Twenty-five Democratic state legislators have switched 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. ...

Bum Rush: Twenty-five Democratic State Legislators Defect to GOP
(Washington 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. Each of these legislators’ insight, experience, and commitment to common-sens...

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...

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...

Here we go again
Welcome to post-racial America, where the only thing that matters is race. CNN: Rep. Danny Davis, a Democrat from Illinois and Mayoral Candidate in Chicago has a message for former President Bill Clinton: Butt out. Davis, a onetime ally of Clinton’s, issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday, in which the Chicago Democrat said he is “seriously concerned and disturbed” by the news Clinton plans to throw his weight behind ex-Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and make a campai...

Race Card Played on Bill Clinton
Chicago mayoral hopeful Congressman Danny Davis (D-Ill.) insisted that he is not playing the Race Card as he threatens to turn the African American community against former President Bill Clinton, if he comes to the city of the big shoulders to stump for Rahm Emanuel. "It's a friendship card," Davis said, emphasizing the long relationship between himself and Clinton, who once wore the label "the First Black President." You can read the language and judge for yourself. "The African American commu...

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 ...

Lawmakers chosen to draw Congressional boundaries
State legislative leaders on Thursday announced which lawmakers have been appointed to a special committee to redraw Congressional District boundaries. The 10-member committee will be co-chaired by Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, and Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial. The group is charged with meeting in all seven congressional districts and getting input from the public. The Bipartisan committee consists of five Democrats and five Republicans appointed by legislative leaders. Democrats control the ...

The Progress We've Made
Huzzah! Huzzah for our side and let's keep up with the tricks that the opposition wants to play on us in 2011.  A quick look at the Introduced and Un-introduced Bills for the Montana State Legislature 2011 shows at least two that may be of concern to Medical Marijuana proponents.  HD 33 (LC 369) is vague even in the wording of the title.  Your problem with traffic safety is Alcohol, Montana, so table this waste of time bill and let's move on to something more important. HB 68 (LC ...

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, ...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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, ...

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...

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...

Or maybe Rob McKenna is just a crappy lawyer?
Of course the Seattle Times editorial board enthusiastically supports Attorney General Rob Mckenna’s call for liability reform. He’s Rob Fucking McKenna, the WA GOP’s Kwisatz Haderach. Hell, if McKenna had come out in favor of strangling kittens, the Times would’ve surely urged broad Bipartisan support: “Kitten lovers will not like these ideas,” the Times editors might write. “Democratic lawmakers are sure to be lobbied against them. McKenna is a two-...

The 10 worst decisions of 2010
They must have seemed like good ideas at the time. But the Politicos who made these bad decisions are surely looking back on 2010 and kicking themselves. A bad decision isn't just a gaffe — something that slips out when your mouth runs ahead of your brain. It's something you do on purpose, like doubling down on that thing you shouldn't have said, talking trash about your own state, or getting blown up by your own political grenade. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset POLITICO 44 What...

Thirty favorite quotes of 2010
I can't call these the best quotes of the year. But among them are deft turns of phrase, clearly stated truths, and a few revealing lifts of the veil. And most of them were handily accessible in my archives. If I had time to sift through all my 2010 posts I'd find many more which belong here. But I don't, and the list would be too long, anyway. Enjoy, and feel free to add your own favorites in the comments. The border’s too big. The hole in the Gulf is too deep. The Recession is too stub...

Abortionist Hangs His Shingle Next to Pediatrician
It is mind-boggling that even the infamous late-term abortionist, Martin Haskell, would have the gall to plant one of his bloody mills within spitting distance of a group of dedicated child healers - even sharing a driveway, parking area, and sign. And with each practice’s door - dividing the fates of Southwest Ohio’s tiniest and most helpless citizens - a Poe-esque 50 feet from the other, all this freak-show lacks is a guest appearance from Vincent Price. Haskell, who is kno

Student Loan Reform: Best Progressive Victory of 2010
Looking back on the year, I believe that the best victory for Progressives was Student Loan reform, which was passed as part of the Reconciliation measure. While not as large in scale as some of the bills passed by this Congress, it still was a substantial measure that ends over $60 billion in government waste. What makes this victory the most important from my perspective is that it is the closest to a truly uncompromised progressive victory that we have seen in the last two years. This was a...

Davis calls for Clinton to stay away
Chicago Mayoral Candidate Danny Davis today called on President Bill Clinton not to come to town to campaign for Rahm Emanuel, suggesting the former president's good relationships with African-Americans are at risk. Davis, a Veteran West Side congressman, said he is “seriously concerned and disturbed” by the news Emanuel’s campaign released a few days ago that Clinton would travel to Chicago next month to support his former aide. Emanuel worked in the Clinton White House du...