Archive for GOP governors

Governorships a big opportunity for Democrats in 2014

glass half full

Stuart Rothenberg has a piece in Roll Call that gives Democrats hope for 2014 regarding potential governorships:

If Democrats can win a number of these big-state governorships, even if they don’t take back the U.S. House, it could well bolster the narrative of Democratic momentum leading up to the 2016 elections. It also would put Democrats in the position to retain those governorships four years later, in 2018, when states will select governors who will play a role in the next round of congressional redistricting.

Vulnerable Republican governors in four of the 10 largest states — Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan — give Democrats obvious targets, as well as the bragging rights that go along with any victories.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s poll numbers are in the toidy, as are Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s. Ohio’s Republican governor, John R. Kasich’s approvals have recently improved, though, but he could be vulnerable. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, or as I like to call him, King Ricky (of Financial Martial Law infamy), could also be in trouble.

Taegan:

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Michigan finds Gov. Rick Snyder (R) trailing three possible Democratic challengers in 2014 match ups.

Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease. Maybe we’d be able to reverse a few bad GOP laws:

Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan — along with Virginia this year and Maine in 2014 — constitute Democrats’ top opportunities in the 38 gubernatorial races up between now and next November. Winning a number of the big states would further shake Republican confidence and swing the nation’s political pendulum further toward the Democrats.

Keep your far left hand’s blue fingers crossed, because with Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) not seeking reelection in 2014, we could lose a Senate seat. We need all the political boosts we can get.

wishful thinking fingers crossed smaller

What a difference a union can make!

unions right to work for less cartoon gopVia.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, so these must be worth millions (keep scrolling to see who wants to destroy unions and why):

labor unions brought usunions gave usunions make more money infographic via moveon

We are also cross-posting this new graphic with permission:

union pay difference food industry

This is the union difference for our members working in the food service industry. Reblog if you agree food workers deserve a good wage AND paid sick days!

Of course Republicans are doing their level best to crush unions, because organized labor is a major source of support and donations to Democrats, although no match for big corporations:

chart maddow unions v corps campaign spending smaller

For example, Michigan Dictator, er, Gov. Snyder is no fan of unions, nor is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. But at least, after “Right to Work”, Snyder’s popularity plummeted. By the way, Michigan’s “Right to Work” law contains verbatim language from an ALEC model bill.

And don’t get me started on how they’re trying to do away with the USPS. Psst! “It’s called the U.S. Postal Service because it is a service, not a corporation.”

Did I mention Sen. Rand Paul submitted a national “right to work” (for less) bill? Or how emails linked the Jeb Bush foundation, corporations, ALEC, and education officials? Guess who benefits? Corporate funders.

And then there’s this post about Reince Priebus who thinks the Republican platform is just dandy, it’s the way they talk about it that needs fixing. He’d love to see unions go away.

Oh, and “Right to work” is a lie.

And finally, courtesy of Daily Kos’s TheNewDeal00Follow, Thank a Union: 36 Ways Unions Have Improved Your Life:

36 Reasons Why You Should Thank a Union

Weekends
All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch Breaks
Paid Vacation
FMLA
Sick Leave
Social Security
Minimum Wage
Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits Employer Discrimination)
8-Hour Work Day
Overtime Pay
Child Labor Laws
Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
40 Hour Work Week
Worker’s Compensation (Worker’s Comp)
Unemployment Insurance
Pensions
Workplace Safety Standards and Regulations
Employer Health Care Insurance
Collective Bargaining Rights for Employees
Wrongful Termination Laws
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Whistleblower Protection Laws
Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits Employer from using a lie detector test on an employee)
Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS)
Compensation increases and Evaluations (Raises)
Sexual Harassment Laws
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Holiday Pay
Employer Dental, Life, and Vision Insurance
Privacy Rights
Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Military Leave
The Right to Strike
Public Education for Children
Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work)
Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United States

I could go on about union busting, but I’m trying to keep my lunch down. I knew you’d understand.

DA closes John Doe probe; no charges against WI Gov. Scott Walker, others

judged by the company you keep

This happened back in November 2012: Fourth former Scott Walker aide convicted in WI John Doe probe:

And remember Kelly Rindfleisch? She’s the former Walker aide who was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation on a felony count of misconduct in office. Walker was named as part of a team that routinely commingled political and official business, and Russell was allegedly responsible for the “unofficial networking system” out of Rindfleisch’s office. She’s out on appeal.

How do sleazeballs like Scott Walker always manage to slither out of these predicaments with nary a scratch or without charges being filed? I’m talkin’ to you John Ensign, Mark Sanford, David Vitter, etc. ad nauseam.

Via WisPolitics:

Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm announced this morning he is closing a John Doe investigation without filing additional charges, ending the threat Gov. Scott Walker could be caught up in the long running probe. [...]

State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate responded that Walker’s biggest accomplishment in his first two years in office was not related to the economy or education, but avoiding prosecution despite the conviction of two close aides.

Tate also requested that Scotty “release any and all information that was provided in John Doe, so the public can have full understanding.” After all, Tate reminded us, Walker did promise transparency, so this would be a swell time to demonstrate a little of that.

Yeah, like that’ll happen.

scott walker cleared letter from district attorneyLink

VIDEO: Watch Florida Gov. Rick Scott dance around the issues… literally

You’re welcome.

Florida Governor Rick Scott made an appearance at South Pointe Elementary School in Miami Beach where everyone in the room should have simply nodded, smiled, and said, “Please proceed.”

Per HuffPo, he was there to announce AT&T’s $200,000 investment to the Florida Education Foundation.

Via The Miami Herald:

Scott, at one point, chuckled and said he hoped no one had video…

Too late.

Here is the video, but who needs that when you have a never-ending animated GIF loop of Gov. Rick’s version of what looks like really awkward moonwalking? And jumping. Or something.

We haven’t seen those kind of moves since George W. Bush entertained us with this:

Enjoy:



Graph: How long it took blacks, whites, Hispanics to vote in 2012. One guess who waited in line the least amount of time.

tweet ari berman ohio early voting lines

In January it was reported that at least 201,000 did not vote in Florida because of frustration with long lines. In fact, former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer came right out and said that Florida Republicans tried to suppress the black vote.

Now the New York Times has a series of graphs depicting exactly how long it took different groups to vote. One guess who waited longer among African American, Hispanic, and white voters. Hint: White voters waited an average of 12+ minutes. Black and Hispanic voters waited an average of 20+ minutes.

surprise

Democrats waited an average of 15 minutes, but Republicans? A little over 12 minutes.

Here is a peek at the results. Source: 2012 Survey of the Performance of American Elections, conducted by Charles Stewart III of M.I.T. Much more at the link and here:

Overall average: 14 minutes

The dotted line represents the 14 minute mark.

chart graph how long it took to vote 2012 black, white, hispanic

 chart graph how long it took to vote 2012 states

One more reason to “unlike” Mark Zuckerberg: He’s fundraising for Chris Christie

unfriended

Facebook has become more and more user-unfriendly and glitches so often that it’s become the norm rather than the exception. The only reason I still have an account there is because of our Political Carnival page. We post our blog content there, as many of you know, and a lot of our readers find out about TPC because of Facebook and then share our posts with friends who share our post with friends who…

Which is exactly why Facebook is so popular. All that sharing.

They also share private information, but that’s another rant for another day.

Did I mention I hate Facebook?

Well now I “unlike” its owner even more.

(CNN) – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will host a fundraiser for New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s re-election bid, a Christie finance source confirmed Thursday.

The event will take place February 13 at the young billionaire’s home in Palo Alto, California. A Facebook spokeswoman said Zuckerberg appreciates education reform efforts made in New Jersey.

And to those Dems who still think Christie is going all liberal on us because he did one or two things you admire, please read Think for yourself. Ask questions. Do your homework.

unlike

At least 201,000 did not vote in Florida because of frustration with long lines

rick scott 2

Former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer came right out and said that Florida Republicans tried to suppress the black vote. He called his fellow GOPers “whack-a-do, right-wing crazies.”

But that didn’t stop Florida Governor Rick Scott, who gladly went along with legislation that resulted in endlessly long lines and cutting back early-voting days.

Then Scott had the unmitigated nerve to say, hey, don’t blame me for that lousy election law, I only signed it! Of course, his voter suppression law did its damage in more ways than one, as you can see via the Orlando Sentinel:

The long Election Day lines around Florida may have turned away more than 200,000 frustrated would-be voters who gave up and went home before they cast ballots — or else saw the lines and elected not to join them.

Analyzing data compiled by the Orlando Sentinel, Ohio State University professor Theodore Allen estimated last week that at least 201,000 voters likely gave up in frustration on Nov. 6, based on research Allen has been doing on voter behavior. [...]

[A]ccording to Allen’s analysis of the data, the lengthy lines lowered actual turnout by roughly 2.3 percent per hour of delay [...]

[T]he lost voters appeared to favor President Barack Obama. Of the 201,000 “missing” votes, 108,000 likely would have voted for Obama and 93,000 for Republican Mitt Romney, he said.This suggests that Obama’s margin over Romney in Florida could have been roughly 15,000 votes higher than it was.

jim crow smaller jimmy