2012 Elections

Budget Battles

  • The Great Debate

    Five Debate Moments that Changed Elections

    By Robert Speel, The Conversation

    Every presidential election year in my American Political Campaigns and Elections course, I get an opportunity to spend a full lecture discussing with students some of the famous moments from...

  • House panel says IRS official waived rights, contempt possible

    Lois Lerner Is Cleared, Sparking Conservative Fury

    By Rob Garver

    Concluding that “poor management is not a crime,” the Justice Department on Friday informed members of Congress that it would not be filing criminal charges against anyone in what has become known as...

  • GOP Leaders Take on Far Right Pressure Groups

    By Eric Pianin

    There have been plenty of theories about why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) strode onstage at a conservative gathering late last week carrying a rifle. Ostensibly, McConnell, the 72-...

  • Romney: If Hillary Runs, She Won’t Need Bill

    By Thomas Ferraro, Reuters

    Failed 2012 U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Sunday he expects Hillary Clinton to win or lose the White House on her record, not that of her husband, former Democratic...

  • Joint Session of Congress

    Voters Give a Thumbs-Down to Their Own Lawmakers

    By Eric Pianin

    In another sign of public outrage over a dysfunctional and politically divided Congress, a record low percentage of registered voters now say their own House member deserves another chance while even...

  • Campaigns on Hold as Obama Mans Emergency Command

    By Eric Pianin

    With only a week before Election Day, President Obama put his reelection campaign on hold and returned to Washington on Monday to oversee emergency preparedness for Hurricane Sandy, a powerful and...

  • After Sandy, Will Romney Support Funding for FEMA?

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    Mitt Romney’s comments in the early stages of the presidential campaign about the Federal Emergency Management Agency came back to haunt him Monday, as Hurricane Irene made landfall with a vicious...

  • Health Care Sticker Shock: An Employee Reality

    By CAROLINE HUMER, Reuters

    Healthcare has gone retail. Over the next 18 months, between one quarter and one half of Americans who get insurance coverage through their employers will pay more of their doctor bills themselves as...

  • 6 Big Economic Ideas that Romney Could Embrace

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    On economic policy, Mitt Romney makes his own decisions. The former Massachusetts governor and private equity executive considers the advice from his cadre of economics PhDs but ultimately charts his...

  • In Tight Race, Ex-Pat Vote More Vital Than Ever

    By Erik Kirshbaum, Reuters

    With the presidential election too close to call, hundreds of thousands of Americans living in Europe have been posting their absentee ballots with a sense that they could truly make a difference on...