Democracy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Democracy: June 8, 2012
- Approval Rating for Justices Hits Just 44%
- Campaigns Blitz 9 Swing States in a Battle of Ads
- What Wisconsin means
- House Passes $46 Billion Measure w/anti-Abortion Rider
- Romney Ad Touts ‘Strong Leadership’ In Massachusetts
Excerpts and more top stories
Approval Rating for Justices Hits Just 44% in New Poll
Adam Liptak, NY Times – Just 44 percent of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing and three-quarters say the justices’ decisions are sometimes influenced by their personal or political views, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. Those findings are a fresh indication that the court’s standing with the public has slipped significantly in the past quarter-century, according to surveys conducted by several polling organizations.
Campaigns Blitz 9 Swing States in a Battle of Ads
Jeremy W. Peters, NY Times – The presidential campaigns and their allies are zeroing in mainly on nine swing states, bombarding them with commercials in the earliest concentration of advertising in modern politics. With so many resources focused on persuading an ever-shrinking pool of swing voters like those here in Nevada, the 2012 election is likely to go down in history as the one in which the most money was spent reaching the fewest people.
What Wisconsin means
Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post – Tuesday, June 5, 2012, will be remembered as the beginning of the long decline of the public-sector union. It will follow, and parallel, the shrinking of private-sector unions, now down to less than 7 percent of American workers. The abject failure of the unions to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) — the first such failure in U.S. history — marks the Icarus moment of government-union power.
Homeland Security Bill 2012: House Passes $46 Billion Measure Containing Anti-Abortion Rider
Alicia A. Caldwell, Huffington Post – A Homeland Security spending bill approved by the GOP-led House on Thursday includes a provision to bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement from providing abortions for undocumented immigrant detainees. The measure, proposed by Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., would block ICE from using agency funding to provide abortion services for detainees except in the case of rape, incest or if there life of the mother would be endangered.
New Romney Ad Touts His ‘Strong Leadership’ In Massachusetts
Sabrina Siddiqui, Huffington Post – Mitt Romney’s campaign released a new ad on Friday highlighting his economic record as governor of Massachusetts. Titled “Strong Leadership,” it is the fourth in a series of ads focused on envisioning “Day One” of a Romney presidency.
===More News===
Links to Obama campaign show fashion industry’s political clout is growing
Katherine Boyle, Washington Post – On Tuesday, Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor who holds sway over much of the U.S fashion industry, is expected in Chicago, where she and supermodel Iman will join President Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, for a night of stumping. For $1,000, donors can schmooze, shop and pose for photos with the storied editor.
Bill Clinton ‘Very Sorry’ For Flareup Over Bush Tax Cut Comments
Nick Wing, Huffington Post – Former president Bill Clinton, a Barack Obama campaign surrogate, apologized Thursday for creating controversy earlier this week with his comments about extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. “I’m very sorry about what happened,” Clinton said in an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
Las Vegas labor dispute could harm President Obama and fellow Democrats
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times – The largest, most powerful union in Nevada has been locked for years in a fierce and bitter battle with one of Las Vegas’ most prominent families. [...] Now the dispute threatens to spill over into the presidential campaign, to the detriment of President Obama, who is set to deliver an education speech Thursday in Las Vegas, and of fellow Democrats, who are grappling to gain a U.S. Senate seat to help keep Nevada’s Harry Reid as majority leader.
May jobs report holds little influence over electorate, poll finds
Morgan Little, Los Angeles Times – Last week’s jobs report, which revealed that the overall unemployment rate increased from 8.1% to 8.2% in May, may not have been perceived by the public as a disaster, as was initially assumed last week.
