Professional Political Loser Rick Santorum Joins the Bloated GOP Field

With all the momentum of a sloth moving up a branch, Rick Santorum is announcing his formal bid for the presidency today. Coming off of losing his Senate seat in 2006 by a crushing 17 points and an ill-fated run for the White House in 2012, Santorum is back to squeeze out the last vestiges of support he has from the Tea Party. The former Pennsylvania senator has already been pushing his particular brand of social conservatism on the GOP 2016 field and the spotlight-seeking politician won't be letting up anytime soon. While the poll numbers might exclude him from the "big-league" debates, Santorum's knack for extreme stances proved enough to win him Iowa in 2012 and will keep the rest of the field watching their right this time around. Take a look at Santorum in his own words: On limiting legal immigration:  "Medium income in going down. Why? Part of the Reason is that we're bring in floods of legal -- not illegal -- legal immigrants into the country." "We need to take the 1,050,000 people legal immigrants to this country – almost all of whom are unskilled – who are competing against the 74 percent of Americans who don’t have a college degree.  We need to reduce that.”

Jeb Gets Four Pinnochios on ISIS, Takes on More Water Over W

Jeb Bush is taking on still more water as he struggles to avoid his brother's disastrous political legacy. First, the Washington Post Fact Checker awarded Jeb four Pinocchios for his botched attempt to pass the blame on his brother's mess in Iraq:

Bush seems to have fallen prey to Washington conventional wisdom, in which ISIS suddenly emerged into consciousness in the past year or so. That may be fine for armchair analysts or journalists. But that’s little excuse for a presidential candidate, who might have to grapple with this problem if he or she is elected president. ...

Four-day work week is the only good news for Bush

Jeb Bush hasn’t been able to recover since his stumbles on Iraq two weeks ago. He ended last week with…

SRLC Roundup: GOPers can't help but talk extreme social issues

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City dealt the latest blow to Jeb Bush after coming in sixth in the straw poll while Ben Carson ran away with first. The race to the right continued with Bridge catching Scott Walker and Rick Santorum threatening to close the door on legal immigration. Bush is so scared of W's shadow that he starts off speeches telling the crowd how much he loves his brother (and his policies, we'd note.) Bobby Jindal couldn't help but remind voters about how extreme the GOP slate of candidates is with Indiana-style RFRA discrimination laws, Hobby Lobby, and his belief that the Republican Party shouldn't be supporting big business. Take a look at the highlights from the week: Scott Walker "Wake up" that immigrants have "other motives" than jobs.  Chris Christie Calling to raise the retirement age. Jeb Bush “I’m proud of my brother.”

Jeb's Rhetoric on W. Crashes Into Reality

Memo to Jeb:  You can run from W all you want, but you can't hide from your record. From Politico's Florida Playbook: Overall, bottom-line budget spending increased nearly 46 percent in his eight years in office, growing from nearly $48.9 billion to about $71.3 billion. The state's debt increased as well (in part due to voter-approved environmental and class-size reductions measures).... 'BIG GOVERNMENT REPUBLICAN?' - "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2006," by Cato's Stephen Slivinski: "Real per capita general fund spending has grown an annual average of 5 percent over the past two years, making Bush one of the biggest spending Republican governors in this report card. Bush is seen by many as an attractive candidate for higher office. He certainly has a solid record on taxes. But the one glaring question that his second-term budget record has produced is whether he's turned into a big government Republican." 

New Web Ad: ​WEDC: Walker's Extravagant Donor Charity

American Bridge is hitting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with targeted web ads wrapping up the latest in a series of…

SRLC Day One Roundup: Racing to the Right on Immigration

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City isn't as fun as SNL's version, but the American Bridge team is making the best of it, documenting a deeply damaging race to the right with video and audio clips from across Oklahoma City.  Yesterday, Bridge cameras captured Scott Walker and Rick Santorum continuing to beat their xenophobic drums and Rick Perry attacking Common Core in a clear shot at one of today's speakers, Jeb Bush.  Take a look at the highlights here: Scott Walker "Wake up" that immigrants have "other movies" than jobs:  Bragging about defunding Planned Parenthood. Bragging about passing Voter ID.

WI GOP, Walker Rushing Extreme Anti-Choice Legislation

Wisconsin Republicans are pushing to expedite their extreme 20 week abortion ban before the state budget debate in June. Governor Scott Walker has already come out in favor of the legislation, doubling down on his anti-choice agenda earlier this month and agreeing to sign the bill into law. The ban would be a devastating blow to women's abortion access in the state, charging doctors who break it with a felony and possible jail time -- even in cases of rape or incest. Walker has a long history of supporting extreme policies including personhood and making severe cuts to women's healthcare facilities across Wisconsin. 

Bush Tells Voters To Get Over His Name, Voters Comply

Bush to Voters: I Love My Brother, Get Over It Before a question was even asked at a round-table event here, Jeb Bush delivered blunt advice to those who view his last name as a burden: Get over it. Voters: Oh, We Are Iowa Republicans say they feel overwhelmed by the large number of potential candidates at this stage of the 2016 presidential nominating contest and are waiting for the field to shrink before they focus on the race. But they share one concern: Jeb Bush’s viability. ... Instead, they said Bush's loyalty to his brother, former President George W. Bush, and his stumbles in saying whether he would have invaded Iraq may weaken his chances for the nomination as well as his ability to beat Hillary Clinton if she is the Democrats’ 2016 nominee.

Walker's Corrupt WEDC Gets Savaged in the Press

After reports surfaced that Scott Walker was aware of the approval of a Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) loan awarded to one of his political donors, the governor's flagship program has been back in the news this week. Check out some of the crushing clips about the failures of Walker's taxpayer-backed slush fund: MSNBC: Scott Walker jobs agency in ‘chaos’ amid calls for federal probe Four years later, as Walker lays the groundwork for a presidential run, WEDC appears rudderless and deeply troubled. Government and press reports have raised serious questions about the agency’s transparency, effectiveness, political independence and compliance with the law. Walker, who serves as chair of the WEDC board, has twice in recent months announced major shifts to the agency’s structure and mission—and this week he has been forced to deny that he knew about a questionable loan to a political contributor’s company. Democrats are calling for a federal investigation. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s job growth continues to lag far behind the nation’s—taking a toll on the governor’s popularity at home.