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Pro-Trump Super PAC Pressures Casey on HHS Nominee


PriceA Pro-Trump super PAC called 45Committee is spending at least $65,000 on ads pressuring Senator Bob Casey to support the President’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Casey has already announced he intends to vote against former Congressman Dr. Tom Price for the post.

A generic version of the Price ad can be viewed below. The Pennsylvania version shows Casey’s picture and direct office number.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYJTdYPdhFc

“No surprise that shady, dark money groups funded by corporate interests are advocating for an HHS nominee who would end guarantee benefit for Medicare and cut nursing home funding for seniors,” said Casey spokesperson Jacklin Rhoads.  

FCC reports show that the group’s aired ads in all of the major markets of Pennsylvania with the exception of Philadelphia.  They aired most ads during local news, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune broadcasts.  WGAL in the Harrisburg market saw the biggest spend at $28,000, followed by WJET Erie with $16,000 and WPXI Pittsburgh with $12,000.

The FCC reports only provide information on broadcast ad buys, and the group also spent money on cable ads. As the Scranton Times-Tribune notes, the effort is part of a $1 million nationwide effort on the part of the group.  

With Trump’s cabinet nominees facing strong opposition from Democrats in the Senate, and Casey announcing his opposition to Price, Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin,  AG nominee Jeff Sessions, Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, EPA nominee Scott Pruitt, Pennsylvania could see more ads like this in the near future.  

PoliticsPA reached out to the group for additional information, such as how much money they are spending on the ads in Pennsylvania, and if they are planning to run more such ads in the future.  

14 Responses

  1. Trump’s super PAC allies are the latest to test the federal election regulations meant to prevent campaigns and outside groups from coordinating.

  2. Looks like there’s a bunch of paid trolls in the comments here. Are they being paid by 45committee’s billionaires? Or Putin? Or both?

  3. Sen. Casey ‘staying strong’ as some of these posts have put it should not be hard. Following political calculations is what has brought us to this place. It should be sufficient for any person worthy of office to vote their conscience. All of us knew right from wrong when we were eight years old. We knew who’s friendship or approval came at a dishonest price and who’s was given freely to anyone who’s character deserved it. It is later in life that we are tempted to exchange integrity for comfort. The names of your detractors is enough. “Publius”? You are neither Hamilton writing the federalist papers nor are you a founder of the Roman republic. “Seneca”? Seneca the younger? Tutor to Nero? I do not need to be a student of history to know of your protege and his vile legacy. Or perhaps you mean to imply that you are Seneca the elder? In either case you use the name of a man that you are not. If the very names you give yourselves are self-aggrandizing lies then what should we make of your words?

  4. Sen. Casey is a liberal-hack. Voting against Sessions and DeVos because his union overlords tell him to. He wouldn’t have a Senate Seat if he had a different last name.

  5. D. DeMasi, you certainly show a partisan enthusiasm. I suggest you be careful it is not of the variety rife in the Light Brigade at Balaclava. It is unwise to bet the farm on an uncertain future, and the Democratic Party has been running low on farms lately. (See my reply to tommy d, below.)

    Is this the right time for Democrat Party hyper-partisanship? Will it gain the party the required political capital to stave off further Republican inroads in 2018? Right now Chuck Schumer is only intersted in a numbers game to count coup against Trump administration nominees. I hazard he’ll come to regret it. Certainly those he is pressuring to follow his party line will regret it more. Right now he wants bodies. And, BTW, there will be a body count later.

    Perhaps you and others should have been more politically active during the previous administration, as your intended efforts might not get you very far under the current one. You might find a few thousands of like-minded persons, but nowhere near the millions you will need. And to what end? Do you simply wish to obstruct Trump administration programs? Are you prepared to offer constructive criticism rather than fight a zero-sum battle? And, where were you and the others last year working to stem the flow of desertions from the base to the Trump campaign?

    Right now, Democrat legislators have less use of dedicated partisans and more need to connect with ordinary Americans of the sort they have been willfully ignoring over the past decade or so. Democrats need to be a credible opposition to the Trump administration, done with the interests of the nation and not the party in mind. Simple obstruction is likely to do little more than further harden existing positions and make bipartisan efforts on common issues difficult if not impossible.

  6. No echo chamber here, but rather a half century as an independent observing politics here and elsewhere. Social media and activism by a depleted party base can move Casey and other Senate Democrats only so far. The unpleasant reality that they face is the 2018 election. Already Casey and some of his colleagues have become quite cautious and guarded with their rhetoric. Perhaps they realize that from now until November 2018 all that they say and do will go into their future opponents’ playbook.

    So, will Democrat “obstructionism” (your term, BTW) gain Casey and his vulnerable Senate colleagues much? Are they betting on a poor first two-year performance for the Trump administration using a calculus that became obsolete as of 8 November last? And, are they betting on increased support from a voter base that continues to dwindle? They may be able to do something about this latter, but they shouldn’t bet the farm on a Trump administration failure between now and 2018. Their January-February 2017 obstructionism could prove quite hazardous in a markedly improved November 2018 economic environment. Do they really want to be depicted as those who tried to derail Trump administration efforts to make things better? If so, they will lose the moderates. They will always have the leftists, but they can’t win with them alone.

    Of course there are no facts about the future. At the end of the day, there are only reasoned guesses as to what lies ahead. Certainly Trump partisans should not uncritically bet on administration policies being a panacea for all our current problems. But neither should Trump opponents uncritically bet on them failing.

  7. The USA cabinet selections in 2008 & 2012 were the mavens in their respective fields. The Trump administration cannot say the same, as its nominees are pay-to-play, and drawn heavily from the financial/banking industry. This is Republican reality, though they accused the same of Clinton.
    During the current GOP administration it is my intent to be politically active; my full time job will be to work against any and all of the proposed GOP legislation, and to support other, non-GOP candidates in all future elections. Democratic candidates will be the beneficiaries, and, I am sure I am one of thousands – if not millions – of like minded persons. Dedicated individuals are going to let the Democratic legislators know they have the support and resources they need to vote along party lines, and to maintain their positions in their elected offices. Count on it.

  8. Seneca has an echo-chamber view of what is going on.
    The Democrats’ “obstructionism” is gaining them support of both moderates and lefties, and drawing attention to the badly-flawed Trump nominees (and the very-badly-flawed Trump). Casey is being swamped by calls to oppose the Trumpers, thus his sudden-onset case of backbone.

  9. This is fascinating to watch. Casey and other Senate Democrats are using up their political capital with the public in general and many of their constituents in particular as they fight in vain against Trump’s nominees. And come 2018 they’ll need whatever political capital they’ll be able to get. It’s unlikely they’ll get much political capital out of the current delaying actions, unless there’s the opportunity sometime in the future to tell their constituents–and the American public–“I told you so”.

    But, all Democrat rhetoric aside, Trump’s nominees are more qualified than their detractors make them out to be, even though things could go south for some of them once in place. The reasonable course of action would be to not obstruct Trump’s nominees at present as the Republicans have the votes and the political advantage to get his nominees through. If they fight a battle on this, it will be ugly and they will be very lucky if they can derail even one cabinet nominee. Better to call them out if or when they fail at their jobs.

    Meanwhile, the Democrats are being cast as obstructors and unreasonable ideologues. Their words and actions will be remembered for their 2018 opponents’ playbooks. And that fight will be a nasty, ugly one to begin with. No sense in giving one’s opponentsadditional ammunition.

    Casey is not helping himself much in running with the Senate Democratic pack on the Price or any other nomination. He is obviously under Schumer’s influence, and all Schumer wants is a numbers game now that he is unlikely to keep after the 2018 elections. But it will be Casey and other vulnerable Democrats that take the hits. The public may forget Casey’s antics for a while after Trump’s cabinet is confirmed, but they will be reminded of this come 2018 by Casey’s future opponent, whomever he/she may be.

  10. Tom Price is an expert on insider trading and using his position of public trust to enrich himself. Fits right in with the Trump Administration and their visions of a Russian-style kleptocracy.

  11. Senator Casey stay strong. We have your back. I guarantee an unbelievablenumber of my elderly neighbors will vote for your re- election . We are in a CCRC, about 400 strong, in the little Township of Haverford. We are old. And we vote.
    We may have lost to Trump in Pa, but every one of our state candidates won,, except the nasty Toomey. The voters already regret that Toomey vote .

  12. Wow the democrats haven’t been this upset since the republications took their slaves away…

  13. Stay strong Sen. Casey and vote NO on these unqualified bozos. These commercials are Koch brothers 100%. We already have 1 stooge in Toomey being lead around on a leash by the Koch brothers.

  14. Putting out ads shows how nervous Trump and his supporters are about the questionable characters he’s putting up for these positions. None of them really have serious qualifications other than sucking up to the prez. DeVos is a rich puppet for the charter school folks, Mnuchin’s conflicts of interest rival Trump’s and Price just wants to kill services for poor people. Congratulations to those who voted for this kind of ineffective leadership. You need not look further than Carson who ADMITTED that he was not qualified to lead HUD. At least one person in this cabal of inept nominees made one true statement.

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