NRCC Weekly Rundown: Mike Derrick’s Latest Fail and Steve Santarsiero Raises Taxes

October 9, 2015

Here’s a look at what’s happening across the country in the NRCC Weekly Rundown:

Clueless Mikey Derrick Strikes Again!!!

New York Democrat Mike Derrick, who is running in the state’s 21st Congressional District, seems to have a problem with making things up about Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. Earlier this summer, the local Glen Falls Post-Star called out Derrick for his false attacks claiming Stefanik didn’t support Pell Grants funding… even though she has repeatedly supported legislation for the program and others to make college more accessible.

Now, Derrick is at it again, this time over Stefanik and reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. Maybe Derrick should spend more time reading the local papers because an Albany Times Union editorial praised her for reauthorizing the bank just last month.

Just because Derrick doesn’t know why he’s running for Congress, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t make up stories about his opponent.

Bad Move, Steve Santarsiero

PA-08 Democrats are stuck between a rock and hard place with their two candidates. On one hand, Shaughnessy Naughton has been tied to the embattled attorney general Kathleen Kane, who faces numerous charges including perjury and obstruction.

Then there’s Steve Santarsiero, who is letting down his constituents on multiple fronts. Firstly, Santarsiero has failed to use his position as a state representative to do his job and hold Kane accountable. Instead, he has opted to use the Kane scandal to his political advantage to attack his primary opponent Naughton, but done nothing in the statehouse outside of the political lip service.

Santarsiero is using his position as a state legislator for something else that probably isn’t going sit well with his constituents though. This week, he voted to increase the state’s income tax by 16 percent, hitting hardworking Pennsylvanians right in the pocketbook. Voters will surely remember Santarsiero’s tax-increase when they head to the polls.

Other News and Notes

  • The House passed Maine Representative Bruce Poliquin’s child-support bill, which aims to stop parents failing to pay child support from hiding assets.
  • The Illinois’s Rodney Davis’s EACH Act, which would “expand the terms of the religious conscience exemption under Obamacare, passed in the House with a unanimous vote.
  • For the second time in as many weeks, John Katko of New York saw an airport-security of his signed in to law. The latest bill looked to better control spending by the TSA after reports of fraud and inefficiency. He currently leads all freshmen House members with bills signed thus far.
  • A different airport-security bill from Katko, which looks to address security breaches and loopholes by airport employees, also passed in the House this week.
  • Texas’s Will Hurd joined San Antonio’s WOAI-TV this week to discuss issues important to his district, state, and the nation, such as energy policy and cybersecurity readiness.