Capitol View: October 21, 2011 Archive

Klobuchar, Reid and LaHood to unveil next phase of jobs bill

Posted at 10:38 AM on October 21, 2011 by Brett Neely
Filed under: Campaign 2012, U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - Later today, DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar will join Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood to unveil a new bill to fund transportation spending funded with a surtax on those earning more than $1 million, a key component of President Obama's jobs plan.

The move comes less than a day after another component of that plan, a measure to fund hundreds of thousands of police officers, firefighters and teachers, also funded by a millionaire tax, was blocked in the Senate by a Republican-led filibuster.

After unveiling his plan last month to combat persistently high unemployment, Obama has campaigned constantly in favor of the bill in the face of stiff Republican resistance. The GOP-controlled House won't take up the measure and Republicans in the Senate also blocked a vote on the bill in its entirety. As a result, Democrats have now decided to split the bill into small pieces and attempt to pass it that way.

The Democrats' strategy also presents plentiful opportunities to try to show the GOP favors the interests of millionaires over urgent infrastructure, education and public safety spending. Republicans are calling the jobs measures another government stimulus program that won't fix the economy.

We'll have more details after the conference call with Reid, Klobuchar and LaHood.

UPDATE
It's a $60 billion bill with $50 billion going to road, rail, airport and other critical transportation projects around the country. Another $10 billion will be used to seed an infrastructure bank, a proposal that's been floating around Washington for awhile. You can read more about the bank here.

Klobuchar described the collapse of the I-35W bridge in 2007 as a wake-up call to the country about the state of its decaying infrastructure.

"We just can't afford to wait any longer whether we're talking about a construction worker looking for a job or a business looking to export to foreign markets, it's clear we need to rebuild our infrastructure," said Klobuchar.

She described infrastructure spending as an area where both parties have long cooperated on and lamented the resistance by Republicans to any proposals of fresh government spending.

"There's no such thing as a Democratic bridge or a Republican bridge or a Democratic water project or a Republican water project," said Klobuchar.

But while Klobuchar may have called for bipartisanship, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was eager to taunt Republicans for resisting any Democratic proposal funded by a tax increase.

"The Senate GOP has had a love affair for many years now with Grover Norquist," said Reid, referring to the anti-tax crusader who's the chief enforcer of the party's no new taxes pledge.

Reid has scheduled a vote on the bill the week of Oct. 31 after the Senate returns from a recess. The measure's prospects are likely dim in the Senate where 60 votes are required to break a filibuster and Democrats have 53 members in their caucus.

Republicans immediately jumped on the proposal.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results, yet that's exactly what Senate Democrats are proposing today," said Brian Walsh, the spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "So when taxpayers hear Senator Klobuchar and her fellow liberal Democrats call for even more bloated government stimulus spending it serves as yet another reminder of their broken promises and failed economic policies."

New Hampshire staffers leave Bachmann campaign

Posted at 11:05 AM on October 21, 2011 by Catharine Richert (3 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

WMUR, a New Hampshire television station, reports that GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann's paid staff in the state have quit "over deep frustration with the campaign's lack of commitment to New Hampshire."

Bachmann has been spending much of her time and resources in Iowa, a state she says is a must-win.

Those staffers include Jeff Chidester, Nicole Yurek, Mattheu LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz, according to the WMUR report.

Here's the rest of the story, which is available by subscription-only through this link.

They stress that this has nothing to do with their devotion to the candidate. In fact, the staff was going to leave the campaign much earlier, but did not because they felt it wasn't the best for the candidate.

Bachmann came to the state last week for the Dartmouth debate. It was her first trip to New Hampshire since late June, and it was the final straw for the local staff. They felt constantly betrayed and even lied to, one of the staffers said.

In an interview with the New York Times this week, Bachmann said she plans to spend the rest of the primary campaign in Iowa and no other state, except for debates. The New Hampshire Secretary of State's office said it was notified that Bachmann would mail in her application to appear on the ballot and not sign up in person as most candidates do.

It is expected that these staffers will join other campaigns immediately.

MPR News has contacted the Bachmann campaign for confirmation, and will update if we hear back.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal and Fox News are reporting that the Bachmann campaign is pushing back on the staff departure.

Per the Journal:

"Besieged by reports of a staff mutiny, Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian issued a statement late Friday saying, "We have a great team in New Hampshire [and] we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign."

Bachmann camp pushes back on reports of staff departures

Posted at 4:47 PM on October 21, 2011 by Catharine Richert (1 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign is pushing back on a swirl of reports that her paid staff in New Hampshire has quit.

Bachmann's campaign manager, Keith Nahigian, issued this statement late Friday afternoon.

"We have a great team in New Hampshire and we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign. We look forward to spending more time in the Granite State between now and the primary, but our campaign has emphasized that our main focus is the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa and we are continuing to build efforts there. While she will campaign in other states, Michele will spend the majority of her time in Iowa, doing what she does better than all the other candidates - retail politics - leading up to the all important caucuses."

Meanwhile, Bachmann told Radio Iowa Friday that "I don't know if this is just a bad story that's being fed by a different candidate or campaign -- I have no idea where this came from, but we have made calls and it is certainly not true"

Yet Jeff Chidester, Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign manager, told the New York Times that he is leaving.

Other staffers include Nicole Yurek, Mattheu LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz, according to initial report from New Hampshire television station WMUR, which can be found here with a subscription. MPR has not been able to independently confirm their departures.

WMUR reported that the staff quit "over deep frustration with the campaign's lack of commitment to New Hampshire."

Bachmann has been spending much of her time and resources in Iowa, a state that will hold the nation's first caucuses. Bachmann says the state is a must-win. Her platform is especially attractive to Iowa's GOP voters there who tend to be socially conservative.

Meanwhile, she's be spending little time in New Hampshire. Recent surveys in New Hampshire have her polling in the single digits, far behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is leading the pack there.

Other recent polls show that Bachmann is doing slightly better in Iowa.