Rick Santorum wishes Jeb Bush well during Alabama campaign stop
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Monday said he wished the best to Jeb Bush hours before the former Florida governor announced his White House bid. “I sent him a note this morning, an email, just to congratulate him and wish him the best, tell him that he is in our prayers,” Santorum said. “I’ve done that with several of the other folks who I’m friendly with in the campaign. I know how hard it is. I mean, this is not an easy thing to do, particularly someone who has a lot of the pressure that he’s feeling right now.” Bush officially kicked off his campaign Monday afternoon in Miami, becoming the newest candidate vying for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum made the comments during a brief campaign stop in Montgomery while here for his son’s field training graduation at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base. The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania said “the more the merrier” in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates. Santorum won Alabama’s presidential primary in 2012 and said he believes he can win the state again in 2016. He joked that the GOP primary already has “265 candidates.” “I think it could be a very long, long competitive primary process, and you can’t just be a one-trick pony,” Santorum said. “I mean, you can’t just win an early state and expect everything to go well.” Santorum toured MMI Outdoor, a Montgomery-based business that designs and manufactures equipment for the military and U.S. Forest Service firefighters. MMI Outdoor CEO David Cobb said he was “pleasantly surprised” about Santorum’s visit. Cobb said he hasn’t decided which candidate he’ll support for president but would support Santorum if he wins the Republican primary. He said he’s looking for a candidate who “uses sound economic principles.” “You tax what you want to discourage; you don’t tax productivity, and that’s what we do,” Cobb said. “It’s hurt my ability to hire people and grow this company. Santorum said he opposes the “fast-track” trade bill in Congress that would allow President Barack Obama to finalize a Pacific trade agreement. “If we had a president that would actually abide by the law, stick to what trade deals are supposed to be about, and not use trade deals to further other goals, then I’d be more supportive,” he said. Santorum also outlined his plan for raising the federal minimum wage, which he said should be increased by 50 cents each year for three years to bring the minimum hourly wage to $8.75 from $7.25. “It’s hard to say you have a minimum wage when hardly anyone gets paid the minimum wage,” he said. “Minimum wage is supposed to be just that, to make sure there is a little distance between the floor and what workers are paid and right now there isn’t.”
Martha Roby to bat for Ronda Walker at annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game
U.S. Rep. Martha Roby announced Monday that she will be batting for Montgomery County Commissioner Ronda Walker at the seventh annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game. Walker will attend the game with Roby on June 24 at 6 p.m. (Eastern) at Watkins Recreation Center off the Eastern Market Metro in Washington, D.C. Walker was a district field staffer for Roby for several years before she was appointed by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley to the Montgomery County Commission, and the two have remained close friends since. Ronda has been sharing her journey to fight breast cancer through her blog “Merry Christmas Cancer” and on her Facebook page since announcing her diagnosis just before Christmas. Last week she underwent surgery as part of her 3-step treatment process. “When Ronda told me in December that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, my heart sank,” Roby said. “My first thought was about the difficult road ahead she and her family would face in fighting this terrible disease. But, her openness in sharing her story and her faith with friends and reporters alike has been inspiring. “Ronda is an incredible wife, mother and public servant. Her friendship has always been special and encouraging to me as a wife and mom in public service myself. Now, Ronda is fighting breast cancer, and she is inspiring so many throughout the community to keep their faith no matter what difficult circumstances they face. I am so awed by her strength and grace throughout this battle, and it’s an honor to play for my dear friend in this year’s Congressional Women’s Softball Game.” In the statement released Monday, Walker said, “I’m honored and excited to be a part of this special event. My diagnosis came as a very tough blow, not just for me, but for my husband and children as well. The first thing we did was set our focus on God; then we clung to our senses of humor, and geared up for the toughest experience of our lives. From the beginning, I have been determined to use this difficult time as a ministry to help others who are facing difficulties themselves. I’ve been open and honest about the days I was too sick or depressed to get out of bed as well as the good days that I received positive news or finished a treatment. I hope my transparency has been helpful.” Some background on the game from http://www.congwomensoftball.org/. The Congressional Women’s Softball Game began in 2009 with captains Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). They brought together a team of women Members of Congress to play the female campaign staff from both parties after Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced her own battle with breast cancer. In 2010, the Members asked the women of the Washington, D.C. press corps to join the game as the opponent and a lasting rival was born.The Congressional Women’s Softball Game has raised more than $500,000 for Young Survival Coalition (YSC) each year and become a staple of Capitol Hill summer activities. YSC is the premier global organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. They offer resources, connections and outreach so women feel supported, empowered and hopeful.Breast cancer is something few young women ever think will happen to them– and certainly not at such an early age. When faced with a diagnosis, they may feel confused, angry and isolated. YSC is a place where women can go to find a circle of support and the best information available to navigate their treatment and their lives.
Jeb Bush has optimistic message, faces challenges in ’16 bid
Jeb Bush launched a Republican presidential bid months in the making Monday with a vow to get Washington “out of the business of causing problems” and to stay true to his beliefs: easier said than done in a bristling primary contest where his conservative credentials will be sharply challenged. “I will campaign as I would serve, going everywhere, speaking to everyone, keeping my word, facing the issues without flinching,” Bush said, opening his campaign at a rally near his south Florida home at Miami Dade College, where the institution’s large and diverse student body symbolizes the nation he seeks to lead. The former Florida governor, whose wife is Mexican-born, addressed the packed college arena in English and Spanish, an unusual twist for a political speech aimed at a national audience. “In any language,” Bush said, “my message will be an optimistic one because I am certain that we can make the decades just ahead in America the greatest time ever to be alive in this world.” Bush enters a 2016 Republican contest that will test both his vision of conservatism and his ability to distance himself from family. Neither his father, former President George H.W. Bush, nor his brother, former President George W. Bush, attended Monday’s announcement. The family was represented instead by Jeb Bush’s mother and former first lady, Barbara Bush, who once said that the country didn’t need yet another Bush as president, and by his son George P. Bush, recently elected Texas land commissioner. Before the event, the Bush campaign came out with a new logo, Jeb!, that conspicuously leaves out the Bush surname. And in his speech, he took on critics in both parties, particularly Hillary Rodham Clinton, the overwhelming favorite in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. “The party now in the White House is planning a no-suspense primary, for a no-change election,” Bush said. “The presidency should not be passed on from one liberal to the next.” He later called out Clinton by name, and indirectly jabbed fellow Republicans, including his political protegé Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who welcomed Bush into the 2016 contest earlier in the day. “We are not going to clean up the mess in Washington by electing the people who either helped create it or have proven incapable of fixing it,” Bush said. Bush joins the race in progress in some ways in a commanding position, in part because of his family connections. He has probably raised a record amount of money to support his candidacy and conceived of a new approach on how to structure his campaign, both aimed at allowing him to make a deep run into the GOP primaries. But on other measures, early public opinion polls among them, he has yet to break out. While unquestionably one of the top-tier candidates in the GOP race, he is also only one of several in a large and capable Republican field that does not have a true front-runner. In the past six months, Bush has made clear he will remain committed to his core beliefs in the campaign to come, even if his positions on immigration and education standards are deeply unpopular among the conservative base of the party that plays an outsized role in the GOP primaries. Tea Party leader Mark Meckler on Monday said Bush’s positions on education and immigration are “a nonstarter with many conservatives.” “There are two political dynasties eyeing 2016,” said Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, one of the movement’s largest organizations, and now leader of Citizens for Self-Governance. “And before conservatives try to beat Hillary, they first need to beat Bush.” Yet a defiant Bush has showed little willingness to placate his party’s right wing. Instead, he aimed his message on Monday at the broader swath of the electorate that will ultimately decide the November 2016 general election. Minority voters, in particular, have fueled Democratic victories in the past two presidential elections. Of the five people on the speaking program before Bush, just one was a white male. Bush is one of 11 major Republicans in the hunt for the nomination. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are among those still deciding whether to join a field that could end up just shy of 20. Bush’s critics in both parties have criticized him as aggressively as they would if he were the clear Republican favorite. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Monday there’s “Bush-Clinton fatigue” in America. “I think some people have had enough Bushes and enough Clintons,” Paul said in an interview with The Associated Press. After touring four early-voting states, Bush quickly launches a private fundraising tour with stops in at least 11 cities before the end of the month. Two events alone, a reception at Union Station in Washington on Friday and a breakfast the following week on Seventh Avenue in New York, will account for almost $2 million in new campaign cash, according to invitations that list more than 75 already committed donors. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Scott Beason: Squeaky wheels
The regular session of the Alabama Legislature is over and some folks in our state are looking at the lack of a General Fund budget as a failure of the legislative branch of government. Keep in mind that the Legislature, in passing a General Fund budget, fulfilled its constitutional responsibility, but the passed budget was vetoed by the governor. The Legislative Session should be seen as a victory for responsible budgeting, fiscal responsibility, and economic viability for Alabama. Conservative members of the Legislature held the line on tax increases and should be commended for doing so. (There was the hiccup of allowing hundreds of state fees to be raised considerably by bureaucrats, but that is a discussion for another day.) While groups such as the Alabama Free Market Alliance worked to inform the residents of the state about what was happening in Montgomery, the real reason behind the Legislature not passing taxes increases was that the people let their voices be heard. The old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease is very true in politics. An elected official who only hears from one side of the debate begins to believe that the other side must not care very much, and it gets easier to vote the way of the squeaky wheel. Entities that live off government, including the beneficiaries of corporate welfare, squeak loudly. Many times taxpayers focus on their lives and just hope for the best. This spring taxpayers spoke up some and good legislators held the line. Taxpayers have more work to do. A Special Session will likely take place this summer. The proper philosophy of budgeting is to prioritize spending according to money the state has. Unfortunately, the bigger-government crowd has a philosophy of budgeting that decides what they want to do and then set out to forcibly extract enough money from the people to pay for their wish list. Which philosophy does your legislator believe in? Let’s enjoy a brief victory, and let our conservative legislators know how much we appreciate them holding the line on taxes. Let’s hope other legislators will join the conservatives and do the budget reforms that Alabama needs: abandon earmarks, unify the budgets, and prioritize spending. A little more squeezing might actually foster a big win later this summer. Scott Beason is senior policy adviser at the Alabama Free Market Alliance.
Jeff Sessions continues to press conservative agenda on immigration
In a letter taking to task Obama administration officials over the release from state custody of more than 100 deportable immigrants who later went on to commit violent crimes, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions continued to work with Republican allies to advance a conservative immigration policy in the Senate. Sessions and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley — chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee where Session has taken an active role lately — sent a letter addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Their letter railed against poor execution of deportation protocols by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formally requesting detailed answers to a list of more than 25 specific inquiries about why 121 suspected killers were allowed to pass through the federal immigration enforcement system and remain in the country. According to information provided by ICE, up to 121 homicides in the U.S. could have been avoided between Fiscal Year 2010 and 2014 had the aliens with criminal convictions been deported instead of released, Grassley and Sessions wrote. “This disturbing fact follows ICE’s admission that, of the 36,007 criminal aliens it released from ICE custody in FY 2013, 1,000 have been re-convicted of additional crimes in the short time since their release.” The senators pointedly asked the Cabinet members, appointed by President Barack Obama, whether their agencies are “fully leveraging existing tools and resources to prevent these dangerous outcomes.” “In the ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba, does the administration plan to make repatriation of all of those 30,000+ Cuban nationals, and not just some subset of that group, a condition precedent of granting diplomatic recognition to Cuba?” reads one question. “If not, why not?” The letter is in keeping with a long-term push on immigration on the part of Alabama’s junior senator. Last week, Sessions was vindicated in the conservative press after U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan expressed skepticism about Sessions’ claims that the Trans Pacific Partnership contains loopholes that could lead to a “flood” of new immigration. Ryan had called the language within the proposed TPP that would relax restrictions on the “Movement of Persons,” including professionals operating independently, an “urban legend.” Recent revelations about the trade deal, however, indicate that provisions to forbid mandatory interviews and economic means testing for visa-seekers are indeed part of the proposal, something that Sessions — dubbed by POLITICO as “the Senate’s anti-immigration warrior” — had spoken against. Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas called Sessions “perhaps the most vocal member of our conference” on immigration after he led the charge in confronting his own caucus in opposition of new H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers, saying it negatively affects domestic job-seekers. “We’ve got to ask — which hasn’t been asked — what does all this do to the ability of a college graduate who’s living at home with his parents because he can’t find a job?” said Sessions, chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration & the National Interest. That’s a familiar note in his protectionist quest against labor pool distortions because of foreign labor. His approach to the issue evidently has struck a chord in his home state: Sessions was the only incumbent senator who ran unopposed in both primary and general elections in 2014. Sessions and Grassley gave the administration officials addressed in their inquiry a July 6 deadline to respond.
The Latest: Tea party Republicans criticize Jeb Bush
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will enter the 2016 presidential campaign on Monday with a rally and speech at Miami Dade College, joining 10 other Republicans already in the race for the party’s nomination. Here’s the latest on what’s happening in the GOP race. • • • 1:35 p.m. (EDT) Bush is promising to go “everywhere” and speak to “everyone” in his presidential campaign. The former Florida governor will formally enter the 2016 presidential contest Monday afternoon with a speech in Miami. According to excerpts of his address released by his campaign, Bush will promise to “give it my all” and stay “true to what I believe” as he campaigns for the White House. As he often does, Bush is expected to speak in both Spanish and English. In his remarks, he says, “In any language, my message will be an optimistic one, because I am certain that we can make the decades just ahead in America the greatest time ever to be alive in this world.” He continues: “I will campaign as I would serve, going everywhere, speaking to everyone, keeping my word, facing the issues without flinching, and staying true to what I believe.” • • • 12 p.m. (EDT) Tea Party Republicans are voicing their displeasure with Jeb Bush in the hours leading up to his 2016 campaign kickoff. Bush would be the third member of his family to sit in the Oval Office, and Tea Party leader Mark Meckler says both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were “big-government” Republicans. The president of Citizens for Self-Governance says they contributed to “the increase in size, spending and involvement of government in America.” He also notes that Jeb Bush’s steadfast support for Common Core education standards and immigration reform “is a nonstarter with many conservatives.” Brent Bozell is the chairman of the conservative group ForAmerica. He calls Bush “unelectable.” Bozell says the GOP has in the recent past nominated three Republicans he says are moderates: Mitt Romney, John McCain and Bob Dole. They all lost, and Bozell says nominating another moderate would, quote, “be an exercise in futility.” • • • 10:30 a.m. (EDT) Marco Rubio is welcoming fellow Floridian Jeb Bush into the Republican race for president. Bush formally gets into the 2016 campaign Monday with an afternoon speech in Miami. Rubio has been campaigning since April, when he also launched his campaign from south Florida. In a statement, Rubio says he’s not exaggerating when he calls Bush his friend. He said, “He is someone I like, care for and respect.” The 62-year-old Bush was the 44-year-old Rubio’s mentor as Rubio was coming up through Florida politics. Many thought that Rubio, now a U.S. senator, wouldn’t enter the 2016 contest once Bush signaled his interest. Rubio is running anyway. He regularly calls for “a new generation of leadership” while on the campaign trail. Rubio took a different approach on Monday, calling Bush “a passionate advocate for what he believes.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Rick Santorum picks his Alabama chairman as family visits state
Former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum is in town. Earlier Monday he was on the Mark Montiel radio show and as I type he is in Montgomery touring MMI Outdoor, a company that designs and manufactures tents and backpacks. Santorum has tapped Kenny Dean Jr. to be his Alabama state chairman again. Dean was chairman of his previous campaign as well. Though a financial adviser by trade and owning Southern Wealth Management, he has a wealth of political and communications experience as well. That includes supporting Gary Palmer’s successful Congressional District 6 campaign. The Santorums have a special tie to Alabama that he mentioned on-air Monday morning and on social media. His son graduated from Maxwell Air Force Base training. In a Facebook post, Santorum wrote “Karen and I are so proud of Daniel on completing Air Force field training today. We are proud Citadel Air Force parents! #airpower” Santorum formally launched his campaign on May 27. His supporters will tell you that he’s the true frontrunner no matter what early polls say. They’ve got historical data to back that up. Every GOP presidential candidate to finish runner-up in their first presidential election since Ronald Reagan in 1976 has gone on to win the party’s nomination the next election. Reagan lost the nomination to President Gerald Ford in 1976 and won it in 1980. George H. W. Bush lost it to Reagan in 1980 and won it in 1988. Sen. Bob Dole lost it 1988 and won it in 1996. In 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush won the nomination against Sen. John McCain, who then won it in 2008. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lost it in 2008 and won it in 2012. Santorum won more than 4.5 million votes and 11 state primaries in 2012 — the most by a conservative insurgent candidate since Reagan challenged For. Highlights from Santorum’s interview with Montiel: SANTORUM: I saw a statistic the other day that 65% of people who go to college with a faith conviction, leave without it. Now I’m not too sure that’s overall good thing for America that colleges are drumming the faith out of our young men and women in society. SANTORUM: 74% of folks who are the aged 25 to 65 don’t have a college degree. That’s the most of America that’s doing the working there and we need to have a opportunity in society for those folks too. SANTORUM: …strongly believe that an American immigration system should be focused on doing what’s best for America and American workers. And when you see a lot of supply of labor coming in of unskilled workers, of 35 million mostly unskilled workers and not an increase in demand. We’re not exploding with lower skilled jobs in America… you’re flooding the markets with competition and driving down wages. SANTORUM: We need a President who focuses in on trying to get America to understand that as a society we need to support marriage, we need support families, we need to give every child in America their birthright — their chance to be raised in a healthy home by their mom and dad. SANTORUM: It’s always a balancing act. Every job you have, everything you do you have to balance what you want to do, what you have to do, what you should do. And sometimes it’s hard to determine what those things are. And you just try to stay close to your faith and you try to make sure that you make sure you’re listening to what the Lord’s telling you to do, and secondly you’re listening to what your wife’s telling you to do. In that order. SANTORUM: … we are a country that has grown and prospered because we had the free enterprise system that created opportunities for people people. We had a system that allowed people to rise in society. We had real freedoms in America. Not the phony freedoms that are being created by this liberal government, you know you have the right to healthcare. All these freedoms that are not freedoms at all. You have the government using the word freedom to take your freedom away to give you what they think is best for you. We need to get back to real essential freedoms in America. You can listen to his full interview with Mark Montiel here:
Legislator pay and why the case against Speaker Mike Hubbard proves it matters
Legislator pay is a topic of conversation that seems to happen at four predicable times: during elections, in times of budget crisis, in times of ethical questions about a specific member, and whenever lawmakers decide to increase or decrease it. Too frequently the topic is one-sided based on the optics of lawmakers raising their salaries. I contend that dealing with member salaries as a taboo is a short-sighted way to approach an issue with complex ramifications. The effects of lawmakers salaries include more than just their share of overall budget costs, but also by limiting who can afford to run or hold office and the ethical dilemmas of outside employment and possible conflicts it may cause. The National Conference of State Legislators says, “No matter how salaries are determined, it’s still difficult to have an open discussion about them, given the public’s hostility toward the issue. Legislators are all too aware of the potential political consequences of supporting an increase, even if they believe it’s the right thing to do.” Alabama lawmakers just finished their first session under a new pay scale, which sets legislators’ pay at the same rate of the median household income, currently $42,849. This rate is set as a result of a ballot initiative lawmakers passed in 2012. Before that, lawmaker pay was complicated at best and based on an old provision in the state constitution. A fact-sheet provided by Alabama Policy Institute prior to the vote on the amendment estimated that the state could save up to $1 million dollars annually under the new provisions for their salary and expenses. In a report by the Associated Press looking at the actual cost savings the state said it’s too soon to tell, but Rep. Mike Ball said, “I know that several of my colleagues have been complaining to me about their pay cut. That’s probably a sign.” According to a report by NCSL detailing lawmaker pay in each state the state with the highest salary is California with a whopping $97,197 base pay. When looking at the NCSL list of legislative pay by state, one could be struck by the wide range of salaries and the many states that pay lawmakers very low rates. The question is: How much is enough for what lawmakers do? That’s hard to answer because frequently the work they do beyond the Legislative Session is not broadcast on the evening news and even then it is only dozens and not hundreds of bills reported on in any given legislative session. Another important issue related to members’ salaries is the ethical implications and challenges that can arise related to their solicitations for outside work. It’s hard to talk about legislators’ income and outside work these days without House Speaker Mike Hubbard coming to mind. No matter how the legal process shakes out for him the emails presented in his case related to seeking clients and outside work were unflattering. In one he is quoted as saying, “I need to be a salesman for BR&A,” which wouldn’t be so bad but he followed it up with “Except for those ethics laws. Who proposed those things?! What were we thinking?” However tongue and cheek he intended that to be (and clearly he didn’t intend it for public consumption) it sums up a common problem now that most states have tough standards on what lawmakers can and cannot do for work, and how their work could be affected by their official duties. There have been many situations nationally where lawmakers from local, state and federal levels have faced questions and criminal charges related to their outside employment. New York lawmakers this year moved to ban outside income as a matter of ethics. NYS Public Radio/WXXI reported, “Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein says he’s decided to give up his private law practice. Klein said, “While I enjoy and love the practice of law, I think now we’re in an ethical crisis” and that he wanted to “lead by example.” The topic is one that raises many questions. Our founding fathers’ intent was to have citizen lawmakers as representative of the people, and that it not be a full time job. Now, though,with near perpetual campaigning and all the attendant responsibilities it’s tough to hold down a traditional job that doesn’t conflict with holding office and be successful at both. Voters should look beyond the instant gratification of a quick fix and easy talking point to recognize that the less we pay lawmakers, the harder it is to find the leaders we need. Lawmakers work year-round, not just when they’re in Legislative Session. If only the rich can afford to hold office only the rich will serve, and the cries that they are out of touch will only grow louder.
Presidential primary brief: 512 days until Election Day
Welcome to the Monday presidential primary brief provided by Alabama Today. Every week you can find your latest headlines on the presidential primary races as we count down the days until Election Day. 259 days until AL Presidential Primary 512 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21, 2016; Democratic July 25-28, 2016 Weekly Headlines: CNN announces final March debate in Florida Iowa GOP votes to kill its presidential straw poll GOP adds two ‘forums’ to Aug. 6 debate amid pressure over criteria Polling data as of June 14, 2015. For more polling data visit RealClearPolitics. Press Clips: Jeb Bush’s 18 month shadow campaign (Politico 6/14/15) The 400 amped-up Republicans booed when Jeb Bush swiped at Hillary Clinton’s “breathtaking” statement that businesses don’t create jobs. They nodded respectfully when he promised a better tomorrow. “This country can lead the world. That’s what this election is about,” Bush told the crowd, sounding every bit like a man with his eye on the White House. “It’s not about the past. It’s about what the future can look like.” Lindsey Graham aims to be first bachelor president of modern era (CBS News 6/12/15) Lindsey Graham: veteran South Carolina senator, long-shot presidential candidate, lifelong bachelor. The first two labels are what made Graham a national figure, but all anyone wants to discuss recently is the third. If Graham wins the presidency in 2016, he’ll be only the third bachelor ever elected to the of\ice. (The first, history buffs might recall, was James Buchanan. Grover Cleveland was a bachelor when he was elected but later married while in the White House.) Bill Clinton dismisses attacks on Hillary (Politico 6/14/15) Bill Clinton is dismissing the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton and their Clinton Foundation, insisting he trusts his wife “with my life and have on more than one occasion.” “A — I know her. B — I know the truth. And C — I trust the American people,” Clinton said in an interview aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” And the controversy, he said, is “not happening 15 hours before the election.” John Kasich’s Wall Street ties could haunt 2016 bid (Erie TV News 6/8/15) Ohio Gov. John Kasich loves talking about his record in of\ice, his knack for balancing the budget and his controversial decision to back Medicaid expansion. But there’s one part of his résumé he’s less inclined to discuss: the years he spent as a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Kasich joined Lehman’s investment banking division as managing director in 2001, working there until the firm’s collapse in September 2008 unleashed global panic and served as the catalyst for the financial crisis. 5 takeaways from Clinton’s relaunch rally (Politico 6/13/15) Hillary Clinton, who has spent most of the early campaign touting her virtues as a note- taking listener, had lots and lots to say — and then some more — during her epic 2016 kickoff speech on Roosevelt Island. Much of it was the expected proto-State of the Union stuff — the entire last half was a policy agenda full of vague specifics (“I will rewrite the tax code so it rewards hard work and investments here at home, not quick trades or stashing pro\its overseas”) and wonked-out data points geared to justify government investment (“eighty percent of the brain is developed by age three”). Donald Trump says his decision on a 2016 presidential run will make ‘a lot of people … very unhappy (New York Daily News 6/8/15) Billionaire businessman Donald Trump said Saturday that he would announce June 16 whether he’d run for President. “I think a lot of people are going to be very happy,” Trump said at a Republican convention in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday. The real estate mogul referred to to his potential rivals as “clowns” in remarks to The News & Observer. Trump, who considered a presidential bid in 2012 but ultimately signed on to another season of “The Apprentice,” formed an exploratory committee in March and has hired staff members in key states. Ben Carson: ‘I don’t want to talk about the gay issue’ (Politico 6/12/15) Ben Carson says he would rather talk about discrimination against Christians than discrimination against gays. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, the Republican presidential candidate said that he was “irritated” by the comparison between same-sex marriage rights and the civil rights movement because, for example, there have not been any signs that said ‘everybody else here, and gay people have to drink at this fountain.’” Jim Webb plans 3-day Iowa tour (The Des Moines Register 6/13/15) Potential presidential candidate Jim Webb is visiting several Iowa towns during an upcoming three-day trip, including Urbandale, Des Moines and Grand Junction. The stops range from a wind farm tour, to a \lag day celebration and breakfast. The former U.S. senator from Virginia has been in the state seven days in 2015. During his most recent visit in early May, he visited Sioux City for a stop at the Sioux City Boy’s Club and a meeting with local Democratic leaders. Carly Fiorina: It’s time for the GOP to reclaim the term feminist (Politico 6/11/15) Running as the only female presidential contender in a party still dogged for its “war on women,” Carly Fiorina on Thursday laid out her vision of the new feminist. In the six weeks since she launched her White House run, Fiorina has focused much of her energy attacking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, taking on a much more aggressive posture than the rest of the Republican field.
Rick Santorum to visit Montgomery Monday
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum will be making a campaign stop in Montgomery. The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania on Monday morning will meet with employees of MMI Outdoor, a company that designs and manufactures tents and backpacks. A runner-up to Mitt Romney in 2012, Santorum last month launched his second bid for the presidency during a rally in Pennsylvania. His Alabama visit brings him back to the site of one of his successes four years ago. Santorum won the 2012 GOP primary in Alabama, taking 35 percent of the vote. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
