News Headline

Joe Manchin's oddly inspiring debate performance

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:22:35 -0400

Man, did John Raese lay it on thick Monday night. In the only scheduled debate in West Virginia's Senate race, the GOP nominee matter of factly said he opposes the healthcare reform law because "I don't like socialism," repeatedly called global warming a "myth," reiterated his opposition to the existence of a minimum wage, and summed up his vision for the war in Afghanistan thusly: "We win, you lose."

Florida Republican: Put Immigrants in "Camps"

OurFuture.org Staff — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:26:09 -0400

In an interview with Salon today, a Republican candidate for the Florida state Legislature stood by her controversial idea to arrest illegal immigrants and send them to "camps" where they can be held en masse.

"We can ship them out to the middle of the country and put up high walls and leave them there," said Marg Baker, the middle-aged real estate broker vying for the Republican nomination in the state's 48th district, north of Tampa.

Wall Street Money Flows to GOP

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:59:56 -0400

Republicans candidates collected about 70% of the political donations from the employees and political accounts of financial services firms in June, the most recent month in which records are available, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That’s a reversal from March, when Democrats collected 70% of the donations from Wall Street.

The GOP v. the 14th Amendment

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:39:10 -0400

Two weeks ago, Senators Jon Kyl and Lindsey Graham became the highest-ranking Republican officials to lend their voices to what has become an increasingly loud and disturbing refrain on the Right -- the call to repeal the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined the clamor, calling for hearings to evaluate the possibility of repeal. Since then, these Republican leaders have back-tracked and equivocated. But the core of their message remains clear.

Republicans Seek to Handcuff Democrats in Lame-Duck Session with Resolution

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:17:22 -0400

The House will vote next week on a Republican measure that would prevent Democratic leaders from passing controversial policy initiatives during a lame-duck session of Congress this year.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) introduced the privileged resolution last Thursday in response to reports that Democratic leaders told their base that they could move big-ticket legislation after the November elections and before the new Congress convenes in January.

Familiar Story in Nevada: Republicans on Offensive

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:10:32 -0400

Midterm election campaigns, by their nature, knit together a diffuse patchwork of story lines. But the Nevada Senate race distills the patterns of 2010 as well as any.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is facing mocking attacks from Republicans for asserting that his work with President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is “paying off.”

Bike Agenda Spins Cities Toward U.N. Control, Maes Warns

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:03:50 -0400

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."

"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial.

Corporate Campaign Fundraising Picks Up Speed

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:51:19 -0400

Driven by increasing anger at Democratic policies and by recent Supreme Court decisions unshackling corporate contributions, business and conservative groups are preparing a flood of campaign money to try to wrest control of Congress from the Democrats.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest collection point for corporate contributions, has increased its spending for the congressional election in November from $35 million in 2008 to a projected $75 million this year. Officials say it may go even higher.

Divisions Emerge Among Republicans Over Elizabeth Warren

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:30:26 -0400

A growing divide has emerged among Republicans over the possible nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the new agency designed to protect borrowers from predatory lenders.

Leading Senate Republicans like Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and former Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama oppose the noted consumer advocate and bailout watchdog, raising questions about her tenure atop the Congressional Oversight Panel and her past academic research into bankruptcy. But some of their colleagues have praised Warren for her work and her intelligence, fought efforts to water down the agency she may lead, and even introduced bills to give her more power to protect taxpayers.

GOP Lawmakers Optimistic About 'No' Votes

OurFuture.org Staff — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:21:59 -0400

In February, when unpredictable Sen. Jim Bunning single-handedly stalled extensions of unemployment benefits for several days, his Republican colleagues quickly abandoned him, worried that the GOP would be cast as the party against helping people who are out of work.

Last month, as jobless benefits were again to set to expire, Bunning (Ky.) still objected to funding them in a way that would increase the deficit. But this time, nearly every Republican in the Senate joined him, leading to a month-long impasse in which more than 2 million people briefly lost their benefits. When the extension finally passed last week, only two Republicans backed the $34 billion unemployment measure, compared with 21 who had voted with Democrats in March.