POLL: CONSERVATIVE SUPPORT FOR MARCO RUBIO PLUMMETS
The latest Public Policy Polling data bears sobering news for Senator Marco Rubio, showing his support among conservatives has substantially decreased since last month.
When asked for their preferred GOP candidate, only 17% of “very conservative” respondents favored Rubio, while only 18% of “somewhat conservative” respondents favored Rubio.
This is a steep decline from the same poll’s findings in April, when Rubio’s support was 26% among the“very conservative” and 22% among the “somewhat conservative.”
The survey was conducted between May 6–9th. The survey released in April was conducted between March 27–30th. The “Gang of 8″ bill, spearheaded by Senator Rubio, was released April 17th.
Notably, Rubio’s support among Hispanics also appears to have decreased following the unveiling of the “Gang of 8″ bill. The previous poll demonstrated 39% of Hispanics had a favorable view of Rubio, while the latest poll demonstrates that number has decreased to 34%.
FLASHBACK: PRESIDENT OBAMA TARGETED GIBSON GUITARS, BOEING ON IDEOLOGICAL GROUNDS
Breitbart -
Even mainstream media outlets are running story upon story about President Barack Obama’s possible ties to the government grabbing a wire service’s phone records and the IRS bullying conservative groups.
Those who have been paying attention to the New Media shouldn’t be surprised by these headlines. In fact, here are two examples where the Obama administration appeared to use an ideological cudgel to bash both conservatives and free market principles.
On Aug. 24, 2011, the Department of Justice sent armed agents into the Gibson Guitar factor in Memphis “confiscating half a million dollars worth of guitar making material is an alleged violation of environmental standards.”
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is a conservative, and his company eventually settledrather than take matters to court.
Nashville-based Gibson agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty, forfeit claims to about $262,000 worth of wood seized by federal agents and contribute $50,000 to theNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the conservation of protected tree species.
We felt compelled to settle as the costs of proving our case at trial would have cost millions of dollars and taken a very long time to resolve,” CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said in a statement late Monday night….
“We feel that Gibson was inappropriately targeted, and a matter that could have been addressed with a simple contact a caring human being representing the government,” he said in his statement.
Just a few weeks later, the Obama administration squared off against Boeing for daring to set roots in a “right to work” state.
In a faltering economy, the aerospace titan opened a $750 million factory in South Carolina and hired thousands of workers to build the world’s most fuel-efficient commercial jet…. the National Labor Relations Board has accused Boeing of opening its South Carolina shop in a “right-to-work” state to retaliate against union worker strikes at its main manufacturing base in the Seattle area.
SANDACK ENDS BID FOR ILGOP CHAIRMANSHIP, BLAMES CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS
Illinois Review – State Rep. Ron Sandack (R) announced on public radio today that he is “bowing out” of his bid to be picked as the next Illinois Republican Party chairman.
Sandack, who was recently overheard by an IR reporter viciously berating conservative Republicans for their positions on gay marriage, gun control, abortion, and their fealty to the Party’s platform, cited his support for the controversial attempt to redefine marriage as the reason for his withdrawal.
Sandack’s withdrawal means party bosses now have only eight candidates to choose from, including Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider; former Congressman Joe Walsh; former congressional candidate Jim Nalepa; former Illinois lieutenant governor candidate Don Tracy; former Cook County State’s Attorney candidate Lori Yokoyama; and current Republican State Central Committee members Jack Dorgan, Angel Garcia and Mark Shaw.
Tea Party Activists Protest Outside Comcast Shareholders Meeting
The Philly Post – Conservative Comcast customers don’t want their money going to pay Chris Matthews’ salary.
At eight o’clock this morning, a dozen Tea Party activists began unfurling handwritten signs and “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flags outside the front entrance of the Kimmel Center. They had been shepherded there by the influential conservative group FreedomWorks to protest Comcast, which was holding its annual shareholders meeting inside. The sparse crowd didn’t quite number 60,000—the number of Philadelphia-area members it beckoned to Broad Street–and wasn’t the usual band of Comcast opponents either. Last year’s shareholders meeting was disrupted by 50 or so Occupy-aligned activists. That said, Comcast’s right-wing antagonists have more in common with the drum circle crowd than they might realize.
Illinois was the only state to see a double-digit year-over-year jump in food stamp use
Illinois Policy Institute -
Food-stamp use rose 2.7% in the U.S. in February from a year earlier, with 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.
The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reached 47.6 million, or nearly one in seven Americans.
With more Illinoisans still looking for work or dropping out of the labor force altogether, the number of people dependent on food stamps keeps rising.
Illinois’ pension crisis, high taxes, failed governance and poor business climate are creating an increase in government dependency, even as the national economy has shown signs of improvement since the end of the Great Recession.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in Febrary 2013, Illinois was the only state in the country to report a double-digit increase in the number of people signing up for food stamps.
Reporter Claims IRS Harassment After Tough Obama Interview
Dana Loesch/Red State -
St. Louis Reporter Larry Conners revealed via Facebook yesterday that he has been “hammered” by the IRS since his much-discussed interview with President Obama. Conners, a veteran reporter, asked tough, but fair question during the interview which was slammed by progressives in media. Conners says:
Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS.
I don’t accept “conspiracy theories”, but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.
At the time, I dismissed the “co-incidence”, but now, I have concerns … after revelations about the IRS targeting various groups and their members.
Originally, the IRS apologized for red-flagging conservative groups and their members if they had “Tea Party” or “patriot” in their name.
Today, there are allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run … any involved in limiting/expanding government, educating on the constitution and bill of rights, or social economic reform/movement.
In that April 2012 interview, I questioned President Obama on several topics: the Buffet Rule, his public remarks about the Supreme Court before the ruling on the Affordable Care Act. I also asked why he wasn’t doing more to help Sen. Claire McCaskill who at that time was expected to lose. The Obama interview caught fire and got wide-spread attention because I questioned his spending.
I said some viewers expressed concern, saying they think he’s “out of touch” because of his personal and family trips in the midst of our economic crisis.
The President’s face clearly showed his anger; afterwards, his staff which had been so polite … suddenly went cold.
That’s to be expected, and I can deal with that just as I did with President George H. Bush’s staff when he didn’t like my questions.
Journalistic integrity is of the utmost importance to me. My job is to ask the hard questions, because I believe viewers have a right to be well-informed. I cannot and will not promote anyone’s agenda – political or otherwise – at the expense of the reporting the truth.
What I don’t like to even consider … is that because of the Obama interview … the IRS put a target on me.
Can I prove it? At this time, no.
But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview … the IRS has been pressuring me.
RNC CHAIRMAN CALLS FOR AG HOLDER’S RESIGNATION OVER AP PHONE RECORD SCANDAL
Illinois Review -
WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign immediately, due to revelations the Department of Justice authorized the seizure of the Associated Press’ phone records. The Hill reports:
“Attorney General Eric Holder, in permitting the Justice Department to issue secret subpoenas to spy on Associated Press reporters, has trampled on the First Amendment and failed in his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution,” said Priebus in a statement.
“Because Attorney General Holder has so egregiously violated the public trust, the president should ask for his immediate resignation. If President Obama does not, the message will be unmistakable: The President of the United States believes his administration is above the Constitution and does not respect the role of a free press,” he added.
IRS sent confidential info on conservatives to liberal nonprofit ProPublica
The division of the Internal Revenue Service that improperly scrutinized the tax-exempt status of conservative groups sent confidential information on 31 conservative groups to the well-funded liberal nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica, according to a revelation made by ProPublica Monday.
“The same IRS office
that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year,” according to the ProPublica report.
“In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31 groups. Nine of those applications had not yet been approved — meaning they were not supposed to be made public. (We made six of those public, after redacting their financial information, deeming that they were newsworthy.),” according to ProPublica.
Rand Paul wants criminal charges against officials involved in IRS targeting
Daily Caller -
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday introduced a resolution in the Senate calling for law enforcement to determine whether anyone in the Obama administration should be charged with a crime over the “targeting of tea party groups by the Internal Revenue Service.”
The Republican senator’s resolution states that “an independent authority should be authorized to investigate and, if applicable, seek criminal charges against any individuals who authorized or were involved in targeting people of the United States based on their political views.”
The resolution also states that “if other entities in the administration of President Obama were involved in or were aware of the discrimination and did not take action to stop the actions of the Internal Revenue Service; President Obama should terminate the individuals responsible for targeting and willfully discriminating against tea party groups and other conservative groups.”
Rep. Lipinski Statement on Report that IRS Targeted Conservative Groups
U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-3) released the following statement today in response to reports that the Internal Revenue Service targeted “tea party,” “patriot,” and other conservative groups for special scrutiny:
