Rick Perry: Tea Party Frenemy
Rick Perry was quick to recognize and capitalize on the tea party’s rise in 2009, casting himself as a strong advocate for “state-based” solutions and railing against perceived encroachments from Washington. But activists have been less than impressed with Perry’s deviation from the movement’s hardline stances on immigration, property rights, government mandates and spending itself. See the research after the jump.
Mitt Romney: "Corporations Are People, My Friend"
In new tracking footage from the Iowa State Fair, Mitt Romney claims "corporations are people, my friend." Watch:
MEMO: Questions For The Republican Debate
During tonight’s debate the American people will see the Republican candidates firsthand and will get a glimpse at the positions and ideology driving the field. Over the last few months, as they have scrambled further and further to the right, American Bridge’s research and tracking has documented the candidates adopting positions that are: hypocritical (Romney and taxes), evasive (Huntsman and Libya) and just downright out of the mainstream (Bachmann and contraceptives). Yet tonight, as the candidates face a national audience, and not solely a fawning crowd of TEA party activists, the nation will see if they will maintain their extreme positions as the candidates attempt to answer the following questions...
Local Press Hammers Jon Bruning For Comparing Welfare Recipients To Raccoons
Over the weekend, American Bridge caught Nebraksa Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Jon Bruning with his foot in his mouth. During a speech at Heartland Liberty Fest, Bruning compared welfare recipients to scavenging raccoons.
Not surprisingly, the offensive comments are not going over well in Nebraska. Yesterday, the Omaha World-Herald ran a front page story titled "Bruning Welfare slam draws flak." And last night, local television news stations continued to pound him over the remarks. Below you'll find just two of the many segments devoted to the flap, from NBC local affiliates WOWT in Omaha and KNOP in North Platte, CBS affiliate KOLN in Lincoln, and Fox affiliate KPTM in Omaha.
Omaha World-Herald: Bruning Welfare Slam Draws Flak
On August 6, 2011, American Bridge captured Nebraska Senate candidate Jon Bruning (R) comparing welfare recipients to scavenging raccoons. The incident caused quite a stir in Bruning's home state. Read the article from the Omaha World-Herald after the jump.
Bloomberg: Education Management Violated Student-Aid Rules, U.S. Says
On August 8, 2011, Bloomberg reported:
Education Management Corp. (EDMC), the second-largest U.S. for-profit college chain, used improper recruitment practices to secure more than $11 billion in U.S. student aid, prosecutors said in a civil lawsuit.
Think Progress: Tim Pawlenty’s Extremely Weak Grasp Of Monetary Policy And International Finance
n August 9, 2011, Think Progress's Matthew Yglesias reported:
"When American Bridge sent a tracker to record this talk from Tim Pawlenty, I’m sure they were hoping he’d commit gaffes with a bit more political potency than the ones on display here. But if you happen to care at all about policy substance, what you’re about to see is the former Minnesota governor make a number of blundering errors that reveal fundamental misunderstandings of how monetary policy and the international financial system works:See the video after the jump
MSNBC: Romney's Focus — On The Economy And Obama
On August 8, 2011, MSNBC's First Read reported:
More from MSNBC's First Read after the jump"As Mitt Romney is out on the stump taking credit for Massachusetts ratings upgrade, he is conspicuously leaving out that he was able to achieve this by raising revenue," said Ty Matsdorf of American Bridge in a memo released this morning. "Perhaps it is because just last week he was decrying the president for trying to take the same balanced approach to solving the debt ceiling crisis."
Company Headed By Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) Husband Targeted By Dept. Of Justice
Sen. Snowe’s husband, former Maine Governor John “Jock” McKernan, has been a corporate officer in Education Management Corporation since 1999. Today, the Justice Department filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against EDMC over their payment scheme. This is in addition to an earlier report from the GAO, which detailed abusive practices at for-profit colleges. For years, the for-profit college industry has lured in unprepared students, most of whom do not graduate despite accumulating enormous debts. Companies like EDMC achieve this largely by incentivizing their employees to accept any student no matter what, the allegation at the heart of today’s filing. When Congress tried to crack down on the practice, EDMC lobbied them hard—spending over a million dollars on lobbying in the last two years, and sending McKernan himself to meet with White House officials.
McKernan is central to the alleged illegal payment scheme, and Sen. Snowe has directly benefited from her husband’s employment through their joint income.
Detailed research document after the jump.
Romney Wants To “Add At Least 100,000 Troops To Our Boots On The Ground Capability"
ROMNEY: If, if there are some [bases] that are, that no longer have strategic significance for us, then those clearly can be closed, and we can bring troops home here, I don't believe in reducing the number of troops, I would add at least 100,000 troops to our boots on the ground capability. I also don't believe in cutting the military budget. You might say 'but isn't there a lot of waste in the military budget?' Absolutely, and I would go after that waste and streamline to the extent possible our defense op-operation, but I would use those funds to, one, expand our number of troops and number two to update our Navy and our Air Force.