Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

Ayn Rand

30 June 2012 |permalink | email article

SHE’S back in the news. Her “Atlas Shrugged” is the subject of a three-day summit in Washington, D.C. this weekend. “Many have been struck by the chilling parallels between the novel and the current state of the world, and… read full story

Is Roberts New Style Conservative?

29 June 2012 |permalink | email article

THE opinion about Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr, is likely to surprise his liberal critics and conservative admirers, who provided the fifth vote in upholding President Obama’s health care law on Thursday. surprised many on the left viewed… read full story

Health Care Law Win For 44

28 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Supreme Court on Thursday largely let stand President Obama’s health care overhaul, in a mixed ruling that veteran court observers were rushing to analyze. The decision was a stunning victory for both the president and Congressional Democrats, with… read full story

SCOTUS: Which Way On The Mandate?

27 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Washington Post columnist Erza Klein describes how the Republicans made it possible for the Supreme Court to rule against the health care law. Over the past two years, the Republican Party has slowly been building a permission structure for… read full story

Romney, Scalia Rail Against 44

26 June 2012 |permalink | email article

ONCE AGAIN Mitt Romney has demanded that President Obama has failed to “lead” on immigration in a statement reacting to the Supreme Court’s decision on Arizona’s SB 1070 law. Yet, in what has become a significant move for his… read full story

SCOTUS Upholds Key Part Of Arizona Law

25 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected much of Arizona’s tough new immigration law but allowed one key provision to stand, saying that federal law did not pre-empt the state’s instruction to its police to check the immigration status of… read full story

Health Care Ruling: Decision On Thursday

25 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated that it is likely to go into overtime next week, as the nation awaits its decisions in challenges to President Obama’s health care law. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made no announcement… read full story

Bain Capital and the Immigration Issue

23 June 2012 |permalink | email article

DURING the 15 years that Mitt Romney was actively involved in running Bain Capital, a private equity firm that he founded, it owned companies that were pioneers in the practice of shipping work from the United States to overseas… read full story

Mitt Speech to Latino Leaders Falls Short

22 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Presumptive GOP Nominee’s Thursday speech to the National Association of Latino Elected Officials in Orlando, Fla., disappointed, leaving more questions than answers when it comes how the GOP’s nominee will deal with illegal immigration and attract the support of… read full story

Obama, Romney Address Latino Leaders in Florida

21 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Obama and Romney deliver remarks at the National Association of Latino Elected Appointed Officials Conference in Orlando, Florida today. While GOP leaders stand up against the president’s immigration move, Romney has remained remarkably mum. In the process, Obama is… read full story

Parsing the Obama Playbook; Overheard Chatter

20 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Barack Obama’s campaign won’t admit it but for the past two months the outlines of their strategy has been unmistakably clear: Mitt Romney is the candidate of old, straight, white men. The Republican nominee wants the campaign to be… read full story

Scalia Reverses Himself: Disagrees with Key Precedent

19 June 2012 |permalink | email article

AS the Supreme Court prepares to render its opinion on the Affordable Care Act oral arguments, it would come as no surprise that Justice Antonin Scalia is likely to strike it down. But there has remained one major wrinkle… read full story

Mitt: Overturn Obama Immigration Order?

18 June 2012 |permalink | email article

President Obama’s lightening strike Friday to grant immunity and temporary legal status to some undocumented immigrants has put rival Mitt Romney in an irreconcilable predicament between Latinos and his immigration-weary conservative basis. During the long series of Republican debates… read full story

Andelson’s $10 Mill for Mitt Super PAC; McCain’s Worry

17 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire philanthropist who owns the Las Vegas Sands, and who has given away hundreds of millions of dollars, is turning the 2012 presidential campaign into something like a personal sandbox, The Los Angeles Times reported. The… read full story

The Gloves Are Off; Preview In Ohio

15 June 2012 |permalink | email article

President Obama laid down the gauntlet Thursday in Cleveland saying his bid for re-election offers the country a stark choice between government action to lift the middle class and a return to the Republican economic policies he said had… read full story

Supreme Court Ruling: Trouble for GOP?

14 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Hill notes that the Supreme Court’s ruling will pose a big test for Republicans, even if the court strikes down all or part of President Obama’s healthcare law. The court is expected to decide whether the mandate’s mandate… read full story

Obama Campaign: Page from Truman’s Playbook?

13 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Hill reports that the calendar of working days on the Republican majority leader’s website shows Congress is scheduled to be in session only 52 days this year. That allows little time to address the debt ceiling again, extend… read full story

Obama, Clinton: Focus and Win

12 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The Stunning Excuse about Bill Clinton, offered by his aides, is while still “mentally sharp, the former president is older and a step off his political game.” An exultant Fox News bannered this headline: “Once shunned Clinton emerges as… read full story

Demographics vs. Economics

11 June 2012 |permalink | email article

THE SHIFTS in key battleground states could aid President Obama’s re-election bid, the New York Times’ John Harwood reported. Jan van Lohuizen, a Republican pollster who advised President George W. Bush, said many historically large rural states are urbanizing.… read full story

Latinos: Mitt Far Behind McCain in 2008

10 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Romney, despite a new outreach to the Latino community, is stuck in a deep hole. Obama leads him 66 percent to 23 percent among registered Latino voters, according to a new poll by Latino Decisions. It’s in line with… read full story

Brown, Leaders $2 Billion Apart; Budget Deadline Looms

09 June 2012 |permalink | email article

PUBLIC approval of Gov. Jerry Brown is eroding in a new Field Poll released Friday with nearly as many voters now disapprove of the Democratic governor’s performance (40%) as approve of it (43%). Since Brown was elected in 2010… read full story

Follow the Money: Mitt’s Federal Blind Trust

08 June 2012 |permalink | email article

JESSE UNRUH, the legendary Speaker of the California State Assembly, was famous for the phrase that “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” And as The Hill’s Overnight pointed out no campaign can run without it. Last month Romney… read full story

When Mitt Romney was Mr. Mandate

07 June 2012 |permalink | email article

PROGRESSIVE bloggers are having a “gotcha” moment ahead of the upcoming landmark Supreme Court decision on a report that Mitt Romney pushed more forceful than previously known for an individual health care mandate while governor of Massachusetts. Through a… read full story

Mitt’s Pro-‘Obamacare’ Hire Irks Right

06 June 2012 |permalink | email article

LIFE is becoming more complicated for Mitt Romney. Hard-line conservatives are furious with him for choosing former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to chair his presidential transition team. As Talking Points Memo has reported Leavitt has committed two deadly sins.… read full story

Romney’s Top Political Adviser: Romney

05 June 2012 |permalink | email article

WHEN George W. Bush ran for president in 2000, there was never any question about who his political maestro was. Karl Rove was later dubbed “Bush’s brain.” In his second run for the presidency Romney still has no Rove-like… read full story

O44: Battle of Ideas Trumps Bain

04 June 2012 |permalink | email article

Robert Shrum, the gifted Democratic consultant, offered some personal insights on the rapidly shaping-up Obama-Romney battle in his The Week column. Romney’s effort to unseat Sen. Ted Kennedy in 1994 is quite instructive.

“Right now, Obama is winning… read full story

Obama: Too Much Presidential Power?

01 June 2012 |permalink | email article

The New York Times on Tuesday revealed who is actually making the final decision on the biggest killings and drone strikes: Turns out it’s President Obama himself. And the newspaper finds it very troubling. Obama has demonstrated that he… read full story