Politics

New Hampshire Clash of Republican Presidential Contenders

Published

9 years ago

April 18, 2015

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush jokes with a member of the audience at a “Politics and Eggs” event, a breakfast fixture for 2016 presidential prospects, Friday, April 17, 2015, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Steve Peoples, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — The Republican Party’s most ambitious have stormed into New Hampshire for an early state showdown that highlighted the diversity, political challenges and sheer size of the GOP’s 2016 presidential class.

Nearly 20 Republican White House prospects were on the program for a weekend conference hosted by the state GOP, the year’s first gathering of its kind in the first-in-the-nation primary state. Speakers on Friday ranged from the party’s elite to its longshots: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush delivered a standing-room-only speech while lesser-known South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced himself to voters one at a time in the hallway.

Each contender offered prescriptions for a party that hasn’t won a presidential election in more than a decade.

Bush made a passionate plea for bipartisanship on a day when his moderate brand of politics was on display. He broke with many conservatives on the environment by declaring that “the climate is changing” and on immigration called for a pathway to legal status for immigrants in the country illegally.

“The people who want to come here are driving for success,” Bush said of such immigrants.

He also criticized those who demonize their political adversaries: “I’m sick and tired of the political game where you push someone down to make yourself look better.”

He was among 10 prospective presidential candidates in New Hampshire on Friday, the first day of a two-day conference. Another 10 potential candidates were scheduled to appear in the state on Sunday.

Among the speakers: 10 current and former governors, three senators, a congressman, a former United Nations ambassador and a former CEO. They range in age from 43 to 71 and include several Spanish speakers and one woman.

Of the major candidates considering a 2016 run, only retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson did not attend the weekend conference. He cited a scheduling conflict.

“There’s a new president coming, my friends,” said New Hampshire GOP chairwoman Jennifer Horn, praising the diversity of the Republican field. “I’d like to also recognize at this time the broad, diverse, qualified field of candidates being offered by our friends in the Democratic Party, but I can’t.”

That’s because the Democratic contest is dominated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who launched her campaign earlier in the week. The 67-year-old former first lady and secretary of state is scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire early next week.

Just down the street from the Republican conference, a leading Democratic voice charged that all the Republican voices sound the same: “With all of their shared extreme views they might as well just be one,” said Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Yet divisions were on display among the Republican candidates.

“We’re not going to fix Washington by electing a president who is from Washington,” said former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, offering a jab at the members of Congress eyeing the White House. “Change is only going to come from the outside, from my perspective, and so should the next president.”

And Bush said the United States must team up with other countries to fight climate change, a departure from the position of most rivals and many others in the GOP.

“We need to work with the rest of the world to find a way to reduce carbon emissions,” he said. That won him praise from an unexpected quarter, Democratic billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, whose NextGen group issued a statement saying Bush demonstrated leadership on the issue and showed why “climate change doesn’t have to be a partisan issue.”

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio reiterated the need for a new generation of leadership. If elected, the 43-year-old Rubio would be the third youngest president in history. He launched his campaign earlier in the week.

Asked whether Rubio considers Bush to be a man from the past, Rubio avoided criticizing the governor who helped steer his early years in politics.

“It’s not about biological age or how long someone’s been in politics, it has to do more with the age of your ideas,” Rubio said. “Do you have ideas to move America into the 21st century?”

___

Associated Press writers Holly Ramer, Kathleen Ronayne, Jill Colvin and Julie Pace contributed to this report.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

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MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.