Tag Archives: McCain

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Ads the GOP wants to hide from Voters!

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This could be a game changer.

When news broke Wednesday that Senator Mitch McConnell and fellow right-wing Senate candidates Joni Ernst, Cory Gardner, and Tom Cotton were caught on tape pandering to a roomful of right-wing billionaires like Charles and David Koch, MoveOn members swung into action.

Within 48 hours—thanks to thousands of small-dollar contributions from MoveOn members—we were able to release two new 30-second TV ads introducing the real Ernst—a Tea Party candidate hoping to take progressive Tom Harkin’s Senate seat in Iowa —and McConnell to their constituents.1 2 The Des Moines Register called Ernst’s comments “evidence that Ernst is beholden to billionaires.”3 The Washington Post said the ad “signals how the revelation will be used against other GOP candidates.”4

 
This may be Ernst and McConnell’s “47% moment.” Their comments, caught on tape, could risk their election—just as Mitt Romney sparked voter backlash and outrage after he called 47% of Americans freeloading victims in 2012—but only if we make this moment one that voters will remember when they go to the polls.

Can you take a moment to watch MoveOn’s ad targeting Senator Mitch McConnell and share it with everyone you know?

If further proof was needed that Ernst and McConnell have been hand-picked by the Koch brothers to advance their extreme policy agenda, this is it.

With your help, we’ll be able to turn these leaked recordings into a political liability for Ernst, McConnell, and others beholden to the ultra right-wing, ultra-wealthy Koch network.

Thanks for all you do.

–Victoria, Kristin, Aiyi’nah, Justin, and the rest of the team

Source:

1. “At Koch Retreat, Top GOP Senate Candidates Credited Koch Network For Their Rise,” Huffington Post, August 27, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=300494&id=100556-17809870-dv%3DlPax&t=5

2. “Caught on Tape: What Mitch McConnell Complained About to a Roomful of Billionaires (Exclusive),” The Nation, August 26, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=300499&id=100556-17809870-dv%3DlPax&t=6

3. “New TV ad hits Ernst on Koch Brothers conference,” The Des Moines Register, August 28, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=300532&id=100556-17809870-dv%3DlPax&t=7

4. “Happy Hour Roundup,” The Washington Post, August 28, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=300533&id=100556-17809870-dv%3DlPax&t=8

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The paradox of Republican​s …. Ed Markey


par-a-dox: A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory — Oxford Dictionaries

edmarkey.com

I’ve come to learn firsthand that at a fundamental level, Republicans don’t like government. But they have to run for office so that they can take control and stop the government from working.

It’s what I call the “Republican paradox.” You can see the effects of it at work in the House. And if this year goes the wrong way, the Senate could end up just as bad.

If we’re going to keep fighting for progress, we need to keep hitting our goals. And this month, we’ve got the FEC Pre-General filing deadline coming up early — on October 15th. We need to hit $8O,OOO by then. Can you help us get there?

Republicans these days are working for their special interest friends — people like the billionaire Koch brothers who deny climate change and pollute to their hearts’ content.

The GOP isn’t working for middle class families. You know how I can tell? Because they’d rather shut down the government than end subsidies for big oil companies. They’d rather block legislation than make any kind of progress on gun safety, or equal pay, or raising the federal minimum wage.

Republicans don’t want government to work. One of the reasons I ran for Senate was because they had turned the House into a dysfunctional mess.

And right now, all of the pundits are giving the GOP the edge when it comes to taking charge of the Senate, too.

I don’t want to imagine what will happen if Republicans win this year. If we’re going to stop it, we need to reach $8O,OOO by the FEC Pre-General filing deadline. Help us keep up the fight with a $5 contribution.

This November, let’s make sure the Senate stays in the hands of the party dedicated to progress.

Thank you for your help today.

Ed

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“To Every Wounded Warrior, to Every Disabled Veteran — Thank You”


Yesterday, President Obama spoke at the dedication for the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, honoring the heroes who have sacrificed so much on behalf of our nation.

“To every wounded warrior, to every disabled veteran — thank you,” he said.

The President also made it clear that we must provide proper care for all of our veterans, noting: “When our wounded veterans set out on that long road of recovery, we need to move heaven and earth to make sure they get every single benefit, every single bit of care that they have earned, that they deserve.”

Watch the President’s full remarks here.

Watch the President's remarks.

Weekly Address: We Do Better When the Middle Class Does Better

In this week’s address, the President highlighted that six years after the Great Recession, thanks to the hard work of the American people and the President’s policies, our economy has come back further and faster than any other nation on Earth.

READ MORE

Senior Officials Hold a Briefing on the U.S. Government Response to Ebola

On Friday, senior administration officials held a briefing on the U.S. government’s response to the Ebola epidemic.

READ MORE

President Obama on Immigration Reform: “I Am Not Going to Give Up This Fight Until It Gets Done”

At the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 37th Annual Awards Gala on Thursday, President Obama spoke about the need to fix America’s broken immigration system.

READ MORE

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The Latest Empty Gesture


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Republican Candidates Ignore Their Party’s Record When It Comes To Domestic Violence

Republican candidates facing persistent unpopularity with women continue to do whatever they can to muddy the waters on their anti-women policy positions. Last month, we documented how several GOP candidates for Senate came out in support of over-the-counter birth control–a move designed to look accommodating but in fact would be a tax on women.

Now they are at it again. This time, numerous conservative candidates are putting out advertisements highlighting their work to protect women from domestic violence. But just like before, these claims obscure the real records of many GOP officeholders, who have a consistent record of opposing common sense policies to further protect women from violence.

Here are some examples of positions that these candidates won’t be talking about in their new ads:

1. Voting Against Reauthorizing The Violence Against Women Act. A majority of the Republicans in the House voted to oppose renewing the Violence Against Women Act last year. After nearly a year of Republican obstruction on the measure, the House of Representatives finally voted to renew VAWA and pass a bipartisan Senate-approved version of the bill. But even as the bill passed, there were 138 votes against the bill, all from members of the GOP. Even a watered-down version of the bill offered by Republicans failed to gain the support of their conference.

2. Taking Away Free Screening And Counseling From Survivors Of Domestic Violence. Under the Affordable Care Act, survivors of domestic violence are now entitled to free screening and counseling as a preventative service, critical to improve both health and safety. Survivors of domestic violence are more likely to have chronic health conditions and use the emergency room more frequently, and are more likely to have HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases because they lack the power to negotiate condom usage. Identifying current or past violence can help prevent further abuse and lead to improved health status. But of course, with a party platform to repeal the ACA, Republicans would effectively remove that vital service.

3. Defending Easy Access To Guns By Domestic Abusers And Stalkers. Weak gun laws leave too many women facing a fatal end to domestic abuse. In all but nine states, you can be convicted of stalking and still walk into a store, pass a background check, and buy a gun. The consequences are horrifying: more women have been murdered by an intimate partner with a gun since 2001 than the total number of U.S. troops killed in action during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Several leaders have proposed laws to close these gaps, but conservative members of Congress beholden to the gun lobby refuse to help. The only time they seem to moderate their position defending stalkers is when it becomes too publicly humiliating — like when Gabby Giffords called out Arizona GOP Candidate Martha McSally.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP candidates touting their work to prevent domestic violence on the airwaves are obscuring the truth about the GOP’s real record on Capitol Hill. The reality is that Republicans have disputed the reauthorization of VAWA, continue to support giving stalkers easy access to guns, and would remove preventative health services for survivors of domestic violence. The attempts to brush over those facts are just the latest empty gesture to appeal to voters during election season, and they won’t trick anyone.

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