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...

  • Romney’s $500 Billion Tea Party Pledge

    By Jennifer Depaul, The Fiscal Times

    GOP hopeful Mitt Romney unveiled a fiscal plan that would slash a half trillion from federal spending over the next five years. He also endorsed the controversial House-backed plan to turn Medicare...

  • Giffords Vows to Return to Congress

    By AMANDA LEE MYERS and MICHELLE PRICE, Associated Press

    Rep. Gabrielle Giffords vows to return to Congress in a new book that details months of intense therapy and her emotional battle to come to terms with what happened when a gunman opened fire in front...

  • Romney to Go Deep in Spending Cuts

    By STEVE PEOPLES

    Mitt Romney will address one of the 2012 presidential contest's defining issues when he offers his plan to slash federal spending before a gathering of tea party activists. The Republican...

  • Herman Cain Rises in Poll Despite Scandal

    By JON COHEN, The Washington Post

    Businessman Herman Cain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are running nearly even atop the field of 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows, with most...

  • Education Cuts Could Swing the 2012 Election

    By Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times

    With stimulus money running out and the economy still in the doldrums, many of the key “toss-up” states in next year’s presidential race will be slashing their K-12 education budgets just as voters...