via WBEZ Chicago A slim majority of Puerto Ricans Tuesday sought to change their ties with the United States and become the 51st U.S. state in a non-binding referendum that would require final approval from Congress. The two-part referendum asked whether the island wanted to change its 114-year relationship with the United States. Nearly 54 … Continue reading
via David McCumber, San Francisco Chronicle Take your choice. Hurricane Sandy is an advantage for: — President Obama, because it blunts Mitt Romney’s perceived momentum. — Romney, because it suppresses early voting. — Obama, because it allows him to look presidential. — Romney, because it puts Obama on the hot seat. — Obama, because it reminds people that Romney wanted … Continue reading
via Dan Froomkin, The Huffington Post Republican officials, who have used hysteria about alleged voter fraud as an excuse to support measures that disproportionately block Democratic voters, are furiously trying to distance themselves from a growing number of GOP voter registration drives that either submitted false applications or threw away authentic ones. The incidents might … Continue reading
via Reuters, The Huffington Post As polls point to a close U.S. presidential election, the country faces the possibility of political chaos – from a repeat of the disputed 2000 election to the remote possibility of a new administration with a president from one party and a vice president from the other. The most likely … Continue reading
via Gerry Bello, Bob Fitrakis, and Harvey Wasserman, Truth Out Will you cast your vote this fall on a faulty electronic machine that’s partly owned by the Romney Family? Will that machine decide whether Romney will then inherit the White House Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney and his wife, son … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan reiterated his well-known opposition to same-sex marriage in Cincinnati today. As ThinkProgress noted of this CNN clip, Ryan responded to an audience member’s question by declaring, “The things you talk about like traditional marriage and family and entrepreneurship…these aren’t values that are indicative to any … Continue reading
via Sabrina Siddiqui, The Huffington Post If Mitt Romney was hoping to distance himself from former President George W. Bush, a new poll has some news that might trouble the Republican presidential nominee: Bush posted higher favorability ratings than Romney. The national survey, conducted by Bloomberg News and released Wednesday, found that Bush received a … Continue reading
via Steve Peoples, The Boston Globe Mitt Romney is promising to reduce taxes on middle-income Americans. But how does he define ‘‘middle-income”? The Republican presidential nominee defined it Friday as income of $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less. The definition of ‘‘middle income’’ or the ‘‘middle class’’ is politically charged as Romney and President … Continue reading
via Ken Walsh, Ken Walsh’s Washington Blog, U.S. News & World Report Gary Johnson is serene. Sitting down to a lunch of grilled shrimp and tomato salad at a Latin restaurant in historic Ybor City, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee says his less-government philosophy is gradually spreading across the country and that many pundits and … Continue reading
via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist announced he is endorsing Barack Obama for President noting his former party’s “extreme” positions have made the GOP “incapable of governing.” Citing “the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise,” Crist, 56, withdrew from the GOP in his 2009-2010 … Continue reading
via Frank Bruni, The New York Times It makes no strategic sense for Bob Kerrey to bring up his support for gay marriage on the campaign trail in Nebraska, where he’s the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat. Republicans far outnumber Democrats here; the state’s voters are socially conservative; his opponents are already smearing … Continue reading
via Evan McMorris-Santoro, Talking Points Memo Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of “legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy. “First of all, from what I … Continue reading
via Jonathan Easley, The Hill’s Ballot Box A plurality of Americans are not enthusiastic about Mitt Romney’s selection of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. Forty-two percent said they viewed Ryan’s candidacy as a “fair” or “poor” move by the Romney campaign, compared to 39 … Continue reading
via Justin Sink, The Hill’s Ballot Box A majority of Americans believe Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns, evidence that the Obama campaign’s push for fuller disclosure from the Republican nominee could be gaining traction. Of those surveyed in the USA Today poll released Thursday, 54 percent of all voters and 53 … Continue reading
via Michael Cooper, The New York Times How well the new health care law succeeds in covering millions of the poorest Americans will depend largely on undecided governors of both parties, who gathered here this weekend and spoke of the challenges of weighing the law’s costs and benefits in a highly charged political atmosphere and … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood. The same lawmakers overrode Perdue’s veto and moved to defund Planned Parenthood last year, but a judge blocked the provision, arguing that a state … Continue reading
via Paul West, L.A. Times President Obama’s decision to extend administrative relief to an estimated 800,000 young illegal immigrants has won favor with Latino voters in key battleground states, according to a new poll. The Latino Decisions survey found that Obama’s move had wiped out an earlier “enthusiasm deficit” among Hispanic voters over the administration’s … Continue reading
via Justin Sink, The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room Despite widespread speculation that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is one of the top names under consideration for Mitt Romney’s vice presidential nomination, the freshman senator has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or fill out any financial disclosure documents, according to a report by ABC News. … Continue reading
via Tyler Kingkade, The Huffington Post Even members of Congress are carrying student debt. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is $100,000 in the hole for student loans he took out in the 1990’s — and could owe as much as $250,000. The exact figure is unknown because members of Congress are allowed to report financial holdings … Continue reading
via Chad Livengood, Detroit News House Republicans tried to silence two female Democratic lawmakers Thursday for floor outbursts a day earlier referencing male sterilization and a female sex organ. The majority party prohibited state Rep. Lisa Brown from speaking on the floor Thursday after she ended a speech the day before against a bill restricting … Continue reading
via E.J. Dionne, Jr., The Washington Post The left will make a big mistake if it ignores the lessons of the failed recall in Wisconsin of Gov. Scott Walker (R). The right will make an even bigger error if it allows the Wisconsin results to feed its inclination toward winner-take-all politics. The danger on the … Continue reading
via Dana Milbank, The Washington Post The time has come for Mitt Romney to prove it once and for all: Is he or is he not a unicorn? Let me stipulate that I have no proof that Romney is a unicorn, and indeed I want to believe that he is not. But I have not … Continue reading
via Paige Lavender, The Huffington Post Mitt Romney said the protesters rallying against Bank of America in Charlotte this week are too young “to really understand how the economy works.” “Unfortunately, a lot of young folks haven’t had the opportunity to really understand how the economy works, and what it takes to put people to … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post The wife of a North Carolina state senator reportedly told poll workers during early voting Monday that an amendment sponsored by her husband was intended partially to protect the Caucasian race. Jodie Brunstetter is the wife of state Sen. Peter Brunstetter (R), a supporter of Amendment 1, which would change North … Continue reading
via Michelle Garcia, The Advocate The day after the Senate approved the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act with LGBT-inclusive provisions, members of the Republican-controlled House introduced their own version of the bill, which excludes coverage for LGBT citizens. The day after the Senate approved the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act with … Continue reading
