NEW DSCC SITE: “Is McConnell Still Blocking Unemployment Relief? Yes.” If you’re wondering whether Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are still blocking unemployment relief, we have a new resource for you. McConnell and Senate Republicans let the federal emergency unemployment aid that has been a “lifeline for millions” run out last month. The GOP-controlled Senate wasted months ahead of the July 31 deadline and created an “urgent crisis” for millions of Americans when they let emergency unemployment aid expire, and now “Republican Senate incumbents are getting the heat” for continuing to block relief. NBC News: Congressional inaction puts incumbents in more peril
CONFUSION CONTINUES: REPUBLICAN EXECUTIVE ORDERS CREATE MORE PROBLEMS, GOVERNORS FEAR THEY WILL “WRECK STATE BUDGETS.” After Senate Republicans “created an urgent crisis” for millions of families by letting emergency unemployment relief expire, President Trump managed to make matters worse with executive orders that threaten Social Security and Medicare funding, “create confusion” and “are rife with so much complexity and legal murkiness that they’re unlikely…to bring fast relief — if any.” Now, governors from both parties say the Republican executive orders “could wreck state budgets.”
Take a look at how the issue is playing in three battleground states where vulnerable Republican incumbents are on defense:
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD EDITORIAL: SUSAN COLLINS NEEDS TO “GET SERIOUS” ABOUT CORONAVIRUS RELIEF. The Portland Press Herald editorialized that Senator Susan Collins “retreated to her partisan corner” instead of taking coronavirus relief negotiations seriously, leaving Mainers without the relief they need. While Senator Collins has tried to play a blame game, the Press Herald wrote that it was Senate Republicans who had let the ball drop by allowing the unemployment relief to run out despite the fact that the House passed an extension 88 days ago: “Collins and her Republican colleagues in the Senate are the ones who need to get serious. We are all running out of time.” Portland Press Herald: Our View: Sen. Collins, fellow Republicans need to get serious on COVID bill
JAIME HARRISON PUTS SOUTH CAROLINA “IN PLAY.” In a new profile of Senator Lindsey Graham’s Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison, POLITICO Magazine highlights Harrison’s deep roots in South Carolina, how he “has shattered fundraising records and forced Graham to play defense,” and the recent polls showing Harrison and Graham “virtually tied.” Read more about how Harrison has put South Carolina on the map: POLITICO Magazine: Is Lindsey Graham Actually in Trouble in South Carolina?
SENATOR DAVID PERDUE WANTS TO GIVE BETSY DEVOS CONTROL OVER $50 BILLION AFTER REPORTS SHE FUNNELED RELIEF $$$ TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS. Salon reports that Senator David Perdue introduced legislation that would give Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos control over $50 billion — despite the fact that she was already caught diverting coronavirus funds intended for low-income students to private schools. Senator Perdue’s proposal is even more bizarre when you remember that he “repeatedly called for defunding and abolishing the Department of Education.” Perdue’s about-face comes as he faces an increasingly difficult re-election campaign, and while the vulnerable GOP senator insists reopening decisions will be left up to schools, DeVos has already made it clear, “If schools aren’t going to reopen and not fulfill that promise, they shouldn’t get the funds.” Salon: GOP senator who wanted to abolish Education Dept. now wants to give Betsy DeVos $50 billion
ROGER MARSHALL COPIES “ECONOMIC PLAN” FROM SENATOR EMBROILED IN STOCK TRADING SCANDAL. Congressman Roger Marshall is proving to be the self-serving politician stumbling into the general election that we said he is. Today, Congressman Marshall was caught plagiarizing economic plans from Senator Kelly Loeffler — who is at the center of a stock trading scandal — and his blatant plagiarism even made the Kansas City Star front page. It’s the latest sign that Republicans have their work cut out for them with Marshall, who is already being propped up by more than $4 million in ads run by a Mitch McConnell-aligned dark money group. Kansas City Star: Is Marshall plan really Marshall’s? It bears striking resemblance to Georgia senator’s
BONUS – Bollier raised $716,000 from 26,000 supporters in the first week of the general election:
JON OSSOFF RAISES NEARLY $3 MILLION IN JULY. After raising over $3 million in Q2 and outraising Senator David Perdue by $1.2 million, Jon Ossoff has announced his campaign raised an eye-popping $2.9 million in July. Nearly 28,000 of the contributions came from first-time donors –– a sign of Ossoff’s growing grassroots momentum. Senator Perdue wasn’t wrong when he warned Republicans that “the state of Georgia is in play.” AJC: Georgia Senate: Ossoff raised nearly $3M in July
GARDNER, DAINES “IN A BIND” AFTER TRYING TO GREENWASH THEIR RECORDS. After having “backed Trump’s anti-conservation agenda at every turn,” Senators Cory Gardner and Steve Daines have been trying to greenwash their abysmal environmental records and save their struggling re-election campaigns. Now, the two vulnerable GOP incumbents will have to decide whether to “enrage public land advocates” in their states or “face the wrath of Trump” when they’re forced to vote on Trump’s Bureau of Land Management nominee who has “a long history of advocating for the sale of federal lands.” Unsurprisingly, both senators have dodged questions about their support for Pendley, in the latest example of their refusal to stand up to their party leaders in Washington even when it means failing their states. NPR: Why A Vote For Trump’s Lands Appointee May Put Some Western Republicans In A Bind
UNELECTED SENATOR KELLY LOEFFLER TRIES TO OUTFLANK CONGRESSMAN DOUG COLLINS. The latest installment of “warring Republicans” in the Georgia special election is unelected political mega-donor Senator Kelly Loeffler’s attempts to “sprint to the right.” Team Collins’ response? “Kelly is a phony.” While Loeffler and Collins engage in an ugly, intra-party brawl, Reverend Raphael Warnock has emerged as the candidate ready to meet the moment and create “a political disaster for Republicans and a boon for Democrats.” The Daily Beast: Is Kelly Loeffler a ‘Corporate Liberal’ or ‘Attila the Hun’?
IN THE STATES
AL – Alabama Political Reporter: Jones: Trump executive orders are “more for show than actual help for the Americans people”
CO – Colorado Politics: ENDORSEMENT WATCH | Sierra Club endorses Hickenlooper’s US Senate campaign
GA – Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Jolt: After David Ralston asks for help, Kelly Loeffler condemns ‘blue state bailouts’
GA – American Independent: Kelly Loeffler says to listen to athletes after repeatedly attacking WNBA players
KY – Washington Post: An economic crisis in Kentucky has workers, businesses furious with McConnell
ME – Newsweek: Trump-Backed Collins Trails Obama-Endorsed Gideon in Maine Senate Race
NM – Los Alamos Daily Post: Ben Ray Luján Completes 33-County Virtual Road Trip
TX – Dallas Observer: MJ Hegar Is Not a Zombie. She Just Looks Like One in a Dishonest GOP Tweet.
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