Education Bullies Chris Christie And Doug Ducey Hit The Trail Together
Doug Ducey needs some support from his friends in his hotly contested Arizona gubernatorial race. So today Ducey is bringing in Chris Christie, a man who would certainly rather enjoy the sunny skies of Scottsville than address the fiscal fiasco he's built in New Jersey. Well Chris Christie and Doug Ducey have a good deal in common. Christie has presided over an impressive eight credit downgrades in New Jersey, while Doug Ducey's Cold Stone had one of the highest franchise default rates of any company in the country. Both support massive tax cuts for the wealthy, shifting the burden toward the middle class. But the biggest and most damning similarity between Ducey and Christie is their shared insistence on slashing education funding. Christie has cut $1 billion from education in New Jersey, and Arizona can expect much the same if Ducey gets his way. Ducey opposed a court order requiring Arizona to increase education funding. He promises huge tax cuts that would predominately help the richest Arizonans, but claims he will somehow implement them without touching the education budget -- a plan that's been written off as unrealistic. And that's just the tip of the ice cream cone.
Bruce Rauner: The Everyman with the Cayman Islands Account
In last month's edition of Bruce Rauner: The Everyman, we brought you to his $100,000 parking spot in Chicago. This month,…
Rick Scott's tax returns: unearthed and searchable
Yesterday, in an attempt to give off an air of transparency, Rick Scott released a few years of tax returns. Of course, he didn't want to make it too easy on anyone who might be interested in digging through them--they were not downloadable or searchable. Luckily, American Bridge is here to help Scott take his disclosure efforts a step further. Feel free to search through his records after the jump.
Ed Gillespie & Mitt Romney's 47% Problem
As Ed Gillespie prepares to campaign with Mitt Romney in New York City this evening, Virginia voters should take a look at Gillespie's record as a surrogate for Romney's losing presidential campaign in 2012. When Romney's infamous "47 percent" comments came to light, disparaging millions of Americans like seniors who rely on Social Security and veterans who receive benefits from their service to the country, Ed Gillespie came to Romney's defense. Gillespie backed up Romney's comments when asked about it during an appearance on the Today Show, saying: "that's political analysis, that's not a governing philosophy."
Rick Scott's 2014 Budget: A Textbook Case Of Election Year Pandering
As Governor Rick Scott delivers his 2014-2015 budget address, Floridians would do well to see Scott’s budget for what it is: A textbook case of election year pandering. While Scott’s budget plans included hundreds of millions of dollars in vague tax breaks for special interests and dramatic cuts to various revenue sources, the Tea Party governor has also discovered an election year infatuation with spending on Everglades reconstruction, child welfare, and teacher pay raises. Scott’s predilection for election year pandering is nothing new, but the extent of it in his latest budget proposal is staggering. Scott Has A History Of Election Year Pandering (VIDEO). According to a news segment highlighting clips of Governor Rick Scott, Scott has a history of election-year pandering. In the clip, a FOX reporter states of Scott: “He’s the Tea Party Republican who slashed school funding then raised it as he prepared for re-election, after he tied teacher pay to performance, before giving out raises regardless of performance.”
Cuccinelli clings to Tea Party extremism in final debate
At tonight's debate, Ken Cuccinelli returned to his roots by embracing the extreme agenda of the Tea Party at every turn. Virginians are seeking a mainstream leader to boost the Commonwealth's economy and create jobs, so it's no surprise that voters are rejecting a candidate who made a name for himself by waging unpopular fights to further his extreme agenda. After three debates, voters know who Cuccinelli is and what he stands for:
- Banning abortions, even in cases of rape and incest
- Refusing to support the Violence Against Women Act
- Believes birth control is a form of abortion
- Believing homosexuality "brings nothing but self-destruction, not only physically but of their soul."
- Make it harder for people to escape bad marriages by eliminating no-fault divorce
- Directed public universities to remove discrimination protections for the LGBT community
We told you: Steve Lonegan is the face of the "new" GOP
Just over two months ago, on the night Steve Lonegan won the Republican nomination, American Bridge sent the memo below arguing that Lonegan's brand of extremism was perfectly in line with the "new" & "rebranded" Republican Party. If Washington Republicans' reckless and embarrassing behavior over the past three weeks weren't proof enough, take a look at what RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said at a Lonegan campaign rally just last night (VIDEO HERE). "I'll tell you what. Steve's been able to do something that we need a lot more of in this party. And that's unify our party, bring our party together. The Tea Party, the Republican Party, all in this together." -- Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman What Mr. Priebus doesn't seem to understand is that the Republicans' problem isn't a lack of unity with the Tea Party. This month's shutdown fiasco proves the GOP's problem is, in fact, its obedience to the Tea Party.
Bridge Briefs for tonight's VA-Gov debate
In preparation for tonight's Gubernatorial debate between Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, American Bridge released the following Bridge Briefs:
Cuccinelli’s Anti-Woman Record Cuccinelli, Personhood & Birth Control Cuccinelli’s Anti-Gay Views & Statements Cuccinelli’s Disastrous Tax Plan Cuccinelli’s Opposition to Bipartisan Transportation Plan
BRIDGE BRIEF: Cuccinelli's Disastrous Tax Plan
Cuccinelli Proposed Cutting Taxes By $1.4 Billion By Reducing Income And Corporate Taxes. According to NBC Washington, “Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli released his tax plan Tuesday that would cut about $1.4 billion in taxes by reducing the state’s personal income and corporate tax rate. His proposed plan, “Economic Growth and Virginia Jobs Plan,” would reduce the personal income tax from 5.75 percent to 5 percent and the corporate tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent.” [NBC Washington, 5/8/13] More Than 75% Of The Tax Cuts Would Go To Households Earning At Least $108,000 A Year. According to the Washington Post, “The Richmond-based Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis examined one piece of that proposal — Cuccinelli’s plan to reduce Virginia’s top individual tax rate from 5.75 percent to 5 percent — and found that the state’s wealthiest citizens would benefit the most. ‘Nearly 4 in 10 Virginians (39 percent), mostly low- and moderate-income households, would see no reduction in their income tax bill,’ the institute said. ‘No Virginian earning less than $21,000 would receive a tax cut under the proposal and only half of all families earning between $21,000 and $39,000 would see their taxes reduced.’ More than three-fourths of the benefits of the tax cut would go to households earning at least $108,000, the analysis found, , while middle-class taxpayers would get a relatively small cut. [Washington Post, 5/16/13] Washington Post Editorial: Like Mitt Romney, Cuccinelli Refuses To Say How He Would Pay For His Tax Plan. According to a Washington Post staff editorial, “Like Mitt Romney, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II wants to cut taxes — by a lot. Like Mr. Romney, Mr. Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor, promises this would not reduce government revenues by a dime, since he would also eliminate significant tax loopholes and deductions. And like Mr. Romney, Mr. Cuccinelli adamantly refuses to identify these loopholes and deductions. Why would Mr. Cuccinelli expect Virginians to fall for this?” [Washington Post, 5/9/13]
BRIDGE BRIEFING: Romney's Tax And Fee Increases