Democrats say all is well in the Massachusetts Special Election.  They say that they aren’t worried.  “It’s clear that Ed Markey has a strong lead that will grow….” said DSCC Executive Matt Canter.

Their actions don’t match their spin. Yesterday in a move that reeks of worry, the DSCC spent over $700,000 on air time for Ed Markey.  And Harry Reid’s Majority PAC also decided Markey needed some saving, dropping more than $500,000 into Massachusetts themselves. Hmmmmm, Something smells fishy… There are 168 hours in the week, and yet – despite legally being barred from coordinating – somehow Majority PAC and the DSCC randomly decided within the same hour to spend over $1.25 million to help Ed Markey save his lifeless campaign. Coincidence?

Either Democrats are far more worried than they let on, or they aren’t worried at all and are throwing money away.

They aren’t alone.  Just a day earlier, the Springfield Republican reported that the League of Conservation Voters was spending nearly half a million dollars on targeted mail to help Ed Markey.  Let’s not forget billionaire radical Tom Steyer, who has already vowed to be a “politically disruptive force” in the election.  And apparently the Democratic National Committee has relocated their staff to Massachusetts.

Democrats and their liberal allies are spending millions to save Markey.  They’re sending in Congressman Xavier Becerra and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  They’ve already had to send in First Lady Michelle Obama. Now they have to send in President Barack Obama – we hear that he’s going to end up going twice – in order to drag Ed Markey across the finish line.

The truth is that Ed Markey is struggling to make it through the end of this campaign and to keep up with Gabriel Gomez’s pace.  That’s why Democrats are forced to spend millions that they never anticipated or wanted to lob false attacks and smears at Gomez.

Stu Rothenberg summed up what it means: “Though the race remains very competitive, the combination of the state’s partisan bent, the expected Democratic financial advantage in the final weeks (now that the DSCC is entering the fray) and Gomez’s need to run well ahead of Scott Brown among Independents — because Brown was able to get more Democrats in his special election than Gomez will get later this month — gives Markey an edge in what has been an interesting race.”

Remember: At this point in the special election in 2010, the Boston Globe poll showed Martha Coakley up 15 points over Scott Brown.  Brown won by 5 points. Today? Even the liberal polling firm PPP shows Gabriel Gomez within single digits.  We believe it’s even closer. Let there be no doubt: Gabriel Gomez can win this race and score a major upset.

Seize the day – enjoy the weekend,

Brad Dayspring
@BDayspring

Brook Hougesen
@Brook_H

2014 BATTLEGROUND SONAR

(MASSACHUSETTS) Giuliani praises Gomez as trustworthy on national security
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez Thursday on a walking tour of Boylston Street and visited the memorial for marathon bombing victims, praising the former Navy SEAL as a candidate who can be trusted on national security.

• National Democrats panic as Markey struggles to make it to finish line
• GOP hopes Gomez can reboot relations with Latinos in Massachusetts

(NORTH CAROLINA) Conservative group targets Kay Hagan with ads on renewable energy
The renewable energy ads are appearing online as part of a $175,000 national campaign in 15 states to block an charges assessed to businesses based on their pollution footprint. The one in North Carolina says: Sen. Hagan refused to block a carbon tax. Click here to tell her you can’t afford it.” The amount spent on the N.C. web-ad buy is unknown.

(KENTUCKY) As Grimes’ reluctance continues, Dem frustration, pressuring intensifies 
Pressure is mounting on Grimes to decide and attacks from a pro-McConnell super PAC have already been launched in newspaper ads. Last month, Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth told WFPL Grimes needed to make an immediate decision on running or risk hurting the party. Louisville-Jefferson County Democratic Party Chair Bill Ryan says he doesn’t agree Grimes is doing the party a disservice, but that it would be bet better to know the secretary of state’s intentions now rather than later.

(NEW JERSEY) Crowded, contentious Dem primary for NJ special election takes shape
Holt, the first Democrat to officially announce his candidacy for the seat, joins an increasingly long list of candidates and potential candidates scrambling for support. Primaries would be held Aug. 13 and a special general election Oct. 16…Earlier this year, Newark Mayor Cory Booker announced his intention to run for Lautenberg’s seat in November 2014, and a spokesman said on Wednesday that volunteers were collecting petition signatures for Booker to run this year instead. Sources also told The Star-Ledger that U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), representing the 6th District, intends to run for the Senate seat.

ON THE TWITTERS

@CBSNews - JUST IN: U.S. economy adds 175K jobs in May, but jobless rate ticks up to 7.6 percent as more Americans seek work

@usnews - Could Gabriel Gomez pull a Scott Brown in Massachusetts? The polls suggest he could http://bit.ly/14Cabd9

@SCF - 58% of voters in Arkansas oppose Obamacare, but Mark Pryor dismisses their concerns. He’s not listening to Arkansas. #arsen

@DailyCaller - How much would you pay for an app that prevented your phone from being bugged? http://ow.ly/lNUUI

@BDayspring - Very Cool: @Uber_DC donating $1 from every Cap Hill ride to support those affected by Frager’s fire.

NATIONAL RADAR

(WALL STREET JOURNAL) Will New Health Insurance Be Too Expensive for America’s Lowest-Paid?
For people like Salvador Martínez, a 50-year-old grounds crewman, the health-care law seems to be a potential game changer. Because of the law, his employer, a landscaping service in Santa Clarita, Calif., will begin offering coverage to him, and to its 230 other low-wage workers, next year. But Chris Angelo, a second-generation owner of the landscaping firm, Stay Green Inc., doesn’t expect a groundswell of enrollments next year from lower-wage workers such as Mr. Martínez. While the employees might say they’re interested in employer coverage, “we believe they will opt out,” says Mr. Angelo. His reasoning? “They’d rather have the cash than pay the employee portion of the premium.”

(WALL STREET JOURNAL) Ohio Complains of Higher Health-Insurance Premiums
Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, an elected Republican, announced Thursday that regulators in the Buckeye State are looking at proposed premiums for 2014 for individual health insurance plans that will be sold in the state as part of the health law’s marketplace, which the federal government is operating.

(HUFFINGTON POST) IRS Poll Finds Many Americans Think Obama Knew About Targeting
Many Americans are doubtful about the Obama administration’s claims that it didn’t know about the IRS applying additional scrutiny to conservative groups until after that targeting had already taken place, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.

(USA TODAY) Analysis: Obama’s agenda scorched in firestorm
President Obama, meet the second-term curse. Revelations that the U.S. government has been collecting a massive database of telephone usage by millions of Americans — citizens not suspected of any wrongdoing — created a firestorm Thursday that would be damaging for any administration. But it is is especially problematic for Obama because it stokes controversies he already was struggling to contain and reinforces criticism that has dogged him from the start.

(WASHINGTON POST) Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge
The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.

(POLITICO) N.Y. Times changes scathing editorial
The New York Times editorial board has quietly changed the language in the most widely cited line from Thursday’s scathing editorial about the Obama administration’s surveillance of U.S. citizens. The line — “The administration has now lost all credibility” — was changed Thursday night to read, “The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue.” No correction or explanatory note was appended.

(TWITCHY) President Obama Ignores D-Day…. Again

Twenty-seven years ago the United States implemented a plan that offered amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Hear from one of the architects of the bill and key players as they discuss where it went wrong.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

The 1990s saw an influx of illegal immigrants, which created tension among Americans and at the Mexican border. But the Clinton administration’s response fell short in many ways, especially when it came to security.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

September 11, 2001 defined the presidency of George W. Bush and the country’s new immigration policy. From the creation of the Department of Homeland Security to the building of a super-fence, the specter of 9/11 was felt along the border and in the halls of Congress. As border security escalated, President Bush’s attempts at immigration reforms collapsed.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

The future remains uncertain for 11 million people living illegally in the U.S. Though immigration reform seems closer than it has ever been before, can Washington and the Obama administration effectively repair 30 years of broken policies?

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

Earlier this week when Rep. Nancy Pelosi suggested Speaker John Boehner would be called ‘the weakest … in history’ if he were a woman.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

White House spokesman Jay Carney denounced the IRS’ actions, noting the IRS does not take its marching orders from the president.

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.

POLITICO reports, “Call them the debt crisis dissenters. The two parties are miles apart on how to cut the deficit and national debt: Republicans want to slash spending even more. Democrats want to raise revenue. And then there are the other Democrats — the ones who reject the entire premise of the current high-stakes fiscal fight. There’s no short-term deficit problem, they say, and there isn’t even an urgent debt crisis that requires immediate attention. This group could make it even harder for President Barack Obama to strike a grand bargain because they increasingly see no immediate need for either new spending cuts or significantly more revenue, both of which they say could further slow the economy.”

“The Democrats Have Lost On Sequestration”

The Washington Post reports, “That’s the simple reality of Friday’s vote to ease the pain for the Federal Aviation Administration. By assenting to it, Democrats have agreed to sequestration for the foreseeable future. Recall the Democrats’ original theory of the case: Sequestration was supposed to be so threatening that Republicans would agree to a budget deal that included tax increases rather than permit it to happen. That theory was wrong. The follow-up theory was that the actual pain caused by sequestration would be so great that it would, in a matter of months, push the two sides to agree to a deal. Democrats just proved that theory wrong, too. In effect, what Democrats said Friday was that in any case where the political pain caused by sequestration becomes unbearable, they will agree to cancel that particular piece of the bill while leaving the rest of the law untouched. The result is that sequestration is no longer particularly politically threatening, but it’s even more unbalanced: Cuts to programs used by the politically powerful will be addressed, but cuts to programs that affects the politically powerless will persist. It’s worth saying this clearly: The pain of sequestration will be concentrated on those who lack political power.”

Sequester: Another Agency Able to Make Smarter Cuts, Avoid Furloughs

Bloomberg reports, “The automatic federal spending cuts known as sequestration won’t force the State Department to furlough any employees this year. The State Department is notifying its staff today that new projections show ‘furloughs are not required’ during the year that ends Sept. 30 ‘due to cost-cutting measures implemented early in the fiscal year and a reduction in the sequester cut’ identified by the Office of Management and Budget, the department said today in response to an inquiry.”

FAA Flexibility Shows Administration’s Push For Tax Increases Has Failed

The Hill reports, “Opponents of sequestration are losing hope that the across-the-board cuts to federal spending will be reversed this year. The defense industry, health and education advocates and federal worker unions say that the ‘piecemeal’ approach that Congress adopted this week to ease furloughs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not bode well for their cause. ‘All of this is rearranging the deck chairs. I’m not overly hopeful,’ said Joel Packer of the Committee for Education Funding. ‘We are really putting our concentration on fiscal 2014 and beyond.’ … Conservatives said Obama’s decision to accept the FAA fix — which transfers money from airport improvements to pay for air traffic controllers — shows his attempt to pressure Republicans into accepting tax increases has failed.”

“Experts: Debt-ceiling increase might not be needed until October”

The Hill reports, “Congress could have until as late as mid-October to haggle over raising the debt limit, according to new expert analysis. The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), which has been closely tracking the flow of the nation’s finances as policymakers prepare to spar over its $16.4 trillion borrowing cap, now believes the government could avoid a default on its obligations as late as mid-October once its borrowing cap is reinstated in May. In January, the BPC said it believed Washington would have to hike the limit to avoid default most likely in August, but there was a ‘realistic chance’ it could be later. Now, with fresh information about the nation’s fiscal picture, the BPC believes the deadline for a debt-limit deal will be roughly a month later, and possibly more. … They caution, however, that there is still ‘substantial uncertainty’ in the debt-limit timeline. The BPC believes the debt-limit deadline could come anytime between mid-August and mid-October.”

Congress Exempt from Obamacare?

The Wall Street Journal editorializes, “The Politico website broke the story Thursday morning that Congressional leaders were in hush-hush talks to exempt themselves and their staff from the wonders of ObamaCare. The story succeeded in blowing up the talks, but there’s a bigger story here about Congressional intentions that is worth telling. House Speaker John Boehner quickly took to Twitter after the Politico story appeared, saying that he’s not ‘sneaking any language into bills to solve’ a problem for Democrats. He added that full repeal of the law is ‘the solution to this & other ObamaCare nightmares.’ We’re told that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer initiated the discussions. Mr. Reid now says he’s not trying to exempt anyone from the law. Mr. Hoyer’s spokesman says only that the Maryland Democrat wants the law to be ‘workable for everyone.’”

“Editorial: Driving toward bankruptcy”

The Washington Times editorializes, “There aren’t many winners in the current economic climate. Most companies are struggling against the burdens of higher taxes, red tape and uncertainty, and there’s no opportunity to expand and prosper. Some companies, however, have found a shortcut through deep political connections to the Obama administration. This became apparent last week at a hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examining the collapse of Fisker Automotive. The Energy Department gave hundreds of millions of dollars to this maker of electric luxury automobiles designed to appeal to liberals who can pay $100,000 for a car. Fisker was backed by the investment firm Kleiner Perkins (where Al Gore is a partner) and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who scouts for left-wing causes.”

Stimulus-Funded EPA Project Violated Mandate to Purchase U.S.-Made Products

The Washington Guardian reports, “While helping to clean up America, the Environmental Protection Agency didn’t always buy American. Investigators for the EPA inspector general found foreign-made steel pipes in a stimulus-funded project in President Obama’s home state of Illinois that violated federal regulations, and now they want taxpayers’ money back. But the agency is resisting demanding a refund. … Money handed out under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus, comes with a provision requiring projects to purchase U.S.-made items, another step designed to help bolster the economy.”

Senate GOP Grills Labor Department on Labor Union Payments

Fox News reports, “Senate Republicans say the Labor Department appears to be spending millions in taxpayer dollars to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining in foreign countries and are asking top Obama administration officials for a full audit. The request was sent by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the leading Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. ‘At a time when our federal budget is deteriorating rapidly … it is troubling to us that the department appears to be spending millions of dollars of taxpayer funds to establish labor unions and promote collective bargaining in foreign countries,’ they said in a letter to acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris. The purported activities were conducted by the agency’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs.”

Republicans Divided on Internet Sales Tax

The New York Times reports, “Legislation that would force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes from their customers has put antitax and small-government activists like Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation in an unusual position: they’re losing. For years, conservative Republican lawmakers have been influenced heavily by the antitax activists in Washington, who have dictated outcomes and become the arbiters of what is and is not a tax increase. But on the question of Internet taxation, their voices have begun to be drowned out by the pleas of struggling retailers back home who complain that their online competitors enjoy an unfair price advantage. … The Heritage Foundation and its more overt political arm, Heritage Action, have made no such equivocations. It is making a yes vote a black mark for a lawmaker on Heritage’s conservative scorecard, urging its members to call their representatives and senators, ‘pretty much everything we can,’ said Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action. Many Republicans have just shrugged. Supporters of the bill include Tea Party conservatives like Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, and Republican leaders like Senator John Thune of South Dakota.”

Obama’s Social Security Pledge At Risk

The Associated Press reports, “As the population gets older, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are eating up more and more of the federal budget, squeezing the ability of the government to pay for other programs. Today, the three massive benefit programs account for 44 percent of federal spending. Left unchanged, they will account for more than 60 percent in 25 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Unless Congress acts, the trust fund that supports Social Security is projected to run out of money in 2033. At that point, the retirement and disability program would collect only enough in payroll taxes to pay about 75 percent of benefits. … In 2008, Obama said he wanted to strengthen Social Security by increasing payroll taxes on workers who make more than $250,000 a year in wages. He also laid down this marker, in a Sept. 6, 2008, speech to AARP: ‘John McCain’s campaign has suggested that the best answer for the growing pressures on Social Security might be to cut cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age. Let me be clear: I will not do either.’ … Obama has already offered to break part of his 2008 pledge on Social Security. Twice in negotiations with GOP leaders, he agreed to adopt a new measure of inflation that would result in smaller cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, for Social Security recipients. Both deals fell apart. But now Obama has put forward the idea in his own proposed federal budget. If adopted, it would gradually trim benefit increases in Social Security, Medicare and other programs while raising taxes.”

“Army: Thanks But No Tanks”

POLITICO reports, “Built to dominate the enemy in combat, the Army’s hulking Abrams tank is proving equally hard to beat in a budget battle. Lawmakers from both parties have devoted nearly half a billion dollars in taxpayer money over the past two years to build improved versions of the 70-ton Abrams. But senior Army officials have said repeatedly, ‘No thanks.’ It’s the inverse of the federal budget world these days, in which automatic spending cuts are leaving sought-after pet programs struggling or unpaid altogether. Republicans and Democrats for years have fought so bitterly that lawmaking in Washington ground to a near-halt. Yet in the case of the Abrams tank, there’s a bipartisan push to spend an extra $436 million on a weapon the experts explicitly say is not needed.”

Boston Globe Endorses Ed Markey Over Stephen Lynch In Massachusetts Senate Race
Kerry pushes Turkey-Israel rapprochement
Kerry: Partly there delivering justice for Boston

Thanks for checking us out. Please take a look at the rest of our videos and articles.

To stay in the loop, bookmark our homepage.