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...

  • McCain Discusses Campaign Cash

    By ALINA SELYUKH, Reuters

    The U.S. campaign finance system is so heavily influenced by big-spending interest groups and wealthy individuals that it will take "huge scandals" to change it, and those scandals are looming,...

  • Santorum Could Find Home Turf Hostile

    By Eric Pianin

    Former senator Rick Santorum is counting on a strong GOP primary showing next month in his home state of Pennsylvania. But presidential candidates down through the years have frequently been...

  • The Entitled States of America: We Want More!

    By Charles Sykes, Wisconsin Policy Institute

    Milton Friedman may have argued that there is no such thing as a free lunch, but you’d have a hard time convincing millions of Americans of that today. They know better – or at least they think they...

  • Guess Who Wants to Kill Corporate Tax Reform

    By Michelle Hirsch, The Fiscal Times

    On the surface, large, publicly traded, U.S. firms appear united in their desire to push for corporate tax reform. But the likelihood that large multinational firms like GE, Pfizer, and Google might...

  • Investors Worry about Election

    By STEVEN C. JOHNSON, Reuters

    Investment strategists say the contests are among the most important in recent memory: a new government will need to tackle the deficit and start containing the national debt or the United States...