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CORALVILLE Its not often a candidate tells Johnson County Republicans shes counting on them, but Gov. Kim Reynolds said shes expecting big things from the minority party in the one Iowa county that never supported her previous boss, former Gov. Terry Branstad.

Despite that record, Reynolds reminded Johnson County GOP activists at their party fundraiser Thursday evening Branstads vote total there grew from less than 18,000 in 2010 to more than 20,000 four years later. And given the 10 percent increase in the number of registered Republicans in Johnson County, I expect even bigger numbers in 2018.

Thats when Reynolds anticipates being at the top of a Republican ticket trying to hold onto not just the governors office but both chambers of the Iowa Legislature a goal the party has been chasing for two decades.

She wont be running alone, Reynolds said. Shell be running on the accomplishments of the Branstad-Reynolds administration over the past 6-1/2 years. She noted Iowas 16-year low unemployment rate of 3.1 percent and the largest investment in our classrooms.

Were not done yet. Im never satisfied with status quo, she told about 75 Republicans at the Coralville Radisson. I see a lot of opportunity to build on what weve put in place over the last six years.

Reynolds didnt mention the biggest issue in state government at the moment the possibility of a $350 million revenue shortfall in the current budget year until a former lawmaker asked.

Iowa lawmakers already made nearly $118 million in cuts and transfers and wrote $131 million in IOUs by borrowing from the states reserve funds. Now the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency says the state may collect $350 million less than anticipated.

Reynolds has authority to transfer $50 million from the reserves to cover the shortfall, but the Legislative Services Agency suggested it may take twice that by the time the states books are closed Sept. 30. If thats the case, Reynolds likely will call lawmakers to Des Moines for a special session.

Making budget cuts in a special session was the hardest vote she ever took, former Sen. Sandy Greiner of Keota told Reynolds.

The governor acknowledged that likelihood, but said its important to understand Iowas economy is growing, but its just not as robust as projected by the Revenue Estimating Conference, the state panel that projects revenue collections.

The shortfall is a combination of things, she said, adding the sluggish agriculture economy is having rippling effect on all other areas of our economy.

Its not the only reason, but (farmers) are not purchasing like they normally do when input costs are above the price of corn and livestock, she said.

Also, 70 percent of the softening has been in sales tax collections as Iowans increase their online purchasing, Reynolds said.

Reynolds expressed confidence the Iowans who stood up and showed up to elect President Donald Trump and Statehouse Republicans in 2016 will be back in 2018 to support her and the GOP legislative majorities that delivered on their promises.

Republican Party of Chairman Jeff Kaufmann added his voice, saying he hasnt seen GOP enthusiasm waning since the last election.

I got to tell you, theres a roar out there still, he said. By every measure, Republicans know whats up for grabs. Republicans know what we have to do and dont want to lose what were gaining.

If anyone doubts that, Kaufmann said, Talk to new voters, the people Trump brought in. They know whats at stake here.

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Reynolds looks to Johnson County Republicans - Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

CORALVILLE Its not often a candidate tells Johnson County Republicans shes counting on them, but Gov. Kim Reynolds said shes expecting big things from the minority party in the one Iowa county that never supported her previous boss, former Gov. Terry Branstad.

Despite that record, Reynolds reminded Johnson County GOP activists at their party fundraiser Thursday evening that Branstads vote total there grew from less than 18,000 in 2010 to more than 20,000 four years later. And given the 10 percent increase in the number of registered Republicans in Johnson County, I expect even bigger numbers in 2018.

Thats when Reynolds anticipates being at the top of a Republican ticket trying to hold onto not just the governors office but both chambers of the Iowa Legislature a goal the party has been chasing for two decades.

She wont be running alone, Reynolds said. Shell be running on the accomplishments of the Branstad-Reynolds administration over the past 6-1/2 years. She noted Iowas 16-year low unemployment rate of 3.1 percent and the largest investment in our classrooms.

Were not done yet. Im never satisfied with status quo, she told about 75 Republicans at the Coralville Radisson. I see a lot of opportunity to build on what weve put in place over the last six years.

Reynolds didnt mention the biggest issue in state government at the moment the possibility of a $350 million revenue shortfall in the current budget year until a former lawmaker asked.

Iowa lawmakers already made nearly $118 million in cuts and transfers and wrote $131 million in IOUs by borrowing from the states reserve funds. Now the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency says the state may collect $350 million less than anticipated.

Reynolds has authority to transfer $50 million from the reserves to cover the shortfall, but the Legislative Services Agency suggested it may take twice that by the time the states books are closed Sept. 30. If thats the case, Reynolds likely will call lawmakers to Des Moines for a special session.

Making budget cuts in a special session was the hardest vote she ever took, former Sen. Sandy Greiner of Keota told Reynolds.

The governor acknowledged that likelihood, but said its important to understand Iowas economy is growing, but its just not as robust as projected by the Revenue Estimating Conference, a state panel that projects revenue collections.

The shortfall is a combination of things, she said, adding the sluggish agriculture economy is having rippling effect on all other areas of our economy.

Its not the only reason, but (farmers) are not purchasing like they normally do when input costs are above the price of corn and livestock, she said.

Also, 70 percent of the softening has been in sales tax collections as Iowans increase their online purchasing, Reynolds said.

Reynolds expressed confidence the Iowans who stood up and showed up to elect President Donald Trump and Statehouse Republicans in 2016 will be back in 2018 to support her and the GOP legislative majorities that delivered on their promises.

Republican Party of Chairman Jeff Kaufmann added his voice, saying that he hasnt seen GOP enthusiasm waning since the last election.

I got to tell you, theres a roar out there still, he said. By every measure, Republicans know whats up for grabs. Republicans know what we have to do and dont want to lose what were gaining.

If anyone doubts that, Kaufmann said, Talk to new voters, the people Trump brought in. They know whats at stake here.

Read more:
Reynolds looks to Johnson County Republicans - Quad City Times

The package lacks policy changes that Gov. Bruce Rauner had pushed as part of any spending plan. | AP Photo

By Natasha Korecki

07/06/2017 05:59 PM EDT

Updated 07/06/2017 11:50 PM EDT

In an extraordinary rebuke to GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, a group of Illinois House Republicans joined the Democratic majority to override the governors veto of a $36 billion budget.

Thursdays action ends a stalemate that has stretched two years, causing the state to build up a $15 billion backlog and teeter on the edge of an unprecedented "junk" bond rating downgrade.

Story Continued Below

The passage means the state has a budget for the first time since 2015 when Rauner first took office.

No other state in the union had gone this long without an operating budget.

The agreed-upon budget package increases the state personal income tax from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent and the corporate income tax from 5.25 percent to 7 percent.

The package lacks policy changes that Rauner had pushed as part of any spending plan a demand that was at the core of a protracted political fight that has stalled progress in the state.

The voting capped an intense day at the Illinois Capitol, which was on lockdown after a security incident. That delayed the voting by two hours.

In all, 10 House Republicans and one Senate Republican broke from Rauner to vote with Democrats in an override. It was with the help of 16 Republicans overall that the budget bill was sent to Rauner in the first place.

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For two years, Rauner had a tight grip and considerable influence over legislative members in his party. The Republican governor, who has already deposited $50 million into his campaign account, spent more than $1 million in an unsuccessful attempt to oust just one Republican member who had broke from the ranks on a bill involving unions.

GOP Floor Leader Steven Andersson said he didn't want to support a tax increase but he also did not want to oversee the destruction of his district.

"For those of you who say there's a better option, do you have the votes? No. You do not have the votes!" Andersson said. He said the choice is between saving the state "or let it melt down."

The budget package needed 71 votes to override the governor's veto. The most controversial of the budget bills, a move to hike the state's income tax, passed with Republican support and with no votes to spare.

Rep. Tom Morrison, a Republican, said an income tax increase would only cause more Illinois residents to leave the state.

"We're squeezing so hard, we're squeezing them out, we're reducing our base of taxpayers, he said.

Any budget passage relieves pressure for Rauner, already considered the most vulnerable gubernatorial incumbent in the country. At one point, analysts feared the governor would be unable to pass a budget in the entirety of his first term as governor. Now a budget has happened in spite of him.

Rauner is attempting to capitalize on a tax increase vote to demonstrate to voters that he is needed to battle Illinois Democrats. Having so many Republicans break with him on an override, however, could scuttle those plans.

Illinois GOP Party Chair Tim Schneider was already promising revenge.

After all we have accomplished together, it is astonishing that these legislators would now turn their backs on taxpayers across the state, Schneider said in a statement. I am confident voters will hold those politicians accountable for choosing Mike Madigan over the people of Illinois.

Rauner called the vote for a permanent tax increase that amounts to a 32 percent hike, another in Illinois never-ending tragic trail of tax hikes, which he firmly blamed on Madigan. Rauner also had supported a proposal to increase income taxes by 32 percent but on a temporary basis, along with policy changes including to workers compensation and freezing property taxes.

His tax-and-spend plan is not balanced, does not cut enough spending or pay down enough debt, and does not help grow jobs or restore confidence in government, Rauner said in a statement. It proves how desperately we need real property tax relief and term limits. Now more than ever, the people of Illinois must fight for change that will help us create a brighter future.

Democrats complained they attempted to work with the governor on some of those changes but that he kept wanting more. Earlier this session, Rauner scuttled a bipartisan package in the state Senate that included a temporary property tax freeze, among other changes that he said didn't go far enough.

Madigan said the state could not move forward until the budget impasse concluded.

Today, Republicans and Democrats stood together to enact a bipartisan, balanced budget and end a destructive 736-day impasse, Madigan said. The people in this chamber did not do what was easy today. But we did what was right for the future of our state.

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Illinois Republicans help override Rauner's veto, sealing budget deal - Politico

WASHINGTON Republicans are seeking answers about the Democratic National Committee hacked computer server and the private firm that had exclusive access to its cyber-security system.

So far, only the California-based cyber security company, CrowdStrike, which concluded the hack of embarrassing DNC emails was the work of the Russians, has had access to the server, the Washington Times reported.

I want to find out from the company [that] did the forensics what their full findings were, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is leading the Judiciary Committees inquiry, told the paper.

The DNC says it has complied with all of the FBIs requests, provided a carbon copy of its server and intends to continue to cooperate with law enforcement.

The Democratic group maintains the FBI has never asked for direct access to its hacked servers.

The FBI confirmed the DNC has provided all the information it needed to make its assessment, the DNC said in a previous statement that a spokeswoman confirmed Thursday is still accurate.

Republicans including President Trumphave stepped up their criticism of the DNC after former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a congressional panel last month he learned of the DNC hack several months after the fact.

And when he approached the DNC to offer cyber help to patch vulnerabilities, they declined, he said.

By the time DHS approached, the DNC insists it had already booted Russia out of the system with the help of CrowdStrike.

Why did Democratic National Committee turn down the DHS offer to protect against hacks (long prior to election), Trump tweeted June 22. Its all a big Dem HOAX!

Former FBI Director James Comey previously told a Senate panel in January that the FBI issued multiple requests at different levels for access to the Democratic server, but was denied.

Instead, CrowdStrike, which Comey dubbed a highly respected private company was given access and shared its findings with the FBI.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Gowdy both have suggested the DNC is hiding something.

Why would they not invite them in? Gohmert told Fox Business Network in June. And Im really interested in their excuse. But just from my own experience in all those years, usually the reason somebody didnt want to invite law enforcement in to investigate is because they knew they would find that they had committed crimes if they came in and started investigating.

Spokespeople for members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether the DNC or CrowdStrike would be called to publicly testify before their committees.

Read more:
Republicans want answers from private firm with access to hacked DNC server - New York Post

Republicans officials and officeholders were, for the most part, not pleased about the rise of Donald Trump as their partys candidate, but they found themselves powerless to stop his winning the nomination and then the presidency.

Since Trump became president, however, Republicans have become some of his most effective antagonists, stymieing a range of efforts. House members defeated a first attempt at repealing Obamacare; a Senate bill to do the same is looking precarious. (Democrats, although unified in opposition, have played no real role.) Congress has pursued an investigation into Russian interference Trump dislikes, and may strengthen sanctions he wants to lift. And now Republicans are posing a serious challenge to Trumps ballyhooed election-fraud commission.

Trump's Voter-Fraud Commission Makes Its First Move

But first, lets back up a step. The board has always looked like a cynical ploy. Stung by his failure to win the popular vote, even as the electoral college gave him the presidency, Trump has insisted that there were 3 to 5 million votes cast by ineligible voters during the presidential election. This number seems to be based on wildly speculative figures produced by an activist named Gregg Phillips.

A clique of conservatives has been warning for years that elections are irreparably tainted by vote fraud, but repeated investigations have failed to turn up meaningful numbers of fraudulent votes. Meanwhile, the laws that many states have passed, requiring photo ID to vote, making it harder to register and vote, and other changes, have disproportionately made it harder for minorities as well as student and the elderlyall Democratic constituenciesto vote. Some federal courts have even ruled that disenfranchising minorities is the goal of such laws.

Caught making baseless claims, Trump announced he would impanel a commission to investigate voter fraud. (This is a favorite move for the president: When he was caught making a baseless claim that Barack Obama had surveilled him, he demanded that intelligence agencies and Congress investigate his flight of fancy, then said the truth would only come out once those inquiries were completed.) The de facto leader of the commission is Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and one of the most outspoken and successful proponents of the claim of widespread voter fraud.

At the end of June, Kobach made his first big move, requesting all publicly available voter data from the states, including names, addresses, voting history, party affiliation, felony convictions, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Thats in keeping with Kobachs Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which has sought to create a database of registered voters across the entire country.

Unsurprisingly, several Democratic state secretaries of state (or their equivalents) immediately rejected the request. More interesting was the response by Republicans officials at the state level. A number of them have also rejected the request either in part or in full, citing taxpayer costs, privacy intrusions, or the fact that they doubt Kobachs request can do much to stop fraud.

The most colorful response came from Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican.

My reply would be: They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great State to launch from, he said in a statement. Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our States right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes.

Other officials said that they were not legally permitted to disclose the data the commission requested. Maryland Secretary of State Luis Borunda, a member of the commission, resigned from the group without explanation. Ari Berman, a progressive journalist who covers voting issues closely, found that 45 states had rejected the request in part or in full.

That prompted a sharp statement from Kobach, issued through the White House press office, on Wednesday:

In all, 36 states have either agreed or are considering participating with the Commission's work to ensure the integrity of the American electoral system. While there are news reports that 44 states have "refused" to provide voter information to the Commission, these reports are patently false, more "fake news". At present, only 14 states and the District of Columbia have refused the Commission's request for publicly available voter information.

Kobach has a point, as far as it goes: Some states have agreed to provide that portion of the information that Kobach requested which is actually publicly available. But then again, that information is already publicly available. North Carolinas elections board, for example, made clear that it was releasing information because it was legally obligated to do so, and added that everything it was releasing was already available on its website. (In a moment of unintentional humor, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach had to inform election-panel co-chair Kris Kobach that this state would not hand over Social Security numbers.)

Meanwhile, Michael Chertoff, a Republican who served as secretary of homeland security in the Bush administration, wrote in a Washington Post column on Thursday that Kobachs attempt to gather so much personal information constitutes a grave threat to national security, because such a database would be vulnerable to hacking. The overall effect has been that Republican officials are creating a major obstacle to the Kobach commission putting together the database it sought.

That shouldnt pose much of a danger to electoral integrity, though. If there were actually millions of ineligible voters casting ballots, it would have been detected before. A painstaking 2007 Department of Justice search failed to turn it up, as have other investigations. (Philip Bump illustrated the physical implausibility of these claims in October, too.) In-person voter fraud is extremely rare, yet voter-ID laws and databases like Interstate Crosscheck continue to focus on rooting it out. But simply matching names tends to turn up false positives. Thats something Kobach encountered in Kansas: After he dramatically announced that there were nearly 2,000 dead voters on state rolls, newspapers starting finding the alleged dead voters alive and well. Similar names often produce false positive results for fraudulent or duplicative registrations.

Yet thats precisely what Kobach intended to do with the information he collected for the panel, as Jessica Huseman confirmed: The idea is to run the names collected against federal databases to try to find improper registrations. That would likely produce a raft of false positives; some would be successfully challenged, but other eligible voters might see their registrations erroneously thrown out. Given the history of voter-ID laws and Kobachs results with previous databases, the cynics can be forgiven for suspecting that was the goal all along.

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The Republican Backlash Against Trump's Vote-Fraud Commission - The Atlantic