NRCC Weekly Rundown: NRCC announces Young Guns, Zephyr Teachout’s big flip flop, Hillary’s emails, and more!

July 1, 2016

run-down

And here’s this week’s edition of the NRCC Weekly Rundown:

National: The NRCC announced our first round of Young Guns this week. Young Guns is the top tier of the committee’s three-level candidate recruitment program. Candidates named as Young Guns have demonstrated their ability to build a winning campaign and have met important goals and benchmarks. In the 2014 cycle, the Young Guns program helped to elect 45 new Republican members.

National: Just a week after being formally embraced by House Democrats, new information came to light that further undermines Hillary Clinton’s story on her private email server. Newly released emails, which were not among those provided to the State Department by Clinton, show Hillary, who previously said her private email server was set up purely out of convenience, instructing an aide to “get on this ASAP to be sure we know and design the system we want.”

 IL-12: A nonpartisan watchdog group filed an FEC complaint regarding shady dealings between C.J. Baricevic and an Illinois law firm, detailing what indicates an illegal “straw man” donation scheme. The NRCC called on Baricevic to return the nearly $40,000 in donations from employees of the law firm in question.

MN-08: More than 100,000 Minnesotans found out they would be losing health care coverage due to Obamacare. Yet, Rick Nolan continues to support the failed law.

NY-19: After refusing to answer a debate question on whether she supported the Cuomo Administration’s boycott of the anti-Israel BDS movement, Zephyr Teachout displayed her Olympic level flip-flopping skill by telling a reporter that she doesn’t support BDS, but she also doesn’t support Cuomo’s boycott of BDS.

NY-24: When asked in an interview, Colleen Deacon couldn’t come up with a single issue that she disagreed with Nancy Pelosi on. Deacon’s blind loyalty was subsequently rewarded with $18,700 in donations from Pelosi & Company. At least we know Deacon’s going rate for selling out the interests of New York families!

 

NEWS AND NOTES:

Conservative Clean Energy Group Backs New York Republicans 

ClearPath Action Fund, a super PAC that backs conservatives who support clean energy, announced its endorsement of two upstate New York Republicans on Thursday. Four-term Rep. Tom Reed, who represents the 23rd District, and freshman Rep. Elise Stefanik, who represents the 21st District, will each benefit from a six-figure digital media campaign the group will roll out soon.  READ

Clean energy group backs Republican in Florida race

A conservative clean energy group is giving a GOP House incumbent in Florida its first ever election endorsement. ClearPath Action Fund, headed by conservative entrepreneur Jay Faison, highlighted the leading role freshman Rep. Carlos Curbelo has played as a Republican who believes in man-made climate change and wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions. “Carlos Curbelo has quickly proven to be a leader among Republicans in protecting the environment and expanding the development of clean energy, lowering energy costs for families, creating jobs and protecting South Florida’s environment,” Faison said in a Tuesday statement. READ

Zephyr Teachout gives mixed signals on Israel position

Her refusal to take a stand on Cuomo’s order prompted the National Republican Congressional Committee to blast Teachout’s position as “shameful,’’ contending she was failing “to say whether she supports an effort to destroy the Israeli economy in the name of Palestine.’’ READ

Istanbul attack raising concerns of airport security

Congressman John Katko, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, says eliminating the risk altogether is impossible. “That airport has security at the front door and that didn’t stop it so from happening,” said Katko. Instead the congressman believes reducing the number of people inside airports could be a step in the right direction. “The wait time issue is a big issue we need to move people into the secure areas as quickly as possible,” explained KatkoREAD

Knight introduces bill proposing neurological treatment for veterans

Congressman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, introduced a bill today that would establish a pilot program to offer new neurological treatment for veterans. Knight said the No Hero Left Untreated Act would help veterans recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, chronic pain and opiate addiction. READ

Cybersecurity experts warn of growing workforce shortage

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, speaking at a cybersecurity conference downtown Tuesday, said more communication is needed between the federal government, law enforcement and small businesses to combat cybercrime. The San Antonio Republican sits on the Committee on Homeland Security and chairs the technology panel on the Committee of Oversight and Government Reform. READ

Young pushes Veterans Crisis Line improvements

Iowa Congressman David Young says the Veterans Crisis Line needs to do a better job of responding to veterans’ health care concerns. Young testified before the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Thursday on the No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act. The congressman’s bill would provide necessary responsiveness and performance improvements to the hotline–the confidential, toll free hotline for veterans seeking suicide prevention and crisis resources for help from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. READ

Rep. Bob Dold: How Illinois punishes schools with poorest kids

That’s why, as a father of three children and the son of a public school teacher, I was appalled to discover that politicians in Springfield are using federal dollars meant for our children’s education to bail themselves out when they can’t agree on a fiscally responsible budget…That’s why I’ve introduced legislation, the Stand Up for Students Act, to ban this corrupt practice. If our bill becomes law, Illinois schools could afford to hire more than 1,500 new teachers with money left to spend on retaining experienced educators. READ