Democrats highlight equal pay push
Senate Democrats are hoping paycheck policy will be a smart play by focusing attention on the fight for equal pay. However, opponents say it #39;s less about the...
By: Washington Post
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Governor Fallin debates with Democrats over using state resources
The Oklahoma Democratic Party accuses Governor Fallin over misusing state resources to run her campaign.
By: KOCO 5 News
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Governor Fallin debates with Democrats over using state resources - Video
Senate Democrats campaign arm outraised its Republican counterpart by $1.8 million last month, pulling in $8.1 million compared with Republicans $6.3 million and ending the month with more than $22 million in cash on hand.
Both campaign committees had their best haul of the cycle last month, but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has raised over $20 million more than Republicans since January 2013.
Senate Democrats also have about $6 million more in the bank than Republicans. Neither committee has any debt.
This marks a trend for Democrats, who have consistently outraised Republicans each month. The DSCC outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committeeby about $16 millionin 2013. A Wall Street Journal analysis in January of Senate candidates individual fundraising efforts showed vulnerable Democrats had amassed sizable war chests, but that several GOP rivals had begun to close the gap by outraising Democrats in the final stretch of 2013.
Republicans are targeting Senate Democrats in several states that President Barack Obama lost in 2012 in their quest to take back the Senate majority this November.NRSC Vice Chairman Rob Portman said these latest numbers put them in good shape to do so.
Another record month shows that we are building momentum and that Republicans across the country are highly energized, he said in a statement. Republicans are one step closer to bringing back the Senate this fall, but there is still work to be done.
DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil emphasized the contrast between the committees fundraising strategies in a statement Wednesday, offering harsh words for Charles and David Koch, two conservative billionaires who Democrats have targeted in recent months.
Republican Senate candidates up and down the map have chosen to advocate for the Koch agenda thats good for billionaire special interests but bad for middle class families across the country, Mr. Cecil said. As a reward, the Koch Brothers are pouring unprecedented millions into false attack ads aimed at boosting these Republicans, but Democrats have a strong grassroots network and thousands of generous donors across the country helping us raise the resources we need to fight back.
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Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats, including five up for re-election this year, are pressing President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and they say they want a decision by the end of next month.
Most Republicans support the pipeline, but the 11 Democrats who wrote a letter to Mr. Obama urging him to approve the project deliberately made it a one party-effort. While a set of bipartisan signatures can be a powerful thing in the art of Washington letter-writing, these lawmakers clearly want to accentuate the pressure Mr. Obama faces from his own party on this issue.
Its really to turn up the pressure on the president, said a Senate Democratic aide on the condition of anonymity. We know where the Republicans are on this issue.
Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Warner of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska, who all face tight races this November, signed the letter, which urges Mr. Obama to put in place an explicit timeline to decide on the project and to make a final decision by May 31. The partys quest to keep control of the Senate could hinge on the races of these five Democrats, who have previouslyexpressed supportfor the project. Many of them come from fossil-fuel rich states.
This process has been exhaustive in its time, breadth, and scope, the Democrats wrote. It has already taken much longer than anyone can reasonably justify. This is an international project that will provide our great friend and ally Canada, a direct route to our refineries.
Mr. Obama has not publicly indicated when he will make a final decision on the pipeline, which has been winding its way through a regulatory review within the administration for more than five years.
The Senate Democrats ask in the letter for a decision by May 31 because its a few weeks after the 90-day clock ends on the administrations interagency review of the State Departments environmental report on the pipeline, which was released Jan. 31. That report, like the previous four that have been issued on the project since September 2008, found that Keystone XL wont have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Facing mounting pressure from his environmental base, Mr. Obama said last summer he would only approve the Canada-U.S. pipeline if it didnt significantly exacerbate global warming.
The letter, organized by Ms. Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, also included Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Montanas Jon Tester and John Walsh.
Notably absent from the letter are Colorados two Democratic senators: Mark Udall, who is up for reelection this year, and Michael Bennet, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and voted yes on a symbolic measure last year that was supportive of the project (though it didnt technically force approval). A spokesman for Mr. Bennets office didnt respond to a request for comment, and Mr. Udalls spokesman reiterated that he supports the administrations process.
Sen. Udall still believes Congress should not be injecting politics into this process, said Mike Saccone, a spokesman for the senator.
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Democrats Urge CMS to Stop Cuts to Medicare Advantage
Clips from floor speeches in the House of Representatives on April 3, 2014.
By: MedicareChoices
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Democrats Urge CMS to Stop Cuts to Medicare Advantage - Video