BREAKING: Christie Aide Deleted Texts To Governor, Lied About It In Testimony
In July, one of Chris Christie's top aides, Regina Egea, was called to testify before the legislature's Bridgegate committee. At…
VIDEO: The New Voice Of The GOP On Immigration
If you believed that Republicans controlling both houses of Congress meant that they would make efforts to work with President Obama and prove they could govern, I've got a bridge to sell you (but I'm going to need to see your papers first). Nearly a year and a half ago, the Senate passed a balanced, bipartisan bill to fix our broken immigration system. All the Republican House "Leadership" had to do was put it up for a vote. But they've proven that that's never going to happen, so President Obama used executive action to make progress. So how would House Republicans respond? Did they finally pass their own comprehensive immigration reform bill? Of course not. Wednesday, they handed the microphone to de-facto Speaker Ted Cruz, Steve King, Michele Bachmann and friends, and yesterday, they voted to rebuke the President's actions and call for more deportations. Some things never change.
NEW VIDEO — Vitter Hypocrisy Alert: Common Core
Sen. David Vitter made headlines yesterday when he announced his new-found distaste for Common Core standards. The flip-flop by Vitter…
Here's Who Republicans Just Picked To Run Their Governors Association
The Republican Party really wants you to know that they've changed. They've broadened their appeal. No more war on women. No more out-of-touch super-rich white guys as their standard bearers. So guess who they just picked to run the Republican Governors Association? Ding ding ding! A super-rich white guy who opposes raising the minimum wage and defunded Planned Parenthood in his state. Meet Bill Haslam, governor of Tennessee, partial owner of Pilot Flying J -- a company under investigation for defrauding customers -- and new chair of the RGA. Some things never change.
All of the poison in all of the wells!
In case you haven't heard, Republicans are adamant that when Obama announces his immigration reform executive action tonight, he will be "poisoning the well." But how can you poison a well that's already been poisoned so many times? Why, it seems every time the President takes a position, according to Republicans, he's "poisoning the well." When President Obama tried to pass background checks on gun sales after Newtown -- a policy supported by 9 in 10 voters -- Lindsey Graham accused him of poisoning the well. And when Obama signed legislation reforming a broken health care system -- a goal of Democratic and Republican presidents for decades -- John McCain said he had poisoned the well. Jeff Flake said that if Obama took any credit for the immigration reform principles in the bipartisan Senate bill, he would be poisoning the well. According to Marco Rubio, policy to protect DREAMers poisoned the well. To other Republicans it was the president's refusal to cave to their demands during their government shutdown that poisoned the well, or criticizing Paul Ryan's draconian budget, or passing a stimulus package, or repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. So what was truly the moment when President Obama poisoned the well? What was the well-poisoning-iest moment of his illustrious well-poisoning career? To Republicans, it appears that perhaps it was just the moment he was elected president -- ever since then, the GOP can't stop finding newly poisoned wells.
Dear Koch Brothers: We Aren’t Going Anywhere
To: Friends and Allies From: David Brock Date: Friday, November 7, 2014 Re: Dear Koch Brothers: We Aren’t Going Anywhere For six months, American Bridge has been working to show just what kind of world the Kochs are trying to create through in-depth research reports on their business practices, statements, and views. We’re exposing just how self-serving and out of touch their worldview is with that of average Americans, and we know we’re making headway because of how the Kochs reacted to the scrutiny: the president of Americans for Prosperity, the Kochs’ political arm, accused us of engaging in “the politics of personal destruction” and not focusing on policy, which is clearly not the case – all of our attacks against the Kochs are based on their views on policy or their business practices. The Kochs’ PR folks are accusing reporters of getting research from us and telling them not to trust it because they say we’re running a smear campaign – but they fail to mention that what we’re saying is true. Koch Industries recently began running – for the first time ever – a positive PR campaign to build up their public image that we’re so successfully breaking down. And the Kochs created yet another dark money group – Freedom Partners Action Fund – to back Koch-approved candidates. The work we did this cycle put their candidates on the defensive and caused them to spend precious time and resources denying their Koch connections. Terri Lynn Land in Michigan had to defend the Kochs’ terrible environmental record in her state. Scott Brown in New Hampshire was forced to address the fact that the out of state billionaires were funding his campaign. And Thom Tillis in North Carolina had to fight back against charges that he did whatever the Kochs told him to do so they’d help him win a Senate seat.
ICYMI: Ben Carson Kicking Off 2016 GOP Primary With Hour-Long TV Ad
In case you missed it in First Read this morning, the Washington Times announced that Dr. Ben Carson is releasing an hour-long television ad set to…
The New Tea Party Cavalry Riding Into Washington
The Republican Party rode a Koch-fuelled wave to victory in elections around the country this week, but don't let them fool you: nothing about their extreme, Tea Party agenda has changed. The GOP has not moderated itself. It has not rid itself of "gaffe-prone" candidates. It has not adopted a milder, more palatable stance on key policy issues that impact the lives of women, immigrants, or working families. And the proof is in the pudding. A quick scan of some of the newest members of the House shows just how extreme this latest crop of Tea Party Republican members of Congress truly are. From Georgia to Maine, Virginia to Wisconsin, Illinois to Iowa, extreme Tea Party Republicans have been elected to seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Take Glenn Grothman in Wisconsin's 6th District to start. We've already detailed the long list of Grothman's greatest extreme hits, but as a quick refresher, the Congressman-elect has: proselytized about the “war on men,” fought for a seven-day workweek, and proposed a law to formally consider single parenthood a contributing factor to child abuse.
BREAKING AUDIO: Perdue's Closing Argument
Asked today about whether his company was closing down American plants as they opened others overseas, Perdue quickly responded, "Sure, we closed down plants all the time..." Listen to the breaking audio above. It's an interesting closing argument -- no pun intended -- to cap off what's been a disastrous last month for David Perdue's campaign, as a series of events shed light on both his business career and his worldview. His downward spiral began when an old deposition surfaced, revealing that Perdue himself had admitted, "I spent most of my career" outsourcing. Asked the next day how he would defend that record, Perdue looked shocked -- "Well defend it? I'm proud of it!" he replied.
NEW VIDEO: "Bully"
If you own a television or a computer, you've probably already seen Chris Christie's latest tirade, this one at the expense of a Jersey Shore business owner who is concerned about the area's unfinished recovery from Hurricane Sandy. It's interesting behavior -- aggressively disparaging our own constituent to prove how invested you are in rebuilding New Jersey, and then embarking on a 19-state campaign tour the next day. But then again, this just isn't your average presidential hopeful. This is Chris Christie, the trash-talking, traffic-stopping bully, and he'll be damned if a constituent or the truth are going to come in between him and his narrative. So we decided to round up just a few of his finest acts of belittlement. Check out our new video: