Mediaboss Marketing

A group of Winter Park Republican women Thursday met at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office to change their voter affiliation to independent. Their action, they said, was fueled by anger over the county party's involvement in the non-partisan race for mayor.

This wasn't the first internal dispute over the election, as several members of the Winter Park Republican Women club, including two board members, have resigned over the group's endorsement of Mayor-elect Steve Leary over his opponent, Cynthia Mackinnon.

Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Lew Oliver said that it's the organization's directive to support a Republican in any election against a Democrat, even in non-partisan races where party identity isn't listed and candidates can't identify their parties.

Party mailers, entitled "Republican Alert," stated that Mackinnon supported President Barack Obama in the 2012 election and showed Obama making a "shhh" gesture.

"We've always had nonpartisan elections," said Mimi Dickinson, one of 10 women who changed their affiliation Thursday. "Nobody asks anyone their voting record or party affiliation. [The party] just did it because they felt there were more Republicans than Democrats in Winter Park and they could get elected at any price."

Nancy Miles, a mayoral candidate in 2012, said she's been a lifelong Republican but was changing her registration "because what they did was disgusting, not only in this past election but because of the sea change this brought on. There may never be another nonpartisan race in Winter Park."

Miles, who supported Mackinnon, was one of four members who resigned from the Winter Park Republican Women club over the election, including board members Bonnie Jackson and Cindy Schuerman.

Jackson, who did not change her party affiliation, said the club did not endorse her in her commission race against Leary, nor Miles in her race, but endorsed Leary this year.

"My club didn't support [us], but Steve Leary, who is not a member of the club suddenly the president of the club endorses him?" Jackson said. "For what reason?

"The most important mission of that group is to help women, she said. "We are such a small representation of government. I'm not a quota person I don't think whatever the population percentage is, the (representation) should be but it's so far out of whack."

More:
Republican women, angry over Winter Park race, leave party

Theyve written their budgets, but now Republican leaders must try to round up the votes to pass them amid an ever-more polarized GOP riven with disputes over defense spending and the pace of cutting entitlements.

GOP leaders added a new wrinkle Thursday when they announced a deal with top Democrats to scrap an 18-year-old tool designed to cut Medicare spending, drawing fierce opposition from conservative groups that said permanently ending the doc-fix walks back on a promise from the 1994 Republican Revolution.

The spending fights will make it tough for House Speaker John A. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cobble a coalition able to pass a budget, and they are unlikely to get any help from Democrats, who have slammed the twin GOP proposals released this week one for the House and one for the Senate as warmed-over stew.

I havent seen any budget theyve put forth in a long time that does anything more than take us back to the failed economic policies under President Bush that took us to the brink of a depression, took us into a deep recession, and now they want to go back to a budget that does exactly the same thing, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.

Both the House and Senate will debate their budgets on the floor next week, and lawmakers will be soul-searching over whether they can support them.

Weve already had some pretty embarrassing situations, but I think not being able to pass a Republican budget on the floor would be the granddaddy of them all, said Rep. Matt Salmon, Arizona Republican.

The big sticking point is a fight over defense spending. With Republicans in control of both chambers, defense hawks have said they must make good on promises to reverse years of cuts to the Pentagon in order to fight the war on terrorism and keep other adversarial countries tamed.

But that would require either politically difficult spending cuts or tax increases, or else the GOP will have to break the spending caps it imposed in a 2011 debt deal with President Obama.

Each move left or right loses votes for the leadership. That makes it very difficult to govern even when you have a majority of the votes, said Darrell West, director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

The House Committee on the Budget approved its blueprint on a 22-13 party line vote Thursday after a shaky 24 hours that highlighted the defense rift.

See original here:
Republican budget proposals a tough sell within increasingly polarized GOP

What appeared to be a bipartisan bill to curb human trafficking in the United States has stalled in the U.S. Senate and now has become fodder for a Republican campaign attack on Democratic senators.

Republicans are running robocalls attacking Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for playing political games with a human trafficking bill stalled in the GOP-run Senate.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has begun to run robocalls, directed at women voters, against Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and other lawmakers up for re-election in 2016.

A version directed at Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., urged voters to call their senator and tell him to stop playing political games and voting to block legislation that would combat human trafficking.

The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act would establish a fund for U.S. victims of human trafficking, and toughen fines and jail sentences to the johns who force them into sex slavery. There are an estimated 100,000 victims in America.

Democrats have balked, however, at an anti-abortion amendment quietly inserted by Senate Republican leaders.

It bans use of any money from the victims fund to pay for abortions or similar use of any fines collected from traffickers. It is a version of the longstanding Hyde Amendment which blocks users of federal funds from abortion services.

Democrats have blocked the bill until the anti-abortion language is removed.

The Republican leadership in the Senate has held up the confirmation of Attorney General-designate Loretta Lynch. The U.S. attorney from Brooklyn has been forced to wait four months for a Senate vote.

Along with Murray, Republican robocalls have attacked Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Bennet, and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.

Continue reading here:
Republican robocalls hit Murray over human trafficking bill

Obama mocks Republican letter to Iran over nuclear talks
US President Barack Obama has criticised a letter from Republican senators to Iran, accusing them of "interfering" in ongoing nuclear talks. Watch Online: http://goo.gl/hmN1t7.

By: Justin 2015

Read the original here:
Obama mocks Republican letter to Iran over nuclear talks - Video

Khamenei Slams Republican Letter on Iran, U.S. Known for #39;deceit #39;
Iran #39;s Supreme Leader hit out on Thursday at a letter by U.S. Republican senators threatening to undo any nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran, saying he was worried because the United...

By: wochit General News

See the article here:
Khamenei Slams Republican Letter on Iran, U.S. Known for 'deceit' - Video