Bum Rush: Twenty-five Democratic State Legislators Defect to GOP

Twenty-five Democratic State Legislators Have Switched to GOP
Good thing the New Media is out there, what's the chance you'd see this story on the Nightly News? examiner GOPAC chairman Frank Donatelli just sent out a Press Release crowing that 25 Democratic legislators have now switched parties and become Republican . " We are pleased with the decision of these men and women to leave the Democratic Party and join with us. They are adding to the ranks of Americans who want to put result-oriented ideas into action to get us moving in the right direction. ...

Twenty-five Democratic state legislators have switched to GOP
GOPAC chairman Frank Donatelli just sent out a Press Release crowing that 25 Democratic legislators have now switched parties and become Republican. "We are pleased with the decision of these men and women to leave the Democratic Party and join with us. They are adding to the ranks of Americans who want to put result-oriented ideas into action to get us moving in the right direction. Each of these legislators’ insight, experience, and commitment to common-sense, conservative policies will ...

DEFICITS, LAWSUITS, DIMINISHED PUBLIC SAFETY: YOUR STATE CANT AFFORD SB 1070
Federal inaction on Immigration Reform has triggered a national crisis and dramatically increased the likelihood of state-based Immigration laws similar to Arizona’s approach. According to a new report prepared by the National Immigration Forum (Download SB1070Report[1]) , at least seven states are likely to attempt an Arizona-style law to address the broken Immigration system as a direct result of the federal inaction. States may attempt these laws despite overwhelming evidence that laws li...

Getting Below the Surface
We of course know that the November 2, 2010, Elections were historical on many different levels. The Republican gains of 63 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate dwarf the Republican Revolution of 1994 and double the historical average gains in the Senate for a party out of power. These gains were made despite a cash-strapped Republican National Committee (RNC), strategic decisions by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to spend $8 million in the long-shot California Senate race...

The battle for the republic to intensify in 2011
Following the monumental, historic victory the Republicans secured on November 2, some who are engaged in the tooth-and-nail fight for the survival of the Republic erroneously believe this is a good time to take a break, a breather, a retreat, from the life-or-death struggle to maintain individual liberty. If anything, the battle for the heart and soul of the nation has entered its most crucial and intense phase.  And that battle will only continue to intensify in 2011. The forces of abject...

RNCs Michael Steele Tells NOM if Prop 8 is Struck Down, GOP Would Call for a Federal Marriage Amendment
I’m starting the New Year off with a concession: I was wrong about the National Organization for Marriage. I thought that the small cadre of Catholic antigay marriage Missionaries was mostly smoke and mirrors - as has been well-documented by the NOM Tour Tracker and the increasing public acceptance of marriage equality. But NOM is like a persistent, annoying gnat that just won’t go away or be swatted down. And judging from their spiffy new website and knack for getting props fr...

Enemies of gun rights can't hide their hostility to Constitution
St. Louis Gun Rights advocates no doubt remember last summer when just across the river, anti-gun Congressman (now ex-)Congressman Phil Hare said he "doesn't worry about" the Constitution, or whether Legislation he supports would run afoul of it.  Similarly, when rabidly anti-gun Speaker (now ex-)Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was asked about the Constitutionality of the massive Health Care "reform" law, her response was "Are you serious? Are you serious?" asked with a combination of inc...

Cuomo to take governor's oath on NYE at 10 p.m.
ALBANY - Andrew Cuomo is so eager to take office that he'll be sworn-in two hours before actually becoming Governor. Cuomo is set to be given the oath of office privately by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman at 10 p.m. Friday following a family New Year's Eve dinner at the executive mansion. Previous governors have taken the oath just after midnight Jan. 1, when the term officially begins. Cuomo is said to be going early so the young kids attending the dinner can watch. Other onloo...

Conservative state lawmakers target abortion pills prescribed over Internet
Conservative lawmakers in some states are taking aim at a practice that they say could greatly expand the number of women who choose to terminate their pregnancies: Abortion pills prescribed over the Internet. This Story Conservative state lawmakers target Abortion pills prescribed over Internet Abortion fight at Catholic Hospital pushes ACLU to seek federal help THE CHANGED COURT: Tests of 'Roe' more frequent since justices upheld late-term Abortion ban in '07 US teen Birth Rate still far hi...

East Hartford mayor to take over DMV
East Hartford Mayor Melody A. Currey, Gov.-elect Dan Malloy's choice to head the State Department of Motor Vehicles, said Thursday she is taking over with the goal of making the much-maligned agency more streamlined and efficient. "My marching orders are very direct: Make sure the customer is taken care of and make sure we do it in an efficient and effective manner and as fiscally conservative as possible," Currey said after Malloy announced her appointment. Malloy said he would like Currey to...

Lifers gain parole at faster rate
The rate at which the state Parole board doled out “get out of jail free” passes to lifers skyrocketed by 50 percent last year — a shocking spike that enraged State Legislators who proposed tough new laws after the tragic shooting death of a Woburn cop. Gov. Deval Patrick’s seven-member Parole board sprang 35 out of 88 convicts serving life sentences in 2009, or 40 percent, a Herald review found. By comparison, the board paroled just 29 out of 108 lifers, or 27 percent, ...

Priorities
Priorities by digby Yikes: State Legislators in 25 states (see list below) planned to introduce SB 1070 clones in upcoming legislative sessions, according to Immigration Impact. Of course, not all — or even most — of these laws will pass. However, Republicans picked up the most seats in the modern era of State Legislatures in 2010 — more than Republicans did in 1994 or Democrats in the post-Watergate wave of 1974. Republicans hold both houses and the governorship in fifteen states (sixt

Geragosian and Ward named new state auditors
For the first time in nearly two decades, State Government will start the year with a new team of fiscal and programmatic Watchdogs with Tuesday's naming of Democrat John C. Geragosian and Republican Robert M. Ward as the auditors of public accounts. Geragosian's appointment also opens another key position in the legislature: The New Britain lawmaker currently serves as co-chairman of the Budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Sources said the post will go to Veteran Rep. Toni Walker, D-New ...

State legislator wants Maryland to have their own DREAM Act
On Tuesday, incoming Maryland State Senator VictorRamirez (D-Prince George’s) announced s plans to introduce Legislation which would give in-state College Tuition to Illegal Aliens who have graduated from Maryland High Schools. Ramirez said: “After we have invested in their education, it makes sense to treat them equally when it comes to college Tuition.” said As an example of the tremendous financial break that Illegal Aliens would receive, tuition and mandatory fees at the Un...

More states following Arizona in push for tougher immigration laws
WASHINGTON — Arizona’s get-tough approach to illegal Immigration has sparked court challenges likely to take years to resolve. Randy Terrill, a Republican state lawmaker from Oklahoma, won’t be waiting to see what judges decide. Terrill is among dozens of State Legislators drafting measures that match or go further than the Arizona law, which requires police to check the Immigration status of people stopped for questioning. He is readying Legislation to allow Oklahoma authorit...

Richmond Tea Party kicks off 2011 with town hall sessions
The New Year is just hours away and 2011 is a great time to learn more about the Richmond Tea Party. The Grassroots organization began in 2010 and they continue to gain momentum as the New Year approaches. The Richmond Tea Party has organized meetings with the Virginia General Assembly representatives at local Town Hall sessions in January. There will be sessions held in: Discussions regarding current legislative issues are on tap by various State Legislators. Meetings are scheduled for January ...

Gov.-elect Rick Scott's victory lap brings him to Miami
Rick Scott returned Wednesday to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs: the staunchly Republican Panhandle that played a important role in his winning election as Florida's next Governor. ``This is our time,'' Scott told a crowd of enthusiastic supporters at a popular restaurant in Fort Walton Beach. ``We're going to focus every day on building jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs.'' He told people to hold him accountable for all of his campaign promises, and seemed to anticipate more clearly the bruisi...

Hawkins Advice For Cuomo: Tax The Rich
Green Party Candidate for Governor Howie Hawkins is urging Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo not to make steep Budget cuts, and instead increase taxes on the rich or eliminate the stock transfer tax rebate which provides Wall Street firms with billions of dollars each year. Hawkins has sent a letter to the Governor-elect making his case for many of the positions he ran on in the election. Cuomo campaigned with a pledge not to raise taxes, detailed in a series of policy books. But, Public Opinion poll...

Lifers gain parole at faster rate
The rate at which the state Parole board doled out “get out of jail free” passes to lifers skyrocketed by 50 percent last year — a shocking spike that enraged State Legislators who proposed tough new laws after the tragic shooting death of a Woburn cop. Gov. Deval Patrick’s seven-member Parole board sprang 35 out of 88 convicts serving life sentences in 2009, or 40 percent, a Herald review found. By comparison, the board paroled just 29 out of 108 lifers, or 27 percent, ...

Legislators caught up in holiday spirit, too
Halloween? Oct. 31. New Year's Day? No sweat: Jan. 1. It's not a celebration you'll find in your desk calendar. But it's an example of one of the Pennsylvania Legislature's biggest exports: so-called "holidays" passed by resolution, the whim of a representative written into the record to commemorate subjects that vary from sickle cell disease to Spanish water dogs. And for your information, Pennsylvania Health Care Information Technology Day happened April 20. In 2010, State Legislators introduc...

Marriott's $46 million tax abatement for Adams Morgan hotel still a hot topic
Public debate continues over the D.C. Council's decision to grant a $46 million dollar tax abatement to Marriott for a luxury hotel planned in Adams Morgan. The abatement, which exempts the hotel from paying Real Estate taxes for 20 years, has drawn the ire of many concerned about the District's $440 million Budget shortfall and deep cuts in services. The 170-room hotel to be built on this block in Adams Morgan will preserve the Christian Science Church. (By Jeffrey MacMillan/The Washington Post...

Rhee's legislative agenda to be released next week
The former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools will release a legislative agenda for nationwide Education Reform next week, a spokesperson told The Washington Examiner. Michelle Rhee, the reform-minded schools chief that polarized the District, originally told The Examiner that she wanted to put out the agenda in December. "Some Governors want to mention it in their state-of-state addresses or introduce it in their first legislative session," she said. But in an email on Tuesday afternoon, Rhee's ...

D.C.'s most serious sex assaults spike nearly 50 percent in 2010
The number of serious sex assaults in the District skyrocketed nearly 50 percent this year compared with 2009, according to internal police statistics obtained by The Washington Examiner. As of Dec. 12, there had been 200 serious Sexual Assaults in the city, compared with 137 at that point in 2009 -- a 46 percent spike. The police department's 2nd District, which extends from Georgetown through Foggy Bottom and north to Chevy Chase, saw a near tripling in the number of Sexual Assaults as it we...

D.C.'s most serious sex assaults spike nearly 50 percent in 2010
© Andrew Harnik/Examiner D.C. Mayor-elect Vince Gray, left, says he expects Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who will stay on for his administration, to address discrepancies regarding city crime statistics. The number of serious sex assaults in the District skyrocketed nearly 50 percent this year compared with 2009, according to internal police statistics obtained by The Washington Examiner. As of Dec. 12, there had been 200 serious Sexual Assaults in the city, compared with 137 at that point...

How a fake story is made
The New Mexico Independent has a useful tale of a kind of game of media "telephone": Rumors of Bill Richardson replacing Hillary Clinton as U.S. Secretary of State exploded across the Internet Monday and appear to have been started by a report from Examiner.com and have been falsely attributed to Washington Examiner — which is unrelated to Examiner.com — by Fox News, amo...