Consider what Romney has promised. By 2016, he says federal spending will be below 20 percent of GDP, and at least 4 percent of that will be defense spending. At that point, he will cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, meaning it can never rise above that level. All that’s hard enough. Romney…
Category: Election 2012
GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan
Away from the cameras, and with all the usual assurances that people aren’t being quoted by name, there is an unmistakable consensus among Republican operatives in Washington: Romney has taken a risk with Ryan that has only a modest chance of going right — and a huge chance of going horribly wrong. In more than…
Picking Ryan: Why Romney Changed to Obama’s Game
In choosing Ryan, Romney, in effect, both acknowledged and granted the validity of that latter set of criticisms. As my colleague Jonathan Chait and others have written, Ryan has become the de facto ideological and intellectual leader of the contemporary GOP. His agenda of turning Medicare into a voucher program, bloc-granting and taking the meat…
Paul Ryan’s Tax Plan Would Slash Mitt Romney’s Tax Rate to 1 Percent
The tax plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), the newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate, would have slashed Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate to about 1 percent in 2010, based on Romney’s tax return that year, according to a Roll Call analysis. The Ryan tax cut, which would shave about 90 percent off of…
Romney Demanded ‘Several’ Years Of Tax Returns From Potential VP Candidates
Former Minnesota governor and Mitt Romney surrogate Tim Pawlenty was caught off guard when asked how many years of tax returns he had to turn over to the Republican campaign as part of the vice presidential vetting process, during an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday MORE: Romney Demanded ‘Several’ Years Of Tax Returns…
FAQ: How Paul Ryan Proposes To Change Medicare
Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s choice for vice president, has provoked consternation from Democrats and anxiety among some congressional Republicans with his proposals to reshape Medicare. The Republican-controlled House, along party lines, twice approved his proposals to overhaul the popular social insurance program for the elderly and disabled by giving beneficiaries…
Paul Ryans Plan For Medicare: Essential Reading
By choosing Wis. Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has put Medicare on the table as a major 2012 campaign issue. Ryan has had a long-standing interest in restructuring the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. In 2010, Republicans won a majority in the House…
What Mitt Romney’s Body Language Is Trying to Tell Us
This signature Romney pose—eyes softened, mouth closed, sometimes in a Mona Lisa smile, stomach slightly out, shoulders slightly slumped—has always struck me as a benevolent, kindly look. If he’s looking on as other people speak, it seems he’s doing so in admiration, perhaps like a proud pastor letting his flock speak from the pulpit. That…
Ten Takeaways From Pennsylvania’s Voter ID Trial
The two-week trial challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s voter ID law ended today. Here’s what we learned from the proceedings. Suffice to say, Pennsylvania Republicans didn’t come out looking very good. 1. A lot of voters don’t have valid voter ID. University of Washington political scientist Matt Barreto, a witness for the plaintiffs (the suit…
Even In Florida Swing County, Minds Seem Made Up
Let’s take a picture of America in the latter months of an election year. We want to sense what’s on this country’s mind. So Morning Edition begins a series of reports from First and Main. Several times in the next few months, we’ll travel to a battleground state, then to a vital county in each…
Romney Falsely Accuses Obama Campaign Of Trying To Restrict Military Voting Rights
Obama’s campaign is fighting back, calling Romney’s statement a “blatant attempt to mislead” voters. “This lawsuit seeks to treat all Ohio citizens equally under the law,” Obama for America attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement. “We want to restore the right of all to vote before Election Day.” Under the Obama administration, the Justice…
Obama Super-PAC Plans $30 Million Battleground Ad Blitz
Priorities USA Action, the super-PAC backstopping President Obama’s presidential campaign, isn’t about to let the GOP money machine steamroll the president this fall. To bolster Obama, Priorities is ramping its anti-Romney campaign by buying up $30 million in broadcast and cable TV time in six crucial battleground states—Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the…
Iowa’s GOP Governor Blasts Romney Campaign On Wind Tax Credits: They Need To ‘Come Out Here To The Real World’
Now that Mitt Romney’s campaign has officially declared the candidate’s desire to kill tax credits for wind while maintaining tax credits for the mature oil and gas industries, Midwestern Republicans are not happy. Iowa Republican Representative Tom Latham said Romney’s decision “shows a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit…
Study: Romney Plan Increases Taxes On 95% Of Americans
Mitt Romney has been on the defensive today over a new study that found his tax plan would most likely increase taxes on the middle class in order to pay for a hefty tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. The study (pdf) by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center scrutinizes Romney’s plan to pay for a…
The Tax Trap Springs Shut on Romney
At the outset of his campaign, Romney tried to avoid committing himself, but by February, with GOP rivals outflanking him and facing steady pressure from Republican elites, he declared himself in favor of a 20 percent tax cut, a move greeted with joy from anti-tax activists. But he still attempted to hide the ball. Romney…
Mitt Romney vs. stubborn facts
John Adams once said, “facts are stubborn things.” These days, another Massachusetts politician has found that saying to ring especially true. While it’s still unclear how Mitt Romney can be the CEO, chairman, president and sole shareholder of Bain Capital, a company that he claims no responsibility for, it’s become increasingly evident that candidate Romney…
Romney: Israel’s Superior Economy To Palestinians Result Of ‘Culture,’ ‘Providence’
Romney at no point mentioned that the Palestinian territories have for decades been occupied without sovereign control, where residents face significant restrictions on movement and employment. “It is a racist statement and this man doesn’t realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation,” Saeb Erakat, a senior Palestinian…
Romney Mocked by 60,000 Londoners; Is This The Man To Represent America?
President Obama was cheered by 200,000 Germans in Berlin. Romney was jeered by 60,000 British in London. Which one would better handle foreign policy?
2012 Summary of Voting Law Changes
The Brennan Center’s Voting Law Changes in 2012 report analyzed how a series of laws imposing new restrictions on who can vote and how could significantly change the electoral landscape. As states continue to introduce and consider new restrictive measures, we will be updating the summary below and this detailed compilation of potentially restrictive laws…
Romney: “Paralyzed in the face of his true constituency — the far right” [video]
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell does a segment on gun violence, the NRA, and Mitt Romney’s propensity for using a lot of words to say absolutely nothing.