Memo From President Brad Woodhouse: Race to the Right in Georgia
The top two extreme Republicans running for Senate in Georgia have advanced to the next round of this knock down, drag out, race to the right primary fight. With two more months of campaigning until the runoff, David Perdue and Jack Kingston will undoubtedly continue to pander to the Tea Party base. Whether opposing raising the minimum wage/extending unemployment benefits, or supporting cuts to Medicare/attempting to voucherize the program, extreme conservatives Perdue and Kingston have more in common than not. Not to mention the time Kingston suggested low-income children perform manual labor in exchange for subsidized school lunches, and Perdue's track record as an out-of-touch elitist. Is this the face of a Republican Party that has learned its rebrand lessons from 2012?
See Rick Scott Run
Rick Scott is running for reelection, but he's better at running from questions. Time and time again reporters have asked Scott where he stands on key issues, only to have Scott duck and run. Maybe that's because he knows his positions are detrimental to middle-class families in the Sunshine State. His failure to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has left over 700,000 Floridians without health care. Just thinking about raising the minimum wage so working families can make ends meet causes him to "cringe." For Rick Scott, maybe running is better than telling the truth.
MEMO: Thom Tillis? Bring it On
North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis, foe of working families and wannabe Tea Party hero, managed to drag his feet across the finish line in today's Republican primary thanks to $2.5 million in support from establishment GOP groups like Crossroads. Now that Tillis has sufficiently touted his extreme conservative positions and record to advance from this far right primary, he is well on his way to defeat in November. Don't take my word for it - take a look at Tillis's abysmal track record in the state house and his extreme rhetoric on the campaign trail. In the state legislature, Tillis has cut education funding by nearly $500 million, bragged about rejecting federal funds for Medicaid expansion, raised taxes on 80% of North Carolinians, made it harder for North Carolinians to exercise their right to vote, and slashed funding for women's health clinics. As he scurried to the right in this bruising primary, Tillis's extreme rhetoric has been on full display. Tillis has said he would consider eliminating the minimum wage, recently claimed that climate change is not a proven fact, has said he thinks states should have the right to ban birth control, supports personhood, and joined national Tea Party leaders in supporting last fall's government shutdown. Couple Tillis's extreme views with his well documented ethical lapses and history of pay-to-play and you have a recipe for his defeat in the Tar Heel state.
Rick Scott "Cringes" Just Thinking About Raising the Minimum Wage
Senate Republicans blocked a vote to raise the minimum wage yesterday, and locally in Florida the state legislature hasn't done much better this session. Could Rick Scott's comment that talk of raising the minimum wage makes him "cringe" have anything to do with the legislature's failure to even vote on two minimum wage bills this session?
Meet the Republicans who are WRONG on the minimum wage
As today's Senate vote approaches, Republicans in Congress seem dead set against giving hardworking Americans earning the minimum wage a small raise to $10.10/hour. But Congressional Republicans aren't alone in their opposition to this commonsense proposal, even though a December 2013 poll found that two-thirds of the American people support increasing the minimum wage. Republican candidates around the country - from Bruce Rauner in Illinois to Rick Scott in Florida to Thom Tillis in North Carolina - have at some point expressed their opposition to raising the minimum wage. Meet the Republicans who are WRONG on the minimum wage in American Bridge's new video and check out Bridge Project's January report for details on the Congressional Republicans who previously supported raising the minimum wage.
Billionaire Koch Brothers Oppose Increasing the Minimum Wage
From President Brad Woodhouse: Not exactly a newsflash – but here it is - from the Koch funded AFP – a note to Senators urging a vote against increasing the minimum wage. Two dudes worth a combined over $80 billion opposing an increase in the minimum wage for people who work fulltime but still live in poverty. Unbelievable.