RedState Briefing 01/15/2014

Morning Briefing For January 15, 2014 >> Today's Sponsor 1.  Wendy Davis’s Campaign Mocks Greg Abbott for Being Paralyzed Wendy Davis’s campaign spin on her fundraising numbers is impressive. She wants you to know that she raised $12 million to Republican Greg Abbot’s $11.5 million. What she is hoping you will ignore, and which much of the press will ignore, is that Greg Abbott raised his $11.5 million in three months while Davis raised her $12 million in six months. And this matters, and the media should focus on this, because Wendy Davis’s campaign is mocking Greg Abbott for being in a wheelchair. No, I am not kidding. Wendy Davis can only claim she raised $12 million by including the fundraising totals of “her Senate account, gubernatorial account and a political action committee formed with Battleground Texas that’s dedicated to her election. Battleground Texas was formed to help Texas Democrats, who have not won a statewide election in 20 years.” It is very important for the media to note that Davis is including Battleground Texas as her money.  . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 2.  The “Republican Main Street Partnership” is Democrat Funded Steve LaTourette, a former congressman and friend of John Boehner, runs the “Republican Main Street Partnership”. Note the word “Republican.” As the left-wing Talking Points Memo reported a month ago, LaTourette and his Main Street Partnership have created an affiliated SuperPAC called “Defending Main Street PAC.” Along with the Chamber of Commerce and Republican Leaders, the Main Street Partnership wants to take out troublesome conservatives.  . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 3.  Open Internet order loses. Net Neutrality struck down again. As many of us predicted all along, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the FCC’s Open Internet order, which attempted to force “Net Neutrality” on the nation. The Open Internet order was part of a plan claimed to oppose “discrimination” but in practice would hinder ISPs from charging people for what bandwidth they use. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 4.  Missionary of Doom: IRS Union Boss Warns IRS Underfunding Jeopardizes IRS’ Mission The head of the union representing the workers at one of America’s most loathed government agencies is predicting dire consequences if Congress doesn’t cough up more money to fund the Internal Revenue Service. Colleen M. Kelley, President of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), must believe that the majority of American taxpayers care about funding the Internal Revenue Service–much less want it funded. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 5.  This Really Isn’t Great News for Mitch McConnell Superficially, a poll that has McConnell leading Matt Bevin 53% to 31% looks good for Mitch McConnell. In fact, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has tweeted out the link to the poll as good news for Mitch McConnell. But this past summer there was a 50 point gap in the race. Yeah — FIFTY. Actually, Bevin was down 52 points last summer. So FIFTY-TWO. By December, according to PPP, Bevin was down 27 points. Now he’s down 22 points. Certainly it is a different polling company, etc., but objectively he’s closed a pretty significant gap. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 6.  Union-Bought Architect of Card Check, Democrat George Miller Announces Retirement After 40 years as a Washington politician, California Democrat Congressman George Miller has announced he is retiring. Miller, a staunch ally of today’s union bosses (and large recipient of union contributions) was one of the main architects of the hallucinogenically-named Employee Free Choice Act–a bill sought by union bosses to effectively eliminate workers’ right to vote in a secret-ballot election for or against unionization. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → 7.  Data Spying in the States: Public Safety or Invasion of Privacy? While the public has been focused on disclosures by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden about his former employer’s powerful spying capabilities, it is worth paying attention to recent reports of sophisticated data spying by state and local police agencies, and what these revelations mean for policy debates. Last month, USA Today reported that at least 125 police agencies in 33 states have used a variety of spy-worthy tactics and technologies to obtain information about thousands of cell phones and their users. . . . please click here for the rest of the post → >> Today's Sponsor Sincerely yours, Erick Erickson Editor-in-Chief, RedState Forward This Email to a Friend Take me to RedState