The New York Times’ Michael Luo and Mike McIntire report that Mitt Romney’s use of offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands have enabled both his individual retirement account and Bain Capital to avoid taxes. Some of the offshore entities enabled Bain-owned companies to sidestep certain taxes, increasing returns for Mr. Romney and other investors. Others helped Bain attract foreign investors and nonprofit…
Many states not prepared for health-care law
Participating states must set up a call center as well as a Web site that allows people to easily find and understand health plans, in much the way that Orbitz and Travelocity help people find airline flights. Moreover, many Republican-led states resisted the exchanges in the hope that the Supreme Court would strike the health…
Brown, Warren meet for second debate tonight
Senator Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor and Democrat trying to unseat him, have their second debate Monday night in a setting almost befitting the gladiators. They were meeting for an hour before a crowd of 5,700 at the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Tsongas Center. David Gregory, host of the NBC…
California Takes a Big Step Forward: Free, Digital, Open-Source Textbooks
This week, California took a big step forward in the march toward online education. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a proposal to create a website that will allow students to download digital versions of popular textbooks for free. The new legislation encompasses two bills: One, a proposal for the state to fund 50 open-source…
YouTube to air presidential debates live on Elections page
YouTube has partnered with ABC News to cover the four presidential and vice presidential debates. The company announced today that it will air the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate live on its Elections Hub page. YouTube says it will get the feed live from the ABC News YouTube channel and will air…
Register to Vote With Google
Back in August, Google launched a partnership with TurboVote as part of its Online Voter Guide — a portal for Google users to get easy information about voting. The online guide gives direct access to TurboVote, where users can register to vote, vote by mail and get deadline reminders sent to them by SMS or email. There are election…
Tight Race Except in the Swing States
But across the swing states, Obama leads among likely voters by a much larger margin, 52% to 41%, paralleling Obama’s advantages in recent Washington Post polls in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Also interesting: Voters now think Obama will prevail on November 6 by a 32 point margin, 63% to 31%. via Tight Race Except in…
Five things to watch in the presidential debate
The debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Wednesday marks the first time the two candidates will be able to challenge each other directly on the economic issues that have been the focus of the presidential campaign. Viewers should be able to determine how each candidate fares by keeping an eye…
Warren Edges Brown in Another Poll
Warren maintains her lead despite a small likability gap. Fifty-two percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Brown, compared to 33 percent who view him unfavorably. Warren’s numbers are more mixed: 47 percent favorable, versus 37 percent unfavorable. But Warren continues to outpace Brown on two key measures. By a 43-percent-to-35-percent margin, voters…
Dispatch Poll: Obama widens lead as balloting starts
A new Dispatch Poll shows him trailing President Barack Obama in bellwether Ohio by 9 points, 51 percent to 42 percent. A surge of Democratic support for Obama has transformed the race since the first Dispatch Poll had the two dead-even at 45 percent just before the Republican National Convention in late August. The survey…
Obama Beats Romney as Better for Middle-Income Americans
More Americans believe middle-income earners would be better off in four years if President Barack Obama is re-elected than if Mitt Romney wins, by 53% to 43%. The public also says lower-income Americans would be better off under an Obama presidency, while, by an even larger margin, they say upper-income Americans would do better under…
Romney Advisers: Bring Torture Back
The memo, which contains a number of factual errors and misleading statements, lays out two courses for a President Romney: Either immediately promise to rescind Obama’s executive order upon taking office, or initiate a “comprehensive review” of interrogation policy that ends with Romney rescinding Obama’s executive order. Though the outcome of the “review” is never…
Mitt Romneys Real Agenda
The GOP legislation awaiting Romneys signature isnt simply a return to the era of George W. Bush. From abortion rights and gun laws to tax giveaways and energy policy, its far worse. Measures that have already sailed through the Republican House would roll back clean-air protections, gut both Medicare and Medicaid, lavish trillions in tax…
The smiling and crying babies of campaign 2012 – Photos
Politicians this cycle may be dogged by the popular notion they’re acting like babies, but that hasn’t stopped them from engaging in the time-honored tradition of photo ops with babies out on the campaign trail. Here are some of the cutest — if most “emotionally manipulative” — of those moments this year. MORE: The smiling and…
NEW ROMNEY VIDEO: In 1985, He Said Bain Would “Harvest” Companies for Profits
His campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, has said that Romney’s Bain days afford him more expertise than Obama to “focus on job creation and turn around our nation’s faltering economy.” Romney has even claimed that during his tenure at Bain, “we were able to help create over 100,000 jobs.” In his acceptance speech at the Republican…
Record Number Of Americans Now Have Student Loan Debt
Nearly one-in-five American households now have student loan debt, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center. Overall, 19 percent of households carried some amount of student debt in 2010, up from just 15 percent in 2007. Borrowers on average owed more than $26,000, double what they owed in 1995. Student loan debt…
Americans’ Preference Shifts Toward One-Party Government
A record-high 38% of Americans prefer that the same party control the presidency and Congress, while a record-low 23% say it would be better if the president and Congress were from different parties and 33% say it doesn’t make any difference. While Americans tend to lean toward one-party government over divided government in presidential election…
STUDY: TV News Covered Paul Ryans Workout 3x More Than Record Arctic Sea Ice Loss
Arctic sea ice is declining much faster than scientists expected, which has important implications for the rate and impacts of climate change. But the major TV news outlets have largely ignored the record sea ice loss this summer, while making ample time to cover Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryans physical fitness. Whats Hotter: Global…
Cherokee Nation Chief Demands Apology From Scott Brown Campaign
The principal chief of the Cherokee Nation is calling on Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., to apologize for a video that allegedly shows members of his staff imitating “stereotypical ‘war whoops chants.’” As WBUR’s Curt Nickisch reported Tuesday for All Things Considered, Brown’s supporters were filmed imitating “tomahawk chops” at a rally in Dorchester, Mass., over…
A Political Litmus Test, In 6 Jokes
“Like smell or taste, humor is a sense and different people are going to think different things are funny,” says Alison Dagnes, author of the just-published book A Conservative Walks Into a Bar: The Politics of Political Humor. “When you throw politics into the mix, our opinions and our biases will affect the way the…