House Democrats and Labor Leaders to Urge House Republicans to Take up Senate Unemployment Bill
Unemployed Americans, House Democrats and Labor Leaders to Urge House Republicans to Take up Senate Bill to Extend Federal Emergency Unemployment Insurance W...
By: HouseDems
More:
Right now this campaign season, Democrats have $6 million more cash on hand than Republicans do for US Senate races. But they also have more vulnerable Senate seats to defend.
The Democratic Party campaign committee that supports Senate candidates raised more money than its Republican counterpart in March: $8.1 million, as opposed to the GOPs $6.3 million.
Washington Editor
Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has now outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in 13 of the past 15 months, according to a report by the Associated Press. The DSCC is sitting on $22 million in its bank account while the NRSC has $16 million.
Wow, this is kind of a political man-bites-pooch story, isnt it? The Democrats have been insisting that the wealthy and conservative Koch brothers may buy control of the Senate for Republicans via their contributions to outside groups, yet it is the Democrats themselves who have the edge in a key inside party financing measure.
Will this make a difference in November?
Well, wed say dont go to an online betting site and put down money on Sen. Harry Reid (D) of Nevada remaining Senate majority leader next year.
More:
Democrats raise more than the GOP for US Senate races: Big deal?
Despite political winds blowing against Democrats, new polls show the partys Senate candidates holding their own in key races in Iowa and Arkansas.
A Suffolk University poll in Iowa shows Democratic Rep. Bruce Braleyahead of a leading candidate in thecrowded field of Republican candidates, retired businessman Mark Jacobs, by a 37%-31% margin. Mr. Braley led state Sen. Joni Ernst, Mr Jacobs principal competitor for the GOP nomination, by a 38%-30% margin, according to the poll released Wednesday.
That is in line with the average of recent polls tallied by Real Clear Politics, but is the first poll the website has tracked showing Mr. Braley dropping below 40%. Republicans have been trying to tarnish Mr. Braley over the last month by publicizing a video in which he appeared to scoff at farmers, a vital constituency in the Hawkeye State, while speaking at a fundraiser.
Many Democrats across the country have been struggling in recent months because of President Barack Obamas depressed approval ratings and problems in the rollout of his signature health-care law.
In Arkansas, where Mr. Obama and the health law are especially unpopular, a Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll released this week found that embattled Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor held a 46%-43% lead over his GOP opponent, Rep. Tom Cotton. That is within the polls margin of error, but it is the first time since October that Real Clear Politics has reported a poll showing Mr. Pryor even nominally in the lead.
Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that in Iowa and Arkansas, Republican candidates have more room to grow their support among voters because they are still becoming known in their states. Mr. Cotton is less well-known than Mr. Pryor, and Republicans in Iowa will gain more traction after the states June 3 primary, Mr. Dayspring said.
But Democrats welcomed signs that Mr. Pryor and other Democratic candidates were holding their own in spite of a deluge of attack ads by outside conservative groups and financiers.
Its clear that Republican Senate candidates across the country are paying a price for their reckless and irresponsible embrace of a special interest agenda thats good for billionaires like the Koch Brothers and bad for middle-class families in their states, said Justin Barasky, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The Suffolk University poll also tested the strength of would-be 2016 presidential candidates in Iowa, which holds the nations first nominating caucuses. Among Democrats, former Secretary of StateHillary Clinton was the far-away leader, cited as first choice by 63% of self-described Democratic caucus-goers, followed by 12% who chose Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) and 10% who chose Vice President Joe Biden.
Among the large field of potential GOP candidates, support was spread wide and thin: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the first choice of 11%, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush followed with 10% each.
Read more here:
WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- Democrats in Washington launched an all-out push Tuesday, led by a pair of executive orders signed by President Barack Obama, in an effort to close the lingering wage gap between men and women.
Touting the effort as "National Equal Pay Day," Democrats hope that the highly visible move will help turn up enthusiasm among women and boost turnout in November's primary elections.
Flanked by women members of the Democratic Congressional Caucus, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Obama dared Republicans to "prove me wrong."
"Pay discrimination is not a myth, it's math," he said.
The orders, each hailed as mini versions of the Paycheck Fairness Act that is up for vote in the Senate this week, will prohibit federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their salaries with one another and set new rules for how contractors report their employee pay based on sex and race.
Also present was Lilly Ledbetter, the namesake of the very first legislation signed by a newly minted President Obama and the victim of wage discrimination.
"All I could think about was how much my family had done without," she said, talking about her two decades at Goodyear earning much less than her male colleagues. "When the Supreme Court in 2007 ruled that Goodyear had been paying me unfairly long enough to make it legal, I know I wasn't ready to quit the fight."
The Paycheck Fairness Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and co-sponsored by 52 Senators, has failed twice before in the Senate and lacks any Republican co-sponsors, making it vulnerable to a filibuster.
Studies vary on the size of the wage gap, saying woman earn from 77 to 84 cents on the dollar compared to men with equivalent experience.
Democrats are hoping the bolder tack targeting women will help them this fall, through a combination of higher turnout and hoping that Republican candidates will give a repeat performance of their 2012 "legitimate rape"-type unforced errors.
See the article here:
Washington (CNN) - In the 2014 battle for the Senate, the Democrats' "best month" beat out the Republicans' "best month."
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reported Wednesday that they raised $8.1 million in March, their best month of fundraising this cycle. The Senate Democrats' re-election arm says it's now brought in over $74 million since the beginning of the midterm election season, and they have just over $22 million cash on hand with zero debt.
The DSCC's big haul was helped, in part, by President Barack Obama, who headlined two fundraisers for the committee last month.
The DSCC's numbers come one day after the rival National Republican Senatorial Committee reported that they raised over $6.3 million in March, their best fundraising month this cycle. The NRSC said they've brought in more than $16 million since the start of the year, and added that they have nearly $16 million in the bank.
The committees' fundraising figures are considered one of many indicators of a party's strength heading into the midterms, and of course the money raised by the committees can be used for research, get-out-the-vote efforts, and ads that can help their candidates.
RNC touts first quarter fundraising haul
Key races to watch in 2014
While party money is an important indicator, the increase in massive spending by outside groups, thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that changed the rules and opened the floodgates, has also become a key factor in elections. The biggest spender this cycle to date is the conservative group Americans For Prosperity. The group, backed by the deep pockets of billionaire industrialist brothers David and Charles Koch has shelled out more than $30 million since October to run ads, most of them focused on health care, that attack Democrats and praise Republicans.
"Republican Senate candidates up and down the map have chosen to advocate for the Koch agenda that's good for billionaire special interests but bad for middle class families across the country. 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," said DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil.
Democrats hold a 55-45 majority in the Senate (53 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the party), but are defending 21 of the 36 seats up in November, with half of those Democratic-held seats in red or purple states.
See the original post: