Democracy
TOP NEWS: Democracy: July 5, 2012
- Romney’s Tax Confusion
- 7 points that could tip the election
- Rick Snyder vetoes voter ID bills
- Mystery Romney assets hint at larger wealth
- Presidential fundraising down; congressional soars
Excerpts and More Top Stories
HEALTHCARE: Romney’s Tax Confusion
Wall Street Journal, Opinion – Mitt Romney is managing to turn the only possible silver lining in Chief Justice John Roberts’s ObamaCare salvage operation—that the mandate to buy insurance or pay a penalty is really a tax—into a second political defeat.
ELECTION 2012: 7 points that could tip the election
Maggie Haberman, Politico – The seven potential inflection points that could change an otherwise static race: monthly jobs and growth reports, credit issues, a European calamity, the debates, the convention speeches, Romney’s VP pick and overseas trip, and a Mideast or North Korean military strike.
VOTER RIGHTS: Rick Snyder vetoes voter ID bills
MJ Lee, Politico – Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has vetoed voter ID bills that his fellow Republicans call an attempt to crack down on voter fraud, and critics characterize as a move to disenfranchise minority groups.
ROMNEY: Mystery Bermuda-based company and undisclosed Romney assets hint at larger wealth
Washington Post – For nearly 15 years, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s financial portfolio has included an offshore company that remained invisible to voters as his political star rose.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Presidential fundraising down; congressional soars
Dan Eggen & T.W. Farnam, Washington Post, Opinion – Spending by presidential candidates is way down this year, while expenditures by congressional candidates are far ahead of 2008.
More on Elections 2012
Romney’s VP Short List: It May Be Down To Four
Erin Pike, RealClearPolitics – Mitt Romney may be tight-lipped about his vice presidential short list, but a close examination of the campaign’s activity suggests four contenders have risen through the ranks: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Romney Now Says Health Mandate by Obama Is a Tax
Jeremy W. Peters, NY Times – Two days earlier, his chief spokesman and senior strategist had said that Mr. Romney did not believe the mandate should be called a tax. By insisting the mandate is a tax, Mr. Romney has opened himself up to the criticism that he, too, raised taxes as governor.
Wooing Swing Voters, Both Parties Wary of Overemphasizing Health Care
Jonathan Weisman, NY Times – Leaders of both parties say overemphasizing the health care issue could turn off weary swing voters who, they fear, just want to put the issue aside.
Obama begins Rust Belt tour, assisted by popular senators
Paul Kane and David Nakamura, Washington Post – Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert Casey (D-Pa.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) have seen their public approval ratings hold steady despite continued unease among voters about the pace of the economic recovery and an overall disgust toward Congress, providing some optimism for how Obama can campaign in this critical part of the country.
New Obama Ad Renews Outsourcing Attack
Michael D. Shear, NY Times – President Obama’s campaign on Tuesday intensified its attacks on Mitt Romney for outsourcing jobs, releasing a new TV ad that accuses the former Massachusetts governor’s old private equity firm of shipping jobs to low-wage countries.
More Top Stories
HEALTHCARE: More state leaders considering opting out of Medicaid expansion
N.C. Aizenman and Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington Post – A growing number of Republican state leaders are revolting against the major Medicaid expansion called for under President Obama’s health-care overhaul, threatening to undermine one of the law’s most fundamental goals: insuring millions of poor Americans.
TARIFFS: Reform stalls as tariff loopholes return to the House
David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post – The House GOP banned a lesser-known kind of favor, which allowed a congressman to give a local company a break on its federal tariff payments. But now, led by a powerful committee chairman, GOP legislators have joined Democrats in proposing hundreds of those small tariff breaks.
LOBBYING: Jack Abramoff: Healthy ruling for lobbyists
MJ Lee, Politico – Jack Abramoff*, the former lobbyist who served time in jail for corruption, warned on Thursday that the Supreme Court ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care law has opened more doors for lobbyists to influence government officials.
Jack Abramoff is a former guest speaker at The Common Good. For upcoming events, see here.
DCCC: $2.3 Million Raised After Health Care Ruling
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics – The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, tasked with getting party members elected to the lower chamber, said it has raised $2.3 million from about 65,000 donors since the court’s decision last Thursday.
