What Happened To The Economic Recovery?
Romney's Transition Leader Not Afraid To Pick Fights With The Right
Dems Worry Wis. Is A Sign Of Things To Come
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Megabucks
Mitt Romney and the RNC took in a much bigger cash haul in May than President Obama and the DNC.
Quick Note
We’ve decided to change the date of our annual survey from today to next Tuesday. Again, it’s very important to the health and growth of the site. So please keep your eyes out.
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Geography Is Hard
The crew of Fox & Friends is very excited for their summer road trip to the Republican and Democratic conventions.
They’ll be heading to Tampa, to Charlotte, AND to North Carolina.
Strength in a Union (Readers Respond)
We’ve had an avalanche of responses to TPM Reader HS’s rough email on public sector unions. Here’s one of many, focusing on what I think is a key point. From TPM Reader BB …
I’m sure one of many emails that you received concerning the financial guy commenting on public employee unions. Full disclosure: public school teacher from WI that signed and collected recall petitions, marched in Madison in the winter and cannot wait to vote for anyone else other than Scott Walker. But I also believe that the author of the email is voicing a popular sentiment concerning public employee jobs and unions in general.Read More →
Remember Morning in America?
The inside story on how the recovery went bust.
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Greece Gets Ugly (VIDEO)
I’m sure you’ll be surprised to discover that Greece’s recently elected Neo-Nazis are reprehensible.
This video from a Greek talk show that turned violent is pretty shocking.
The Sleeper Story
For all the attention to Wisconsin, this is the story out of California that let me know that public impatience verging on hostility to public employees unions is a big story of 2012.
Pearls of Wisdom
From TPM Reader JL …
Obama delayed the recovery? I think Jay Carney better get used to saying “sounds like someone’s been spending too much time with Donald Trump.”. I know he used Trump once already today but really, I don’t think the Trump card can be played too often.
Tough Love, Or Actually No Love
I always stress that my reprinting a reader email doesn’t mean I necessarily agree with it. This one, as you’ll see, requires restating that upfront. But I’m reprinting TPM Reader HS’s note because I think he’s speaking for what is a real animus or lack of sympathy for public employees unions afield in the electorate in these straightened times. Bracing stuff. That’s what I take from the little discussed victories for public employee pension cuts in two major California cities on Tuesday. But I think it’s foolish to ignore and important to read.
I can think of a few things that the Wisconsin Governor’s recall mean.Read More →Unions, particularly public employee unions, are not that popular.
Yes, Scott Walker is a dick. Yes, I think he wants a right to work state. I tend to side with the Wisconsin Public Employee Unions.
But it is also difficult for me to feel much sympathy or even understand Unions. I received a degree in Finance, Insurance and Real Estate in 1987, and have been in Sales and Marketing for most of the last 25 years in the Tech and CE sector.
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Okay, That’s Crazy
Mitt Romney says President Obama slowed down the recovery on purpose in order to get health care reform passed. Watch.
America: We Love Us Some Mitts!
In today’s Crosstabs, why have Mitt Romney’s favorables rebounded so quickly?
For full sized video, click here.
The Manufactured Story Of The Week
If you follow politics closely, you probably know by now that Bill Clinton broke dramatically with President Obama on Tuesday and recommended that all of the Bush tax cuts be extended. Permanently? For a few years? Who cares really. All that’s important is that Clinton said some thing that could be construed (if you squinted and cocked your head just so) as breaking from Obama on fiscal policy.
It started with a heavily promoted CNBC interview, Republican operatives pushed the suggestion aggressively, and by the end of the day we had stories like this one from the Chicago Tribune, headlined “Bill Clinton backs extending Bush tax cuts, for now,” distributed with a tweet that read “Bill Clinton breaks from Obama, endorses Bush tax cuts.”
Read More →Picture of the day
Absolutely amazing photo. Just look.
Birther In The Court
We often hear the wishful refrain that if everyone just ignored the birthers, they’d go away.
Well, San Diego voters might have just sent one of the movement’s more notable conspiracy-theorists to a district judgeship.
Quick Advice
Never believe day of reports about voter turnout. Turnout in Wisconsin came in substantially under predictions.
Reid Accuses GOP of Economic Sabotage
Reid accuses Cantor of pursuing policy of economic sabotage to game the 2012 election; Boehner replies “Bulls**t” … only with no asterisks.
Learning to Love ‘Obamacare’
The saga continues. As Washington faces the very real prospect of the Supreme Court striking down all or part of Health Care Reform, Republicans are deciding there are many parts of the bill they want to keep after all.
Read More →Holy Crap: Supporter Slaps Barrett After Loss
Not sure what to say about this but, wow.
After tonight’s tough defeat for Wisconsin Democrats a supporter slaps defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for conceding while votes were still being counted.
As the news report explains, the women asked Barrett if she could slap him for conceding while the final vote tally was still being counted. Barrett said he’d prefer a hug. She went for the slap.
Watch.
Dems Win Small Consolation Prize
Notwithstanding the stinging defeat on the night’s big contest, it seems Wisconsin Democrats have managed one significant, if largely symbolic, victory for the night by apparently reclaiming control of the Wisconsin state senate.
Read More →What It All Means, Initial Thoughts
Coming out of Wisconsin tonight, what do the results mean and what don’t they mean?
These are bad times for incumbents across the country and, frankly, around the world. A governor convincingly (we still don’t know the exact margin) winning a recall election is a big deal. Victory counts. There’s no getting around that.
Read More →Obama, DNC Raise Combined $60 Million In May
The Obama campaign, along with the Democratic National Committee, hauled in $60 million in the month of May.
See Like Superman? MIT Scientists Make It Possible
MIT researchers have developed a new type of video processing technology that reveals extremely slight changes in realtime footage, such as a person's pulse as seen through the flow of blood in their face or a baby breathing.
Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters
Crossroads Rolls Out New Senate Race Ads
The Karl Rove-founded Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads rolled out three new TV ads Thursday in key Senate races. One ad in Indiana, where conservative state Treasurer Richard Mourdock ousted Republican Sen. Richard Lugar in the GOP primary, goes on the attack against the Democratic nominee, Rep. Joe Donnelly. “Since Joe Donnelly went to Washington, America’s debt has increased $3.5 billion per day – up $7 trillion in less than six years. How? Donnelly has voted for…
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Democrats Worry Wisconsin Is Ghost Of General Election Future
Democrats got a glimpse at their nightmare scenario Tuesday as Wisconsin Republicans teamed up with billionaire donors to bombard the airwaves with campaign advertising. But the party and its allies are divided over which path to take as they forge ahead: Focus their resources on ground operations, or divert money to playing catch-up on TV and radio. Gov. Scott Walker benefited from a legal loophole that allowed him to raise unlimited money until the recall was formally set into…
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Romney’s Transition Team Leader Not Afraid To Pick Fights With The Right
Kirk Jowers, a former Republican operative and longtime Mitt Romney backer, remembers the first time he met Mike Leavitt, the man tapped to run Romney’s transition team. It was in the late 1990s, during a fight over allowing states to force online retailers to levy sales taxes. Leavitt was a staunch supporter of collecting online taxes – a position that split him from anti-tax purists on the right like Grover Norquist. As general counsel for the Advisory Commission On Electronic…
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See Like Superman? MIT Scientists Make It Possible
Seeing a person’s pulse through their skin seems like it should be a power relegated to superhero comics. But researchers at MIT have developed new video processing software that does just that and more – allowing an observer to identify tiny, otherwise imperceptible changes, such as a person’s breathing, blood flow and even the slight vibrating of still guitar strings, just from a few frames of video footage seconds apart.
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UN Tries To Navigate Cold Hard Politics Of New Cyber War
A United Nations telecommunications agency is denying allegations that it is trying to take over regulation of the Internet following vocal concerns from U.S. lawmakers, tech journalists, companies and advocacy groups. “There has been some breathless news coverage recently of a supposed UN Plot to Control the Internet,” wrote blogger Mark Leon Goldberg in a post on the website U.N. Dispatch on Monday, “This is false.” But recent pronouncements by the agency in question, theThe New …
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What Happened To The Economic Recovery?
For several months starting late last year, it looked like Morning in America was finally back upon us. Unemployment claims were dropping dramatically, businesses were adding hundreds of thousands of jobs, and it looked like the country was in the midst of a self-sustaining economic recovery. Some economists saw a boom coming. They believed years of depressed economic activity had created a huge pent-up demand for automobiles, housing, and other major purchases. The spending dam was…
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GOP Economic Sabotage? Genesis Of A Dem Talking Point
The theory that Republicans are deliberately thwarting economic progress has its roots in the early days of Barack Obama’s presidency. Democrats have preferred to count on a steady recovery to make their case, but grim economic news of late has them wondering if nailing the GOP for sabotage may be their best hope of winning on Election Day. “I don’t have any doubt at this point – the Republicans are clearly rooting for recession as hard as they can,” said veteran Democratic…
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Is Romney Using A Double Standard To Defend His Record On Jobs?
The Romney campaign knows it has some explaining to do.
On Sunday, the campaign defended the former Massachusetts governor’s jobs record, arguing that the state’s bottom-of-the-barrel status as 47th in job creation ignores the improvement made between the beginning and end of Romney term. But when it comes to attacking President Obama’s jobs record, the Romney campaign doesn’t always apply the same standard.
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Florida Defends Voter Purge, Accuses DOJ Of Enabling Voter Fraud
Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner essentially dared the Justice Department to sue the state over its voter purge in a sharply worded letter on Wednesday, accusing DOJ of wanting to make it easier for non-citizens to vote.
“This hardly seems like an approach earnestly designed to protect the integrity of elections and to ensure that eligible voters have their votes counted,” Detzner wrote in the letter.
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Why Public Worker Pensions Could Become A 2012 Flashpoint
While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker cruised to victory in Tuesday’s failed recall – a stinging defeat for public employee unions in itself – two lower-profile municipal referenda in California that could slash public sector pensions passed overwhelmingly as well. The confluence suggests 2012 will be marked by fights at both the local, state, and national level over retirement security for public sector workers. Voters overwhelmingly approved ballot measures in both conservative San…
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House GOP Plans To Cut The Budget Of The White House Budget Cutters
A new skirmish in the ongoing battle between House Republicans and the White House Office of Management and Budget has the congressional GOP going after OMB’s own budget, putting the party of smaller government in the odd position of cutting the budget of the executive branch’s leading budget-cutters. The move is part of an escalating fight over funding the government that could lead to a shutdown weeks before the November election. The House Appropriations Committee is advancing…
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AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka: Recall Loss ‘Not A Crystal Ball’ For Labor’s Future
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he has no regrets about the Wisconsin recall effort, despite a resounding victory from Gov. Scott Walker (R) in Tuesday’s election. “The best-funded politician in state history spent over $50 million to hold onto his office, but he could not hold onto a majority in the state Senate,” said Trumka, who denied labor’s ability to dissuade governors from going after public-sector employees had been weakened by the result. “An important message has…
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‘Birthermercial’ Star Gary Kreep Ahead In Race For California Judgeship
Things weren’t all bad for birthers seeking higher office in California on Tuesday. Gary Kreep, the star of commercials questioning President Barack Obama’s birthplace and who has argued lawsuits challenging his eligibility for office, just might be California District 34’s new judge. Kreep, who heads the California-based United States Justice Foundation, is currently beating Garland Peed, who has been a prosecutor in the San Diego County District for 27 years. With 100 percent of …
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See Venus Transit Up Close In NASA Videos And Images
Missed the twice-in-a-century occurrence of the planet Venus passing in between the Earth and the Sun on Tuesday? Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait another 105 years to see it again. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has you covered. On Wednesday morning, just hours after the six-and-a-half-hour-long event had concluded, NASA published a beautiful video close-up of Venus’s transit in front of the fiery surface of our star. The video, which shows Venus as a tiny dark spot…
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Harry Reid Accuses Eric Cantor Of Economic Sabotage
If economic growth continues to slow ahead of the election, Democrats’ pitch to voters may have to sharpen as the party’s odds of victory in the presidential and congressional elections would likely worsen. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) floated one possible trial balloon Tuesday afternoon when he accused House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) of deliberately sabotaging the economy for partisan gain. “You have heard, as I’ve heard, that there’s a battle going on between…
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Stephen Colbert Cowers Before The ‘Zombie Apocalypse’
Stephen Colbert on Tuesday couldn’t help but notice the increasing number of “zombie” attacks in recent headlines. “That’s right, cannibalism is the hot new trend,” Colbert said. “And you thought saggy pants were annoying. Folks, there is a terrifying new name for this horror: the ‘zombie apocalypse.’” Rest assured, though. The CDC issued a statement denying that any such zombie apocalypse exists. Watch the video: The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cCDC Zombie…
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Pennsylvania Poll: Obama Leads Romney By 12
President Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney by 12 points in Pennsylvania, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The latest Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows Obama leading Romney among registered voters, 48 percent to 36 percent. Obama has led Romney in every Franklin & Marshall poll of Pennsylvania since August of 2011 – and the president’s lead in the current survey represents a bump since the Lancaster, Pa.-based college’s February poll, which showed Obama with an…
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Jon Stewart Looks At What’s At ‘Steak’ In Wisconsin
Wisconsin voters were already headed to the polls Tuesday when Jon Stewart presented “Madison Men,” a look at what’s at “steak” in the recall election, complete with bovine insignia. “Is there any news organization who knows what’s really at stake here?” Stewart asked. How about Fox and Friends? Host Gretchen Carlson asked a pro-Scott Walker public school teacher to relate her time in China to the recall. The teacher said if Walker loses, she sees certain “choices” and “freedoms”…
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Round One Of Berman/Sherman: Sherman Wins
Rep. Brad Sherman topped Rep. Howard Berman by 10 points, 42 percent to 32 percent, in a member-versus-member race that pitted two liberal Los Angeles Democrats against each other. Berman had been the favorite going in, but it’s not the final chapter: Thanks to California’s jungle primary system, the two will both advance to the general election. Berman and Sherman were shoehorned into the same seat after the latest round of redistricting, producing one of the most closely watched…
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In Leavitt, Clues To Romney’s Approach To ‘Obamacare’
Right or wrong, it’s easy to understand why conservatives are so upset about Mitt Romney’s newly appointed transition leader, former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt. It’s become an article of faith for many on the right that the Affordable Care Act must be completely eliminated, either by the Supreme Court or wholesale legislative repeal. Non-absolutist conservatives will allow that some of its modest, popular provisions may stand – but only those. Leavitt, by contrast, supports one of …
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