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Twenty minutes into last night’s Republican presidential debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry attacked the Massachusetts health care law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. Perry said the program showed “what will not work, and that is an individual mandate in this country.” People “don’t want a health care plan like what Governor Romney put in place … Continue reading
During Wednesday night’s Republican debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) stood at a podium flanked by seven men. She articulated her plan to repeal “Obamacare” and to slash gasoline prices when the moderator addressed her, but she generally faded into the background as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney pulled ahead of the pack. Notably, she failed … Continue reading
Most of the post-debate media chatter centered on the sparks that flew between top-tier candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. That’s to be expected, of course — that’s precisely the way the media framed the debate going in to last night. And for the most part, that’s the story today, with the addition of some … Continue reading
The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely … Continue reading
She didn’t get a lot of camera time in [Wednesday] night’s Republican presidential debate, but Rep. Michele Bachmann may be in the spotlight Thursday night, following President Obama’s jobs speech in front of Congress. The three-term congresswoman from Minnesota and GOP White House hopeful announced Thursday morning that she will hold a news conference on … Continue reading
The Department of Justice is reviewing, and has the power to reject a controversial new law passed in South Carolina that requires a registered voter to present a government -issued photo ID before his or her vote is counted. Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill into law in May and she’s not alone. Four other … Continue reading
President Barack Obama will address both chambers of Congress Thursday to unveil his plan to create jobs, but not everyone plans to attend. Despite buzz that Congress might ring in a new era of bipartisanship by choosing “prom night” seating for the speech — crossing aisle to sit with members of the other party — … Continue reading
When President Obama addresses a joint session of Congress about jobs Thursday night, one Illinois congressman won’t be there. Freshman Tea Party Republican Joe Walsh (8th) is making good on promises not to show up for the speech. Instead Walsh will hold a “small business job forum” in his Illinois district “with the people who … Continue reading
On Saturday, not-yet-a-presidential-candidate Sarah Palin previewed an enticing line of attack against Texas Governor Rick Perry: “crony capitalism.” Although she didn’t mention the latest Republican frontrunner by name, Palin warned Iowa tea partiers that when candidates accept million-dollar donations, you should expect a few strings to be attached. On that front, the numbers seemingly speak for themselves. A full 20 percent … Continue reading
Rep. Michele Bachmann still hasn’t won over any converts among her presidential rivals with her pledge to get gas prices below $2 a gallon. At Wednesday’s POLITICO/NBC Republican presidential debate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman splashed the biggest bucket of cold water on the idea. “Of course not,” Huntsman said when asked if Bachmann’s plan … Continue reading
Incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) holds an early 9-point lead over possible Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 race for the Massachusetts Senate seat. According to a WBUR poll released Tuesday, 44 percent of likely voters said they would choose Brown over Warren in a hypothetical matchup between the two. Thirty-five percent of likely … Continue reading
Tea party firebrand Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a provocative measure in the House expressing congressional support for Israel’s right to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as the Palestinians move forward with a controversial request for a declaration of statehood at the United Nations. The resolution, which is modeled closely on … Continue reading
The organizers of Wednesday night’s debate did their best to turn the eight person debate into one that was really about two people: Perry and Romney. And, in that match-up, Romney came out the winner. He was confident and solid throughout the entirety of the debate, a benefit of being a two-time presidential candidate. He stuck … Continue reading
Rick Perry and Mitt Romney clashed from the opening bell of a Republican presidential candidates’ debate Wednesday, challenging each other on job creation, health care and Social Security in pointed exchanges that signaled their burgeoning rivalry is likely to dominate the contest in the months ahead. Mr. Perry, the governor of Texas, used his first … Continue reading
In Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate, moderators Brian Williams of NBC and John Harris of Politico grilled the candidates a range of hot-button issues, lingering longer on some—immigration, for instance—than others. But plenty more issues got neglected altogether, including the GOP candidates’ positions on the growing power of money in politics and red-hot social issues such as … Continue reading
Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) has made it official — she’s running for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D) next year. If she wins, Baldwin will make history as the the first openly gay member of the Senate. But how much will her sexuality factor into the race (if at all)? Baldwin was … Continue reading
Fred Karger is openly-gay, a life-long Republican, Jewish, and running for the GOP nomination for President of the United States of America. Long shot? Hey, you never know. “I am a unique individual, living as a gay man, who believes in basic fundamental principles that are at the core of the Republican Party,” said Karger. “Living in … Continue reading
As he unveiled his plan to jumpstart the American economy at a North Las Vegas trucking company Tuesday afternoon, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney kept brandishing his iPhone 4. The smartphone symbolized America’s global, 21st-century economy, while President Obama’s economic policies, Romney explained, were backward, ineffective, stuck in the past. “President Obama’s strategy is a pay phone … Continue reading
House Democrats today called on President Obama to “be bold” during his address to a joint session of Congress later this week and present a plan that not only creates jobs, but also addresses the primary drivers of the country’s deficits. One day before the House of Representatives is set to return from a month-long … Continue reading
White House press secretary Jay Carney on Sunday chose his words carefully when asked what he thought of Rep. Joe Walsh’s (R-Ill.) decision to boycott President Obama’s jobs speech before a joint session of Congress on Thursday. “The idea that the president of the United States giving a speech about the need to grow the … Continue reading
President Barack Obama has never looked more vulnerable. His poll numbers keep dropping. The economic news is still grim. And his team’s political sense often seems to be missing. Take the recent report that White House senior staff were heartened by hearing historian Michael Beschloss tell them that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan had … Continue reading
Could it be that Barack Obama’s very maladroititude (maladroitness? maladroitosity?) could be just what saves his campaign come general election time? I realize that premise seems very oh-god-please-i’ll-believe-anything-rather-than-deal-with-the-concept-of-a-Perry-presidency, for sure. But, I gotta say, Bloomberg’s Ramesh Ponnuru makes a decent case… In any presidential primary there’s a tension between the voters’ desire for a candidate who can … Continue reading
“We have Saddam Hussein,” declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama as he welcomed hundreds of wealthy guests to the latest of the secret fundraising and strategy seminars he and his brother host twice a year. The 2012 elections, he warned, will be “the mother of all wars.” Charles Koch would … Continue reading
The Republican Party will not provide a formal response to President Barack Obama’s speech on jobs, a senior GOP aide said Tuesday. “This is not a State of the Union Address,” said a senior GOP leadership aide, who spoke on condition of not being identified. “The (House) speaker is opening Statuary Hall (in the Capitol) … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 