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.
Courting the King: GOP Field Races to the Right in Iowa
The Republican 2016 field visited Iowa this weekend to court the king -- Steve King that is. The cantaloupe-conspiracy theorist, and right wing svengali of today's Republican Party, was in fine form -- jabbing Jeb Bush on immigration and comparing immigrants to Santa Ana's army.
Picking up where King left off were the GOP's White House aspirants. From Bobby Jindal's defense of discriminatory RFRA laws to Scott Walker touting his anti-worker agenda as a qualification for the presidency, the day was chock-full of red meat.
It's official, the race to the right is on.
The 2016 GOP Field is Hopelessly Backwards on Women's Healthcare
The 2016 GOP presidential wannabees came out in full force to show their support for heinous House legislation restricting women's access to healthcare. Not to be outdone, Chris Christie and Scott Walker have also backed legislation limiting women's right to choose. The bill erects senseless barriers for survivors of rape and incest, making it even more difficult to get timely healthcare. Rape victims would be required to undergo multiple trips to different health care providers and endure a 48 hour waiting period. This issue has proven toxic for the GOP in general elections, but the conservative base demands purity -- and they're getting it. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of Independents say this is the wrong issue for Congress to be spending time on.This latest outpouring of support from presidential contenders makes it abundantly clear that instead of trying to help working families, the 2016 field would rather spend their time pushing their extreme anti-choice agenda.
Clueless Bro, Jeb Bush Tanking Presidential Ambitions
There's only one word to describe the response to Jeb Bush's recent defenses of his brother's failed foreign policy: BRUTAL. At a closed-door event in New York, the not-yet candidate said George W. was one of closest advisers on international affairs. Following that jaw-dropper up with a FOX News interview where Jeb, knowing what we know now about the intelligence failures used to justify the war, said he would STILL have invaded Iraq in 2003. Perhaps Politico's Roger Simon ties this up best: "So to fully appreciate the importance of Jeb’s revelation that George W. will be his chief adviser when it comes to the Mideast, you’ve got to keep in mind that Jeb’s entire campaign is built around one selling point: Jeb is the smart one in the family."
POLITICO: Jeb keeps it all in the family
Washington Examiner: Jeb Bush's disastrous defense of the Iraq War
South Carolina Cattle Call Whistles Past GOP's Electoral Graveyard
Another Republican cattle call has passed, this time the South Carolina Freedom Summit, and even SNL is in on the gag by this point-- the endless parade of events is primed to remind voters of everything they don't like about the Republican party. From Jim DeMint equivocating "the left" to ISIS to the latest and greatest in Steve King's musings to shots at Jeb and endorsements of so-called Personhood laws, the cast in Greenville was doing their best to conjure the ghosts of election losses past. Here's the lowlights: SCOTT WALKER Defends Wall Street: YouTube Proud of enacting voter ID: YouTube RICK SANTORUM Calling for cuts to legal immigration: YouTube MARCO RUBIO Contrasting with Jeb, reminds that his family isn’t “rich and famous”: YouTube
Scott Walker's Re-Ups His Extreme Anti-Choice Agenda
Scott Walker doubled down on his anti-choice agenda yesterday, saying he would support the 20 week abortion ban introduced by Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature. Walker is in favor of extreme policies when it comes to a woman's right to choose, opposing abortion even in cases of rape, incest or to protect the mother's life. The governor also supports personhood which could restrict women's access to birth control and hurts families trying to conceive through nontraditional methods like In Vitro fertilization. Take a look at more of his extreme record below:
No Exceptions
WALKER OPPOSED ABORTION WITH NO EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST, OR TO PROTECT THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER PolitiFact: Walker Opposed Abortion Even In The Cases Of Rape, Incest, And Protecting The Life Of The Mother. According to PolitiFact, “In the race for governor, Democrat Tom Barrett said his opponent, Republican Scott Walker, "wants to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother." Walker acknowledges that is his position. We rate Barrett’s claim True.” [PolitiFact, 10/26/10]CC: Marco Rubio — 59% of Americans Support Same Sex Marriage
Marco Rubio's extreme conservative colors shined through again last night at an event for the Center for Arizona Policy. This fringe organization believes “homosexuals [can modify] their behavior and becom[e] heterosexual through Christian ministries and counseling," better known as conversion therapy -- a radical view that has been condemned by the American Psychological Associa
Multimillionaire, Political Savant Ron Johnson is on a Warpath Against College Kids
Multimillionaire Senator Ron Johnson thinks we're helping too many young, aspiring Americans go to college. At a recent event in Wisconsin, Johnson said, "What's wrong? Well partly, student loans are available and kids are using them." Students are taking 5 and 6 years to graduate simply because loans are too easy to access and "college is a lot of fun," he went on to say.
MEMO: Mike Huckabee is the GOP in all its offensive glory
Mike Huckabee represents the extreme majority of the Republican Party in all its offensive glory. After winning the 2008 Iowa caucus and racking up the second most delegates that year, Huckabee is jumping into a crowded GOP primary where candidates are already trying to prove they’re the most conservative. Huckabee will immediately pull the primary even further to the whack job fringes of the Tea Party. He compared abortion to slavery. He said women “cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government.” And while Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and the rest of the field jumped to support Mike Pence’s religious discrimination law, Huckabee outflanked the pack and said: When business people you sit in church with every week are told they're going to pay a fine of $1,000 a day and possibly go to jail because their conscience won't let them make a wedding cake with two men on the top of the wedding cake.