Rep. Price: Obama, Democrats #39;refused to compromise #39;
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., blames Democrats for possible government shutdown, says they refused to compromise on anything. More from CNN at.
By: britnay oswaldo
Go here to read the rest:
Rep. Price: Obama, Democrats 'refused to compromise' - Video
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Most of Illinois 860 school districts would see cuts in funding if the states temporary tax increase is rolled back as scheduled, according to a document being circulated as part of Illinois Democrats campaign to preserve the tax hike and push to update the states school funding formula.
The document, released by the caucus this week, cites what would be a total of $450 million in general state aid cuts to schools. But a few schools, mainly in Chicago suburbs, would actually receive more money despite the states drop in revenues, because the complicated, 20-year-old funding formula would consider them poorer.
Republicans quickly disputed the figures. They said the Democrats are exaggerating the extent of the cuts needed and could manage the states finances better by finding savings elsewhere.
Senate Democrats estimate Illinois will have a $3 billion budget gap next year. About $1.6 billion of that is because the temporary income tax increase lawmakers approved in 2011 is scheduled to be rolled back in January from its current 5 percent to 3.75 percent.
Working with the Gov. Pat Quinns office, which also is supportive of keeping the tax increase in place, Senate Democrats asked agency leaders in recent weeks to spell out for lawmakers what 20 percent decreases in discretionary spending would mean for their budgets.
State Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch told Senate appropriators in late March that budget cuts would mean $967 less for education overall.
The Senate Democrats document, compiled by the state board and released by the caucus Thursday, reveals for the first time the impact to specific districts around the state in terms of general state aid, the state money used to offset the basic cost of educating students.
State Sen. Dan Kotowski, a Park Ridge Democrat and appropriations committee chairman, said detailing the impact of the cuts is essential.
I think its going to be very devastating to students, to families and people who educate, he said.
But Republicans say before cutting school aid, Democrats should look for way to reduce wasteful spending in Medicaid or other state agencies and programs.
Go here to see the original:
Democrats: Illinois schools could face major cuts
Election-year memo to Democratic candidates: Don't talk about the economic recovery. It's a political loser.
So say Democratic strategists in a blunt declaration that such talk skips over "how much trouble people are in, and doesn't convince them that policymakers really understand or are even focusing on the problems they continue to face."
In addition, Stan Greenberg, James Carville and others wrote that in head-to-head polling tests the mere mention of the word "recovery" is trumped by a Republican assertion that the Obama administration has had six years to get the economy moving and its policies haven't worked.
Coincidentally or not, Democrats have largely shelved the "R'' word.
President Barack Obama's only utterance of it in recent weeks was on April 8, and it was in the context of accusing Republicans of blocking progress on issues that "would help with the economic recovery and help us grow faster."
Additionally, at a news conference on March 26 where they announced a campaign-season agenda, neither Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., nor most of the other five lawmakers present uttered the word "recovery."
The strategic advice comes at a time Democrats are working to maximize turnout, particularly among women, for the fall elections, when they face a determined challenge from Republicans vying to add control of the Senate to their seemingly secure House majority.
Simultaneously, Democrats are struggling to respond effectively to persistent Republican attacks on the nation's health care law.
Turnout in midterm elections is customarily lower than in a presidential campaign. This year numerous polls indicate that Democrats, particularly women, are less motivated to go to the polls than Republicans who are eager to demonstrate opposition to "Obamacare," or the Affordable Care Act.
In their memo for Democracy Corps and the Women's Voices Women Vote Action Fund, the authors propose that to boost turnout among their target groups Democrats should back an economic agenda that "puts working women first," and says that incomes are soaring only for CEOs and the top 1 percent of the country.
Continue reading here:
Advice to Democrats: Don't Say 'Recovery'
It's clear that Connecticut's post-Newtown gun control law will play a loud role in the legislative campaigns as Second Amendment advocates attack supporters, predictably. But Democrats are also using the issue as a weapon against anyone who hints at opposition.
That leaves Republicans who voted for it -- most prominently Sen. John McKinney, the candidate for Governor who helped negotiate the law -- caught in the middle if they make one false move, or even if they don't. And it leaves Democrats who voted against the law, including Rep. Linda Orange, facing a battle from the left.
The state's Democratic Party issued a breathless release Wednesday morning, titled "SHOCKER: John McKinney Says He Would Repeal The Gun Control Bill 'SB 1160.'"
It looked big. But that's not what McKinney said. The Democrats, who attend and record many events of McKinney and other GOP candidates for governor, issued a YouTube Video and a transcript showing McKinney answering a question at a meeting of the Quiet Corner Tea Party Patriots in Putnam.
QUESTION: ...if Republicans took over the General Assembly...and if they put forward a repeal of SB 1160...if you were elected governor, would you sign that?
MCKINNEY: If the legislature repeals something, I think the governor owes a great deference to what the legislature does, and I would.
McKinney spent two hours with the group of about 30, all of them opposed to the gun control law, he recounted to me Wednesday. He explained to the group that he continues to support the law, though it contains some measures he would not have added.
And McKinney said he told the group he would not, as governor, submit a bill to repeal it. On Wednesday he added that he wouldn't seek to repeal the parts he didn't like, which he declined to name.
What he meant in the "gotcha" clip was exactly what he said: Governors owe a signature, or at least a serious consideration, when lawmakers repeal laws -- any laws. That in itself is an odd stance, but it's not the equivocation on gun control that Democratic State Chair Nancy DiNardo invoked, let alone a reversal.
"I try to answer with a yes or no," he said, explaining that he's breaking the mold of candidates lying outright about their positions.
Read more:
Democrats Using Gun Control As Weapon; Did McKinney Waver?
MSNBC #39;s Morning Joe: "Ernst...It #39;s Who Democrats Fear"
Chuck Todd: "I think Joni Ernst, if she gets the nomination, it #39;s who Democrats fear. If she gets the nomination, the race gets put into play. ...Ernst very ...
By: Joni Ernst
See more here:
MSNBC's Morning Joe: "Ernst...It's Who Democrats Fear" - Video