MEMO/VIDEO: Bully Seeking Pulpit
Chris Christie enters the race as a brazen, outspoken bully hoping to use the 2016 pulpit to pull his GOP opponents like Jeb Bush further to the extreme right. With nine credit downgrades and a 30 percent approval rating under his belt, Christie has made the calculation that his charming personality alone won’t do the trick in the wake of Bridgegate. American Bridge is also releasing a new video that shows Christie is now aligning himself with the extreme wing of his party in an attempt to gain traction.
Bush didn’t pay federal taxes for at least three years, what else is he hiding?
We’ve seen this movie before: a Jeb Bush news dump headed into a holiday so he can claim transparency while keeping the big news safely buried. Here’s a start: Jeb! paid zero federal income tax in at least three years.
American Bridge is giving you a sneak peek at four of Bush’s returns already, and has made them available at the following links:
Bridge Brief — Week of June 29th, 2015
The Supreme Court last week did what the Republican Party refuses to: It respected the Affordable Care Act as the law of the land and deemed it unconstitutional to ban people the right to marry based on their sexual orientation. The momentous decisions will continue to ripple into the campaigns of those running for the White House this week, putting in stark relief the GOP's inability to offer positions and policies that reflect the direction America is moving, not the way they hoped it was. None of the GOP's leading presidential candidates celebrated the decision to legalize gay marriage. Their responses ranged from woefully tepid (see Jeb Bush's contradictory statement on preserving the freedom to discriminate based on sexual orientation) to the laughably extreme (see Bobby Jindal's suggestion to eliminate the court). In the week ahead we can expect more of the same, as the GOP further reinforces their image as hopelessly out of touch. It's not just about Scott Walker proposing a constitutional amendment -- all it's going to take is one question for Chris Christie about Social Security and we'll see his announcement transform into an anchor for the whole party.
What To Expect At The Western Conservative Summit
The long road to the Republican nomination is winding through America’s highest-profile home for Illuminati and Reptoids this week with Scott Walker, Rick Perry, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and more attending the Western Conservative Summit. Here’s what to expect from this weekend’s cattle call:
1. The New GOP Litmus Test: Gay Marriage
The Western Conservative Summit made news earlier this year when they barred the Log Cabin Republicans from attending their conference, but their backwards attitude towards the LGBT community won’t stop there. Summit Gala headliner Scott Walker has already doubled down on his call for a constitutional amendment, and panelist Tony Perkins went on an epic Twitter rant Friday, calling the ruling a “shocking abuse of power” and promising it would “supercharge” opposition to gay marriage. Don’t take Perkins’ word for it: Rick Santorum didn’t even wait for his speech to begin teeing off, telling Denver radio station KNUS that the ruling was the court’s attempt to be “trendy” with marriage equality and would lead to polygamy.
Scott Walker’s Campaign Ailed By Budget Crisis
Scott Walker is suffering from 'Jeb Bush syndrome:' the closer he gets to his presidential announcement, the worse his headlines are. Walker plans to run on his record in Wisconsin but that list of achievements is quickly dwindling as the state faces a massive budget crisis. The governor has already lost the support of his state's Republican party, now he risks losing the national GOP's nomination before his campaign even officially begins. From the Chicago Tribune:
Once in lockstep with Walker, GOP lawmakers are flashing some independence as they struggle to make ends meet. They have refused to go along with the governor's proposed cuts in money for elementary and secondary schools and his plans to finance a big boost in road construction solely by borrowing. They have also forced him to moderate his proposed reductions in funds for higher education.
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From 2011 to 2014, the pace of private-sector employment growth in Wisconsin ranked 36th among the states and the District of Columbia, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Walker's state ranked behind all its Rust Belt neighbors, Illinois included. Wisconsin even trailed Kansas, which has been the focus of national attention after steep tax and spending cuts pushed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback produced big government deficits but little economic pop.
New GOP Marriage Equality Position Will Be Constitutional Amendment
Now that the Supreme Court has recognized marriage equality nationwide, the race is on to stake out the far right fringes of the Republican Party. Scott Walker and Ted Cruz have an early lead with their support for a constitutional amendment to allow states to ban marriage equality. Sure Marco Rubio called homosexuality a sin. Jeb Bush thinks the fight against marriage equality should continue because "we need to be stalwart supporters of traditional marriage." And Ben Carson thinks being gay is a choice because "a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they’re gay." But now that conservatives lost yet another Supreme Court case, GOP candidates are going to have to appease the Tea Party and support a constitutional amendment. Scott Walker saw the writing on the wall and took the extreme position before he needed to. Who will be next?
Walker Leaves Wisconsin In His Harley's Rear-View
Scott Walker is running for president and Wisconsin is paying the price. As reported by The New York Times yesterday,"Critics say the…
This presidential candidate just reached zero percent nationally
Who is Bobby Jindal? The GOP is so eager to elect an extreme conservative that Bobby Jindal is jumping into the race – a…
Republicans Fight Losing Battle With Pope On Climate Change
Republicans like Jeb Bush and Rick Santorum -- and the Koch brothers -- ignored the writing on the wall when they fought a losing battle with Pope Francis and the reams of science behind human-caused climate change. Instead, they took on more than they could chew and made sure their climate change denialism will be a major issue this election. Here's what happens when you're on the losing side of an argument with the pope: Washington Post: How Climate-Change Doubters Lost a Papal Battle. “Yet the battle lost over climate change also suggests how hard it may be for critics to blunt the power of a man who has become something of a juggernaut in an institution where change tends to unfold over decades, even centuries. More than anything, to those who doubt the human impact of global warming, the position staked out by Francis in his papal document, known as an encyclical, means a major defeat…