walker’s recall campaign and outside groups. Like before, Walker will dismiss the evidence against him as partisan. But the facts don’t lie. The investigation into Walker was launched by a bipartisan group of prosecutors, and the lead prosecutor is a self described supported of the governor. In addition, the probe was approved by Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board – the majority of which had been appointed or re-appointed by Walker himself. Already this case has raised the specter of pay to play politics, with documents showing enormous secret  donations from mining interests for whom Walker signed favorable legislation. What else will come to light in this case? American Bridge will be watching.