GOP GOVS OUTRAISE DEMS ALMOST 2-1

The Republican Governors Association reported it raised about $24 million in the first half of the year. The RGA's take far outpaced the Democratic Governors Association, which reportedly raised just over $13 million. The Republican haul relied mainly on donations from individuals, while the Democrats were dependent on corporations, unions, and trade associations. The funding disparity leaves the RGA well positioned for a very competitive cycle next Fall. 

Since Mitt Romney's loss in 2012, Republicans in DC have convinced themselves that the party needs to rebrand itself in a more moderate image. They believe the party's conservative principles are alienating voters and dampening the party's appeal. Earlier this year, prominent members of the party establishment endorsed "reasonable" restrictions on gun rights. Currently, it is arguing for an amnesty bill in a misguided bid for hispanic votes. 

Outside the Beltway, however, news of the party's death is greatly exaggerated. The party has rarely been stronger in statehouses across the country. The Republicans currently hold 30 governorships, while the Democrats have just 20. When Barack Obama came to office the situation was reversed. 

Republicans control the state legislatures in 26 states, while the Democrats control just 18 states. (The rest have split control, each party holding one chamber.)

More importantly, Republicans in the states are pushing bold, conservative reforms. Tax and spending reform, deregulation, right-to-work and school choice have all been major initiatives of Republicans in the states. This reform agenda was ratified by voters in 2012, when the Republicans maintained almost all of their gains from the 2010 elections.  

Perhaps national Republicans groping to understand why their nominee lost in 2012 should look beyond the beltway. .

Via:  Breitbart

Continue Reading....

Planned Parenthood affiliates to receive over $655k in Obamacare ‘navigator’ grants

This is on top of the $375K the D.C. Obamacare exchange awarded Planned Parenthood yesterday.

Three Planned Parenthood affiliates will be receiving a total of more than $655, 000 grants from the federal government to serve as Obamacare “navigators” to help people enroll in the health-care exchanges.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $67 million in grants to 105 “Navigator grant applicants” Thursday.

Iowa’s Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Montana’s Intermountain Planned Parenthood, Inc. DBA Planned Parenthood and New Hampshire’s Planned Parenthood of Northern New England are included in that list.

Three Planned Parenthood affiliates will be receiving a total of more than $655, 000 grants from the federal government to serve as Obamacare “navigators” to help people enroll in the health-care exchanges.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $67 million in grants to 105 “Navigator grant applicants” Thursday.

Iowa’s Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Montana’s Intermountain Planned Parenthood, Inc. DBA Planned Parenthood and New Hampshire’s Planned Parenthood of Northern New England are included in that list.

VIa: Weasel Zippers

Continue Reading....

HOW POLITICALLY RISKY IS DEFUNDING OBAMACARE? NEW POLL MAY SHED LIGHT

Two-thirds of voters in battleground congressional districts think it’s appropriate for Congress to “temporarily halt funding” for President Barack Obama’s health care law before most of its key provisions, including the individual mandate to buy health insurance, take effect in 2014, according to a new poll released Thursday by a conservative group.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 18, 2013. (AP)

The poll also found more than three-fourths of voters favor either slowing implementation or outright repeal.

The survey comes as Republican lawmakers and right-leaning commentators debate whether to threaten a government shutdown to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

The results found that 44.5 percent of voters favor repeal and 32 percent back slowing down implementation. Only 20 percent support going forward with the law. On the defunding question, when asked whether it would be appropriate for Congress to “temporarily halt funding for the health care law before these provisions take effect, to make sure they do no do more harm than good?” 67.8 percent said yes, while 25.3 percent said no. A small percentage of respondents said they do not know.

The poll of 1,000 voters was sponsored by Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, and conducted by Basswood Research. It surveyed 10 targeted U.S. House districts – six represented by Republicans and four represented by Democrats. The districts were in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and West Virginia,

Via: The Blaze

Continue Reading....

MAJORITY IN SURVEY OPPOSE MORE FOREIGN WORKERS IN REFORM BILL

A new poll finds that a majority of likely voters oppose any increase in immigrant workers being considered as part of the immigration reforms currently under debate in Washington.

The poll, commissioned by NumberUSA, a group opposed to the immigration reform, finds that 44 percent of likely voters want government to reduce the number of foreign workers flooding the country rather than increase it.

Additionally, 60 percent said that they oppose the Senate's plan to increase the number of green cards to 20 million over the next ten years. Only 28 percent of respondents supported the policy.

"The public, while having some sympathy for some amnesty under all those very tough conditions, isn’t interested at all in increasing immigration and increasing the level of foreign workers," said NumbersUSA executive director Roy Beck.

Beck said that many Americans are comfortable with the basic idea of allowing a path to citizenship for immigrants but are not at all happy with the idea of a wave of foreign workers flooding the country. He also pointed out that the business sector is running against this sentiment.

"The business community has put hundreds of millions of dollars into trying to get these immigration increases through because it really goes against the basic thoughts and nature of the American voters," Beck said.

One argument often made by many in Congress and the business sector is that we should increase the entrance of "skilled" foreign workers to supplement that of our own work force, often called targeting the "best and brightest" foreign workers. But a recent surveyby the Economic Policy Institute disputes the claim that we are doing ourselves any favor with the concept.

Via: Breitbart

Continue Reading....

State Department: Obama’s Policies In Egypt And Syria Are Worthy of His Nobel Peace Prize…

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki curtly replied Thursday to Associated Press reporter Matt Lee that the policies of the Obama administration regarding Egypt and Syria were in fact worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

LEE: All right. And then my last one — and I will stop, I promise, after this — do you think or is the administration confident that the steps — that the policy that you have pursued thus far in Egypt and also in Syria are worthy of a president who not so long ago won the Nobel peace prize?

PSAKI: Yes, Matt.

LEE: You do. OK.

Obama’s support for Muslim Brotherhood Islamists in Egypt is driving the powerful military there against the United States and toward Moscow, Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon reported. The administration’shandling of the turmoil there has drawn intense scrutiny in the six weeks since Morsi was removed from office, particularly the refusal of officials to say whether or not Morsi’s removal constituted a coup, even leading to a sharp rebuke from the Washington Post editorial board.

The administration’s response to the Syrian civil war has also been criticized as weak, particularly with regard to so-called “red line” Syria crossed that did not lead to immediate aid to the rebels. It has been nearly two years since Obama demanded President Bashar al-Assad step aside, yet he remains in power and the civil war is destabilizing the Levant.

Obama received the Nobel prize in 2009 for what the committee called his “extraordinary efforts” to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Given he had been in office less than nine months when the decision was announced, many called it premature.

Via: WFB

Continue Reading....