Marco Rubio accuses Patrick Murphy of 'lying' using example that's actually true

In a new Spanish-language ad, Marco Rubio uses this image of a headline -- taken from an ad by his Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy -- as an example of a "false" claim by Murphy. However, as the headline reads, Rubio did tell Politico he doesn't support abortions for women infected with Zika. Marco Rubio campaign / YouTube.

@ByKristenMClark

In a new Spanish-language ad, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio accuses his Democratic challenger, Patrick Murphy, of lying -- but the specific example Rubio's ad uses to back that up is actually a true statement about one of the Republican incumbent's policy positions.

Rubio's new ad gives an example of a "false" claim by Murphy as being that Rubio opposes abortions for women infected with the Zika virus. But Rubio, who is stridently pro-life, has said himself he opposes them.

Murphy's campaign said Rubio is either "lying" in his new ad by calling Murphy's claim "false" or he must have quietly changed his position.

"It’s a fact that Rubio has stood with the far-right and is wholly opposed to a woman’s right to choose," Murphy campaign spokeswoman Galia Slayen said. "Either Rubio added his pro-life stance to his long list of flip-flops and forgot to let voters know, or he is brazenly lying to Florida families. Either way, Floridians deserve answers."

Rubio's campaign launched the ad in question last week and further promoted it Monday. As a narrator says Murphy "lies" about Rubio, viewers see a Politico headline on screen that reads (in Spanish) "Marco Rubio: No abortions for Zika-infected women," followed by a stamp of "False" across an image of Murphy.

As Murphy's campaign points out, Rubio said publicly he doesn't support abortions for women infected with Zika. He told Politico specifically: "When you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one. But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life."

Rubio campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas would not explain to the Herald/Times how Rubio can claim this attack by Murphy is "false."

In a statement Monday, Perez-Cubas said Murphy has "repeatedly distorted Marco's record" and then she attacked Murphy for his "extreme left-wing positions" in supporting abortion. She offered no direct rebuttal to Slayen's either/or accusation.

The image in Rubio's ad came from Murphy's first Spanish-language ad. (Murphy allies have also used the same headline in ads attacking Rubio.)

Here's the Rubio ad in question:

*This post has been updated with comment from Rubio's campaign.

Scott takes victory lap on $1.1B Zika funding but wants more federal help

@MichaelAuslen

It's not yet certain how Florida will benefit from the $1.1 billion Zika spending package Congress passed Wednesday, but on a call with reporters, Gov. Rick Scott made this clear: It's about time the federal government acted.

"What's frustrating is everybody said they were for funding," said Scott, who has traveled to Washington, D.C., twice to meet with congressional leaders and demand emergency money. "I'm frustrated it took so long. I think it shows the incompetence of the federal government, but I'm glad we got something passed."

Now, the governor is asking for the feds to refund the state for money it spent under an emergency declaration signed by Scott in February. To date, Florida has spent $36 million on fighting and preventing the spread of Zika and Scott last week promised another $25 million for a vaccine research grant program. That's on top of millions spent by local governments, particularly in Miami-Dade County, where the virus continues to spread in Miami Beach.

"My goal is the federal government will give the money out quickly," Scott said.

He also renewed demands for additional support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He wants the CDC to send an epidemiologist, match the grant funds for vaccine research and speed up test results for pregnant women.

But the federal government already has provided resources, including sending an epidemiologist. The CDC has to date spent well over $100 million on a vaccine research program.

As well, the CDC has granted $8 million in Zika-specific aid to Florida, as well as $27 million in federal emergency funds that could be used to combat Zika, in addition to other purposes. As of Friday, Florida had used less than $3 million, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Much of that money is allocated for other purposes, and the state has budgeted for -- even if it hasn't spent -- all of the Zika-specific money from the federal government, spokespeople for the state of Florida told the Miami Herald last week.

Pregnant women have reported waiting as long as five weeks to receive the results of Zika tests Scott made available in every county health department. The CDC has bought some lab resources to speed that up.

Under Scott, the state has cut staffing in the Florida Department of Health, reducing the agency from more than 17,000 positions when he took office in in 2011 to fewer than 14,000 full-time employees this year, according to state records.

This has not impacted Zika test results, Scott insists. Cuts are all tied to a change in the Medicaid program that farmed out work to private health insurers, he said.

"Any efficiencies made in years past did not impact the response to Zika," Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz said.

Some of the testing has to be done by the CDC, and that's what the state is waiting on, according to Scott's office. 

"We are clearly doing our part," he said, "but the CDC needs to provide an epidemiologist, needs to provide lab support."

Zika funds finally approved in late-night vote

 

@jamesmartinrose

Lawmakers had to stay late to get it done, but House passage of $1.1 billion in Zika prevention and research funds after a more than seven-month delay finally sends the bill to President Barack Obama's desk.

Despite having originally sought $1.9 billion in emergency Zika aid in February, Obama was expected to sign the broader $1.1 trillion stopgap appropriations measure that included the revamped Zika in a bid to break the partisan impasse over the money to combat the virus.

Just before 10 p.m. Wednesday, the House voted 242-85 to pass the larger spending measure funding the federal government through Dec. 9. Seventy-five Republicans and 10 Democrats voted against it, none from Florida.

The House vote came hours after the Senate approved the spending packing with Zika funds by a 72-26 vote. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Orlando both voted for the measure.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was still not ready to forgive completely GOP lawmakers who'd targeted Planned Parenthood partner clinics in Puerto Rico and added extraneous provisions to the original Zika bill, moves that contributed to its delay.

"After more than 900 confirmed cases of the Zika virus in Florida, House Republicans finally allowed us to pass most of the emergency funding we need to curb this public health crisis," the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman said.

While she called the Wednesday-night vote "a welcome start for Florida's pregnant women, business owners and families affected by the Zika virus," Wasserman Schultz added: "It has come many months later than it should have."

Dr. Andrew W. Gurman, head of the American Medical Association, praised the new Zika aid.

"It has been clear over the past several months that the U.S. has needed additional resources to combat the Zika virus," Gurman said. "With the threat of the virus continuing to loom this funding will help protect more people -- particularly pregnant women and their children -- from the virus' lasting negative health effects."

Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to Zika because it can cause birth defects such as microcephaly, which causes abnormally small brains and heads in newborns.

A large chunk of the $1.1 billion for Zika would go to Florida, New York and Puerto Rico, which combined have far more infections of the virus than any other states or territories.

The National Institutes for Health would receive more than $160 million of the Zika funds to continue its recently launched first clinical trial for a vaccine and to conduct other research.

Florida had 921 Zika cases as of Wednesday, including 92 involving pregnant women. One-hundred fifteen of the state's infections were transmitted directly by mosquitos.

The virus is carried primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but it can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse with an infected partner.

Sen. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, praised bipartisan efforts of South Florida lawmakers to push the Zika funding.

"This is a tremendous victory for the South Florida delegation who has tirelessly worked together, from both sides of the aisle and both chambers, to raise the importance of this issue and help resolve it," he said.

In a floor speech late Wednesday, Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo, also from Miami, acknowledged that "the process of getting this funding across the finish line has been frustrating at times and bogged down in unnecessary political gamesmanship."

Saying that Zika represented "an ongoing threat to the health of residents and to the economic vitality of businesses in South Florida," Curbelo praised final passage.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Palm Beach Democrat running for the Senate against incumbent Republican Marco Rubio, said the Zika funds "could not be more urgent as Florida quickly approaches 1,000 cases."

Republican Reps. David Jolly and Vern Buchanan, who had pushed their House Republican colleagues to approve Zika funding for months, also hailed the successful vote.

   

 

 

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Zika funding inches forward in DC, but obstacles remain

 

@jamesmartinrose

Overcoming its earlier divisions on Zika funding, the Senate on Wednesday approved $1.1 billion in research and prevention aid as it passed a bigger appropriations bill to fund the federal government into December.

Sen. Bill Nelson, aware of a looming potentially divisive House vote later in the day or this week, greeted the Senate's 72-26 vote with guarded optimism.

"We had a small victory today in our ongoing fight against the Zika virus," Nelson said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, who's made Zika funding his top priority as he runs for re-election against Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy, criticized the "political games" that had held it up for seven months.

"This anti-Zika package rightfully prioritizes Americans in Florida and Puerto Rico," Rubio said. "I'm encouraged that my calls for action have been answered, and that real assistance from the federal government is finally on its way."

The Zika money tucked inside a 10-week stopgap funding measure, the larger $1.1 trillion appropriations package went to the House, with a potentially divisive vote looming in the wake of Friday's end of the current fiscal year.

A large chunk of the $1.1 billion for Zika, less than the $1.9 billion President Barack Obama requested in February, would go to Florida, New York and Puerto Rico, which the virus ravaged during the summer.

The National Institutes for Health would receive more than $160 million of the Zika funds to continue its recently launched first clinical trial for a vaccine and to conduct other research.

The virus is carried primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, but it can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse with an infected partner.

Florida had 904 Zika cases as of Tuesday, 109 of them locally transmitted through mosquitos.

Ninety-one of Florida's Zika infections involved pregnant women, an especially vulnerable group because of the birth defects the virus can cause in newborns.

Microcephaly, which causes infants to be born with abnormally small brains and heads, is the worst known defect.

The Senate vote Wednesday represented a turnaround for Zika funds in the higher chamber. In three earlier summertime votes, Senate Democrats joined by some Republicans rejected stand-alone Zika bills because of extraneous provisions.

The most contentious provision sought to deny any of the new Zika money from going to Planned Parenthood partner clinics in Puerto Rico.

The island has almost 19,500 cases of Zika, some 84 percent of all cases in the United States and far more than any other state or territory.

The divisive Planned Parenthood clause is no longer part of the Zika funding measure in the overall spending bill. The Puerto Rico clinics will be allowed to seek reimbursement for Zika treatment except for abortions, for which federal money has been banned from paying for four decades.

While Nelson, an Orlando Democrat, and Rubio voted for the $1.1 trillion bill, about 1 percent of it for Zika, 11 Republican senators and 10 Democratic senators voted against it.

That bipartisan split among opponents foreshadowed potential pitfalls in the House, which was expected to take up the appropriations measure later Wednesday.

About $400 million of the $1.1 billion in Zika funds is offset in spending cuts to a range of other programs supported by Democratic lawmakers.

Some conservative Republicans, by contrast, want all the new $1.1 trillion in spending offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget, which is not achieved.

Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters of Michigan voted against the larger measure because it did not include $500 million they'd requested to clean contaminated water and replace lead pipes in Flint.

Negotiators promised to provide $170 million to Flint in a separate water bill moving through Congress, but that didn't satisfy Stabenow and Peters.

Image credit: Marco Ruiz, Miami Herald

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Results from Gov. Scott's emergency Zika research is years away

@MichaelAuslen

The results of an emergency research push for a Zika vaccine announced last week by Gov. Rick Scott likely won't come to fruition for years.

Members of the state Biolmedical Research Advisory Council have been asked to get the grant program off the ground in the next four months with a three-year timeline for the projects that ultimately will be funded by the Department of Health.

On an emergency meeting held via conference call Tuesday, council chairman Daniel Armstrong said Scott's office asked them to move quickly. But in the world of medical research, that still means results could be months away.

"There is an emphasis on soliciting the best science proposals that can also move most quickly to helping us identify the vaccines, the testing methods and the associated impacts of this disease," Armstrong said.

Last Thursday, Scott announced the grant program, a rare use of his power under a state of public health emergency declared in February as travel-related cases of Zika first arrived in Florida. He set aside $25 million primarily for research into a vaccine and more efficient Zika tests.

Some scientists on Tuesday's call suggested the state should focus efforts on shorter-term outcomes. Michael Farzan, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute said that developing a safe antibody could yield results faster than focusing on vaccines.

"I don't believe that any conventional vaccine can be used in the short term," said Farzan, who is not a member of the Biomedical Research Advisory Council but spoke up during a time for public comment. 

As well, some Zika vaccine research has already begun, funded by the federal government and other sources.

The council plans to accept grant applications in the next two to three months and submit recommendations for programs to be funded to Surgeon General Celeste Philip by early February.

Less than one hour before the emergency meeting, Scott made a new appointment to the Biomedical Research Advisory Council, Susan Vadaparampil, 43 of Lakeland, a researcher at the Moffit Cancer Center. She fills a vacancy created Aug. 31.

"Like we do in every appointment, we want to ensure appointments are made in a timely manner," said Scott spokeswoman Taryn Fenske in a statement. "The governor’s top priority to is find a vaccine and enhance our Zika testing capabilities to protect every pregnant women and their developing children in our state."

Zika continues to be a point of concern, particularly in South Florida. To date, 109 people have been infected by the virus in Florida, according to DOH. Another 784 Floridians have contracted the virus abroad.

Can Zika aid bill overcome its DC partisan past?

 

@jamesmartinrose

 

WASHINGTON Senate Republican leaders revealed what they called a breakthrough in Zika funding Thursday under renewed pressure from Florida lawmakers and mayors to break a seven-month political impasse.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article103560742.html#storylink=cpy

Democrats, however, said disputes over funding other urgent needs could still block any final deal, with the Zika money now part of a larger appropriations measure meant to fund the federal government through Dec. 9.

Just a few hours after Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine met with South Florida members of Congress and visited the White House to push for the stalled Zika money, the Senate Republicans disclosed the new Zika effort.

For more, read here:

Photo credit: C. M. Guerrero, El Nuevo Herald

 

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Rick Scott directs $25M toward Zika vaccine research

@MichaelAuslen

In an unusual move, Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday he'll use his emergency powers to direct $25 million from the state for Zika research.

The Florida Department of Health will dole out the money through a competitive grant for speeding up the development of a Zika vaccine and "innovative, cost-effective" methods to test for the virus.

Scott has traveled to Washington, D.C., to urge congressional action and routinely called out the federal government on cable news for failing to pass a Zika funding bill. On Thursday, he did the same.

"Every minute that passes that Congress doesn’t approve funding means more time is lost from researching this virus," Scott said in a statement. "For the sake of our state’s future children, this is time we cannot afford to waste."

The first cases of Zika spread by mosquitoes in the continental United States began this July in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood.

To date, there have been 874 Florida cases of the virus, which is linked to birth defects, according to the Florida Department of Health. While most of those cases are connected to travel abroad, 92 have been linked to local infections spreading, most notably in Miami Beach and Wynwood, though additional locally-spread cases were found in Pinellas, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

As governor, Scott can allocate funds in emergencies without the Legislature's approval. In February, he declared a public health emergency to address the burgeoning threat Zika posed.

In July, Scott expanded the emergency declaration to authorize $26.2 million in spending for mosquito control, testing pregnant women and preventing Zika's spread. Last week, he announced another $10 million for that cause.

New Murphy ad calls Rubio 'reckless on choice'

@ByKristenMClark

Hot off announcing an endorsement from Planned Parenthood earlier today, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy is launching a new TV ad this afternoon that highlights his and Marco Rubio's contrasting viewpoints on abortion.

Murphy's ad slams the incumbent Republican U.S. senator for being "reckless on choice."

The 30-second spot highlights Murphy's new endorsement from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and mentions he is "100 percent pro-choice," while Rubio specifically opposes exceptions for abortion in the cases of rape, incest or for pregnant women infected with the Zika virus.

Murphy's campaign says the ad will run statewide as part of a "seven-figure" buy.

"Marco Rubio is reckless on a woman's right to choose, radical in his attacks on women’s health funding, and irresponsible in his anti-woman rhetoric," Murphy said in a campaign statement. "Florida women deserve a senator who will stand up for their right to make their down health care decisions."

In response to Planned Parenthood's endorsement of Murphy today, Rubio's campaign said in an earlier statement that Murphy was "leaning on liberal interest groups to prop him up," because his campaign "is floundering."

As for Murphy's new ad, Rubio spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Patrick Murphy is distorting Marco's record like he distorted his own resume."

"Not only does Murphy support using taxpayer money to fund abortions, he also supports late-term abortions. Murphy's extreme positions on abortion put him out of touch with the vast majority of Floridians," Perez-Cubas said.

Here's Murphy's new ad:

Image credit: Patrick Murphy's U.S. Senate campaign / YouTube

*This post has been updated with comment from Rubio's campaign.

Competing demands crowd Zika money

  

@jamesmartinrose

WASHINGTON Turns out, Zika isn’t the only urgent problem that needs federal funds fast.

Florida lawmakers pushing to get $1.1 billion for Zika prevention and research into a rapidly evolving broader appropriations bill are competing with members of Congress from across the country who want their needs addressed.

On his second day in Washington to push for Zika funding, Gov. Rick Scott met with members of Congress from the state who briefed him on the rapidly evolving negotiations over federal spending.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said he’s jousting with other panel members seeking vital funding for their districts and states.

Lawmakers from Louisiana want billions for flood relief. Congressmen from Michigan want millions to clean contaminated drinking water. Others are pushing for more money for veterans’ healthcare.

“Florida’s not the only state with urgent needs,” Diaz-Balart told reporters after he and other Florida lawmakers met with Scott.

The governor said that Florida can’t wait any longer to receive federal aid to help with treating the almost 800 people in the state infected with the virus and preventing it from spreading further.

“We need help, and we need help now,” Scott said.

Scott criticized Sen. Bill Nelson for joining other Democrats in having voted down earlier Zika bills because they contained extraneous provisions related to abortion, Planned Parenthood and the federal health insurance law.

Scott’s criticism drew a rebuke from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a fellow Republican from Miami.

“We don’t need to be calling people out,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Sen. Nelson has been trying to help get Zika funding.”

Beyond the competition among different funding needs, there was disagreement on Capitol Hill over how much time the omnibus spending bill, called a Continuing Resolution, should cover going forward.

Appropriators sought a short-term measure that would keep the government operating into December. Some conservatives wanted it to be funded until March. President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress were pushing for a bill to cover the entire next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 and lasting through Sept. 30, 2017.

Video credit: Ken Cedeno, McClatchy

 

 

Zika funding not a done deal, Senate leaders warn

 

@jamesmartinrose

WASHINGTON A bipartisan battalion of political leaders from South Florida, Tallahassee and beyond have converged on Capitol Hill in an all-out blitz for Zika prevention and research funds.

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Orlando and a half-dozen House of Representatives members from across the Sunshine State appeared at a crowded news conference Tuesday where they pleaded for Congress to approve $1.1 billion in Zika money after a seven-month impasse over partisan politics.

 

The full-court press came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the top Senate Democrat, cast doubt on assertions that a deal had been reached.

For more:

Photo credit: Ken Cedeno, McClatchy

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