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...

  • Obama’s Jobs Act—Not Just a Failure but a Fraud

    By Liz Peek

    If President Obama wins reelection, it will be because he has snookered the American public and outwitted the GOP. It will not be because his policies have succeeded. As he campaigns for a second...

  • If 2013 Budget Talks Fail, Top Credit Rating May Fall

    By Steven C Johnson and DANIEL BASES, Reuters

    The United States may lose its top credit rating if next year's budget talks do not produce policies that gradually decrease the country's debt, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday. The warning...

  • Obama Trumped Romney on August Campaign Spending

    By Tw Farnam, The Washington Post

    President Obama raised more money than challenger Mitt Romney in August for the first time in three months, a sign that the Republican spending advantage in the fall could be smaller than previously...

  • GOP Lawmakers Can Swing the Vote...to Obama

    By Eric Pianin and Josh Boak

    Congress returns to a transformed landscape since the August recess and political conventions, with President Obama enjoying a bounce after the Democrats' gathering in Charlotte and Republican Mitt...

  • The Campaign Trail: No Help for the Unemployed

    By Mark Thoma

    There was something important missing from both the Democrat and Republican National Conventions -- the unemployed . We have an unemployment crisis on our hands, and nobody should be satisfied with...