TPM Editors’ Blog Opinions, Context & Ideas from TPM Editors
Romney Takes Illinois
The only suspense tonight is how wide a margin of victory will Mitt enjoy, can Paul hold off Newt for third place, and will Newt's percent of the vote nudge over into double digits.
No Call Yet
Still too early for the networks to make a call in Illinois.
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Cherryblossompalooza
DC at its picturesque best.
Not Conservative Enough
As radical as Paul Ryan budget plan may be, it doesn't go far enough for a segment of the House GOP conference.
Polls Close In Illinois At 8 ET
Voting almost over in Illinois, where Mitt is expected to win. Here's a look at where this weird twilight primary race goes after tonight.
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What?
I was waiting for DeNiro to go all Jimmy Conway on Newt after Newt blasted him earlier today. But he's taking a different approach.
Oh No It's Not!
White House disputes report that Boehner-Obama debt deal is still on the table.
The Battle Is Joined In Florida
The new GOP-driven voting restrictions in Florida may have been designed to discriminate against minority voters, the Justice Department alleges. That includes the new anti-ACORN law that prompted the League of Women Voters, the gold standard for voter registration drives, to halt its voter drives in the state.
Earthquake In Mexico
Initial reports remain sketchy in the aftermath of a 7+ magnitude quake in southern Mexico. Follow the emerging story at TPMLivewire.
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Rick Goes There ...
Santorum criticizes President for daughter's trip to Mexico.
Seamus Lives
Poll: Obama treats dogs better than Mitt Romney.
Renewable Energy Trade War Brewing
Commerce Department finds China has illegally subsidized solar panel manufacturing and moves to impose tariffs.
Do You Favor Phasing Out Medicare?
Not sure this is going to get the level of attention it deserves or that most political reporters will call it what it is: Paul Ryan today unveiled the new House Budget, which doubles down on Ryan's previously announced plan to end Medicare as a source of guaranteed health care benefits for the elderly. It'll still be called Medicare, but it will be Medicare in name only.
We've covered this ad nauseam, but it hasn't really penetrated elite consciousness, let alone broader public awareness. (Incredibly obtuse fact-checking on the issue has compounded the problem.) But here we sit less than eight months before the election, with Republicans firmly and irrevocably on record as planning to dismantle Medicare. No guaranteed benefits. Period. End of sentence.
Read More →Status Update
Facebook beefs up its government relations team in DC.
Checking In On MA-Sen
A new poll from PPP out today gives Elizabeth Warren a 5-point lead over Scott Brown. That's the first poll in a while giving Warren the lead. The TPM Poll Average shows Brown ahead by 4.2 points:
Read More →'Uncle Chang'
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) in today's House Armed Services Committee hearing: The U.S. is borrowing money from "Uncle Chang" to fund the war in Afghanistan. Watch.
No, No, No
Michelle Obama spokesperson says De Niro's white First Ladies joke was "inappropriate," NBC News reports.
Tempest, Meet Teapot
Campaigning in Louisiana, Newt Gingrich demands President Obama apologize for Robert DeNiro's "inexcusable" joke at last night's fundraiser.
Solar Flare Up
Big international trade decision coming today on whether China is dumping solar panels on the U.S. market.
'There Is No THERE There'
TPM Reader MD weighs in on press coverage of the Obama kids:
Down the Memory Hole? Really?The White House was firmly reminding the press of the "gentleman's agreement" regarding the First family's MINOR children. I am exasperated that this non story is being given an Orwellian twist. There is no THERE there.
Your thoughts?
Read More →Santorum Hits Obama For Letting Daughter Go To Mexico
Rick Santorum said President Obama set a bad example by letting his daughter, Malia Obama, travel to Mexico
Robert De Niro: My Joke Was ‘Not Meant To Offend’
Robert De Niro said his joke about Republican “white” first ladies at a fundraiser Monday was “not meant to offend.”
GOP Sparks New Battle Over Military Funding
House Republicans aren’t just reigniting battles over domestic spending and Medicare in their new budget resolution.
Romney Ignores Question About Trayvon Martin
On the campaign trail Tuesday, Mitt Romney declined to answer a question about Trayvon Martin.
The American ‘War’ You Haven’t Heard Of
An increasing number of “concerned citizens” are preparing to do battle at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters
Mitt Romney Wins Illinois Primary
Mitt Romney won the Illinois primary convincingly Tuesday, with networks calling his victory within an hour of polls closing. Rick Santorum, his chief rival for the nomination, is expected to easily take second place. With more than 60% of the votes counted, Romney was taking 47.7% of the total versus 34.5% for Santorum, 9.1% for Ron Paul, and just 7.7% for Newt Gingrich. As has been his practice in recent weeks, Romney focused his entire election night speech on attacking President Obama, never even...GOP Conservatives Gripe About New Ryan Budget
House Republicans aren't all sold on Rep. Paul Ryan's new budget. Seven conservative House Republicans hosted a panel late Tuesday afternoon at the Heritage Foundation, none of whom committed to voting for the blueprint unveiled earlier in the day. One of them -- a member of the House Budget Committee -- said he's unequivocally opposed. "I will be voting no," said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). "It's not good enough."Navy to U.S.: Geothermal Drill Baby, Drill
TINA CASEY The U.S. Navy has teamed up with the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratory to revive decades-old technology for a high performance drill bit, only they don't have drilling for oil or gas in mind. The drill bit, called a polycrystalline diamond compact bit, is being retested evaluated and improved to help lower the cost of drilling for geothermal energy. The mashup of the Navy with the development of high efficiency geothermal drilling technology is a natural one, given that the...Robert DeNiro Responds To Newt Attack: Joke Was 'Not Meant To Offend'
Robert DeNiro offered a clarification of his joke at an Obama fundraiser Monday about whether the nation was "ready for a white first lady." The line drew an outraged response from Newt Gingrich earlier in the day, who told a Louisiana audience that DeNiro was promoting racial conflict and that the president should apologize on his behalf. DeNiro's response was polite, if not particularly apologetic. "My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone ---...Day In 100 Seconds: Deja Vu All Over Again
It was all just a little bit of history repeating itself today as Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled last year's budget, billed as this year's solution And in Illinois, the GOP candidates are still mired in a back-and-forth primary that shows no signs of stopping any time soon Watch: ...White House Disputes Report That Boehner-Obama Debt Deal Still On Table
A senior White House official is disputing a key, but vague, detail in a weekend Washington Post article, which provided a number of new details about the final days of President Obama's unsuccessful attempt last summer to strike a grand bargain to stabilize the national debt with House Speaker John Boehner. The two principals were nearing a framework that would have included higher tax revenues, unpopular cuts to Medicare and other spending reductions when the talks failed. That resulted in the debt's ...Commerce Dept. Finds China Illegally Subsidized Solar Exports to U.S.
China's solar industry just got burned by the U.S. government. Ruling in a contentious international trade case that could spill over into a full-blown solar trade war, the U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday afternoon found that the Chinese government illegally subsidized solar panel exports to the United States, sources close to the case told TPM. But the resulting punishment isn't as bad as had been expected: Most Chinese solar companies will now be forced to pay import duties of 3.59 percent, or...GOP Sparks New Battle Over Agreed-Upon Defense Cuts
House Republicans aren't just reigniting battles over domestic spending and Medicare in their new budget resolution. They're also instigating a war over military funding by seeking to replace automatic defense cuts both parties agreed to in the bipartisan debt limit deal to with major cuts to programs that benefit low- and middle-income Americans, such as food stamps and health care. Democrats on the Hill and at the White House consider this a violation of the agreement they struck with Republicans last ...Incumbents To Watch In The Illinois Primaries
With national attention on the Republican primary for president tonight in Illinois, there are also in fact some primary races down-ballot that are worth watching -- with incumbents whose careers are on the line. In the 2010 Republican wave, the Illinois GOP defeated four Democratic incumbents. But afterwards, the state's Democratic legislature and governor got to draw the new district lines -- the first time the party has had such an opportunity in 50 years. As a result, Democrats are expected to pick ...DOJ: Florida Voting Restrictions May Discriminate Intentionally
New Florida laws that place harsh restrictions on third-party voter registration groups and limit the early voting period may have been passed with a discriminatory intent, lawyers with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division suggested in a court filing on Tuesday. DOJ told the court that the federal government's position was that Florida "has not met its burden of proof" in demonstrating that "the proposed voting changes neither have the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging...Team Santorum Raises Expectations In Northeast Contests
Here's the story the Rick Santorum campaign needs to sell in the next few weeks: Hold your breath through April. May is where it's at. That message broke down a bit on a Santorum conference call Tuesday when an adviser asked the press to consider Christine O'Donnell -- the conservative Delaware Senate candidate who shocked political watchers by winning the Republican nomination -- when weighing Santorum's chances in the Northeast.Rick Santorum: President Obama Shouldn't Let Daughter Go To Mexico (VIDEO)
Rick Santorum said President Obama set a bad example and potentially endangered American tourists by letting his daughter Malia go to Mexico on a spring break vacation. Santorum told Glenn Beck that an American president should not send his own family into the area given State Department travel warnings for Mexico. "What I would say is that the president's actions should reflect what his administration is saying," Santorum said in a phone interview with Beck. "If the administration is saying that...Russell Pearce's Arizona Comeback Faces Surprise Challenger: The Founder Of SkyMall
Russell Pearce, the once-powerful Arizona legislator best known for sponsoring the state's harsh immigration law, announced Monday night he plans to mount a comeback for elected office despite being thrown out of his seat by voters in a recall last fall. At a Tea Party rally with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other conservatives in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, Ariz., Pearce declared his intent to run for the Republican nomination for state Senate. He'll have some competition from an unlikely source, though...Facebook Goes On Hiring Spree To Bolster D.C. Office
Facebook on Tuesday announced that it had hired Greg Maurer, formerly Rep. John Boehner's aide, to join its DC office. "Greg Maurer will join our team in April as Director, Public Policy, leading House outreach efforts with Chris Herndon, Manager, Public Policy," Facebook wrote in an update on its Washington, D.C. page, noting that the news of the hire was originally broken by Beltway news outlets. Maurer worked for Boehner from 2001 to 2008, when he left to become corporate public affairs manager...Poll: Warren Leads Brown By 5 Points
Get ready for a long roller-coaster ride in the Massachusetts Senate -- with the first poll in just over a month now showing Elizabeth Warren leading in the race. The new numbers from Public Policy Polling (D): Warren 46%, Brown 41%. The survey of registered voters was conducted from March 16-18, and has a ±3.2% margin of error. "Scott Brown's still strong with independents, but not nearly as strong as he was in 2010," writes PPP president Dean Debnam. "Elizabeth Warren's doing 20 points better with...The Campaign To Stop The White House From Protecting LGBT Teens From Being Bullied
The White House is trying to keep gay students from being bullied. Some conservative groups are trying to stop them. Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett and Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools & Communities in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday, a meeting held to call attention to the work the administration is doing to make schools do more to protect gay students from bullying. They've set up a section of a government website to combat bullying of...Deja Vu: House GOP Reignites The Medicare Fight With Its Budget
On Tuesday, House Republicans unveiled an updated version of their controversial long-term budget -- a sweeping plan that envisions dramatically lower tax rates on wealthy Americans, deep cuts to federal support programs for the poor and the eventual phase-out of the existing Medicare system, which would be replaced by a subsidized private insurance system, including traditional Medicare as an option. You can read the GOP gloss on their plan here. Among its claims: The latest "Path to Prosperity" ...Newt Demands Presidential Apology For DeNiro's 'Inexcusable' First Ladies Joke
It's hard out there for a white first lady. Newt Gingrich is incensed about a joke by actor Robert DeNiro at a fundraiser attended by Michelle Obama for the president's re-election, in which the Academy Award-winning star used the word "white" to describe the Republican field's spouses. "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" DeNiro said. "Too soon, right?" The idea, of course, is that it's absurd to question whether...Karen Santorum: Rick Will Do 'Nothing' On Contraception
Karen Santorum on Monday assured women that they have "nothing to fear" from her husband. "He's completely supportive of women," she told CNN's Piers Morgan. "He's surrounded by a lot of really strong women. Women have nothing to fear when it comes to contraceptives." But Rick Santorum has been a vocal critic of contraceptive coverage and use by women. He recently voiced support for the now-defeated Blunt amendment, which would allow employers to deny contraception coverage. And Santorum's book...Throwdown: How The GOP Budget Will Overwhelm Politics In 2012
On Tuesday afternoon, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan will unveil an updated version of the GOP's vision for the country's future, and the ideological battles that have defined the Obama era will resume with more vigor and more noise than at any time since the 2010 passage of President Obama's health care law. That's not simply because this is an election year, though that's a huge part of it. The GOP is being driven, for the moment, by a vocal and ideological faction that's unwilling to...Editor & Publisher
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