President Barack Obama’s campaign intends to keep the pressure on Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns. The campaign released a Web ad Wednesday hammering that point and asking, "When will he release his tax returns?" Romney has provided his 2010 return and his preliminary return for 2011. He said he will release the final version for 2011, but no additional years. Former President Bill Clinton said the usual standard is much higher. "You know, it's typical, I think, that we all release 10, 11 years," Clinton said on NBC’s ...
>> MoreBill Clinton: It’s "typical" for a presidential candidate to release 10 or 11 years of tax returns.
On August - 1 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | It's typical for presidential candidates to release 10 or 11 years of returns, Clinton says
A Defense of "You Didn’t Build That!"
On July - 31 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Smerconish, Huffington Post
Elizabeth Warren said it better than Barack Obama. And the president's presentation wasn't helped when supporters of Mitt Romney edited his words. Sadly, lost in a squabble over "you didn't build that" was the opportunity for a more serious conversation about social contracts.Last August, while contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate against Scott Brown, Warren offered a fiery defense of liberal economic theory at an event in Andover, Mass. Two minutes' worth of what she said became a YouTube sensation that has now been viewed nearly a million times. That her...
Elizabeth Warren said it better than Barack Obama. And the president's presentation wasn't helped when supporters of Mitt Romney edited his words. Sadly, lost in a squabble over "you didn't build that" was the opportunity for a more serious conversation about social contracts.Last August, while contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate against Scott Brown, Warren offered a fiery defense of liberal economic theory at an event in Andover, Mass. Two minutes' worth of what she said became a YouTube sensation that has now been viewed nearly a million times. That her...
Bill Clinton’s New Best Friends
On July - 30 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Debra Saunders, SF Chronicle
It doesn't matter who wins in November; Bill Clinton will end this year on top.The former president will introduce Barack Obama on the penultimate night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. That's prime placement for the man who dismissed Obama's campaign as "a fairy tale" four years ago.
It doesn't matter who wins in November; Bill Clinton will end this year on top.The former president will introduce Barack Obama on the penultimate night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. That's prime placement for the man who dismissed Obama's campaign as "a fairy tale" four years ago.
How Does Romney Not Win Nevada?
On July - 30 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Sherman Frederick, Las Vegas R-J
Mitt Romney should be winning Nevada in Secretariat fashion. But he's not. He's popular in the conservative rural counties, for sure. And he has an edge in the Reno area.But, if the election were held today, he'd get shellacked in Las Vegas and lose the state to President Barack Obama. I find that scenario both likely and amazing. If any city has a right to fear four more years of Barack Obama, it is Las Vegas.
Mitt Romney should be winning Nevada in Secretariat fashion. But he's not. He's popular in the conservative rural counties, for sure. And he has an edge in the Reno area.But, if the election were held today, he'd get shellacked in Las Vegas and lose the state to President Barack Obama. I find that scenario both likely and amazing. If any city has a right to fear four more years of Barack Obama, it is Las Vegas.
Warren’s Stock Should Be Falling
On July - 30 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Jennifer Braceras, Boston Herald
Is Liz Warren so far left that even Barack Obama needs to distance himself from her?Last week saw the president backing away from his anti-free market tirade that, "If you've got a business, you didn't build that."The president now claims that his words were taken out of context. But it is clear from the entirety of the speech that Obama's finger-wagging lecture was deliberately cribbed from Warren's earlier "nobody got rich on his own" rant.
Is Liz Warren so far left that even Barack Obama needs to distance himself from her?Last week saw the president backing away from his anti-free market tirade that, "If you've got a business, you didn't build that."The president now claims that his words were taken out of context. But it is clear from the entirety of the speech that Obama's finger-wagging lecture was deliberately cribbed from Warren's earlier "nobody got rich on his own" rant.
One-Term Presidents Are Usually History’s Losers
On July - 29 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Al Hunt, Bloomberg
U.S. political junkies are being treated to a feast this summer: David Maraniss’ acclaimed new book on Barack Obama, the durable Mitt Romney biography by two Boston Globe reporters and, of course, another installment of Robert Caro’s classic series on Lyndon Johnson.After reading those, you also might want to pick up Robert Merry’s “Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians,” an analysis of how presidents fare with historians and why. It would make especially instructive reading for Obama and...
U.S. political junkies are being treated to a feast this summer: David Maraniss’ acclaimed new book on Barack Obama, the durable Mitt Romney biography by two Boston Globe reporters and, of course, another installment of Robert Caro’s classic series on Lyndon Johnson.After reading those, you also might want to pick up Robert Merry’s “Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians,” an analysis of how presidents fare with historians and why. It would make especially instructive reading for Obama and...
Romney Not Out to Make the World Swoon
On July - 28 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Fouad Ajami, Washington Post
The itinerary for the overseas trip that Mitt Romney is taking — Britain, Poland and Israel — is brilliantly chosen. These countries contrast greatly with candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 foreign tour, which included stops in Afghanistan and Jordan. That journey aimed to show that he would strengthen America’s bonds with countries that aren’t always our staunchest allies — and that Obama was the opposite of President George W. Bush. Huge crowds swooned over Obama in Paris and Berlin, a reception that was a boon to his campaign at...
The itinerary for the overseas trip that Mitt Romney is taking — Britain, Poland and Israel — is brilliantly chosen. These countries contrast greatly with candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 foreign tour, which included stops in Afghanistan and Jordan. That journey aimed to show that he would strengthen America’s bonds with countries that aren’t always our staunchest allies — and that Obama was the opposite of President George W. Bush. Huge crowds swooned over Obama in Paris and Berlin, a reception that was a boon to his campaign at...
Priorities USA Action: Says Romney had the uniforms for the 2002 Winter Olympic games made in Burma.
On July - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly False | Ad says Mitt Romney had Olympic uniforms made in Burma
With the Olympics about to begin, Priorities USA Action, a super PAC aligned with President Barack Obama, released an ad that used Olympic images to attack Mitt Romney. The ad shows a beaming Romney at the Olympic opening ceremonies. As each national team enters the stadium, an announcer provides a corresponding quip. "China, home to a billion people. Thousands owe their jobs to Mitt Romney’s companies ... And Burma, where Romney had the uniforms made for the 2002 games." Olympic authorities moved swiftly to get Priorities USA Action to withdraw the ad because of unauthorized ...
>> MoreMitt Stumbles on Every Front in London
On July - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Nicholas Watt, The Guardian
If Barack Obama were dreaming up the ideal start to Mitt Romney's first overseas visit as the presumptive Republican nominee, the president might wonder whether his rival could offend the US's historic transatlantic ally. That would obviously be rejected as impossibly ambitious, so the president might then ask himself whether Romney would fail to remember the name of one of his hosts in London.Surely a successful businessman would never make such a basic error. So the president would wonder whether Romney would breach convention by saying in public that he met the head of MI6,...
If Barack Obama were dreaming up the ideal start to Mitt Romney's first overseas visit as the presumptive Republican nominee, the president might wonder whether his rival could offend the US's historic transatlantic ally. That would obviously be rejected as impossibly ambitious, so the president might then ask himself whether Romney would fail to remember the name of one of his hosts in London.Surely a successful businessman would never make such a basic error. So the president would wonder whether Romney would breach convention by saying in public that he met the head of MI6,...
Priorities USA Action: "Thousands (in China) owe their jobs to Mitt Romney's companies."
On July - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Pro-Obama super PAC ad says thousands of Chinese workers owe their jobs to Mitt Romney's companies
This week, Priorities USA Action, a super PAC aligned with President Barack Obama, released an ad that uses the trappings of the Olympics to make snarky attacks on Mitt Romney. Against a backdrop of Olympic opening-ceremony footage -- including shots of Romney when he headed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City -- the ad knocks Romney for allegedly outsourcing jobs and using offshore accounts. "Welcome to the Olympics," the voiceover says. "There’s Mitt Romney, who ran the Salt Lake City games, waving to China, home to a billion people. Thousands ...
>> MoreToo Big Too Fail Ghost Haunting Obama
On July - 24 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Hirsh, National Journal
Neil Barofsky is not the sort of guy you want popping up in a tight election race, not if you’re Barack Obama.That's first because Barofsky is an all-too-credible critic of the Obama administration’s lopsided economic approach, which included throwing enormous resources into bucking up big banks and then allowing them to grow even bigger while slighting the underwater homeowners whose plight has weighed down the recovery on which the president's reelection probably depends. Second, it's because Barofsky is out there trying to sell a new...
Neil Barofsky is not the sort of guy you want popping up in a tight election race, not if you’re Barack Obama.That's first because Barofsky is an all-too-credible critic of the Obama administration’s lopsided economic approach, which included throwing enormous resources into bucking up big banks and then allowing them to grow even bigger while slighting the underwater homeowners whose plight has weighed down the recovery on which the president's reelection probably depends. Second, it's because Barofsky is out there trying to sell a new...
Barack Obama: "Gov. Romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top."
On July - 24 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Barack Obama says Mitt Romney's tax plan "would cut taxes for the folks at the very top"
After a flurry of attack ads in the past two weeks, President Barack Obama this week released a TV ad in which he spoke directly into the camera and discussed how his policy approaches differed from Mitt Romney’s. He cited taxes as one area where they had different philosophies. Obama said, "Gov. Romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top." We’ll check whether this is an accurate characterization of Romney’s plan. Romney has posted some key elements of his tax plan on his campaign website. Here’s a ...
>> MoreUS-2012 President: 46% Obama (D), 46% Romney (R) (PPP/Daily Kos/SEIU 7/19-22)
On July - 24 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
PPP (D)/Daily Kos/SEIU
7/19-22/12; 1,000 registered voters; 3.1% margin of error
Mode: Automated phone
Daily Kos Release
National
2012 President
46% Obama (D), 46% Romney (R) (chart)
Obama Job Approval
42% Approve, 53% Disapprove (chart)
Favorable / Unfavorable
Barack Obama: 45 / 50 (chart)
Mitt Romney: 41 / 49 (chart)
Who Really Invented the Internet?
On July - 22 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal
A telling moment in the presidential race came recently when Barack Obama said: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." He justified elevating bureaucrats over entrepreneurs by referring to bridges and roads, adding: "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all companies could make money off the Internet."It's an urban legend that the government launched the Internet. The myth is that the Pentagon created the Internet to keep its communications lines up even...
A telling moment in the presidential race came recently when Barack Obama said: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." He justified elevating bureaucrats over entrepreneurs by referring to bridges and roads, adding: "The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all companies could make money off the Internet."It's an urban legend that the government launched the Internet. The myth is that the Pentagon created the Internet to keep its communications lines up even...
Obama Heading To Visit Colorado Shooting Victims, Families
On July - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will travel to Colorado on Sunday to visit with victims of the movie theater shooting and their families.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer announced plans for the trip on Saturday night. Aides say will also include meetings with state and local officials.
In his weekly radio address, Obama called for prayer and reflection on the shooting rampage in Aurora, Colo., which claimed 12 lives. He urged Americans to embrace the families who lost loved ones in Aurora and to "let them know we will be there for them as a nation."
Where Obama Shines
On July - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
David Brooks, New York Times
It won't help him win many votes this year, but it should be noted that Barack Obama has been a good foreign policy president. He, Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the rest of his team have created a style of policy making that is flexible, incremental and well adapted to the specific circumstances of this moment. Following a foreign policy hedgehog, Obama's been a pretty effective fox.Some eras call for bold doctrines, new global architecture and "Present at the Creation" moments. This is not one of those eras. Today, the world...
It won't help him win many votes this year, but it should be noted that Barack Obama has been a good foreign policy president. He, Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the rest of his team have created a style of policy making that is flexible, incremental and well adapted to the specific circumstances of this moment. Following a foreign policy hedgehog, Obama's been a pretty effective fox.Some eras call for bold doctrines, new global architecture and "Present at the Creation" moments. This is not one of those eras. Today, the world...
The Technochratic Hubris of Overconfident Politicians
On July - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Yuval Levin,NRO
Over at the New Yorker, Adam Gopnik assures us that Adam Smith would have had no trouble with Barack Obama’s recent remarks about how the existence of public roads nullifies the significance of individual accomplishment and justifies the administrative state.Count me a skeptic. Gopnik is certainly right to say that Smith believed that markets were created and sustained by public policy, and that building infrastructure is an important public purpose which government should pursue. Everyone else believes that too. Obama’s assertion that his opponents disagree with that is...
Over at the New Yorker, Adam Gopnik assures us that Adam Smith would have had no trouble with Barack Obama’s recent remarks about how the existence of public roads nullifies the significance of individual accomplishment and justifies the administrative state.Count me a skeptic. Gopnik is certainly right to say that Smith believed that markets were created and sustained by public policy, and that building infrastructure is an important public purpose which government should pursue. Everyone else believes that too. Obama’s assertion that his opponents disagree with that is...
Mitt Romney: The Obama administration "has been outsourcing" by sending money to "solar and wind energy companies that end up making their products outside the United States."
On July - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Half-True | Romney says stimulus money for solar and energy was "outsourced" to overseas companies
Faced with criticism that he sent American jobs overseas, Mitt Romney tried to turn the tables on President Barack Obama by calling him the "outsourcer-in-chief" and highlighting foreign spending from the economic stimulus. At a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., Romney said, "this president has been outsourcing a good deal of American jobs himself by putting money into energy companies, solar and wind energy companies that end up making their products outside the United States." The Romney campaign backed up the claim by citing a report from the Investigative ...
>> MoreObama Places Government, Not People, First
On July - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Charles Krauthammer, IBD
"If you've got a business "” you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."Barack Obama, Roanoke, Va., July 13And who might that somebody be? Government, says Obama. It built the roads you drive on. It provided the teacher who inspired you. It "created the Internet." It represents the embodiment of "we're in this together" social solidarity that, in his view, is the essential origin of individual and national achievement.To say all individuals are embedded in and the product of society is banal. Obama rises above...
"If you've got a business "” you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."Barack Obama, Roanoke, Va., July 13And who might that somebody be? Government, says Obama. It built the roads you drive on. It provided the teacher who inspired you. It "created the Internet." It represents the embodiment of "we're in this together" social solidarity that, in his view, is the essential origin of individual and national achievement.To say all individuals are embedded in and the product of society is banal. Obama rises above...
Did the State Make You Great?
On July - 19 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”— Barack Obama, Roanoke, Va., July 13And who might that somebody else be? Government, says Obama. It built the roads you drive on. It provided the teacher who inspired you. It “created the Internet.” It represents the embodiment of “we’re in this together” social solidarity that, in Obama’s view, is the essential origin of individual and national achievement.
“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”— Barack Obama, Roanoke, Va., July 13And who might that somebody else be? Government, says Obama. It built the roads you drive on. It provided the teacher who inspired you. It “created the Internet.” It represents the embodiment of “we’re in this together” social solidarity that, in Obama’s view, is the essential origin of individual and national achievement.
Republican National Committee: Over the last six months, President Barack Obama has golfed 10 times and held 106 fundraisers, but his jobs council has never met.
On July - 19 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: True | Did Barack Obama hold 100-plus fundraisers while his jobs council never met?
In a video and an infographic, the Republican National Committee amplified a charge first raised by Mitt Romney on the stump the day before -- that President Barack Obama has held more than 100 fundraisers in the past six months, yet his jobs council didn’t meet once. "In the last six months, he has held 100 fundraisers, and guess how many meetings he has had with his jobs council?" Romney said in a July 18, 2012, campaign event in Bowling Green, Ohio. "None. Zero. Zero in the last six months. So it makes it very ...
>> MoreThe Mobility Scorecard
On July - 18 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Robert Samuelson, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- In America, we believe that anyone can grow up to be anything.You want to be president? Go for it. Among recent presidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Lyndon Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower all came from modest backgrounds. Of course, not everyone will be president, which is why, for most people, one litmus test for how well America works is whether they rise above their parents economically.Guess what? The long-term trends here are surprisingly good. In the shadow of the Great Recession, that's a refreshing contrast to the prevailing gloom. A new report from the Pew...
WASHINGTON -- In America, we believe that anyone can grow up to be anything.You want to be president? Go for it. Among recent presidents, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Lyndon Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower all came from modest backgrounds. Of course, not everyone will be president, which is why, for most people, one litmus test for how well America works is whether they rise above their parents economically.Guess what? The long-term trends here are surprisingly good. In the shadow of the Great Recession, that's a refreshing contrast to the prevailing gloom. A new report from the Pew...
Who "Made That Happen," Mr. President?
On July - 18 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
John Kass, Chicago Tribune
When President Barack Obama hauled off and slapped American small-business owners in the mouth the other day, I wanted to dream of my father.But I didn't have to close my eyes to see my dad. I could do it with my eyes open.All I had to do was think of the driveway of our home, and my dad's car gone before dawn, that old white Chrysler with a push-button transmission. It always started, but there was a hole in the floor and his feet got wet in the rain. So he patched it with concrete mix and kept on driving it to the little supermarket he ran with my Uncle George.
When President Barack Obama hauled off and slapped American small-business owners in the mouth the other day, I wanted to dream of my father.But I didn't have to close my eyes to see my dad. I could do it with my eyes open.All I had to do was think of the driveway of our home, and my dad's car gone before dawn, that old white Chrysler with a push-button transmission. It always started, but there was a hole in the floor and his feet got wet in the rain. So he patched it with concrete mix and kept on driving it to the little supermarket he ran with my Uncle George.
Obama: "You Didn’t Build That"
On July - 17 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
James Antle, The American Spectator
Obama reminds us there's no "I" in government.During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama's slogan was"Yes, we can!" But if you thought that was an inspiring call forindividual empowerment, think again. His new message is, "Oh no,you didn't."On Friday, the president laid bare the logic behind his call forhigher taxes on the wealthy. "You know, there are a lot of wealthy,successful Americans who agree with me, because they want to givesomething back," Obama said in a campaign speech. "They know theydidn't -- look, if...
Obama reminds us there's no "I" in government.During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama's slogan was"Yes, we can!" But if you thought that was an inspiring call forindividual empowerment, think again. His new message is, "Oh no,you didn't."On Friday, the president laid bare the logic behind his call forhigher taxes on the wealthy. "You know, there are a lot of wealthy,successful Americans who agree with me, because they want to givesomething back," Obama said in a campaign speech. "They know theydidn't -- look, if...
