CNN has an interesting new poll comparing the attitudes of Republicans who identify with the Tea Party movement to those who don’t. Perhaps surprisingly, the survey finds that fully 51 percent of Republicans define themselves as non-Tea Party members have neutral, conflicted or negative views toward the movement. The other 49 percent say they are … Continue reading
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized President Obama’s jobs plan in an economic address in Washington on Thursday, calling it “a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America.” In a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, Boehner outlined the Republican plan for job creation … Continue reading
Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said a push in the North Carolina state legislature to add an anti-gay-marriage amendment to the state constitution has prompted him to co-sponsor federal legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). “For a couple who [have] been married legally, every state should be required to give full faith and … Continue reading
A package of disaster relief funding worth $7 billion was blocked from coming up for a vote by Senate Republicans on Monday, drawing sharp condemnation from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who lambasted the conservative party for abandoning Americans in need. “Last night, Democrats tried to move forward on a measure that would have … Continue reading
Democrats suffered a major blow in two special House election losses Tuesday, leaving the party at a political low point as it gears up for 2012. Republicans pulled off an upset in New York’s 9th Congressional District, a strongly Democratic seat that should have been an easy hold. And the GOP cruised to an easy … Continue reading
Republicans who are mainly interested in making sure their party wins the 2012 presidential election would seem to face a catch-22. The man who currently leads the GOP race in national polls, Rick Perry, has a history of making reckless and inflammatory statements about Social Security — enough to raise serious questions about whether nominating … Continue reading
A House bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act has now attracted 122 cosponsors—two more than the total number of sponsors from the previous congressional term, when the legislation was first introduced. A spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, lead House sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, told The Advocate … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry bristled at accusations during Monday’s GOP debate that he had done the bidding of a corporate donor by ordering schoolgirls to use a new vaccine. “The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them,” Perry said. “I raised about $30 million. And if you’re … Continue reading
Texas Governor Rick Perry says he was “taken aback” by an incident that occurred at Monday night’s Republican presidential debate after U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was asked if a man who is sick should be left to die because he is uninsured, according to NBC News. In addressing the situation that unfolded Perry reportedly … Continue reading
The race to hold early Republican presidential primary contests is heating up. The Arizona Republic reports that Gov. Jan Brewer (R) issued a proclamation on Monday declaring that the state will hold its GOP presidential primary on February 28 of next year. Brewer’s decision breaks national party rules mandating that only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada … Continue reading
The participant’s in last night’s GOP presidential debate once again took the opportunity to pretend that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) put a massive dent in Medicare by cutting $500 billion from the program. Michele Bachmann told us that “We know that President Obama stole over $500 billion out of Medicare to switch it over to Obamacare.” … Continue reading
With her standing in the polls slipping, Michele Bachmann needed to find a way to capture the spotlight she held earlier this summer. She just may have done that tonight at the Tea Party Express/CNN debate in Tampa, Florida. Bachmann, the founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, knew her audience well and … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was hit both on and off the debate stage Monday night with accusations of engaging in “crony capitalism” when he issued a 2007 executive order requiring sixth grade girls receive a vaccine to protect against HPV, which causes cervical cancer. “I’m a mom and I’m a mom of three children and … Continue reading
President Obama sent his jobs bill to Congress on Monday, urging lawmakers to put aside “political games” and pass the $447 billion plan meant to increase hiring as the government struggles to curtail persistent high unemployment. But just two hours after Mr. Obama, flanked by firefighters, construction workers and teachers in the Rose Garden, waved a copy … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry toned down his language on Social Security today, deviating from the harsh rhetoric that has fueled criticism from his Republican opponents as they gear up for the second presidential debate in less than a week. In an op-ed for USA Today, Perry replaced the term “Ponzi scheme” with descriptions of the entitlement program’s “financial … Continue reading
President Barack Obama will take to the Rose Garden on Monday to make a pitch for his jobs creation plan and announce he is sending it to Congress later that evening, the White House said. Obama will be joined by teachers, veterans, small-business owners and others who would benefit from the American Jobs Act’s passage, … Continue reading
A battle over Social Security launched last week between the top two GOP presidential contenders doesn’t show any signs of quieting down as candidates prepare for round two at the first-ever CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate on Monday night. The debate, being held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, will also give the six other … Continue reading
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Iowa) believes Social Security, while troubled, needs to be retained for current beneficiaries and future generations. The presidential candidate said Friday that while the program is “in trouble,” the federal government has made a commitment to senior citizens that it must keep. “The United States made a decision 80 years ago about … Continue reading
Armed with worrisome poll data and seeking to maintain the legislative upper hand, Congressional Republicans who have spent the balance of the year pouring buckets of criticism on the Obama administration are shifting to a more restrained approach as they ponder how to respond to the president’s jobs plan. Back from a summer break in … Continue reading
President Barack Obama’s promise Thursday that everything in his jobs plan will be paid for rests on highly iffy propositions. It will only be paid for if a committee he can’t control does his bidding, if Congress puts that into law and if leaders in the future — the ones who will feel the fiscal … Continue reading
Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter’s plans to host a football-watching party have been ruined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On Wednesday, Vitter told Fox News that he would host the party in his home state rather than watch the president’s speech on the economy to a rare joint session of Congress. The New Orleans … Continue reading
While men lost more jobs in the recession than women, women have been slower to recover, losing nearly 300,000 jobs since the economic “recovery” began in 2009. Some women’s organizations were concerned that President Obama’s jobs plan was going to focus on boosting male-dominated industries, such as construction and manufacturing, to the exclusion of the … Continue reading
President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Congress to quickly enact a package of tax cuts, infrastructure projects and other spending programs that he characterized as bipartisan. In an address to a joint session of Congress, Obama unveiled his $447 billion jobs plan, which also includes new spending for teachers’ pay, school construction and tax reform. … Continue reading
The full-throated sparring between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry during the Republican debate on Wednesday night provided an early glimpse of the very different strategies that will propel their presidential campaigns forward in the next several months. Mr. Perry, the governor of Texas, made clear in his first national appearance that he would campaign as … Continue reading
President Obama’s speech to Congress hewed closely to the details that had already been leaked, save for the dollar amounts, which were considerably larger. Even so, the $450 billion price tag is somewhat misleading in that much of that is not new spending or new tax breaks but rather an extension of breaks and unemployment … Continue reading