January 25, 2014

60% Of KY GOPers Buck McConnell, Support Medicaid Expansion

A solid majority of Kentucky Republicans support the state's decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, according to a new poll, standing in stark contrast to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's opposition to the provision.

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky poll, reported by NPR-affiliated WFPL, found that 60 percent of self-identified Republicans said they support expansion. In total, 79 percent of Kentuckians agree with Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's decision to expand coverage to low-income people under the health care reform law.

In a statement to WFPL, McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer dismissed the findings.

"Most new Obamacare enrollees are not on private plans, but are added to the state’s struggling Medicaid program," he said, "where one hundred percent of these costs will be picked up by taxpayers and where there is already a shortage of physicians accepting Medicaid patients."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-kentucky-obamacare-medicaid-expansion

January 23, 2014

Hillary Clinton to do California swing in April

Hillary Clinton is slated for a California trip packed with speaking engagements in April.

The former secretary of state and likely Democratic presidential contender is making stops in San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego in mid-April, as first noted by CNN.

She will keynote at the Marketing Nation Summit, a gathering for the marketing industry; at the women’s lecture series titled “Unique Lives and Experiences”; and at the Western Health Care Leadership Academy, a conference for medical practitioners.

In Foggy Bottom and now at her family’s foundation, Clinton has put special emphasis on the advancement of women and girls, a theme she often turns to in her speaking engagements.

Clinton did a swing through the deep-blue, donor-rich state last fall.


http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/hillary-clinton-california-102478.html#ixzz2rBjpnd2D

January 23, 2014

Man, Oklahoma sure hates same sex marriage.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahomans with the LGBT community celebrated last week after a federal judge ruled Oklahoma’s current ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Scott J. Hamilton, with the Cimarron Alliance Equality Center, says, “That euphoria didn’t last too long.”

Almost immediately, talks of an appeal began and new anti-same sex marriage legislation was filed.

With House Joint Resolution 1076, Rep. Mike Turner wants voters to decide; do they support same-sex marriage in Oklahoma or not?
If not, the bill would change the state’s Constitution.

It’s been 10 years since the majority of Oklahomans voted ‘no’ on the issue but Hamilton thinks the results would be different in 2014.
“At the time, marriage equality was not a reality anywhere in our country,” says Hamilton. “Today, we are seeing a movement like never before.”

Rep. Mike Turner says, “I think Oklahoma’s opinion hasn’t changed much.”

Rep. Turner says the language of this joint resolution was drafted long before last week’s decision because he says he saw it coming.



http://kfor.com/2014/01/22/oklahoma-lawmakers-fight-back-against-gay-marriage-ruling/

January 22, 2014

Fox News regular Eric Erickson calls Wendy Davis "Abortion Barbie"

A week after Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis' gubernatorial campaign trumpeted "record strength" in its first fundraising report, her conservative opponents have launched a series of gendered attacks on the Democrat's personal history.

In response to a Dallas Morning News article on Sunday that called into question a few specific details of Davis' personal life -- including when she became a single mother, how long she lived in a trailer with her daughter and who paid for her law school degree -- conservative pundits were quick to call Davis a liar.

"So Abortion Barbie had a Sugar Daddy Ken," tweeted Fox News pundit Erick Erickson, referring to Davis' famous filibuster of an anti-abortion bill in the Texas state Senate last year and to her second husband. "[Not] exactly the bio she claimed."

Radio host Rush Limbaugh called Davis "fake" and a "genuine head case," while the campaign of Davis' Republican opponent, Texas state Attorney General Greg Abbott, warned voters not to "indulge her fanciful narrative."

The discrepancies pointed out by The Dallas Morning News in Davis' tale of past hardships were relatively minor. Davis has said she was a divorced single mother at 19, when she was only separated at 19. Her divorce did not become final until she was 21. She has told stories about the difficulty of living in a trailer with her daughter, but the article noted they lived in that mobile home for just a few months. Davis mentioned in 2012 that her mother had a sixth-grade education; in fact, her mother has a ninth-grade education.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/wendy-davis-sexism_n_4638465.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&utm_hp_ref=politics

January 22, 2014

Ted Nugent Compares Harvey Weinstein To Nazi Propagandist

Rock musician and gun advocate Ted Nugent compared Harvey Weinstein to a Nazi propagandist after the movie mogul announced his plans to make a film that tears into the National Rifle Association.

Those who watch Weinstein's film "will see that Joseph Goebbels and Saul Alinsky is alive in the form a fat punk named Harvey Weinstein, and as he tries to destroy the NRA it will backfire on him," Nugent said on Thursday's edition of the NRA's talk news show "Cam & Company."

Weinstein, who is Jewish, was discussing his plans to direct a film about the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto on the Howard Stern show Wednesday when the topic of guns came up. Weinstein said that just because he thinks Jews were right to fight back with guns during the Warsaw Uprising, it doesn't mean that guns should be everywhere in the United States today.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/16/ted-nugent-harvey-weinstein_n_4613461.html

January 22, 2014

Amash Calls On Michigan GOPer To Resign After Anti-Gay Comments

Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) on Tuesday called on Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema to resign following controversy surrounding anti-gay and anti-Muslim comments Agema made online and in speeches, according to ABC 13.

Agema in April compared being gay to alcoholism on his Facebook page and claimed in a December speech that gay people desire medical insurance because they have AIDS.

In January, Agema posted a comment to his Facebook page asking, "Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life?"

Amash condemned Agema's "approach," calling it a "distraction" for a party yearning to broaden its appeal to minority voters.

"Defending civil liberties is at the heart of the Republican Party and our Constitution. As I've demonstrated with my words and record, I am trying to grow a new generation of Republicans that includes more gays and lesbians, racial-ethnic minorities, women, and young people," Amash said in a statement.

"Dave's approach has become a distraction for those of us who are standing up to the political establishment, whose push for bigger government, more corporate welfare, and less individual liberty have hurt our party. I hope Dave will do the right thing for the next generation of conservatives and step down. And I hope that the politicians who are criticizing Dave will stand with me in protecting civil liberties with their votes and actions, not just their rhetoric."


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/amash-dave-agema-should-resign

January 22, 2014

Bob McDonnell's wife Allegedly Lied To Law Enforcement

The indictment contains a number of examples of Maureen McDonnell allegedly trying to cover her tracks. One of the more overt instances took place in February 2013, when Maureen was interviewed by law enforcement officials about the money Williams had given the McDonnells in 2011.

According to the indictment, Maureen McDonnell "falsely claimed that there was a loan agreement that she had signed and that she was making periodic payments on the $50,000 loan." She also "falsely claimed that [Bob McDonnell] had met [Williams] 'many years ago.'"


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/mcdonnell-indictment-revelations

January 22, 2014

Big Dem turnout in blizzard to hold VA Senate

NOTE: I see Terry Mac and Team Clinton's hand in this. Good work!


Despite some voter confusion and the arrival of a significant snowstorm, vote tallies across Virginia’s 33rd Senate District appeared on track to meet or even exceed the 15 percent turnout rate predicted for Tuesday’s special election, officials said.

In Loudoun County, more than 13 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots by 2 p.m. in the race to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Mark R. Herring, according to Loudoun Registrar Judy Brown. Some of the county’s eastern precincts reported particularly high turnout rates, between 14 and 19 percent, she said, and other large precincts had yet to report their numbers — representing hundreds of voters who were not yet included in the total.

“It’s certainly surprising,” Brown said. “Once we heard the prediction of bad weather, usually you see that people just aren’t interested enough to come out. But I guess the campaigns have done a good job of convincing people that it’s important to be out to vote.”

The majority of the 33rd Senate District falls in Loudoun County, with 10 precincts also open in Fairfax. By 2 p.m., the Fairfax polls were reporting nearly 15 percent turnout, according to Brian Schoeneman, secretary of the Fairfax County Electoral Board.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/early-turnout-steady-in-va-senate-special-election/2014/01/21/debb47cc-82b7-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html

January 22, 2014

McDonnell Says Government's Case Rests On 'Misguided Legal Theory'

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) spoke out in a news conference on Tuesday about the federal charges filed against him and his wife earlier in the day, maintaining his innocence, and arguing the government's case rests "entirely on misguided legal theory."

McDonnell and his wife face more than a dozen charges over the tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and payments they accepted from Jonnie Williams, a wealthy Virginia businessman and political donor.

"The United States Supreme Court has already rejected this radical idea and for good reason," McDonnell said of the government's case, arguing that if the rationale behind it were universally applied, "nearly every elected official, from President Obama on down, would have to be charged" for providing tangible benefits to donors.

"No other elected official has been successfully prosecuted for such conduct," McDonnell said.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcdonnell-news-conference

January 22, 2014

Ken Cuccinellisays Christie should step down as RGA Chairman

The Republican who ran for governor in Virginia last year called on Governor Christie to step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association because of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal.

The candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, said on CNN Tuesday that Christie "does not serve the goals of that organization by staying as chairman."

As the RGA's chairman this year, Christie raises money and campaigns for Republican gubernatorial candidates around the country. He was in Florida this weekend at several fundraisers for Rick Scott — the Sunshine State's Republican governor who is facing a tough reelection fight.

Cuccinelli, speaking on "Crossfire" Tuesday night, said it didn't matter whether Christie was, in fact, personally involved in the decision to close lanes to the George Washington Bridge, which sparked a huge traffic jam in Fort Lee in September.

"Perception is reality," Cuccinelli said.


http://www.northjersey.com/news/Former_Virginia_GOP_candidate_says_Christie_should_step_down_from_Republican_governors_post.html#sthash.zrRFvwyR.dpuf