Democracy | News-Opinion
TOP NEWS: Democracy: August 15th, 2012
- Obama-Ryan Battle Intensifies Over Medicare Savings
- Overt Voter Discrimination in Ohio
- Death of the high-minded campaign
- Immigrants begin applying for Dream Act-like protections
- Congress Approval Ties All-Time Low at 10%
Excerpts and More Top Stories
ELECTIONS 2012/MEDICARE: Obama-Ryan Battle Intensifies Over Medicare Savings
ROBERT PEAR, NYT – The partisan brawl over the program continued on Tuesday and threatened to become the focus of the presidential race.
ELECTIONS 2012/MEDICARE: Two-Way Jabs on Medicare Recast Races for Congress
CARL HULSE, NY Times – A fight over the health care program for older Americans is intensifying in House and Senate races after Representative Paul D. Ryan’s selection as Mitt Romney’s running mate.
VOTER RIGHTS: Overt Voter Discrimination in Ohio
NY Times, Editorial – Republican elections officials curtail early voting in Democratic counties, but not in theirs.
CAMPAIGN CIVILITY: Death of the high-minded campaign
REID J. EPSTEIN, Politico, Opinion – There was optimism that Mitt Romney’s introduction of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate signaled the two campaigns would gather themselves for an adult conversation about the nation’s future, But by Tuesday evening, it was clear the campaign has resumed its regularly scheduled attacks — and even intensified them.
IMMIGRATION: Eager immigrants can begin applying for Dream Act-like protections
Steve Hendrix, Washington Post – Some young illegal immigrants are now able to apply for work and residency permits under President Obama’s program.
POLL:/CONGRESS: Congress Approval Ties All-Time Low at 10%
Frank Newport, Gallup – Americans’ approval of Congress has been below 20% since June 2011
HEALTHCARE: Why the Doctor Can’t See You
John C. Goodman, Opinion – The demand for health care under ObamaCare will increase dramatically. The supply of physicians won’t. Get ready for a two-tier system of medical care.
HATE CRIMES: Unprosecuted Hate Crimes
NY Times, Editorial – The recent murders at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin are a reminder of our national hate crimes problem. States and cities need to increase the enforcement against bias-motivated bias.
GUNS: Importing Russia’s Top Gun
ANDREW E. KRAMER, NY Times – Russia’s military has cut back its purchases of Kalashnikovs, and American gun enthusiasts have stepped in, buying Saiga rifles and shotguns.
SCIENCE/FLIGHT: From N.Y. to London in less than an hour? Hypersonic jet tested
Hayley Tsukayama, Washington Post – The jet is just one avenue of high-tech, high-speed transit floated over the years.
ENTERTAINMENT/WOMEN: How Can Women Gain Influence in Hollywood?
NY Times, Room for Debate – Writers, directors and producers discuss how to break the “celluloid ceiling.”
More on Elections 2012
ADVERTISING: Voters turn on but tune out political ads
Emily Steel, FT – US voters are becoming oblivious to the political ads dominating the airwaves during this election campaign, according to a study.
CAMPAIGN: Obama rams home message in tiny Iowa
Richard McGregor, FT – Under siege from almost the moment he took the oath of office, President Barack Obama on the campaign trail is a back-to-the wall fighter.
CAMPAIGN: Romney calls Obama ‘angry and desperate’ as campaign turns uglier
Philip Rucker, Amy Gardner, Washington Post – Mitt Romney lashed out at President Obama with some of the harshest rhetoric of his campaign at a Tuesday night rally in Ohio.
ROMNEY-RYAN/FISCAL POLICY: We Know Ryan’s Views on Monetary Policy. Now We Need to Know Romney’s.
Adam Sorensen, Time – Paul Ryan holds fiscal views that are pretty far outside the scope of mainstream economics, but would these views have any bearing on monetary policy under President Romney? We don’t really know.
CIVIL DIALOGUE: Pawlenty: Negative tone of campaign doesn’t help either side
EMILY SCHULTHEIS, Politico – Speaking to CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Tim Pawlenty said the negative back-and-forth between the campaigns — which intensified yesterday on both sides —isn’t “doing either side or the country as well as it could.”
MEDICARE: Yes, Obamacare Cuts Medicare More Than Romney Would
Avik Roy, Forbes, OPINION – You wouldn’t know it from listening to the Obama campaign, but there’s only one Presidential candidate in 2012 who has cut Medicare: Barack Obama, whose Affordable Care Act cuts Medicare by $716 billion from 2013-2022.
MEDICARE: Feeling ill over the Medicare debates
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post, Op-Ed – The RNC chairman says President Obama has “blood on [his] hands” for cutting Medicare. Vice President Biden accuses Romney and running mate Paul Ryan of “gutting” Medicare. Aren’t you glad we’re having a sober policy discussion about how to rein in entitlement spending?
WISCONSIN PRIMARY: Thompson Wins G.O.P. Senate Race in Wisconsin
By STEVEN YACCINO, NY Times – Tommy G. Thompson, a former governor, defeated three fellow conservatives in a statewide primary that splintered the Tea Party vote
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION: Utility’s Role in Convention Tests Obama
JIM RUTENBERG, NY Times – Efforts to free the Democratic convention from business and lobbyist support have prompted charges of hypocrisy from Republicans and grumbling among some Democrats.
PROFILE: What kind of conservative is Ted Cruz?
Dana Milbank, Washington Post, Op-Ed – R. Ted Cruz is a shoo-in to be the next U.S. senator from Texas, who wants to abolish the Commerce, Education and Energy departments, the IRS and the Transportation Security Administration.
PARALLELS: In Romney/Ryan v. Obama/Biden, The 1896 Parallels Are Glaring
Brian Domitrovic, Forbes, OP-ED – In 1896, the nation had been reeling from one of the nastiest economic crises it had ever seen. Economic output was still below what it had been four years earlier, when a terrible crash had occurred; the word “unemployment” had recently been introduced to track a phenomenon basically unheard of in the industrial revolution prior.
More on Romney-Ryan
RYAN/MODERATES: Why Moderates Should Like Paul Ryan
ROSS DOUTHAT, NY Times, Opinion – The vice-presidential candidate is single-handedly responsible for saving the Republican Party from some of its own worst impulses.
RYAN IDEOLOGY: Atlas Spurned
JENNIFER BURNS, NY Times, Op-Ed – Paul Ryan and his fellow conservatives embrace only the economic aspects of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, forgetting the parts that don’t fit with their ideology.
RYAN BUDGET: Paul Ryan: Cruel, not courageous
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, Opinion – Ryan’s budget isn’t courageous — it’s just cruel. Three-fifths of the cuts he wants would hit those with low incomes, while those who have the most would continue getting more.
RYAN/ADELSON: Ryan Meets Casino Mogul and Major G.O.P. Donor
TRIP GABRIEL and NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, NY Times – Representative Paul D. Ryan traveled to Las Vegas to meet with Sheldon Adelson in what Mitt Romney’s camp called a “finance event.”
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