Donald Trump and Mike Pence are using Trump's imaginary delusions about massive voter fraud giving the popular vote to Hillary Clinton during 2016 as a ruse to launch a voter suppression effort, and they're using Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a man well known for such efforts, to do it.
While launching his "Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity," Trump charged Pence with leading the effort, and moving forward, Kobach has written a letter to all the country's secretaries of state asking them to turn over voter information along with personal information without any details of how it will be used, nor how they will keep it secure:
Kobach, who serves as co-chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, asked all 50 secretaries of state to provide him with “publicly-available voter roll data” including voters’ full names, addresses, dates of birth, political party, last four digits of social security numbers, voter history, felony convictions, and other identifying information.
In Kansas, the secretary of state’s office has used an arsenal of intrusive methods to find alleged non-citizen voters, according to an internal document obtained exclusively by ThinkProgress in April. In one case, Kobach’s office compared voter rolls to a list of temporary drivers licenses issued to non-citizens. It also commissioned two outside firms to poll non-citizens about their voting habits using drivers’ license information and other data, and it asked the Department of Homeland Security to compare a list of suspected non-citizen voters against its list of naturalized citizens.
The extensive voter data Kobach is now requesting from secretaries of state across the country raises the possibility that the commission will use those same methods to probe these voter rolls for suspected non-citizens or for people registered in more than one state, with huge potential to disenfranchise many legitimate voters.
Gov. Rick Scott on Friday said he has not seen the letter that had been sent to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on Wednesday. But a spokeswoman for Detzner said the agency was reviewing the request.
What are the chances Rick Scott and SOS Ken Detzner are not only willing to turn over all your personal and voter information to Trump and crew, but also asking them "How can we help?" Given their history of voter purge attempts and suppression efforts, I'm kind of surprised Scott hasn't been appointed an unofficial member of the commission, but the he's probably too busy trying to assist Trump and the GOP in taking away your health care.
Whether or not states comply or Trump's effort at massive voter suppression fails before it begins (and let's hope that's the case), it's a bit stunning coming from a president who knows Russia interfered with our election, and who may have even helped, beyond merely encouraging Russian hackers to dig up Hillary Clinton's emails, but refuses to do anything about it, leaving the country open to more of the same.
Why is it that Trump wants to make it easier for Russia to "vote" than it is for Americans?
Perhaps because it brings Karl Rove and Republicans closer to their dream of a permanent Republican majority, and they don't care who it takes, Trump or Putin, to get them there?
The Senate Republican's version of the latest tax cut for millionaires and billionaires "American Health Care Act" has finally seen daylight, and even just a glance at it shows why they kept everyone in the dark on what was in it. It's virtually loaded with reasons for crafting it behind closed doors without sharing the details with the public and away from Democrat's, and some Republican's prying eyes. It all boils down to just another tax cut for the rich disguised as a health care bill.
Here's what Sen. Bill Nelson had to say about today's unveiling of the Senate Republican's plan:
“Now we know why they tried to keep this secret. This bill is just as bad as the House bill, taking coverage away from millions of people and making huge cuts to Medicaid. If that weren’t enough, it also allows insurance companies to hike rates for older Americans. Fixing our nation’s health care system shouldn’t be a partisan issue. We should be working together, not plotting behind closed doors to make it worse.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio went with his usual smoke and mirrors approach, pretending to be concerned about something he'll no doubt vote for regardless, simply because he would do anything to erase President Obama's legacy, which provides a bonus if it ends health insurance for millions while making his donors that much wealthier:
“Senator Rubio will decide how to vote on health care on the basis of how it impacts Florida. He has already spoken to Governor Scott, Senate President Negron and Speaker Corcoran about the first draft of this proposal. He has instructed his staff to share with state leaders the first draft and has asked them to run numbers and provide input on how this initial proposal would impact Florida’s Medicaid program and individual insurance marketplace. He has invited them to send staff to Washington next week to help us formulate changes and amendments to this proposal. He will continue to reach out for input and suggested changes from Florida providers, insurers and patient advocate groups.”
Rather than read the bill himself, Rubio will just outsource that job to his Republican friends in Florida. You know, the ones who never found an excuse to cut people's health care they didn't love and embrace without a thought. Rubio would very much like them to crunch the numbers and see just how many people need to be cut off from health care in Florida to satisfy their greed posthaste so Republicans can vote on it next week and get on with their next taxpayer funded recess. As for Gov. Rick Scott, well, does Rubio really need his input? After all, this bill would be like Christmas to the governor, and any Republican governor who might follow him into office, especially when you consider that under the Senate plan governors can waive Medicaid without any legislator's action, period. What's not to love?
As for Rubio reaching out to Florida "providers, insurers and patient advocate groups," let's get serious. The Republicans in D.C. also barred providers and patient advocacy groups from meetings even though there were numerous requests to be included, and for good reason. They're all against the Republicans' plans. As for insurers, they'll no doubt be on board with the plan, after all, Republicans want to sweeten the deal by eliminating caps on insurance executive's compensation.
Also, notice the one group that Rubio isn't including in his so-called input outreach? That's right, the very Floridians who will be hurt by this bill if it passes and winds up signed into law by one of the biggest beneficiaries of the subsequent tax cut, Donald Trump.
As always, Rubio's constituents aren't even an afterthought. Rubio refused to hold town halls because he knew ending the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare was immensely unpopular. He merely dismissed them, issuing a statement claiming his angry voters were merely "paid protesters" as an excuse. Because he's shameless.
In closing, as always, here's a plea to call your Senators and let them know how you feel about this health care bill whether Marco Rubio wants to know or not.
The 2017 hurricane season began last Thursday, and five months into Donald Trump's presidency,* he has yet to appoint permanent leaders in either the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving the country unprepared in the event of a hurricane in what is predicted to be an above normal active season.
If Trump were any kind of leader rather than a clueless buffoon and a walking disaster all on his own who merely uses "keeping America safe" as an empty slogan, disaster preparedness would be a priority. But Trump is no leader, and if past is prologue, those in the potential path of a hurricane this year have reason to worry. Last month he kicked Hurricane Matthew victims in North Carolina to the curb when he gave them a mere 1 percent of the disaster funds they requested.
So, in the absence of leadership at NOAA and FEMA, not to mention Trump's proposed cuts to those agencies as well as the Coast Guard, you would think that Florida's elected officials in Washington would sound the alarm and appeal to Trump how important filling those positions are.
But as always, if you're looking to Sen. Marco Rubio to voice your concerns, you'll be disappointed. Not that Rubio hasn't noticed things are amiss in Trump's lack of attention to the problem, he has. He just has different priorities than preparedness. He's more concerned with relaxing regulations after the storm hits:
Sen. Marco Rubio is asking the president initiate “a comprehensive review” of all federal regulations that could be relaxed to expedite hurricane relief efforts.
“As your administration continues its focus on regulatory reform, I urge you to consider regulations, rules, and bureaucratic red tape that may hinder or constrain Americans’ abilities to rebuild their lives and communities following disasters,” Rubio wrote in a letter Thursday to President Trump. “Floridians are eager to see Washington, D.C., refocus and refine the government’s disaster relief mission to ensure that meeting victims’ needs is always the immediate priority.”
This request is packaged to sound as if Rubio's biggest concern is with Floridians, but anyone who's been paying attention to Rubio all these years has more than a few reasons to be skeptical that this isn't just another vague ploy to weaken regulations in favor of anyone but hurricane victims.
Would Rubio seek a back door to giving big business donors an assist in slashing regulations that could cut into their profits by masking it as concern for constituents in the aftermath of a hurricane?
In a word, yes. Because when it comes to predicting a hurricane's path or Rubio's actions, the latter is on the money for accuracy, even with leaders in place at the agencies tasked with tracking hurricanes, which we don't have at the moment.
If Rubio was truly concerned about Floridans in the aftermath of disaster, wouldn't he be encouraging Trump to first appoint leaders at NOAA and FEMA rather than cutting more regulations?
Yes, he would. But he's not.
If you're looking to avert disaster, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio are the last people you can count on.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Trump, And House GOP Celebrate Throwing Millions Off Health Insurance
The verdict is in for the Republican's tax cut for the rich American Health Care Act, or TrumpCare, that would destroy the Affordable Care Act and (surprise!) it's a death sentence for millions.
As you'll recall, Republicans in the House didn't want to wait until their health care bill was scored by the Congressional Budget Office to vote on it because they knew the results would be devastating, and on this they were correct. And then some. But vote they did, and it passed. Now the CBO has weighed in and the death panels Republicans warned us about are now real and Republicans are the ones sitting on them.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its score showing that the bill would eliminate coverage for 14 million Americans next year and for 23 million by 2026. The CBO projects that the bill would destabilize insurance markets; slash Medicaid funding by $834 billion over the next decade; make individual coverage exceedingly expensive for older Americans and people with pre-existing conditions; and increase average premiums by 20 percent next year.
The bill also included an Amendment that would allow states to waive protections for pre-existing conditions and coverage for basic health benefits. Given that Florida refused to expand Medicaid under the ACA and Republicans here sought to undermine the ACA, there's an underlying assumption by many that Republicans would waive these protections as well, meaning that the AHCA would be extremely costly and deadly to Floridans. Now the CBO has released coverage losses by state, and the numbers for Florida are bad.
Millions would lose their coverage, protections for pre-existing conditions and coverage for basic health care essentials would be gone, and people would be paying more for less coverage. In other words, the Republicans have removed "health insurance" from the concept of health insurance. Worse, their plan would make things worse than they were before the ACA was passed.
This week Republicans in Congress are taking another stab at throwing millions of Americans off their health insurance to both satisfy their own lust for ending "evil" Obamacare (and killing people) and to give Trump what he thinks will be a "win," in that he'll get to sign something in front of the cameras (that will kill people) while claiming it's the best health plan ever put together in the history of health plans, facts be damned.
Facts. They are indeed pesky details that have tripped Trump up at every turn in his short time in office as the man who would be king, and the facts surrounding the latest version of Trumpcare will be no different. He claims this new version is even more awesome than the last one was, except the first was actually pretty bad and this one is even worse. It essentially takes the "health insurance" out of the "having health insurance" equation by ending provisions for covering basic health essentials like going to the hospital, along with protections and coverage for pre-existing conditions, something that a majority of the population have. Should you need that kind of coverage, the new plan would allow insurance companies to spike the cost of your premiums causing many to be priced out of the market altogether.
This is similar to the last plan that was so bad they couldn't even get enough Republicans to vote for it. So this time they added an incentive to turn those "no" votes into "yes" votes. They simply made sure members of Congress will be exempt from all of the above. In other words, they will get to keep their Obamacare and all of its protections, while the rest of us will get stuck with Trumpcare, which could barely be called insurance anymore. (They now claim they'll remove that exemption AFTER the bill passes, and we should just trust that they'll keep their word on it. Sure.)
Another problem with the new Trumpcare is what it could do to Floridians: The new plan would allow states to waive all sorts of benefits rules.
Here are the basic rules states could waive, eliminate, and/or "tweak" under the latest version of Trumpcare, as summarized by the New York Times. They fall into three categories, essential health benefits, community ratings, and age ratings, and what could be eliminated from the current Obamacare law:
A basic set of benefits, including hospital care, prescription drugs and maternity care, that must be included in all health insurance.
A pillar of Obamacare that prevents health insurers from charging higher prices to customers with pre-existing health conditions.
Rules about how much more insurance companies can charge older customers than younger ones.
Allowing states to set their own standards and requirements could have deadly consequences for Floridians at the hands of Republicans. I suggest reading the above referenced article in full for deeper details on just how devastating and deadly these waivers could be.
As Floridians know all too well, Republicans here have already declared a war on health care, and just the thought of these new waivers probably have Rick Scott rubbing his hands together, dancing a jig and wearing a permanent version of his evil, laser-eyed grin, while Republicans in the legislature are probably lining up to collect insurance company donor checks as I write this. After all, Scott was the king of the "Let's Kill Health Care" movement long before he became governor, after being forced out of his own company due to the company's record breaking Medicare fraud problem. After Obamacare passed in spite of his efforts, he and Republicans refused to expand Medicaid and passed a law that allowed insurance companies to charge Floridians higher premiums while also allowing them to falsely blame Obamacare for it. Right now Florida Republicans are trying to force a work requirement on those who still have access to Medicaid.
In other words, this latest effort to kill Obamacare (and lots of people along with it) and replace it with Trumpcare would be a dream come true for Florida Republicans, not to mention the members of Congress who will get to keep their Obamacare and all of its benefits even as they vote to cut yours.
Unless you're a Floridian who plans to get through life absent any illness, any basic need for medical care, and don't have a pre-existing condition, you might want to give your Representative a call before they vote on this nightmare tomorrow or Saturday.
If you were hopeful you dodged a bullet when Trumpcare died on the GOP operating table recently, I have some bad news.
Trumpcare is back, and it's even worse than the previous version.
Trump is desperately looking for a "win" as his first 100 days deadline approaches, in spite of his recent Twitter tantrum claim that such a benchmark is ridiculous. For some reason, he thinks that throwing millions off health care and the death sentences that would come with it is indeed a "win" for him.
When we last visited Trumpcare, the Republican plan was so bad that even Republicans recognized it was bad for their politics, in that it would end things like coverage for pre-existing conditions and take the "health care" out of health insurance coverage by cutting coverage for essential health benefits like hospitalization, among other things. Another problem was that these cuts would also hurt them in the process.
But all that has changed, and the new version of "repeal and replace Obamacare" will still repeal those provisions (absent a replacement, as always), but with one change to sweeten the pot for Republicans who were against it before:
House Republicans appear to have included a provision that exempts members of Congress and their staff from their latest health care plan.
The new Republican amendment, introduced Tuesday night, would allow states to waive out of Obamacare’s ban on preexisting conditions. This means that insurers could once again, under certain circumstances, charge sick people higher premiums than healthy people.
Republican legislators liked this policy well enough to offer it in a new amendment. They do not, however, seem to like it enough to have it apply to themselves and their staff. A spokesperson for Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), who authored this amendment, confirmed this was the case: Members of Congress and their staff would get the guarantee of keeping these Obamacare regulations.
As the above Vox article points out, Obamacare requires members of Congress to purchase their own coverage through the marketplace just as every other enrollee does to demonstrate that if it's good enough for us, it's good enough for them.
But in the newest version of Trumpcare, Republicans are offering to let states opt out of provisions that protect things like pre-existing conditions and cover essential health benefits while driving up the cost of premiums, which would also hurt members of Congress and their staff. So in order to get those Republicans on board who would have been a "no" vote previously, they have exempted themselves and their staff from the same cuts they'll presumably be handing down to you and me. And with that, their dream of throwing millions of people off their insurance and/or pricing a majority of Americans out of the market may be one step closer to reality.
When word of this Congressional exemption got out, some members seemed to grasp the problem of the "optics" that would allow them to keep the Obamacare they previously loathed and voted against over and over again for the past eight years while kicking the rest of America to the curb. Today, reports say they are "looking for a change" to the language before the votes are called:
As Republicans study an amendment to the American Health Care Act to see if it would revive the moribund effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they’re wrestling over language that appears to benefit members of Congress and their staff and looking for a way to change it before any votes are called.
The language, first spotted by Vox health-care reporter Sarah Kliff, leaves a loophole in the McArthur-Meadows amendment’s waivers allowing insurers in states to cut back on the essential health benefits mandated by the ACA. Members of Congress or their staffers from a state that offers a skimpier set of standards would be able stay on the District of Columbia’s plan, which follows the ACA mandate.
Vox’s story ran late Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning, Republicans were reviewing the loophole. One member who brought it up during the party’s weekly conference meeting was told that the language might not stay in the bill.
"The language might not stay in the bill." I don't know, do you really trust this group of Republicans to do the right thing? I certainly don't. If you share my sentiments here, you might want to give your Congressman/woman in Florida a call, and soon.
Meanwhile, Greg Sargent over at The Plum Line is reporting that Trump and White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney are threatening to sabotage Obamacare by cutting subsidies for millions of Americans:
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi spoke by phone last night with White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, and Mulvaney took the White House’s threat to sabotage the Affordable Care Act to a new level — its most serious yet, according to an account of the call provided to me by a Democratic aide familiar with the conversation.
On the call, Pelosi reiterated the Democratic position on the so-called “cost-sharing reductions” (CSRs), which subsidize lower out-of-pocket costs for millions of Americans. Democrats are insisting that these payments — which the administration has been making but has threatened to cease — must be included in Congress’ forthcoming spending bill to make sure that they continue. If they don’t, insurers, facing a big financial loss, would probably flee the individual markets, causing them to melt down.
But Mulvaney told Pelosi that the administration might not make its payment next month, the aide tells me. And not only that, Mulvaney “made clear that absent Congressional action, the administration would cease making payments,” the aide adds. A spokesman for Mulvaney didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
This appears to be a serious escalation of the White House’s threat to sabotage the exchanges. President Trump had said that he might stop the payments to try to pressure Democrats into agreeing to fund his wall on the Mexican border. But in recent days, Trump retreated on his demand for the wall, leading many to expect that the CSRs would continue, at least for the time being. And despite Trump’s rhetoric, leading Republicans, such as Paul Ryan, have said they expect the payments to continue while litigation over them is decided.
But now Mulvaney is threatening to halt the payments as soon as next month, according to the Democratic aide. And this has insurers predicting that they may end up exiting the markets if this comes to pass.
Mulvaney now claims this is false, but as Sargent points out, Trump is not making the same claim. Further, just days ago Trump once again seemed to be threatening to sabotage Obamacare:
As we've come to expect, no member of Trump's Administration can be believed when they seem to be on a different page as Trump, and they all exist in a fact-free environment.
One thing that's consistent, Republicans and Trump alike have always vowed to kill Obamacare one way or another.
The only difference in their promises now? If you like your Obamacare, you can't keep it, but Republicans will make sure they and their staff can.
Florida voters have done it again. They voted against their own self-interests by helping to elect Donald Trump, a guy who makes Rick Scott's conflicts of interest and contempt for average Americans look meager by comparison.
Every day there's a reason for buyer's remorse, and Trump just handed them several more.
This time it involves that "big, beautiful wall" that Mexico was going to pay for.
Spoiler alert: Mexico was never going to pay for the wall, but Americans were, and will. "Bigly."
You see, in order to find money to pay for that wall voters cheered for, Trump has found a solution. He's just going to shift some funds around. In order to "make America safe" with that wall, he's going to make America less safe in other areas:
The Trump administration, searching for money to build the president’s planned multibillion-dollar border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, is weighing significant cuts to the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies focused on national security threats, according to a draft plan.
The proposal, drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.
The cuts are proposed even as the planned budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees all of them, grows 6.4 percent to $43.8 billion, according to the plan, which was obtained by The Washington Post. Some $2.9 billion of that would go to building the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, with $1.9 billion funding “immigration detention beds” and other Immigration and Customs Enforcement expenses and $285 million set aside to hire 500 more Border Patrol agents and 1,000 more ICE agents and support staffers.
It's a good thing that Florida never gets hit with hurricanes, never needs rescues at sea, isn't prone to drug smuggling, nor has any ports or airports to protect from terrorists, all missions the Coast Guard performs, am I right?
Florida Trump voters did a real number on themselves (not to mention the rest of us) and went with the guy who wants to protect us from imaginary threats by defunding the agencies that protect us from actual threats.
So the next time we're hit with a hurricane and FEMA doesn't show up, those same Florida voters in need of help can take comfort that they got a big, beautiful wall instead.
I hate to write headlines with a question mark lest they be perceived as clickbait, but this isn't clickbait. It's an honest question.
Because in Florida right now, we have a Senate race that's winnable for Democrats where the Republican candidate is the current seat holder who says he hates the job, proves it by rarely showing up, and swore he wouldn't run for it again after voters told him to take a hike in his failed Presidential primary. Now he's back, once again pretending that he won't run for President again, and abandon the job early, again. Sure.
Marco Rubio has never done anything in his political life that doesn't benefit Marco Rubio. His only accomplishment in the Senate (if you can really call it an accomplishment) was an immigration bill that he turned around and voted against. Since he arrived in Washington he's done nothing but obstruct everything President Obama and Democrats tried to do, things that his constituents favored. When he ran the first time in 2010, he said "Perhaps the most stimulative thing they [Congress] can do right now is take a two year recess or something.” That was the closest Rubio ever came to having a "big idea."
So here we have absentee record holder Senator Rubio, one of the worst candidates possible, trying to keep his seat, and his opponent Patrick Murphy is gaining on him in the polls, and tied with him in at least one. This would seem like a win-win scenario for Democrats. Yet the man who professes to want to lead Democrats in the Senate when Harry Reid exits next year has taken it upon himself to withdraw monetary support for Murphy, and essentially hand Floridians something they clearly don't seem to want: Another couple years (?), much less six of Marco Rubio's "representation" in Washington.
That man would be Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.
Every big name in the Democratic Party from President Obama to Bill Clinton have stepped up on Murphy's behalf in Florida, yet Schumer apparently refuses to.
There have been quiet whispers about this in Florida for a while now, but not anymore.
On Sunday, The New York Times published an editorial entitled "A Chance To Unseat Marco Rubio." It illustrated the downsides for Rubio in the state right now, among them the growing support for Democrats among Latinos and Rubio's support of Trump:
Just months ago, Senator Marco Rubio was seen by the Republican establishment as one of its best hopes for taking back the White House. Now, Representative Patrick Murphy, a second-term congressman, is within striking distance of defeating Mr. Rubio in the senator’s race to keep his seat.
The race is the most consequential among several in Florida in which Republican incumbents find themselves in unexpectedly tough fights. The plight of Florida Republicans — who seem largely resigned to a Clinton victory, given Hillary Clinton’s four percentage point lead in the polls — is in large measure a result of the name at the top of the ballot. But Donald Trump’s candidacy has only accelerated trends that have changed Florida’s political landscape in ways that Democrats have been more adept at seizing.
...
What this has meant for Mr. Rubio is that he can no longer rely on Cuban-Americans as a stalwart base in a state where many voters have become alienated by his hard-line conservative positions on issues such as gay rights, reproductive rights, gun control and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and by his shifting stance on immigration reform. Of course, the Trump factor is substantial, too. Mr. Rubio, who once called Mr. Trump a “con artist” wholly unfit to be president, now backs him. Many former Rubio supporters find that galling and indefensible.
For these reasons, Florida voters should support Mr. Murphy. But defeating Mr. Rubio, who earned a reputation on Capitol Hill as a disengaged lawmaker who skipped scores of key votes and hearings, shouldn’t be the only motive.
Mr. Murphy’s positions on climate change — an issue that Mr. Rubio seems deeply ignorant about — gay rights, gun control and comprehensive immigration reform make him by far a superior representative for Floridians. Mr. Murphy has also challenged Mr. Rubio’s obstinate support for the failed embargo on Cuba, which puts him on the right side of history and, increasingly, public opinion in Florida.
Earlier this week the subject of Democrats abandoning Murphy came up on Rachel Maddow over at MSNBC, where she discussed the problem with Florida political strategist and former State Director for the Barack Obama campaign, Steve Schale. You can see that discussion in the video here.
Tensions are flaring at the highest rungs of the Democratic Party over its decision to pull out of the Florida Senate race, with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Florida donors pressing to go all out to unseat Marco Rubio in the final days of the campaign, but New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and the party’s Senate campaign arm arguing it’s not feasible because of budget constraints.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — under the direction of Schumer and its chairman, Montana Sen. Jon Tester — has redirected millions of dollars from Florida to North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana. They reason that those states are both much cheaper to advertise in and offer a more promising path to the Senate majority than Florida, where Rubio has long been favored to defeat Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy.
But Reid and other Democrats believe that defeating Rubio would be the ultimate Election Day trophy for Democrats, given his national stature and the reelection threat he could post to a potential President Hillary Clinton in 2020.
...
Many Democrats see things the other way. Reid is advocating that the party make an eleventh-hour re-entry into Florida, Democratic sources said. Barack Obama has also taken a keen interest in the race, traveling to Florida to knock Rubio last week. He’ll return Friday to visit Orlando.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has been pleading with former President Bill Clinton to get Democrats more interested in the Florida contest, sources familiar with the matter said. Bill Clinton himself believes Democrats gave up on the race prematurely and is urging Florida donors to support Murphy.
The urgency among many Democrats is heightened by Rubio’s status as a rising star in the Republican Party with unquestioned national ambitions. Many Democrats believe the next few days is the best chance to finish him off.
“I understand it’s not Chuck Schumer’s job to worry about presidential politics,” said Steve Schale, who managed Obama’s 2008 campaign in Florida. But “we’re all going to look a little dumb if Rubio wins by 80,000 votes and announces for president in two years.”
...
“Going forward, we should certainly consider building a big beautiful wall around Florida that the DSCC pays for,” [Florida fundraiser Stephen] Bittel quipped. “Everyone comes to Florida to raise money and we have been incredibly generous for a long time to the DSCC and we are quite disappointed that they have chosen to not repatriate our capital back to Florida to support Patrick Murphy.”
...
“The Clintons have extra incentive to help Patrick,” said one Florida source. “If Rubio loses his reelection after losing his home state to Trump in the presidential primary, he’s done. No one can survive two losses at home in the same year. Don’t you think Hillary would be happy if she knew that Marco was no longer a threat to her in four years?”
Everyone from state Democrats, Democratic voters, Democratic strategists and the biggest Florida Democratic donors recognize the folly of sitting back and letting Rubio win a race that is his to lose, a seat that has long been in the Republican column but now has a chance to flip to the Democrats. Yet Chuck Schumer doesn't see the urgency in handing the seat back to one of the most unpopular Republicans in the Senate? Why?
Here's a possible hint I saw today on twitter:
I don't know if that's true, but if it is, it's stunning. If Chuck Schumer plans to be the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, and is protecting a no-show Republican obstructionist who has everything to gain at the expense of a flipped seat for the Democrats in the Senate, is that Schumer's idea of "leadership?" After all, let's remember that after Donald Trump is gone, Republicans who supported him will jump to try and rewrite history of their support for an unhinged candidate. Worse, Republicans will pretend their party members who were lying to supporters for years as Trump does, and who have created the atmosphere that allowed Trump to rise in the party in the first place will be looking for someone to pretend he's the Republican's "normal choice." Rubio stands to gain from that rewrite. The party already named him their "savior" once before. Does anyone really believe they won't try this again?
In theory, Schumer could transfer more money to the DSCC; he had $20 million in his campaign coffers at the start of October. But he’s currently spending on ads in his own reelection campaign in the pricey New York market and has already transferred more than $6 million into Senate races.
$20 million is a lot of money. Especially when you consider Schumer's Real Clear Politics polling average in his own race is currently +36 against his Republican opponent. Despite the pricey New York market, just how much does Schumer really need to defend himself?
Really, Sen. Schumer? Can't spare a dime for Murphy? Money's "tight" when you've only got a mere $20 million? This revelation is music to Republicans ears, and they thank you for the help! (And yes, they are literally thanking him for it.)
I've been writing about the disaster that is Marco Rubio for a long time, and I've been looking forward to ending my streak. I thought it ended when Rubio lost in his Presidential primary, especially in his home state landslide loss. It was frustrating enough when he flip-flopped to run again, but even I thought surely this next loss would be the end of his career. That frustration wasn't mine alone. There's a virtual club of Democrats here who were giddy at the thought of waving goodbye to Rubio.
So it's beyond frustrating that, of all people, a Democrat from New York may have decided to put his thumb on the scale for Rubio, despite what any Floridian might want, much less what the country might want, four years from now. Worse, that this Democrat may be leading the Senate in the future.
If you're as frustrated as I am, please respectfully ask Sen. Chuck Schumer to change his mind and give Patrick Murphy, and Florida, the help they deserve.
(Note: As I was writing this, it seems the folks over at Daily KOS started their own Schumer-Murphy campaign. This is more welcome news.)
A federal judge on Wednesday extended voter registration until Oct. 18 in the battleground state of Florida, due to the disruption and damage from Hurricane Matthew.
During a hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker agreed to extend the deadline for six more days. He had already extended the Oct. 11 deadline one day, after the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit last weekend, following the hurricane's brush with Florida's east coast.
Walker said in an order issued shortly afterward that he acted swiftly because "no right is more precious than having a voice in our democracy."
"Hopefully it is not lost on anyone that the right to have a voice is why this great country exists in the first place," wrote Walker, who set the deadline at 5 p.m. on Oct. 18....
...Democrats late last week asked Republican Gov. Rick Scott to extend the deadline, but Scott turned down the request and said people have had enough time to register. Scott brushed aside questions on whether his decision was related to his staunch support of GOP nominee Donald Trump.
In court, however, attorneys for both Scott and the state's chief top elections official offered no defense of the existing deadline and did not object to an extension. Most of the hour-long hearing before Walker was spent discussing how long to extend voter registration.
Walker said he did not believe that Scott had authority to use his emergency powers to waive the deadline. But he also pointed out that Florida law already allows the governor to suspend or delay an election if there is an emergency.
"There is a gap in Florida law that renders (the deadline) constitutionally untenable," Walker said.
This past Thursday, Newsweek investigative reporter Kurt Eichenwald revealed Donald Trump had violated the Cuban embargo by sending consultants to the communist island in 1997. Though this wasn't the first time Trump had been accused of illegally dealing in Fidel Castro country, Eichenwald's report is certainly the most comprehensive evidence yet that Trump broke the law. Unlike earlier reports, Newsweek actually quoted Trump company documents that showed he spent money in Cuba and then tried to pretend the cash was part of a charitable donation.
Yet in face of all that evidence, Marco Rubio — who is Cuban, pro-embargo, and staunchly anti-Castro — has refused to denounce Trump for his actions. Rather than stand by his principles, Rubio told the Miami Herald he'd wait for "all the facts" before denouncing Trump's actions in Cuba or criticizing the presidential candidate for lying to Miami Cubans about his hatred for Castro. Rubio then tweeted out an article that (A) erroneously claimed Trump hadn't broken the law (he did), and (B) blamed the Clintons for "working to hand the Castro regime billions of dollars."
Given Marco Rubio's tendency to skirt the truth and spread misinformation whenever it suits him politically, it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that he would try to cover for Trump when he does it. After all, it seems that no matter how many egregious things Trump has done (and the list grows longer every day) Rubio is still willing to support him, even after Trump personally humiliated "Little Marco" in the primaries.
Still, trying to twist the truth in Trump's favor on this one is quite a stretch even for Rubio, and it no doubt won't escape the notice of many voters in Florida, especially in Rubio's own backyard.
