Dallas Morning News: Pawlenty endorses Romney, raising some eyebrows
"Tim Pawlenty , the first casualty of Rick Perry's entry in the GOP presidential race, today threw his support to Perry's main rival, Mitt Romney, despite longstanding qualms about Romney's record on health care. [...] Democrats are having all sorts of fun with the conversion. The Democratic National Committee and American Bridge, a liberal political action committee, dusted off a series of damning comments Pawlenty aimed at Romney --- golden oldies date waaaaay back to... a month ago. "Obamacare was patterned after Mitt's plan in Massachusetts. And for Mitt or anyone else to say there aren't substantial similarities or they are not essentially the same plan -- it just isn't credible. So that's why I called it Obamneycare, and I think that's a fair label," Pawlenty said in Ames, Iowa, at an Aug. 11 debate. Two months before that, on Sean Hannity's show, Pawlenty asserted that Romney was directly responsible for the "development and construction of Obamacare." Romney, he said, "was involved in developing it, he really laid the groundwork...I don't think you can prosecute the political case against President Obama if you are a co-conspirator in one of the main charges against the president, on the political level."
Columbia Daily Tribune: Rep. Todd Akin Questions Constitutionality of Medicare
On September 4, 2011, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported:
In a meeting yesterday with Central Missouri tea party activists, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin said he has doubts about the constitutionality of Medicare and thinks global warming “is highly suspect.” Akin, a six-term congressman seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, spent much of the 75 minutes attacking the expansive nature of the federal government, calling his opposition to federal health care changes a struggle against tyranny. The meeting was attended by about two dozen tea party activists. [...] Akin’s remarks questioning the constitutionality of Medicare came as he was explaining his vote against prescription coverage under the medical plan for seniors and people with disabilities. He said it was too expensive, and “it was expanding an entitlement I wasn’t too comfortable with to begin with.” Asked about the remarks after the meeting, Akin said, “I don’t find in the Constitution that it is the job of the government to provide health care.”Click here to read the entire article.
POLITICO: Rick Perry's book a treasure trove for foes
"Ty Matsdorf, communications director for the Democratic research group American Bridge, said the book shows Perry “laying out what any sane or rational candidate wouldn’t even dream of saying.” “This is what he put down and there’s no backing away from it,” Matsdorf said. “I don’t think a national candidate would, in their worst nightmare, ever think about having this stuff out there.”"
Think Progress: Olympia Snowe Urges Constituents To Thank Court For Ruling Against The Individual Mandate She Voted For
On August 22, 2011, Think Progress wrote: Politico’s Pulse reports that Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) “is inviting people to…
MEMO: Rick Perry: The Great Campaigner?
Last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry burst onto the GOP Presidential scene, managing to step all over the Ames straw poll by making his official announcement the same day.
By waiting until after the straw poll to enter the race, Perry avoided answering the tough questions that voters care about. Rather than use his first week in the race to show Americans where he stands on today's most pressing issues, he upstaged himself with a series of gaffes and extreme statements, revealing that he's just not ready for prime time.
Rick Perry: Tea Party Frenemy
Rick Perry was quick to recognize and capitalize on the tea party’s rise in 2009, casting himself as a strong advocate for “state-based” solutions and railing against perceived encroachments from Washington. But activists have been less than impressed with Perry’s deviation from the movement’s hardline stances on immigration, property rights, government mandates and spending itself. See the research after the jump.
MEMO: Questions For The Republican Debate
During tonight’s debate the American people will see the Republican candidates firsthand and will get a glimpse at the positions and ideology driving the field. Over the last few months, as they have scrambled further and further to the right, American Bridge’s research and tracking has documented the candidates adopting positions that are: hypocritical (Romney and taxes), evasive (Huntsman and Libya) and just downright out of the mainstream (Bachmann and contraceptives). Yet tonight, as the candidates face a national audience, and not solely a fawning crowd of TEA party activists, the nation will see if they will maintain their extreme positions as the candidates attempt to answer the following questions...
VIDEO: Bachmann Says Health Insurers Shouldn't Be Required To Pay For Birth Control
Transcript after the jump.
Roll Call: Heather Wilson Running to the Right in N.M.
On July 5, 2011, Roll Call reported:
Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) sounds like a tea partyer. The former Congresswoman, who ran on her national security expertise and independent voting record to win five full terms representing Albuquerque, is now boasting that she has signed a conservative “cut, cap and balance” pledge, says she wouldn’t increase the debt ceiling unless a deal includes significant budget cuts and calls the new health care law unconstitutional.
The Hill: FDA slams Republican 'hard science' amendment
On June 6, 2011, The Hill's Healthwatch reported:
A Republican amendment adopted last week by House appropriators could weaken efforts to protect the public from unsafe drugs, tobacco, lead-filled candy and even tainted blood, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday in several documents. The amendment, from Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), would restrict the kind of information regulators use when making their decisions. The amendment cleared the Appropriations Committee last week.