Associated Press - page 607

Desperate to knock off GOP incumbents in this year’s Republican primaries, the nation’s tea party groups have spent millions only to fall short in election after election. Yet for all the losses, from Matt Bevin in Kentucky to Chris McDaniel in Mississippi, business for the tea party has never been better. The lack of success at the ballot hasn’t kept the groups from raising huge sums of money, adding names to their mailing lists and recruiting new volunteers. At the…

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Blasting the GOP as willfully indifferent to American struggles, President Barack Obama issued a rebuke Friday to Republican attempts to thwart his economic agenda, offering a stark contrast that Democrats hope will yield electoral success in November. Obama’s remarks at a picturesque lake in Minneapolis were billed by the White House as a speech on the economy. But as Obama ripped into his political foes before 3,500 cheering supporters, the political undertones were less than subtle. “They don’t do anything,…

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 A fear of voting has gripped Democratic leaders in the Senate, slowing the chamber’s modest productivity this election season to a near halt. With control of the Senate at risk in November, leaders are going to remarkable lengths to protect endangered Democrats from casting tough votes and to deny Republicans legislative victories in the midst of the campaign. The phobia means even bipartisan legislation to boost energy efficiency, manufacturing, sportsmen’s rights and more could be scuttled. The Senate’s masters of…

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Florida Democrats won’t feature their candidates for statewide office during their annual fundraising dinner. Instead, the attention will be on former President Bill Clinton, who will address state party activists Saturday night. The dinner had traditionally been a rally in support of Democratic candidates during election years. And while speakers at the event are sure to make a case against re-electing Gov. Rick Scott, the two Democrats hoping to unseat him won’t be speaking. Instead, Republican turned Democrat Charlie Crist…

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A powerful House panel Tuesday went against the wishes of GOP leaders and voted to restore a longstanding congressional mandate requiring the Postal Service to deliver mail on Saturdays. The bipartisan voice vote in the Appropriations Committee comes as House GOP leaders are pressing a plan to use savings from ending Saturday deliveries to pay for an infusion of cash into the government fund that distributes money to states for highway construction. It is scheduled to run dry this summer.…

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A Florida judge accused of punching an assistant public defender during an altercation outside a courtroom is returning to the bench but in a different capacity. Brevard County Court Judge John Murphy returns to the bench on Monday. But instead of hearing criminal cases, he will handle civil cases. Chief Judge John Harris said Friday that the reassignment isn’t a form of discipline. He says Murphy has been receiving anger management counseling since the altercation earlier this month. Murphy allegedly…

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A member of the Florida Legislature arrested on a drunken driving charge was sentenced to six months of probation and subjected to alcohol tests under a plea deal agreed upon Thursday. Rep. Dane Eagle, 31, was arrested in April after an officer spotted him driving erratically and he refused to be tested. The Cape Coral Republican refused to resign after his arrest. Eagle, who was not in court for the hearing, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of reckless…

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