DSCC

WE FINALLY HAVE OUR ANSWER: PAT TOOMEY DOES NOT SUPPORT CREATING PENNSYLVANIA JOBS

After Two Weeks, Toomey Comes Out Against Legislation That Stands To Create 1 Million New Jobs

Pennsylvania Has Over 560,000 Unemployed Residents, But Toomey Unwilling To Support Commonsense Measures To Create Good Pennsylvania Jobs

Pennsylvania families struggling with unemployment and economic challenges got their answer today on if Senate candidate Pat Toomey would support a job creation bill - a resounding No. After two long weeks, Toomey finally responded to requests for his position on the bipartisan jobs bill, which passed the Senate and House on a bipartisan basis, and that promises to bring many good jobs to Pennsylvania and over one million new jobs across the country. Despite the bill’s promise of creating new jobs, Toomey told the Allentown Morning Call that he would have voted to kill the bill had he been in the Senate.

"After two long weeks of waiting, we finally now know what Pat Toomey’s jobs plan is for Pennsylvania – do absolutely nothing, while opposing every commonsense, bipartisan measure to jumpstart job creation,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Every time he opposes measures to help Pennsylvania families, Pat Toomey just shows he is completely out of touch with everyday Pennsylvanians. “

The HIRE Act, which Toomey finally came out in opposition to today, has four key provisions, including a payroll tax holiday for businesses to encourage hiring, additional funds to help small businesses expand, an extension of the Highway Trust Fund to allow more infrastructure investments, and an expansion of the Build America Bonds program to allow states finance infrastructure projects. According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Toomey also opposed, created over 2 million jobs last year, has boosted the US economy by 3.5%, and has lowered the unemployment rate by up to 2.1%. The CBO projects that the stimulus will have an even greater impact in 2010.

Allentown Morning Call: Toomey would not have voted for jobs bill
Colby Itkowitz
March 11, 2010

Republican Senate candidate, Pat Toomey, said today for the first time that he would have joined most of his Republican colleagues and voted against Congress' recent jobs bill.

In a statement from his campaign, Toomey says the bill, which passed the Senate on Wednesday, does little to create any new jobs and then slammed Sen. Arlen Specter for supporting costly Democratic priorities.

“The so-called Hire Act contains a net tax increase, does not eliminate earmarks, and employs badly designed tax incentives that will do little to create new jobs," the campaign says. "Pat would have opposed this bill and replaced it with one that actually creates jobs. If Senator Specter and his new Democratic cronies are truly interested in job creation, they should stop supporting the massive new taxes on businesses contained in the health care and cap-and-trade bills.”

The PA Dems can take down their Toomey Ticker now, I suppose, that gauged how long it had been since Toomey had first refused to respond about the jobs legislation.

It had been about two weeks.

Top GOP Contenders Start By Losing Straw Polls

Hotline

Hotline: Top GOP Contenders Start By Losing Straw Polls
Erin McPike
March 11, 2010

NRSC recruits may well sweep their primaries this spring and summer, but some of them are faltering with the base in straw polls now.

And it's not just ex-FL House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) who's racked up an impressive string of victories in the early ballot tests over his party-backed rival; NV ex-GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden (R) and CO ex-LG Jane Norton (R) have both had difficulties of their own.

Norton, a favorite of party operatives in D.C., has found herself with less support than Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, state Sen. Tom Wiens or businessman Cleve Tidwell in 6 straw polls. Buck won 50% of the votes cast at a Colorado Springs candidate forum Tuesday, while Norton took 32%.

Lowden is in a 10-way field for the GOP nod to take on Sen. Harry Reid (R), where her top competitors for the nomination are businessman Danny Tarkanian and investment banker John Chachas.

Nevertheless, it has been ex-Assemb. Sharron Angle (R) who has had early luck at GOP straw polls. She won the Clark Co. GOP straw poll, though Lowden and Tarkanian finished close behind. And Angle placed ahead of Lowden in the Washoe Co. and Storey Co. straw polls and finished second in the Carson City straw poll behind state Sen. Mark Amodei (R), who has since withdrawn from the race.

Straw polls don't necessarily portend electoral victories, but they do give a glimpse into momentum, and in some cases, institutional strength and support. Although ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney ultimately lost the GOP nomination in '08, his straw poll showings were a sign of organizational heft that spooked the rest of the field.

Rubio has had the most success so far, winning 25 straw poll victories over FL Gov. Charlie Crist (R). In those cases, those wins helped him blossom into a national conservative hero who has arguably become the front-runner in the race to replace appointed Sen. George LeMieux (R).

Virtually no GOP-favored candidate is safe. Ex-Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN), the party favorite to reclaim his old seat, and ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina (R), the NRSC's preferred contender in CA, have each lost a straw poll apiece.

CO-SEN GOP candidate Jane Norton: Social Security 'Has Turned Into A Ponzi Scheme' (VIDEO)

Talking Points Memo

TPM: CO-SEN GOP candidate Jane Norton: Social Security 'Has Turned Into A Ponzi Scheme' (VIDEO)
Eric Kleefeld
March 11, 2010

Former Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Senate, called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" at a recent public event.

Appearing at a Tea Party-hosted Republican candidate forum on Tuesday, Norton was asked to name federal programs that she thought were unconstitutional, under the scope of the federal government's enumerated powers, and also whether it was constitutionally permissible for the government to run the Social Security program as it exists now, with the government controlling the money.

"The federal government is fundamentally out of control," Norton answered. "They are seizing control of things like car companies, banks, insurance companies. They're encroaching in areas of education, of the EPA and its endangerment finding, circumventing the rule of law, circumventing legislative processes. They are absolutely out of control. With regard to Social Security, it has turned into a Ponzi scheme. The money that people pay into it should be there for when they are ready to retire."

We asked Norton press secretary Nate Strauch whether the candidate stood by her description, which seemed to imply that there was something crooked about Social Security. "She didn't imply that there was anything crooked about it. She said it's set up the same way a Ponzi scheme is," said Strauch, "which is new investors being used to pay old investors until the money runs out, and of course that's what's happening."

Here's the video, recorded by a Colorado Democratic Party tracker:

Dems attack Jane Norton

Denver Daily News

Denver Daily News: Dems attack Jane Norton
Peter Marcus
March 11, 2010

Senate candidate defends herself over remarks opposed by Dems

Colorado Democrats fired back at Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton yesterday after remarks she made to a local broadcast over spending cuts.

Speaking to KDVR-TV Fox 31 Tuesday night, Norton said her state general fund budget at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment when she was executive director was about $6.4 million less than when she started.

But critics say there is more to the budget than just money from the general fund. Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party, told reporters yesterday that Norton actually increased the CDPHE budget by over $55 million, $10 million of which came directly from taxpayers.

“We are not going to let her get by with this,” Waak said during a conference call yesterday with reporters. “Clearly we’re going into primary mode, but the Colorado Democratic Party is not in the meantime going to let Jane Norton make such remarks to the public, and we think she has to be held accountable for every statement she makes.”

Waak also states that Norton’s spending when she was lieutenant governor under Republican Gov. Bill Owens increased by over $10,000, including reimbursements for travel, flowers and meals, and another $2,000 for a new desk.

“Which was probably lovely,” Waak quipped about the desk.

A spokesman for Norton’s campaign pointed out that Norton only had control over the money directly from the state, not additional funds such as federal dollars and grants. Nate Strauch said it only makes sense to look at the budgets she oversaw.

“No one denies that general fund appropriations in both offices went down during Jane Norton’s tenure, and that’s what she controlled,” Strauch said in an e-mailed statement. “You wouldn’t judge a sports GM based on revenue sharing and league-wide television contracts; you would judge him on what he controls: the budget of the team and the results on the field.”

Democrats yesterday also lashed out at Norton for a recent comment that Social Security is nothing but a “Ponzi scheme.”

“I’m not sure whether she knows what a Ponzi scheme is or not, but clearly she is a candidate that is out of step with Colorado and out of step with the issues she is trying to raise as she moves around the state,” said Waak.

Norton is believed to be the frontrunner in the race, beating out Republican primary opponents Tom Wiens and Ken Buck, as well as likely Democratic challenger U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and his opponent, Andrew Romanoff.

Strauch took offense to Waak’s comments over Norton’s remarks concerning Social Security, firing right back at the Colorado Democratic Party chair.

“Pat Waak should know all about ‘schemes.’ She traffics in them everyday,” said Strauch. “In a Ponzi scheme, new investors are used to pay off old investors, which is exactly how Social Security works. Ponzi schemes end when the money runs out, and that’s what’s projected to happen to Social Security.”

Waak, however, believes Norton’s view on Social Security is out of touch with Colorado voters, especially those who rely on it.

“To take something like Social Security that people have paid into for years and years and are getting their Social Security benefits from, and to turn around and say it’s like a Ponzi scheme - I don’t get it,” she said.

State plane takes Crist to fundraiser

St. Petersburg Times

St. Petersburg Times: State plane takes Crist to fundraiser
Beth Reinhard and Marc Caputo
March 10, 2010
Gov. Charlie Crist used the taxpayer-funded state plane Wednesday for a four-city media blitz that promoted a pro-business initiative but ended with a Miami campaign fundraiser.

The ceremonial bill signings that took him from Tallahassee to Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and, finally, Miami, touted legislation signed eight days ago to temporarily delay an unemployment compensation tax increase.

After the last event at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Crist was slated to attend a fundraiser for his Senate campaign on Fisher Island. Asked at the chamber if it was appropriate to travel to a campaign event on the state plane, Crist said, "So long as I'm doing this (bill signing) before I do something else, yes, ma'am."

The statement marked a reversal for the governor, who used to boast that he wouldn't fly the state plane to cities where he had both state business and campaign events.

"I don't think the taxpayer ought to get me to South Florida (for a fundraiser)," Crist told a Times/Herald reporter in June when asked why he was flying commercial. "I'm trying to do the right thing."

Total cost to taxpayers for Wednesday's fly-around: About $3,100, according to flight data on similar trips maintained by the Department of Management Services.

The governor toured the state Wednesday as polls show him falling further behind U.S. Senate rival Marco Rubio, who launched the first television ad of the race. The spot airing exclusively on FOX News aims to project a positive image of Rubio before Crist unleashes an anticipated onslaught of attack ads.

"As we've seen over the last several days, Charlie Crist thinks this race is about attacking Marco Rubio and climbing the political ladder," said campaign strategist Todd Harris, referring to Crist's promotion of recent Times/Herald stories about Rubio's use of a party credit card for personal expenses and $250 million in pet projects in the 2000-2008 state budgets.

Crist vowed Wednesday to "abstain from special interest earmarks and pork barrel spending" if he is elected to Congress. The Rubio campaign quickly accused Crist of hypocrisy because he signed two of the budgets at issue into law, but vetoed just $3 million in Rubio-related earmarks.

Rubio's camp did not disclose the cost or breadth of the advertising run, except to say it was significant. Still, going on the air more than five months before the Aug. 24 primary suggests mounting fundraising strength, and marks another unexpected turn in what was supposed to be a cakewalk for the sitting governor.

The ad furthers Rubio's strategy to position himself as a political outsider at a time when anti-government sentiment is running high. Without a tie or jacket, Rubio looks more like a concerned father of four children than the former leader of the Florida House, speaking directly to the camera and kissing his toddler son. His daughters wear matching striped outfits.

"Washington is broken, and too many politicians don't get it," Rubio says. He adds, in a swipe at Crist's support for the president's $787 billion economic stimulus package: "America needs Republicans who will stand up to Barack Obama, not join him."

Rubio, who is Cuban-American, describes himself as "the son of exiles" in the commercial laced with echoes of the American dream.

Crist's use of the state plane recalled newspaper reports in the summer detailing the frequent flights of Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink. Sink's campaign for governor reimbursed the state for $17,022.75 worth of flights following criticism that she used the state plane to go to cities where she mixed state and campaign business.

Since the 2009 lawmaking session, Crist has participated in at least six multicity blitzes to tout new legislation or causes he is championing. The governor defended Wednesday's multicity bill signings, saying they were important to raise awareness in the business community.

"The point is to make sure they know what's happening and that there are good things that are occurring in our economy as it relates to their business specifically," Crist said. "It's what we've done since the beginning of our administration because people have a right to know."

DAY 5 OF ROB PORTMAN BIRTHER CONTROVERSY – PORTMAN STILL WON’T SAY YES-OR-NO IF HE BELIEVES THE PRESIDENT IS A UNITED STATES CITIZEN

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Is This More Serious Than We Thought?

It’s been five days since Rob Portman’s associates called into question President Obama’s citizenship status at a fundraising dinner in Darke Country, and despite repeated questions, Portman continues refusing to admit that the President of the United States is an American citizen. Saturday evening, former state Rep. Jim Buchy and state Rep. James Zehringer introduced Portman at a fundraiser, where both men made comments calling into question their belief that President Obama is an American citizen. Portman, refused to contradict Buchy and Zehringer when he took the podium, and has done nothing this week to show his views differ at all from their views regarding the citizenship status of the President and Commander in Chief.

“All it would take for Rob Portman to clear up this five day controversy is to answer a simple yes or no question – Does Rob Portman believe the President Obama is an American citizen?” DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy said. “Five full days after his allies called into question President Obama’s citizenship, Ohioans are calling into question Rob Portman’s fitness to serve in public office. The radical views of Portman’s allies might be acceptable in some fringe groups, but it won’t help Portman win over Ohioans struggling following the misguided economic policies put into place by years of Republican rule.”

Portman’s silence on the issue of President Obama’s citizenship is the latest example of the former Bush Budget Director and Trade Ambassador’s unwillingness to distance himself from the extreme fringes of his own Party. In February of 2008, Portman did nothing to refute the highly inflammatory remarks extreme conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham made towards then presidential candidate Barack Obama. Portman followed Cunningham who called the president a “hack” and tried to stir up the crowd by referring to the president using his middle name, Hussein. Last week, Portman refused to sever ties with the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which refers to public officials as Nazis on its Web site. Similarly, while Portman called the group’s statements “highly inappropriate,” he keynoted the group’s biggest event of the year, raising them $15,000 while ignoring calls from 20 Ohio legislators to cancel his speech and distance himself from COAST. The letter from the lawmakers remains unanswered by Portman.

Democrats demand that Rob Portman renounce 'birther' comments made at dinner

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Democrats demand that Rob Portman renounce 'birther' comments made at dinner
Stephen Koff
March 10, 2010

If the people introducing a politician at a political event make fun of the president of the United States -- say, they tell jokes that question whether the president was born in the United States -- does that politician have an obligation to say: "Hey, fellas? That's not right."

The question is relevant because Rob Portman, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, stood by Saturday while being introduced at the Darke County Lincoln Day Dinner by two men -- former State Rep. Jim Buchy and State Rep. James Zehringer -- who told exactly those kinds of jokes. Even in jest, their comments went to the question of whether Obama meets the legal requirements to be commander in chief, a subject that some won't let die in their attempts to undercut Obama's presidency.

Portman said nothing at the time to correct them.

A recording of the event wound up on Talking Points Memo. And then the Ohio Democratic Party as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee started demanding that Portman renounce the "birthers," as they are commonly called.

Portman has not renounced them. But his campaign issued the following statement:

"The comments were inappropriate, but it's unfortunate that all Democrats have to offer are cheap political attacks meant to distract people from the economic serious challenges we're facing in Ohio. Rob Portman will continue to focus on developing solutions to help Ohioans get back to work."

Democrats -- especially those whose job is to find ways to make Republicans squirm -- think they're onto a whole theme, since Portman appeared at a March 1 fund-raising event for the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), whose website has called public officials "Nazis." Portman's campaign likewise called the Nazi language inappropriate, but Democrats said Portman should have canceled his appearance, which he did not.

In his public life as a congressman, trade ambassador and budget director for President George W. Bush, Portman was never known as insensitive or loutish. He does not give wild quotes; rather, he is a model of decorum. Better get out the NoDoz, in fact, if this race ends up as Fisher vs. Portman.

But many Ohioans still don't know him, and these kinds of controversies won't help.

Or so hope the Democrats.

"The question remains, does Rob Portman doubt the president's citizenship or does he just choose to stay quiet when it is politically convenient?" asked Deidre Murphy at the DSCC. "Portman owes Ohioans an answer as to whether or not he believes President Obama was born in the U.S."

Here are the comments that created this stir.

Buchy: "Lincoln was a skinny lawyer. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was highly respected. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was born in the United States. Obama is a skinny lawyer."

Zehringer: "Rob Portman is an American lawyer. That's the first sentence [on his Wikipedia page]. That's something our president can't say."

DID SHE REALLY SAY THAT? JANE NORTON CALLS SOCIAL SECURITY A PONZI SCHEME, BUT WON’T SAY IF SHE SUPPORTS PRIVATIZATION

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Despite Nearly 600,000 Coloradans Receiving Social Security Benefits, Out Of Mainstream Norton Thinks Social Security A Fraud

New Video Voters Likely To See Again Found HERE

Out of the mainstream Jane Norton may have stepped on a landmine this week during a Republican Party forum in Colorado Springs by declaring that Social Security, which provides benefits to nearly 600,000 Coloradans, has turned into a “ponzi scheme.” When asked a question about Social Security, Norton that said “with regard to Social Security, it has turned into a ponzi scheme.” The video of Norton calling Social Security a “ponzi scheme” can be found here. Norton’s proclamation last night comes several months after Norton said that the federal government has no place health care, which calls into question her commitment to both Medicare and Medicaid. Norton has yet to say whether she supports privatizing Social Security.

“Social Security has lifted millions of seniors out of poverty and provides for close to 600,000 Coloradans, yet Norton thinks the program is a fraud,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “If Colorado needed any more proof that Norton is outside the mainstream, they surely got it with this damaging new video.”

In the past several months alone, Norton has come under repeated fire for her remarks. First, she raised eyebrows after telling a Tea Party crowd in Alamosa that the solution to fixing America’s education system is to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Then, she showered praise on both the TEA party movement and Glenn Beck’s 9/12 groups, calling both groups a “huge strength” for the Republican Party. Next, Norton sat silently at a meet and greet at a coffee shop while a woman repeatedly called President Obama a Muslim. Finally, in response to an unrelated question in front of the Jefferson County Men’s Club, Norton told the audience that President Obama cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists than protecting the American people. Norton refused to back down from her terrorist claim, telling a Weld County audience several days later once again that President Obama’s Administration cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists that the lives of American citizens.

Norton: Social Security Has Turned Into Ponzi Scheme. During a March 2010 Senate forum, Norton said social security had turned into a ponzi scheme. NORTON: With regard to Social Security, it has turned into a Ponzi scheme. The money that people pay into it should be there for when they are ready to retire. [Colorado Springs Candidate Senate Forum, 3/9/10; Video 49:45]

Coats Lobbied for Bailout Before Blasting It

DSCC Rant

Uber-lobbyist Dan Coats just hit another massive pothole on his rocky road back to elected office. It appears that Coats lobbied for the auto bailout. Before he bashed it, that is.

According to records, Coats was registered to lobby for Cerberus Capital, a New York private-equity firm that controlled Chrysler for two years, on “H.R.1424, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008: Treatment of motor vehicle finance companies as financial institutions, disposition of troubled assets, and related issues.” In non-legislative English, that’s the auto bailout. His firm was paid $10,000 for its services.

This all becomes quite awkward now that he’s a Republican Senate candidate carping on about bailouts. It’s almost like living in Virginia for a decade, then wanting to run for the Senate from Indiana.

Oh, wait. He did that, too.

Send Rush Limbaugh A One Way Ticket To Costa Rica...

The DSCC's latest online petition takes Rush Limbaugh up on his offer to leave the country if Congress passes health care reform.

http://dscc.org/pt?petition_KEY=260

Help Rush take the first step: Send him his boarding pass. We'll deliver a copy in your name to Rush's studio.

Pass him his one-way ticket on Tea Bag Air!

HE ASKED FOR IT: DSCC TO SEND RUSH LIMBAUGH BOARDING PASS TO COSTA RICA

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

DSCC Launches New Online Petition To Send Rush Packing

Send Rush His Boarding Pass At http://www.dscc.org/rush

In response to Rush Limbaugh’s proclamation that he would move to Costa Rica once health care passes, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching a new online petition to speed up the process. Visitors to the DSCC website can sign an online petition to send Rush Limbaugh a one way airplane ticket on Tea Bag Air to the balmy central American county of Costa Rica. Please visit http://www.dscc.org/rush to send Rush off to the permanent vacation he truly deserves.

“Rush Limbaugh has vowed to move to Costa Rica once health care reform passes, so the DSCC is making things easier for him by letting our website visitors send him a one way boarding pass for a permanent vacation,” DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy said. “This new online petition will allow Rush to get all the rest and relaxation he wants on the sunny beaches of Costa Rica. He can thank our supporters for the gift.”

RICHARD BURR CONTINUES IGNORING JOBLESS NORTH CAROLINIANS BY VOTING AGAINST AID THIS AFTERNOON

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Burr Votes Against Tax Breaks And Aid To Unemployed North Carolinians In Key Vote Today

Burr: “It Is Impossible For Any Candidate To Be Further To The Right Than I Am”

Senator Richard Burr continued his habit of ignoring North Carolinians hard-hit by the economic crisis, this time by voting against an unemployment compensation and tax break bill today in the Senate. This is the second time in two days that Burr has voted against this critical legislation. Despite Burr’s no vote, the bill passed on a bipartisan basis 62 to 36. Burr’s no vote today comes just a week after Burr voted against a short-term extension of unemployment benefits and funding for transportation projects, siding with Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning’s block on the legislation.

“Senator Richard Burr continued his habit of ignoring North Carolinians hit hard by the economic crisis, this time by voting against a bipartisan bill which includes tax breaks and aid to the unemployed this afternoon,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Each vote Senator Burr takes just reinforces how out of touch he is with the people he has sworn to represent and it’s why North Carolina will have a new senator come November.”

Today’s bill includes close to 60 tax breaks for individuals and companies that expired at the end of 2009. The bill also includes a deduction for college tuition for couples making less than $160,000 a year, one for teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies, a tax credit for community development agencies that invest in low-income neighborhoods, as well as a tax break for restaurant owners and retailers who remodel their stores. The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.

JOHN MCCAIN CONTINUES IGNORING JOBLESS ARIZONANS BY VOTING AGAINST AID THIS AFTERNOON

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

McCain Votes Against Tax Breaks And Aid To Unemployed Arizonans In Key Vote Today

McCain Keeps Racing To The Right

Senator John McCain continued his habit of ignoring Arizonans hard-hit by the economic crisis, this time by voting against an unemployment compensation and tax break bill today in the Senate. This is the second time in two days that McCain has voted against this critical legislation. Despite McCain’s no vote, the bill passed on a bipartisan basis 62 to 36.

“Senator John McCain continued his habit of ignoring Arizonans hit hard by the economic crisis, this time by voting against a bipartisan bill which includes tax breaks and aid to the unemployed this afternoon,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Each vote Senator McCain takes just reinforces how out of touch he is with the people he has sworn to represent and it’s why Arizona will have a new senator come November.”

Today’s bill includes close to 60 tax breaks for individuals and companies that expired at the end of 2009. The bill also includes a deduction for college tuition for couples making less than $160,000 a year, one for teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies, a tax credit for community development agencies that invest in low-income neighborhoods, as well as a tax break for restaurant owners and retailers who remodel their stores. The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.

CHUCK GRASSLEY CONTINUES IGNORING JOBLESS IOWANS BY VOTING AGAINST AID THIS AFTERNOON

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Grassley Votes Against Tax Breaks And Aid To Unemployed Iowans In Key Vote Today

Grassley Clearly Out Of Touch With Iowans

Senator Chuck Grassley continued his habit of ignoring Iowans hard-hit by the economic crisis, this time by voting against an unemployment compensation and tax break bill today in the Senate. This is the second time in two days that Grassley has voted against this critical legislation. Despite Grassley’s no vote, the bill passed on a bipartisan basis 62 to 36.

“Senator Chuck Grassley continued his habit of ignoring Iowans hit hard by the economic crisis, this time by voting against a bipartisan bill which includes tax breaks and aid to the unemployed this afternoon,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Each vote Senator Grassley takes just reinforces how out of touch he is with the people he has sworn to represent and it’s why Iowa will have a new senator come November.”

Today’s bill includes close to 60 tax breaks for individuals and companies that expired at the end of 2009. The bill also includes a deduction for college tuition for couples making less than $160,000 a year, one for teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies, a tax credit for community development agencies that invest in low-income neighborhoods, as well as a tax break for restaurant owners and retailers who remodel their stores. The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.

NEW VIDEO SHOWS ROB PORTMAN’S ASSOCIATES DON’T BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT IS A UNITED STATES CITIZEN

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Portman Still Refusing To Denounce Ohio Lawmakers Who Questioned President Obama’s Citizenship Status, Won’t Say if He Believes President Obama Was Born In The United States

Video Found HERE

In response to Talking Points Memo’s report that Congressman Rob Portman stood silent as two Republican leaders made comments questioning President Obama’s citizenship, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a new video this morning to ask Rob Portman if he believes President Obama is a U.S. citizen? According to TPM, Portman’s spokeswoman acknowledged that the remarks were "inappropriate" but failed to clarify whether or not Portman believes that President Obama is a U.S. citizen. The “birther” comments were made by former State Rep. Jim Buchy and State Rep. James Zehringer at the Darke County Lincoln Day Dinner, an annual Republican Party fundraiser which Portman attended.

“The question remains, does Rob Portman doubt the president’s citizenship or does he just choose to stay quiet when it is politically convenient?” DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy said. “Enough is enough. Portman owes Ohioans an answer as to whether or not he believes President Obama was born in the U.S.”

Said Buchy: "Lincoln was a skinny lawyer. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was highly respected. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was born in the United States. Obama is a skinny lawyer."

Said Zehringer: “Rob Portman is an American lawyer. That's the first sentence [on his Wikipedia page]. That's something our president can't say,"

Portman’s noticeable silence on the issue of the president’s citizenship is the latest example of the former Bush Budget Director and Trade Ambassador’s unwillingness to distance himself from the extreme fringes of his own Party. In February of 2008, Portman did nothing to refute the highly inflammatory remarks extreme conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham made towards then presidential candidate Barack Obama. Portman followed Cunningham who called the president a “hack” and tried to stir up the crowd by referring to the president using his middle name, Hussein. Last week, Portman refused to sever ties with the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), which refers to public officials as Nazis on its Web site. Similarly, while Portman called the group’s statements “highly inappropriate,” he keynoted the group’s biggest event of the year, raising them $15,000 while ignoring calls from 20 Ohio legislators to cancel his speech and distance himself from COAST. The letter from the lawmakers remains unanswered by Portman.

JANE NORTON SPEAKS! UNDER FIRE FROM RIGHT AND LEFT FOR RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING, NORTON STILL HIDES THE TRUTH ABOUT HER PIGGY BANK BREAKING SPENDING HABITS

Deirdre Murphy, DSCC

Norton’s Big Spending Record Makes Donald Trump Look Frugal

As Executive Director Of CDPHE, Spending Went Up Every Single Year

Jane Norton finally broke her silence on her spending record yesterday to KDVR in Denver, but she failed to tell Coloradans the full truth about her piggy bank-breaking, big spending habits. The truth is, Jane Norton presided over out of control spending during her time at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and as Lieutenant Governor. As executive director at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Norton increased the budget by over $55 million, with $10 million of the increase coming directly from taxpayers. During her time as Lieutenant Governor, Norton increased spending by over $10,000, including bilking taxpayers for $7,000 in reimbursements for travel, flowers, and meals and spending $2,000 on a new office desk. An independent anti-government waste group called Norton’s spending increases “unnecessary and wasteful.”

“How do you spell hypocrite? J-A-N-E-N-O-R-T-ON,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Jane Norton has been traveling around Colorado blasting Democrats for overspending, but she apparently fails to look in the mirror each morning. During her time in public office, Norton increased budgets at the expense of Colorado taxpayers and spent money left and right, including spending thousands on flowers and meals. Norton should know that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

In the past several months alone, Norton has come under repeated fire for her remarks. First, she raised eyebrows after telling a Tea Party crowd in Alamosa that the solution to fixing America’s education system is to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. Then, she showered praise on both the TEA party movement and Glenn Beck’s 9/12 groups, calling both groups a “huge strength” for the Republican Party. Next, Norton sat silently at a meet and greet at a coffee shop while a woman repeatedly called President Obama a Muslim. Finally, in response to an unrelated question in front of the Jefferson County Men’s Club, Norton told the audience that President Obama cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists than protecting the American people. Norton refused to back down from her terrorist claim, telling a Weld County audience several days later once again that President Obama’s Administration cares more about protecting the rights of terrorists that the lives of American citizens.

KDVR: Exclusive: Senate candidate Jane Norton defends record on spending
Eli Stokols
March 9, 2010

DENVER - There is no issue that riles up today's conservative base like the issue of government spending, perceived to be out of control after last year's $787 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and on the verge of a health care reform bill that, if passed, could cost close to $1 trillion over the next decade.

In such a context, it's no surprise that Republican candidates are talking, on the eve of this fall's midterm elections, about how Democrats have overspent and how they will, if elected, rein in such expenditures.

It's also no surprise that Jane Norton, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Colorado, is already airing television commercials to that effect.

And given that Norton may be the front-runner in the race, out in front of both Democratic contenders and the two Republicans challenging her for the party's nomination, it's no surprise that her record on spending is coming under heavy scrutiny -- and heavy fire -- from both sides.

Norton, who has also been criticized of late for avoiding the mainstream media's attention, spoke to FOX31 last week about her conservative record.

"It's fashionable right now to talk about being a fiscal conservative and talk about limited government," said Norton, who, under former Gov. Bill Owens, served as director of Colorado's Dept. of Public Health and Environment and later as Lieutenant Governor.

"The fact of the matter is I did cut budgets and my general fund was less. The general fund allotment I had when I left the department of Public Health was less when I left than when I started, about $6.4 million less."

The Democrats and Republicans parsing Norton's spending record from her tenure at CDPHE accept that the department's annual general fund appropriation did wind up being 28 percent less in her final year as director than it was in her first.

But, they also point out what Norton does not -- that money from the state's general fund is but one piece of the department's budget, which also includes money from cash funds and the federal government.

"She didn't say in her ad that her general fund went down," said Bobby Clark, executive director of ProgressNow Action, a Denver-based, liberal organizing group.

"She said she cut spending -- and it's just not true. Spending -- her department budget went up every year."

During Norton's tenure at CDPHE, the department's overall budget did rise from $226.5 million in fiscal year 1999-2000 to a high of $280 million three years later, before the post- 9/11 recession led to across-the-board cuts and slight drop in the department's overall 2002-03 budget, which was $269.5 million.

"A budget going up every year doesn't equate to cutting spending," Clark said. "Jane Norton saying she cut spending is like Sarah Palin saying she could see Russia from her house. It's disingenuous and it's just not true."

But, in Norton's view, she only had control over the money her department received from the state.

"In the budget, you have federal funds, cash funds and general funds -- and general funds are what the executive director actually has control over," Norton said.

Asked to explain why her general fund allotment increased 36 percent from $23.7 million in fiscal year 1999-2000 to $32.4 million in 2000-01, Norton pointed to the legislature's decision to consolidate three youth programs in CDPHE, adding $8.7 million to the department's general fund appropriation.

"You can't take credit for the drop in funding and then blame the spike on the legislature," said Carol Hedges, a senior policy analyst at the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.

"Ultimately, the director submits a budget and the legislature approves it," Hedges said. "So you could argue the legislature is responsible for all increases and decreases in general fund spending. And, if you want to say the director is responsible, they'd be equally responsible for cash fund increases and decreases. It's not only the general fund money they oversee."

Democrats aren't the only ones scrutinizing Norton's record.

"Jane is a wonderful person, but not a fiscal conservative," said former state senator Tom Wiens, who is challenging Norton to be the GOP's U.S. Senate candidate come fall. "We have to have real fiscal conservatives elected to the U.S. Senate," he said. "If you're going to use these numbers from your budget, you have to use the real numbers. You can't make them up. We can't have this kind of thinking where you claim to cut your budget and you don't; and you claim to not raise taxes, and you did."

In Wiens's view, Norton's support for Referendum C in 2006 was, in effect, support for a tax increase, even if it was voter-approved. The measure, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, allowed the state to keep any extra revenue above what's needed to balance the budget for five years, instead of returning that surplus to taxpayers as TABOR ordinarily mandates.

"Referendum C is actually the Taxpayers Bill of Rights in action," Norton said. "TABOR allows for people to vote. And in this case, it was: do you want your tax refund to go -- it was a five-year time out, and 52 percent of the people said yes, we will forgo our tax refund to help pay for essential services."

Wiens, who was in the legislature when Referendum C was drawn up, has a different view.

"No matter how you look at it, Ref C took more money away from taxpayers and gave it to the government, and it raised taxes as a result," he said. Norton is glad to run on Owens's record -- even in a year when the conservative base has little appetite for moderates.

"Bill Owens has a record, and our administration, of cutting taxes 43 times, 30 of them permanently," Norton said. "But I'm a supporter of TABOR. I don't think government should grow any faster than the private sector."

Norton being targeted by Democrats and Republicans alike indicates that both sides view her as the front-runner in the race. But even with the National Republican Senatorial Committee behind her, she's got the difficult task of defining herself to voters before her opponents can -- not just defining who she is, or who she wants to be in the Senate, but who she's been.

And with Colorado voters still confusing her with other Nortons -- former Interior Secretary Gail Norton, or UNC President Kay Norton, among others -- her ability to do so could go a long way in determining how far she goes as a candidate.

"She's not a known commodity and she doesn't have a deep reservoir of passionate support," said Eric Sondermann, a Denver-based political analyst.

"So if somebody uncovers something, if some particular line of attack really gains traction, there's not a deep base out there -- it strikes me as a wide base, but a shallow base -- there's not a deep base that's going to rescue her if something really comes out here."

Norton’s Budgets at Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Increased By Over $55 Million, With $10 Million Increase Coming Directly From Taxpayers. During her tenure as executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from 1999 to 2002, Norton oversaw an increase in the department budget of $55,921,439, with federal funding increasing by only $2,430,333. Consequently, an increase of $10,036,332 came directly from taxpayers’ funds through the general fund. [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Budget and Supplemental Budget Bills for FY 98-99 through FY 01-02, obtained via Colorado Open Records Act Request]

Norton Increased Spending At Lieutenant Governor’s Office By Over $10,000. From the 2003-2004 fiscal year to the 2005-2006 fiscal year, Norton increased the budget of her department by $10,588 planned for in state budgets. According to state budget records, the budget for the Lieutenant Governor’s office was $270,402 in FY 2003-2004. The budget for the Lieutenant Governor’s office increased to $280,990 in FY 2005-2006. [Governor-Lieutenant Governor – State Planning and Budgeting, Fiscal Years 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006]

Norton’s Expenditures As Lieutenant Governor Revealed Lavish Spending. During her time as Lieutenant Governor, Norton wasted taxpayer dollars on numerous expenditures, including a $2,000 desk, nearly $1,000 on phones and blackberry units, and $1,500 on plane travel. [State of Colorado, Financial Reporting System, Expenditures of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, FY 2004 and 2005]
Norton Bilked Taxpayers for Nearly $7,000 in Reimbursements For Travel, Flowers and Meals. During her time as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Norton requested and received reimbursements for $6,805.53. The items reimbursed included in-state and out-of-state travel, flowers and meals. [Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Expenditure Reimbursements for Jane E. Norton, obtained via Colorado Open Records Act Request]
Anti-Government Waste Group Cited Norton’s Lieutenant Governor Office as “Unnecessary and Wasteful,” Waste of Nearly $300,000 Taxpayer Funds. In 2005, the Independence Institute, a think tank based in Golden, identified Norton’s LG office as an example of government waste in a draft report the group posted online by mistake. The “Piglet Report,” at www.taxincrease.org, warned voters against ballot measures Referendum C and Referendum D. The report called the lieutenant governor’s office and its $280,990 budget “unnecessary and wasteful.” Jon Caldara, the institute’s president, said the job “is basically to wake up in the morning, call the governor and make sure he’s alive.” A spokeswoman for Norton took exception to that. Sue Smith, the spokeswoman, noted Norton’s work on homeland security, education, a state adoption initiative and Indian affairs, among others. [Rocky Mountain News, 7/08/05]

Is Rob Portman Joining The Birther Bandwagon?

Per TPM, two Ohio Republicans made "birther" jokes about President Obama at a dinner on Saturday...while introducing Senate candidate Rob Portman.

According to audio recorded by someone at the dinner and obtained by TPMDC, the joke concludes with: "Lincoln was a skinny lawyer. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was a Republican. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was highly respected. Obama is a skinny lawyer. Lincoln was born in the United States. Obama is a skinny lawyer."

That was followed up with a more subtle crack from State Rep. James Zehringer, who said he read over Portman's Wikipedia entry, which starts by identifying him as an American lawyer. "Rob Portman is an American lawyer. That's the first sentence [on his Wikipedia page]. That's something our president can't say," Zehringer said.

Portman has yet to denounce these statements, and his campaign will not answer directly whether Portman believes President Obama was born in the United States.

IN KEY VOTE THIS AFTERNOON, CHUCK GRASSLEY IGNORES JOBLESS IOWANS BY VOTING TO OBSTRUCT NEEDED ASSISTANCE

Grassley Continues To Show He Is Out Of Touch With Iowa

Senator Chuck Grassley continued to let down jobless Iowans this afternoon, voting against ending debate on an unemployment compensation bill and allowing the legislation to go to the floor for a final vote. Despite Grassley’s attempt at obstruction, cloture was invoked on a bipartisan basis, and the bill will now be brought to a final vote in the next few days.

“Today the U.S. Senate took an important procedural vote on extending unemployment benefits and tax breaks, but all Iowans got from Senator Grassley was another attempt at obstruction,” said DSCC National Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. “Senator Grassley continues to show he is out of touch with Iowa, and today’s vote shows that Senator Grassley would rather obstruct commonsense measures to help hard-hit Iowans instead of helping them during their time of need.”

Today’s bill includes close to 60 tax breaks for individuals and companies that expired at the end of 2009. The bill also includes a deduction for college tuition for couples making less than $160,000 a year, one for teachers who use their own money to buy school supplies, a tax credit for community development agencies that invest in low-income neighborhoods, as well as a tax break for restaurant owners and retailers who remodel their stores. The measure also prevents doctors from absorbing a crippling cut in Medicare payments, extends health insurance subsidies for the unemployed and gives cash-starved states help with Medicaid, the federal-state program providing health care to the poor and disabled.

D.C. lobbyists drive Burr’s fundraising

Sunlight Foundation

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., formally announced his reelection bid on Feb. 22, 2010, with an open house at his Winston-Salem campaign headquarters, but the first term member has been raising money since he took office. Since January 2009 alone, he and his campaign have sent out at least 38 invitations to fundraisers, according to our Party Time database, the great majority of them in Washington, D.C. The events have helped him raise a total of $6.7 million, $4.3 million of which he still has in the bank.

Lobbyists and Political Action Committees (PACs), some of whom represent Burr’s biggest donors, are hosts of many of these functions. One upcoming event—scheduled for March 17—lists 25 hosts alone. These include Robert Chamberlin of McBee Strategic Consulting, whose clients include FedEx Corp, a top donor to Burr’s campaign fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Ed Kutler, a lobbyist for Clark & Weinstock, represents another top campaign donor, AmerisourceBergen. Another host is Charles Symington, who represents the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, a top donor to Burr’s leadership PAC, the Next Century Fund.

In all, half of the top 20 donors to Burr’s campaign from 2005-2010 are represented by lobbyists or PACs hosting fundraising events for the senator, including Reynolds American, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and GlaxoSmithKline. The records do not reveal whether employees of these companies or PACs actually attended the events. Though lobbyists and lobbying firms were frequently listed in Burr’s fundraising invitations, the campaign has not identified any bundled contributions raised by lobbyists to the Federal Elections Commission. The requirements for reporting bundled contributions are weak, and are easily avoided.

Of the 38 parties that raised money for Burr since January 2009, 33 of them were held in Washington, D.C., and featured 54 registered lobbyists and 21 PACs as hosts—all representing interests with business before Congress. These lobbyists and PACs have collectively given Burr’s campaign committee directly more than $106,000 in contributions, and provided opportunities for access for other donors.

Burr began 2009 as one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, with low approval ratings in the Tarheel state, but recent polling numbers show him less vulnerable than he had been. Politico pegged Burr’s race a “bellwether” for the national zeitgeist—if things seem to be swinging the GOP’s way, he “shouldn’t have much trouble winning a second term.” A recent Rasmussen poll shows he leads both of his potential Democratic rivals by wide margins. Cook Political Report currently lists the VA race as “likely Republican.”

Though his political fortunes have changed, Burr continues to hold fundraising events at a prodigious pace, attracting a wide range of Washington insiders to his campaign events:

Last March, nine lobbyists from the Podesta Group broke from the Democratic proclivities of their boss, Tony Podesta, and were hosts for donors invited to a breakfast with Burr. Among the companies some of them represent, which are donors to Burr: Genzyme, Tyco International, and General Electric. Collectively, these lobbyists gave Burr $5,500, spread over the period from March to June. (The nine lobbyists are: Sharon Cohen, Kimberley Fritts, Randall Gerard, Lauren Maddox, David Marin, Elizabeth Morra, John Scofield, John Shank, and Missi Tessier.)
Four lobbyists from BGR Holding, whose president, Bob Wood, used to work for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, hosted this breakfast on June 11 for the senator. Together, the lobbyists represent a long list of clients, including such Burr top donors as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer Inc. Of the four lobbyists–Bob Wood, Jennifer Larkin, Lukawski, Loren Monroe, Mary-Lacey Reuther–Lukawski and Reuther each contributed $500 to Burr on June 29, 2009.
On June 24, several lobbyists representing Con-way, the trucking firm, hosted a breakfast for Burr; also listed as hosts were the PACs for the lobbying firm hired by the company, Venable LLP, and the company itself, which have each given Burr $2,500. Jim Burnley and John O’Neil both represent Con-Way at Venable; Randy Mullett is vice president of government relations and government affairs for the company. The fourth host, Diann Howland, lobbies for the American Benefits Council, where she focuses on benefits issues. She’s listed as giving the senator $1,000 on June 29. Conway hired Venable in part to lobby on pension issues.

Burr’s office did not return phone calls seeking information about these fundraisers.

Buck and Maes win Tea Party candidate forum straw poll

The Colorado Independent

On Saturday at a South Denver Tea Party-hosted candidate forum, Republican candidates looking to reverse sweeping losses over the past series of elections took turns railing against government and business as usual in Washington and in Denver. Reflecting GOP campaigns across the country, they proposed sweeping cuts to programs, warned of the rise of socialism and ruminated on the greatest threats to national security. U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck and gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes won in straw polling over respective frontrunners Jane Norton and Scott McInnis.

The straw poll results were likely not a surprise to attendees, including the candidates. Buck and Maes have been favorites with Tea Partiers, who have generally resented the government-insider candidacies of longtime government employee and lobbyist Norton and six-term Congressman McInnis.

In any case, the positions put forward by the candidates varied little.

Norton took the opportunity to reiterate her proposal to eliminate the federal Department of Education. The long-shot proposal drew applause for the way it generally seemed to target intrusive government. She didn’t elaborate specifically on how the proposal might effect schools in Colorado. The comments came in response to a question on the size of the federal government put by host Mike Boyle, a conservative restaurant critic and radio talk show host.

“What do you think about the number of federal employees. Do you think that that there are too many?” Boyle asked, making his position on the matter clear.

“The only sector that is growing in our economy is the federal government,” Norton responded, an assertion no one at the event questioned. “Let me give you one example: the Department of Education. I have been the first one of the candidates to say let’s get rid of the Department of Education.

“Anybody know there are 5000 employees at the Department of Education? Education is not mentioned one time in the United States Constitution. The Department of Education could go. We could block grant the money to the states, we could let parents and local school boards have choice and competition and improve education.”

Federal Department of Education programs largely go to shore up low-income and special-needs education in the state. Colorado was one of 15 states announced Thursday as a finalist in the federal Education Race To The Top competition, where $4.35 billion will be shared out to the winners. Colorado was the only western state declared a first-round finalist.

Norton repeated her assertion that government should be scaled back and proposed cuts that would trim thousands of jobs.

“I am calling for a 20 percent across the board cut in discretionary spending. We want to get to a balanced budget. The federal government is out of control.”

That message was repeated throughout the event by all of the candidates.

Senate candidate Ken Buck, who won the straw poll for Senate at the event, said he would not have supported the stimulus package.

“We don’t need the federal government stimulating the economy,” he said. The answer is to encourage businesses with tax cuts.

A third GOP Senate primary candidate Tom Wiens likewise drew on themes familiar as Tea Party rallying cries, echoing dramatic and dark opinions expressed throughout the event that the elections this year amounted to a fight to “take back” the country in order to save it from socialism.

“This next election is really about what it is going to be like to live in this country for a long, long time. Together we will take back Colorado and we will take back the Republican Party.”

Republican candidates assured attendees that they they would stand up to the Republican Party when it veered into “business as usual” in Washington, catering to special interests and recklessly spending taxes and raising the federal deficit.

“It is time for you and I to send people across this nation who understand the bold, the beautiful, the complex flavor of tea, ” Jimmy Lakey, a past talk show host and long-shot Congressional candidate for District 7, said.

“This is such a unique situation in our country’s history,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman. “There is so much at stake right now. People are upset across the country in a way that they have never been in my lifetime. On election night, when the American people across this country have risen up to stop this march to socialism– have risen up to stop this relentless drive to bury this country in debt– I want president Barack Obama to say ‘where did all these people come from?’”

Also dark were the national security and foreign policy prescriptions on offer.

Cleve Tidwell, a Republican also running in the U.S. Senate primary, called out Pakistan as posing one of the greatest threats to national security.

“[The greatest threat] I would say that it could be any one of three countries that are developing nuclear weapons, whether that be Iran, North Korea, or Pakistan. So those would be my three or four choices right there.”

Evergreen businessman Dan Maes topped GOP frontrunner Scott McInnis in the straw poll for Governor.

The candidate forum was hosted by theSouth Denver 912 Project , Colorado Change the Change and Arapahoe Tea Party, 912 Project, Denver Metro South (Southeast 912).

Labor works to beat Lowden

Las Vegas Review Journal

When Sue Lowden headed the Santa Fe hotel-casino, management forced a group of workers to shift to part-time status and sign away their health care coverage, said a judge who ruled the company violated fair labor practices. He ordered the Santa Fe to pay two dozen employees almost $188,000 in back wages and benefits and to reinstate three workers who lost their jobs, records show.

The 1990s case, which involved a bitter war between the unions that tried to organize Santa Fe workers and casino executives Sue and Paul Lowden who fought the effort, is at the heart of the latest attack on the Republican U.S. Senate candidate by incumbent Sen. Harry Reid's campaign.

It's also a sign of things to come if Lowden remains in the GOP front-runner position and wins the June 8 primary election. Reid's Democratic operatives are borrowing from the playbook of the powerful Culinary union that worked tirelessly to defeat Lowden in 1996 when she ran for re-election to the state Senate.

"The Lowdens campaigned viciously against the unions," said D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Local 226, who was involved in the effort to unionize the Santa Fe that started in 1993 and ultimately failed. "There were lots of twists and turns on this, and health care was one of the issues."

Taylor said the Culinary union isn't coordinating with the Reid campaign and isn't yet focused on one GOP contender. But it's clear the 60,000-member organization has Lowden in its sights.

"We have already said a while back that we're going to work hard to make sure that Harry Reid is successful in the election," Taylor said, speaking for one of the Senate majority leader's core support groups in his uphill campaign to win a fifth term.

The AFL-CIO also is gearing up to help Reid and hit Lowden. Nationally, the labor group has identified Nevada as one of six states it will focus on. These states -- including California, New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- feature both strong unions and must-win elections for Democrats.

Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said the state organization is in talks now to see how to coordinate the national effort to help Reid.

Thompson walked the picket lines against the Lowdens in the Santa Fe labor dispute, one that was especially intense because it involved an effort to unionize a neighborhood casino.

"It was among the most anti-union campaigns we've seen in this town," Thompson said. "Organizers were singled out and treated differently. It was a very ugly fight."

In the end, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the unions.

Lowden has "always touted her record against collective bargaining and her record against public employee unions," Thompson added. "There's a clear message from her past that she is not a friend of anyone who works for a living. If Sue Lowden does win the primary we will be exposing her record."

Lowden's campaign would not make her available for an interview. But Robert Uithoven, who is managing the campaign, defended her record, saying that as a state senator and private businesswoman, she had to balance budgets and make tough decisions.

"As any business owner in Nevada knows -- and as our current state legislators know -- tough economic circumstances require tough decisions, often leading to layoffs or other cuts," Uithoven said in a statement. "The Lowdens were cited by the NLRB because managers at one of their former properties tried dealing directly with employees. The union fought back -- even though there was never a signed union agreement at the Santa Fe while the Lowdens owned the property."

Uithoven said Lowden further angered the unions when she refused labor's appeals to vote to kill Nevada's right to work status when she was a state senator and was the swing vote on the issue. (In a right to work state, membership in a union cannot be a condition of employment.)

While the unions have complained that Santa Fe management punished labor organizers by cutting their hours and benefits and, in some cases, their jobs, Lowden has accused union members of intimidation tactics as well, saying they were scaring her children by picketing outside her home.

The Lowden campaign often compares her experience as a private industry casino executive with Reid's public service life. A lawyer by trade, the 70-year-old Reid has served in Washington for decades.

"Harry Reid has never worked in the private sector and he's never created a private sector job," Uithoven charged, criticizing record deficits under Democratic leadership. "We appreciate any and all future opportunities to contrast Sue Lowden's career as a job-creating Nevada businesswoman to Harry Reid's career as a big-government, tax-and-spend, bankrupting career politician."

However, those very credentials that are central to Lowden's campaign message in TV ads, the Web and on the trail -- that she's a businesswoman who built and managed several casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin and created thousands of jobs -- open her to criticism about her management practices.

The Reid campaign has dug into financial reports of the Lowden family gaming company, Archon Corp., to undercut her business experience. Annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Paul Lowden, as Archon chief executive officer, was paid $200,000 in bonuses in 2004 and again last year when the Archon-run Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in Laughlin dropped 106 employees and stopped matching employee contributions to their 401k accounts.

Sue Lowden, who is executive vice president, secretary and treasurer of Archon, responded by saying she did not sit on the compensation committee that made those decisions.

Zac Petkanas, deputy communications director of the Reid campaign, said Lowden's actions as an executive at Archon and the Santa Fe have "proven her idea of leadership is simply not something Nevadans can afford."

"Sue Lowden's track record shows that she's willing to do anything, even break the law, to save a buck by denying quality health care coverage for Nevadans," Petkanas said.

David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said modern campaigns often go after an opponent's strengths instead of their weaknesses. That strategy was employed by Karl Rove, whose Republican tactics swept former President George W. Bush into the White House.

"She's saying, 'I'm a successful businesswoman. I've brought jobs to Nevada.' And the Reid campaign is going to say, 'OK, let's look at your record,'" Damore said.

He said the Reid campaign clearly sees Lowden as his biggest election threat now that she's leading the GOP pack, according to the latest Las Vegas Review-Journal poll, ahead of businessman and former UNLV basketball star Danny Tarkanian and former Reno Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.

"Reid is trying to drive up her negatives," Damore said. "She's vulnerable. They're just going to dig and dig and dig. And anybody who's been in the gaming industry has enemies."

Lowden's newest TV ad prompted the Reid campaign to go after her on the health care issue. Her first two ads were biographical, but the latest spot smacked Reid directly for pushing health care reform.

"As a mom I know one-size-fits-all clothes don't fit, aren't comfortable and are seldom a bargain," Lowden says in the ad, speaking directly into the camera. "So why does Harry Reid want to force one-size-fits-all government health care on us? Harry Reid thinks Washington knows best, but I think we the people know best. Harry Reid's big government health care plan will raise taxes, put a bureaucrat between you and your doctor, weaken Medicare, kill jobs, push us further into debt."

The Reid campaign countered that Lowden's comments are misleading and that the plan wouldn't raise taxes, kill jobs, increase debt or weaken Medicare.

The senator's operatives then went one step further and accused Lowden of breaking the law by denying health care coverage to her employees when she was president of the Santa Fe. The campaign released documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act to back up the accusations.

"Sue Lowden illegally denied health insurance to buffet workers both by forcing them to sign a document waiving their right to it and cutting their hours to render them ineligible for it," the Reid campaign said. "As a result, her company was found guilty of violating the National Labor Relations Act and was ordered to repay employees whose hours and benefits were unlawfully slashed."

The complex legal battles between the union and Santa Fe management came after workers from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 1993, voted 300-241 for unionization in a labor board-supervised election, according to published reports.

The Lowdens refused to recognize the results and dealt directly with workers in reducing hours and benefits instead of bargaining with union representatives.

According to the documents reviewed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

2002 - An administrative law judge, Burton Litvack, ruled on Jan. 23, 1997, that the Santa Fe Hotel Inc. was guilty of several violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The ruling came after a Feb. 8, 1996, settlement reached between the two sides following a five-day trial, according to the judge.

2002 - The judge said that around May 1995, the hotel-casino "acted unilaterally, and without affording the unions, as the exclusive collective-bargaining representative of the said employees, prior notice and an opportunity to negotiate on their behalf."

As a result, the Santa Fe management ended up "reducing the work hours of its buffet department server employees, reclassifying full-time buffet department server employees to steady-extra employees, and subsequent to reducing their hours of work, eliminating all benefits, which had been previously received by said employees."

2002 - The judge ordered the Santa Fe to pay $187,504.10 in back pay and benefits to affected workers, according to the labor board and correspondence between the agency and casino attorneys between November and December 2000. About two dozen targeted workers received payments, the board said.

2002 - The judge also ordered the hotel-casino to offer three named employees full reinstatement to their former positions or equivalent ones and reimburse them for any lost earnings and benefits.

The bad blood between the Culinary and Santa Fe management prompted the union to organize a heavy-duty campaign to ensure Lowden lost her 1996 election to Democrat Valerie Wiener, a former Reid aide.

The state Senate district in Las Vegas is heavily Democratic, but Lowden in 1992 ousted then-state Senate Majority Leader Jack Vergiels, causing the upper house in the Legislature to revert back to GOP control.

After the judge's ruling, the Santa Fe was ordered to post a three-page notice to employees in the hotel-casino, admitting to the labor violations and promising not to repeat them.

"WE WILL NOT unilaterally, without prior notice to and affording the Unions an opportunity to bargain in their behalf, reduce the work hours of buffet department servers, reclassify them to steady-extra status, and eliminate all employment benefits for said employees," read a key point in a list of 17 "WE WILL NOT" and "WE WILL" promises, including a vow not to fire workers over the issue.

A few years later, in 2000, the Lowdens sold the Santa Fe to Station Casinos for $205 million without ever signing an official labor agreement with the unions, winning the war but at a high cost.

"Ultimately we were never able to secure a contract with them," said Thompson of the AFL-CIO, noting the casino remains nonunion. "They sold that property and everyone had to reapply for their jobs."

GOP hopefuls ramp up rhetoric in debate

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Republicans fighting for the party’s nomination for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat directed sly digs and a few outright punches toward the GOP establishment during a Kosciusko County debate Saturday.

Former Sen. Dan Coats left the Senate more than a decade ago, and former congressman John Hostettler lost a re-election bid in 2006 to Rep. Brad Ellsworth – the presumed Democratic nominee for retiring Sen. Evan Bayh’s seat. Those ties were fodder for the other candidates – Don Bates Jr., Richard Behney and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman, R-Howe – who all billed themselves as Washington outsiders.

Saturday’s event, sponsored by a conservative grass-roots group called Kosciusko Silent NO More, also demonstrated the vague ties between the tea party movement and the GOP establishment. In the park outside the Center Lake Pavilion, a crowd gathered around a giant inflatable bald eagle that could be seen for blocks and protesters milled around with handmade signs.

The ties were acknowledged by Coats, who said some advisers had urged him not to attend a debate sponsored by “radical” tea party activists.

“Well, first of all, we need to be radical,” Coats said. “But secondly, I said, ‘These people are Hoosiers. I know Hoosiers. They know me.’ ”

If Coats’ goal was to align himself with the grass-roots conservative activists in the standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 people, the other candidates wanted to remind them he’s been part of the Washington establishment – a shift from a debate last month.

Bates repeatedly referred to Coats as “the ambassador” – a reference to Coats’ service in Germany from 2001 to 2005 that took on a ring of derision when paired with Bates’ criticisms. Bates, a businessman, opened the debate by telling the crowd the men on the stage represented more than 50 years of political experience.

“I must say to you, I’m not responsible for a day of it,” he said. “I’m not a career politician.”

Behney, owner of a plumbing business, jabbed at Coats in his opening remarks.

“Let me be the first, Dan, to officially welcome you to the great state of Indiana,” he said.

But Behney saved his harshest words for the debate’s end, not calling out the other candidates by name but referring to remarks Hostettler had made about not reading bills while serving in Congress and bringing up Coats’ lobbying work.

“This is certainly not a time for a politician who will work not in the best interest of Hoosiers but will work for his best interests, and the best interest of his lobbying buddies and then take the first flight to North Carolina,” he said.

Behney’s barbs bookended nearly two hours of discussion that centered on the common themes of reining in federal influence and weeding out incumbents. All the candidates spoke extensively on the need to cut federal spending.

“I’ve been witnessing nothing but a bunch of pimps, prostitutes and panhandlers,” Behney said.

The disdain for politics-as-usual resonated with the vocal crowd, which groaned and booed when Hostettler suggested the others were running on “rhetoric, as opposed to a record.”

Hostettler painted himself as a political rebel who spent his 12 years in Congress casting unpopular votes against spending bills.

A crowd-pleasing question came when the candidates were asked who would make the best next president.

Hostettler said he cast a primary vote in 2008 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul and would do it again; Bates offered up Indiana Rep. Mike Pence. Both Behney and Coats said they didn’t think the right candidate has come along.

Stutzman ended a glowing recommendation of Gov. Mitch Daniels with an uncharacteristic slip of the tongue.

“I’ve seen him govern this state with resolve,” he said. “We don’t need rhetoric. We don’t need good looks.”

But for the most part, the candidates maintained a serious tone. A calm Coats did not address the questioning of his record, but told the crowd he believes his time serving in the Army, in Congress and as an ambassador – all during times of war – sets him apart. Most importantly, he said, the GOP needs to be united in its efforts.

“It’s never wrong to say no to a bad idea,” he said. “We have to come forward with constructive solutions.”

The primary election is May 4.

Former Indiana Senator Dan Coats loses in straw poll

South Bend Tribune

If a straw poll at a large tea party event Saturday in Warsaw is any indication, former senator Dan Coats could face a tough challenge against his four Republican opponents in the primary election for Sen. Evan Bayh's seat.

Coats finished last among the candidates, according to results provided by the Kosciusko County tea party group known as Kosciusko Silent No More.

State Sen. Marlin Stutzman of Howe, Ind., received 80 votes, narrowly topping Fishers, Ind., businessman and tea party activist Richard Behney, who received 76. Don Bates Jr., a financial adviser from Richmond, Ind., got 47 votes. Former Indiana U.S. Rep. John Hostettler received 18 votes, and Coats received 16, according to Monica Boyer, president of the tea party organization.

The straw poll was part of a debate that attracted a crowd of 400 to Center Lake Pavilion, and many more were turned away, according to an organizer.

Results of the poll also were tabulated based on the home county of those participating in the vote. Results for host Kosciusko County were very similar to the totals, Boyer said. Of the 84 votes cast from Kosciusko residents, Stutzman received the most, 39, and Coats had the least with three votes.

Boyer said 237 people participated in the straw poll.

While the results are certainly not scientific, the poll could suggest how the conservative elements of the Republican Party — especially those in the tea party movement — view the five candidates. Two of the candidates, Behney and Bates, have been courting tea party supporters.

Coats, who is viewed by some as having an inside track in the primary because of the name recognition gained while serving as a congressman and senator over an 18-year span, was targeted by several opponents.

Since leaving elected office 10 years ago, Coats has worked as U.S. ambassador to Germany and as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and has lived outside of Indiana for several years.

Behney was quick to bring that up. “Let me be the first, Dan, to welcome you to the great state of Indiana,” Behney said.

Coats ignored the jab and focused on his experience, but he also joined in the concerns the candidates shared about what they call big government and a liberal agenda.

“I'm back because I can't take what's happening,” Coats said.

Coats said the country is near crisis and that many people are fearful and frustrated. “We have seen the face of liberalism, and it has to be stopped,” he said.

Stutzman touted his background as a state lawmaker, farmer and small businessman. “I've got a proven record in the Statehouse that I can take to Washington,” Stutzman said. “We need to get back to serving people and not being self-servant politicians.”

He also criticized Coats' vote to increase the debt ceiling in 1995. “People aren't looking for more debt in this country,” Stutzman said.

The two-hour debate included questions from the crowd and organizers, with many of the questions zeroing in on issues at the heart of the tea party movement: deficit spending, taxation and federal bureaucracy.

The debate remained cordial until candidates were asked if they supported term limits and Bates suggested Hostettler supported term limits as part of the 1994 “Contract With America” by Republicans. Hostettler said that aspect was removed from the contract and chastised Bates for the apparent inaccuracy.

“This is why some people in this race cannot be trusted,” Hostettler said.

Because of the debate format, Bates declined to respond, other than to say he was “shocked” at the comment.

Stutzman said he has worked in the state Senate to reduce the deficit without raising taxes. “Folks, I oppose deficit spending in this country. It's time we stop that problem in Washington before all else,” Stutzman said.

“It's time to cut our federal government back to the size of the original piece of parchment that it was written on,” Stutzman said.

Behney said he jumped into the campaign because he doesn't like the direction the country is headed. “Here, I come to find that the republic that I love — the land of the free and brave — is being remade into the land of the chained and enslaved. Not by some foreign power or even Islamic terrorists, but by our own very politicians who we entrusted to have our backs,” Behney said.

Bates said he would bring a practical business approach to Washington and spoke out against what he called out-of-touch career politicians.

“If we continue to send the same kind of politicians to Washington year after year, we can certainly expect the same results,” Bates said. “We must stop our government that is raising our taxes, invading our small businesses and family farms, nationalizing our health care and robbing us of our American dream,” Bates said.

Hostettler cast himself as an opponent of unnecessary spending bills. “My record is one of fiscal responsibility. If you look at that record, you will find someone who not only has voted to cut your taxes time and time again, but voted against very popular spending programs,” he said.

Turnout exceeded expectations for organizers, but they anticipated an overflow crowd. For those unable to be inside the pavilion, an outdoor screen was made available nearby to watch the debate. Organizers also directed people to three coffee shops in Warsaw that promised to carry a radio broadcast of the debate.

Stutzman said the anger and frustration voiced by the tea party movement is only the tip of the iceberg. “I think you're going to see a huge turnout in an off-year election. People are ready to vote and send a message to D.C.,” he said.

Bayh announced he would not seek re-election last month, just days before the filing deadline. State party leaders are expected to choose a nominee within a few weeks.

VIDEO: On Jobs Bill And Unemployment Benefits, Richard Burr is Out In Right Field

This quite befits the man who says it's impossible to get to his right, from an ideological standpoint...

Jobs Bill Passes House: Kirk, Castle, Blunt, Boozman Vote Against

The HIRE Act passed the House today, no thanks to Reps. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Michael Castle of Delaware, and John Boozman of Arkansas.

Each of these would-be Senators voted against the job creation package.

The bipartisan bill, has four key provisions including a payroll tax holiday for businesses to encourage hiring, additional funds to help small businesses expand, an extension of the Highway Trust Fund to allow more infrastructure investments, and an expansion of the Build America Bonds program to allow states finance infrastructure projects.

Each of these four Republicans stands in opposition to the Senators they would replace on job creation.

Crude RNC Memo Leaked

DSCC Rant

We knew Republicans were ginning up fears about President Obama and his alleged "socialism" to try to win elections in November, and now we have proof, straight from highest levels of the party.

A confidential Republican National Committee document, left behind after an RNC fundraising retreat in Florida and then leaked to the media, outlines the Republican strategy for raising money this election cycle. It says that Republicans should capitalize on "fear" of President Obama and his "trending toward socialism" to extract cash from donors. A slide titled "The Evil Empire" even shows a picture of President Obama as The Joker, with the word "socialism" underneath.

One word: Disgusting.

But somehow, we're not really surprised. This just appears to be the latest – and most blatant – attempt to delegitimize our president. You've seen the evidence. Suggesting that Obama isn't a "natural-born citizen." Picturing him as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose. Calling him everything from a socialist to a communist to a fascist. The list goes on and on.

Democrats are rightfully up in arms about this disgusting tactic. However, Democrats might not be the only people angry about the RNC's leaked document.

The document shows distain for the Republican Party's own donors. While it says low-information donors will be motivated by fears of Obama and creeping socialism, it also says "tchochkes" and offers of access will appeal to wealthy, "ego-driven" donors.

Bunning Blockade Ends...But Burr Sides With Him

First, the good news: Senator Jim Bunning finally stopped his blockade and allowed a vote on short term extenders for unemployment benefits, COBRA, flood insurance, highway funding and small business loans.

The bad news is that Senator Richard Burr voted against the extensions anyway.

The bill still passed, 78-19, but the vote leaves us shaking our heads, wondering why Richard Burr chose to cast a vote that hurt hundreds of thousands of struggling North Carolinian families.

Key Republican Candidates Supporting Bunning

Sen. Jim Bunning has become a national news phenomenon of late for his cruel filibuster…and many of his fellow Republicans, including would-be Bunning replacements Trey Grayson and Rand Paul, are publicly supporting Sen. Bunning.

For a recap, here is the cost of the Bunning blockade:

For four days, he has been on a one-man campaign to cut off unemployment benefits, kick the unemployed off of health insurance, cut Medicare payments to doctors, deny satellite TV to rural Americans, shut down federal flood insurance and highway projects, and furlough thousands of federal workers.

Quite a laundry list of accomplishments – and one that Grayson and Paul are not ashamed to endorse, though they certainly should be.

Stop Senator Bunning - Sign the DSCC's Petition

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) is filibustering an unemployment benefits extension for more than 1.2 million out-of-work Americans. Struggling families count on these benefits to put food on the table, pay bills and keep a roof over their heads.

As they usually do, Senate Republicans are standing with Jim Bunning and his obstruction, not with American families. Is railroading President Obama’s agenda more important to Republicans than helping Americans struggling through this poor economic climate?

Ask GOP candidates this question: Do you support Jim Bunning’s cruel filibuster?

Blunt Skips Key Vote In Order To Raise Wall Street Cash

Roy Blunt skips a key vote in the House to strip monopolies from health insurance companies...for a Wall Street fundraiser.

Congressman Roy Blunt was caught red handed today by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for skipping a key vote yesterday on ending insurance company monopolies in order to raise campaign contributions from Wall Street. In a bipartisan vote yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that will rein in big insurance companies by ending their monopolies. Congressman Blunt was nowhere to be found however, because he was in New York City raising money from Wall Street hedge fund managers.

Well, we know whose side Blunt is on...

A (Satirical) Letter to Dan Coats

DSCC Rant

Dear Dan,

We never thought we’d see you around here again. It’s been a long time since you’ve graced the Hoosier State with your presence. We admit that you’re looking mighty spiffy these days. Those fancy K Street suits really do make the man, don’t they?

Silly us. We figured that you were done with us after you retired from the Senate, moved to Virginia and became a powerful lobbyist. We sometimes wondered what those big banks offered you that we didn’t, but we eventually moved on.

But now you’re back, and you want to resume the relationship we used to have. It’s a little confusing to us, and it’s raising all sorts of questions. Frankly, you have a lot of explaining to do.

We know that while you’ve been gone, you’ve taken up with special interests. Big banks, equity firms, oil companies, defense contractors … you’ve lavished your attention on them, and they’ve lavished attention back. Are those flings over?

Did you know that one of your special-interest friends was trying to get a patent approved to make it easier to move jobs overseas? Did you help? It’s time to come clean on any objectionable behavior.

And the secrets must stop. You told a group of North Carolinians that you were planning to retire to your beautiful beach home there. You asked them not to tell, but we heard, and it really hurt.

We’ll be frank, Dan. We shared a lot of years together. We respect that. But we’re just not sure that we can welcome you back with open arms, especially after all this time. Maybe it’s best that we just be long-distance friends.

Sincerely,

Indiana Voters

Primary Problems: Jane Norton Pilloried By Fellow Republicans In CO

The GOP primary is turning out to be nothing but trouble for Jane Norton in Colorado. Her primary opponents are already running stinging ads accusing her of supporting tax increases as Lieutenant Governor.

From Politico:

Colorado Senate candidate Jane Norton is getting walloped in television and radio for her support of a controversial 2005 ballot initiative that her opponents label “the biggest tax increase in state history.”

Former state lawmaker Tom Wiens, who is competing with Norton for the GOP Senate nomination, has launched a 60-second radio ad that targets her position on Referendum C without ever using her name.

It seems that all of Norton’s kowtowing to the right – vowing to abolish the Department of Education, sitting and smiling as the President was called a Muslim in front of her, and muttering about the President’s concern for “terrorist rights” – hasn’t gotten her to the right of her Republican primary opponents. Which is a frightening indictment of the political alignment of today’s GOP.

Lowden Cuts Workers, Pads Own Pockets

DSCC Rant

Republican Senate candidate Sue Lowden claims that putting Nevada’s people back to work is her top priority. But it appears that padding her own family’s pockets is actually goal numero uno.

Lowden and her husband own the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in Laughlin. When the business hit a rough patch last year, it cut its workforce by 25 percent. 106 Nevadans lost their jobs. Those who continued working for Lowden no longer received a company match for their 401(k) retirement accounts. That move saved the company $67,000 per year.

But here’s the real kicker: As Lowden was cutting jobs and benefits, her own husband received a $200,000 bonus. Together, they earned nearly $1 million last year. Must be nice.

In the meantime, 106 Nevadans were trying to figure out how to pay the rent, put food on the table and keep shoes on the kids.

So much for creating jobs in Nevada.

CBO Releases Report on Recovery Act Success

The Congressional Budget Office has come out with their estimates for jobs created by the Recovery Act in the final quarter of 2009, and they point to continued economic recovery.

The CBO says that the Recovery Act added up to 2.1 million jobs in the fourth quarter alone, boosting the economy by up to 3.5% while lowering the unemployment rate by 2.1% relative to expectations.

We look forward to the continued success of the Recovery Act in 2010!

GOP Posturing Ignores Public

DSCC Rant

The American public wants change, but the Republicans only strategy is to roadblock everything President Obama supports. Their obliviousness to the groundswell for change has never been more apparent than in their stand on corporate spending on elections.

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, eight in 10 Americans oppose the recent Supreme Court ruling that says corporations can spend an unlimited amount on political campaigns. 65 percent say they “strongly oppose” the ruling. And the opposition crosses partisan lines. 85 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of independents oppose the ruling.

“The results suggest a strong reservoir of bipartisan support on the issue for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are in the midst of crafting legislation aimed at limiting the impact of the high court’s decision,” according to the Washington Post.

That “bipartisan support” doesn’t extend to Senate Republicans, however. Shocking, we know.

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Republican lawmakers have praised the ruling as a victory for free speech and have signaled their intent to oppose any legislation intended to blunt the impact of the court’s decision,” the Washington Post said.

Republicans just don’t get it. Elections must be decided by the voters, not the special interests with the deepest pockets. Anything else is simply undemocratic.

Carly the “GCINO”

We guess she could always blame the Demon Sheep.

On Tuesday, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said that California should consider filing for bankruptcy due to its severe financial problems. There’s only one problem with that grand plan: States are prohibited by federal law from declaring bankruptcy.

No wonder she ran HP into the ground. Fiorina, in case you’ve forgotten, is the former CEO of HP. Under her watch, the company’s stock price plunged 60%, 18,000 jobs were lost, and she was named one of the nation’s 20 worst CEOs by Portfolio magazine. She still enjoyed a $42 million severance package when she was canned, however.

Her little “bankruptcy” slipup didn’t go unnoticed by California media outlets. The Bakersfield Californian’s conservative editorial board had this to say:

Fiorina once again demonstrated that being an “outsider” isn't good enough. You have to be a smart outsider who does his or her homework. Or at least hire staff that will be smart and do its homework on the candidate’s behalf.

Ouch.

Fiorina later told the Sacramento Bee that the fact that states can’t declare bankruptcy is a “technicality.” We’d like to see how well that argument would go over with a bankruptcy judge.

This goof-up couldn’t come at a worse time for Fiorina. She was already getting significant blowback over her hideous – yet delicious – “Demon Sheep” video ad smacking Senate candidate Tom Campbell as being a “FCINO” – fiscal conservative in name only. Now Campbell and tea party favorite Chuck DeVore have a new embarrassing issue to hit her with. On top of the 18,000 lost jobs and “worst CEO” record, that is.

Perhaps Carly’s really just a “GCINO” – good candidate in name only.

Does Hoeven Heart Bachmann?

DSCC Rant

Pity poor North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven. The Republican Senate candidate has found himself in quite the political pickle.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Crazytown, is holding a campaign rally with North Dakota Republicans on Friday. Bachmann is the congresswoman who accused the Obama administration of running a “gangster government.” And suggested that the media should do a McCarthyesque investigation into whether members of Congress were “pro-America or anti-America.” And suggested that the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act would lead to left-wing re-education camps for young Americans. Yeah. That Michele Bachmann.

Say Hoeven shows up. How will he then explain to his fellow North Dakotans that he doesn’t REALLY want to privatize Social Security (like Bachmann does.) Or that the 2008 Farm Bill was a good thing (Bachmann wanted it killed.) Or that he doesn’t think President Obama is anti-American (Bachmann would beg to differ.)

That just sounds painful, right? So let’s say he finds some important state business that must be attended to and skips the rally.

That choice poses its own set of risks. It would be the second time Hoeven has passed on a big event with a national Republican superstar (he was supposed to personally induct Karl Rove into Minot’s Scandinavian Hall of Fame in September, but bowed out.) The questions would begin. Is he ashamed of being a Republican? Is he some sort of closet socialist?

Such questions would rile up the easily excitable tea partiers. Add that to the profligate spending Hoeven has engaged in as governor, and they just might find a new candidate to support.

So will he? Or won’t he? The political world is watching.

Coats Votes (in Virginia)

DSCC Rant

We’ve heard of outsourcing, but this is ridiculous.

Indiana Republicans desperately want to beat Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. One problem: They couldn’t find anyone willing to challenge Bayh, who’s sitting on a $13 million war chest and the kind of moderate record Hoosiers appreciate.

Enter former senator and current high-powered bank lobbyist Dan Coats. Of Virginia.

That’s right. The Republican savior of the 2010 Senate elections is none other than Indiana’s former senator, who now lives in Virginia. And votes in Virginia. Since 2000. Heck, he couldn’t even sign his own nominating petition to run for the Senate, given that he’s not a registered Indiana voter.

If you’re looking for an example of someone who’s “gone Washington,” Coats most certainly fits the bill. If you’re looking for someone who will fight for the rights of powerful banks, Coats is your guy. But if you’re looking for someone who can best represent Indiana’s voters, you’d best look elsewhere.

One Word: Ouch

DSCC Rant

The past couple of days haven’t been kind to Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk of Illinois.

First, he gets called out by premier climate-change denier Sen. James Inhofe for his 180-degree pivot on cap-and-trade legislation. In case you’ve forgotten, Kirk voted for it as a United States Representative. Bad move if you have an “R” after your name. In an effort to limit the damage, Kirk now says he’d vote against it as senator.

In an editorial in the conservative journal “Human Events,” Inhofe called Kirk a “Janus,” that two-faced Roman god of flip-floppery. Ouch.

Being called names by a sitting U.S. senator of your own political party is bad. University of Illinois-Springfield political scientist Kent Redfield made things worse. In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, he suggested that Kirk is a political chameleon.

“Whatever the real Kirk is, I have no idea,” Redfield said. “But the way he’ll have to present himself to win (in November) is a moderate problem-solver.”

Double ouch.

Connecticut Smackdown!

DSCC Rant

We haven’t seen a brawl this heated since the last time we watched pro wrestling.

Ever since Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal jumped into the race to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate, the Republican candidates have been savaging each other. In one corner, we have former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon. In the other corner, we have former Congressman Rob Simmons.

Simmons says McMahon ignored the health of her wrestlers in the pursuit of bigger profits. SLAM! McMahon hits back that Simmons is a career politician. BAM! Simmons offers this uppercut: McMahon is a RINO – Republican in name only – POW! And McMahon gives Simmons a rhetorical knee to the groin in suggesting that Simmons is most comfortable “living off the government payroll.” YOW!

Meanwhile, Democrats are sitting back and enjoying the smackdown. Pass the popcorn.

Hall of Shame: John Ensign and Sue Lowden

Nevadans deserve better than John Ensign – and Sue Lowden. The two of them ought to be consigned to the dustbin of history – and the DSCC’s Hall of Shame.

Hall of Shame: Roy Blunt (Repeat Offender)

What will Missouri Congressman and Senate hopeful Roy Blunt do to fix America’s broken health care system? Absolutely nothing.

Hall of Shame: Richard Burr

North Carolina Republican Richard Burr offered his solution to the economic crisis– “withdraw all money from the bank”.

Hall of Shame: Norm Coleman

Now with even his own lawyers saying he'll lose, Norm Coleman is shamefully and spitefully refusing to admit defeat

Hall of Shame: David Vitter

It seems that Louisiana Republican David Vitter just can’t stop embarrassing himself or the people of his home state.

Hall of Shame: Roy Blunt

As more and more Americans are worrying about their homes, their health care, and their next paycheck, Missouri Republican Roy Blunt remains as clueless as he is shameless.

Hall of Shame: Saxby Chambliss

On Saxby Chambliss’ watch, hundreds of thousands of Georgia’s kids were left without access to health care, and Chambliss actually tried to stop the Senate from sending help.

Hall of Shame: Gordon Smith

There he goes again. For continuing his attempts to trick Oregonians into forgetting his record as a party-line Republican, we award Gordon Smith a place in our Hall of Shame.

Hall of Shame: Norm Coleman

For having the poor judgment and lack of shame to fly to the Bahamas and live in a cheap apartment, all while wearing clothes someone else paid for, Coleman gets another place in the Hall of Shame.

Hall of Shame: Mitch McConnell

We’re awarding McConnell an unprecedented fourth spot in our Hall of Shame for his disgusting decision to rip a World War II veteran’s comments out of context and twist them into a false political attack.