The Leader Board
Tax Reform: ‘A Once-In-A-Generation Opportunity’
After 'Slowest U.S. Recovery Since WWII,' Reform Would 'Increase Capital Spending…Increase Hiring…Accelerate Economic Growth' SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY), Senate Majority Leader: "…this Republican Congress has been working to get our economy moving again and to spur job creation. … Passing tax reform legislation would mark a major achievement in bringing us closer to that goal. This Republican Congress and administration have made it a priority from the start." (Sen.… Continue Reading
05.16.17
Senators On Obamacare: ‘We Simply Can't Ignore Another Warning Sign’
'The Bottom Line Is Obamacare Has Failed, And It Is Up To Us To Provide Some Relief' 'The Obamacare Market Is "In The Early Stages Of A Death Spiral"' SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "Obamacare is failing the American people, and it keeps getting worse. Families face skyrocketing premiums, fewer choices, and the risk of losing the doctors or plans they like. Just this week, we saw even more troubling news out of states like Maryland, where one major insurer just proposed a prem… Continue Reading
05.12.17
Insurers Saying ‘Goodbye To Obamacare’
Dem Senator: 'Our Hardworking Families Will Have Fewer Options And Harder Choices' SEN. TOM CARPER (D-DE): "Today, we learned that Aetna is pulling out of all ACA marketplaces in 2018, leaving Delaware with only one insurer in its individual health insurance market. This will mean that more than 12,000 Delawareans will have to find a new insurance plan and our hardworking families will have fewer options and harder choices to make about their health insurance coverage." (Sen. Carper, Press Rele… Continue Reading
05.11.17
14 CRAs: A Victory For American Workers
Repealed Regulations 'Will Save $3.7 Billion In Total Regulatory Costs … And Eliminate 4.2 Million Hours Of Paperwork' SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "[We have] wasted no time in providing regulatory relief to Americans and restoring legislative power where it rightfully belongs, with the people through their elected representatives in Congress. We have a tool that's proved incredibly helpful in this regard. It's called the Congressional Review Act." (Sen. McConnell, Floor Remarks, 5/11/20… Continue Reading
05.09.17
‘Massive, Double-Digit Premium Increases’ In MD, CT, VA
Amid Worries Of A 'Death Spiral,' Insurers Are Requesting Massive Rate Hikes Or Quitting Obamacare Exchanges Altogether SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "For years, the American people have suffered under this failed law. They watched their premiums soar. They watched their choices dwindle. Now, they're watching as Obamacare collapses all around them." (Sen. McConnell, Press Release, 5/08/2017) MARYLAND: 'Greater Than 50 Percent Rate Increase' Coupled With Worries 'That The Mar… Continue Reading
05.08.17
Obamacare Is Collapsing
'Ominous Signs For Health Care Customers In States Across The County' SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): Under Obamacare "…exchanges are collapsing, people could be without insurance, premiums will skyrocket if we don't act…" (Sen. Alexander, Press Release, 5/5/2017) In 2018 Individual Insurance 'Markets Could Collapse' In Many Areas "Tens of thousands of customers who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces could lose their coverage for 2018. Several… Continue Reading
05.04.17
Obamacare Continues To Fall Apart
Next Year 'Obamacare Choices Could Go From One To Zero' In 'Many Areas Of The Country' "Tens of thousands of customers who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces could lose their coverage for 2018. Several insurers have already decided not to offer marketplace coverage next year amid financial risk…" ("Thousands Of Obamacare Customers Left Without Options As Insurers Bolt," Bloomberg, 4/27/2017) "In the 2017 open-enrollment period that ended on January 3… Continue Reading
05.04.17
Largest Border Security Funding Increase In A Decade
Funding Bill Provides 'The Tools We Need To Make A Change' SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JOHN KELLY: "This is our government's largest investment in border security in 10 years. We are … beginning to get the tools we need to make a change." (White House Press Briefing, 5/02/2017) 'The Largest Overall Increase In Border Security And Department Of Homeland Security Funding In The Last 10 Years' "Congress is expected to vote on the biggest increase in border security funding in a long t… Continue Reading
05.03.17
Continuing The Fight Against The Opioid & Heroin Crisis
'An Estimated 2 Million People In The U.S. Are Addicted To Prescription Opioids' SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "This legislation will also allow us to fight back against the opioid and heroin crisis while bolstering medical innovation and treatments at the same time. It contains funding for the programs Congress authorized in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, continued funding for the 21st Century Cures Act to attack opioid abuse, plus additional funds to combat the… Continue Reading
05.02.17
A ‘Win for the American People’
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: The budget deal "will avert a government shutdown but more important than that there's going to be a significant increase in military spending. Our armed forces have been hollowed out in recent years by budget cuts. 21 billion dollars in defense spending in this bill. There's also a down payment on border security. I think the American people are encouraged to hear that since our inauguration, illegal border crossings are down 60 plus percent in this country. And in this bi… Continue Reading
04.28.17
Sen. McConnell: ‘Protecting These Miners And Their Families … Has Been A Top Priority Of Mine’
Funding Bill Will 'Ensure That Thousands Of Retired Coal Miners And Their Families … Will Not Lose Their Health Care Benefits' SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "…this one-week extension will also ensure that thousands of retired coal miners and their families - including many in my home state of Kentucky - will not lose their health care benefits. Protecting these miners and their families from losing their health care has been a top priority of mine. Last year, I fought for a long-te… Continue Reading
04.26.17
Alexander Acosta ‘An Exceptional Choice’ For Labor Secretary
Praised By Both Jobs Groups And Unions, Alexander Acosta's 'Experiences In Both Public Service And The Private Sector Position Him Well To Be An Effective And Pragmatic Leader At The Department Of Labor' SENATE HELP COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): "Alexander Acosta understands how excessive regulation can destroy jobs and make it harder for family incomes to rise. He has an impressive work and academic background, and his nomination has drawn support from workers across the country."… Continue Reading
04.11.17
Repealing Regulations That ‘Kill Jobs, Raise Prices, Depress Wages, And Lower Opportunities’
The Congressional Review Act Has Already Been Used '11 Times To Strike Down Obama-Era' Midnight Regulations SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "Regulations aren't issued in a vacuum; they have real economic consequences that can harm the middle class. They can kill jobs, raise prices, depress wages, and lower opportunities. And yet, the Obama Administration went on a regulatory rampage at a time when we should've been looking to do just the opposite. … Fortunately, we now hav… Continue Reading
04.06.17
A Thirty Years War On Judicial Appointments
A Brief History Of The 'Scorched-Earth Ideological Wars' Over Judicial Nominations In 1987 Liberals 'Legitimized Scorched-Earth Ideological Wars Over Nominations At The Supreme Court' By Smearing Robert Bork With 'Intellectual Vulgarization And Personal Savagery' "Robert Bork's Supreme Court Nomination 'Changed Everything' …liberals and civil rights activists to launch an all-out campaign to defeat the nomination, beginning with a speech by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., on the Senate … Continue Reading
04.03.17
Sen. Schumer Ignores The 99 Percent
In 2013, Democrats Invoked The Nuclear Option To 'Fill Up The D.C. Circuit' And 'Circumvent' Congress MYTH: 'Our Republican Colleagues Had Been Holding Back … Just About All … Lower Court Judges' CHUCK TODD, NBC News: "Let me say this, let me start with this way. You expressed regret earlier this year for the rules change that was made on judges in 2013. Why did you go along with it if you regret doing it?" SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): "Well, let's look at the history. Our Republ… Continue Reading
04.03.17
Judge Gorsuch: ‘Everyone Who Comes To Court Deserves Respect’
Judge Gorsch: As Judges, 'Sometimes The Answers We Reach Aren't Ones We Would Personally Prefer. Sometimes The Answers Follow Us Home And Keep Us Up At Night. But The Answers We Reach Are Always The Ones We Believe The Law Requires.' NOAH FELDMAN, Liberal Harvard Law Professor, & Former Clerk To Justice David Souter: "I'm not sure who decided that the Democratic critique of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch would be that he doesn't side with the little guy. It's a truly terrible… Continue Reading
03.31.17
Faux Filibuster Foes
Once Strident Filibuster Foes Sens. Merkley & Udall Turn Outspoken Filibuster Cheerleaders MSNBC'S CHRIS HAYES: "Are you going to filibuster Gorsuch?" SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): "Absolutely. Hundred percent." HAYES: "Are you guys going to get to 40?" MERKLEY: "We are going to succeed in filibustering Gorsuch." HAYES: "You think so?" MERKLEY: "Yes." (MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," 3/30/2017) SEN. TOM UDALL (D-NM): "Judge Gorsuch … I will vote no on his confirmation, including clot… Continue Reading
03.31.17
‘Very Difficult To Find Any Candidate For The Supreme Court … Any Better Than Neil Gorsuch’
Judge Gorsuch 'Masterful,' A 'Mainstream Nominee,' 'Exactly The Kind Of Jurist We Need On The Supreme Court' SEN. COLLINS: 'He Is Eminently Well Qualified To Serve On Our Nation's Highest Court' SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): "David Frederick - a longtime Democrat and board member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society … may have summed it up best in a recent Washington Post op-ed. 'The Senate should confirm [Gorsuch],' Frederick wrote, 'because there is no… Continue Reading
03.30.17
‘Judge Gorsuch Clearly Understands The Tenets Of Indian Law’
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS: 'Judge Gorsuch Has Significant Experience With Cases Involving The Interests Of Indian Tribes And Indian People' SEN. CORY GARDNER (R-CO): He's 'Somebody Who Understands The West… Somebody Who Understands Indian Laws' SEN. CORY GARDNER (R-CO): Judge Gorsuch "does have the fact that he's a fourth generation Coloradan, avid flyfisher, expert skier, somebody who understands the west, our water laws, somebody who understands our resources laws, someb… Continue Reading
03.29.17
Another Day, Another Dem Fact Check
Washington Post Fact Checker: 'There Is No "Traditional" 60-Vote "Standard" Or "Rule" For Supreme Court Nominations, No Matter How Much Or How Often Democrats Claim Otherwise' FACT CHECK THREE: 'There Is No "Traditional" 60-Vote "Standard"' The Washington Post's Fact Checker: "There is no 'traditional' 60-vote 'standard' or 'rule' for Supreme Court nominations, no matter how much or how often Democrats claim otherwise. Three Pinocchios." ("Sanders's Convoluted Claim That Democrats Are Not Tr… Continue Reading
