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...

  • Dismal GDP Adds Desperation to a Divided Congress

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    The economy grew at a dismal 1.5 percent in the second quarter, a cruel reminder that nearly everything tried so far—tax cuts, deficit spending, austerity at the state level, slashed interest rates—...

  • How to Turn a Tax Increase into a Tax Cut

    By Bruce Bartlett, The Fiscal Times

    Talk about the so-called fiscal cliff has been shifting lately, away from the potential negative effects when a number tax cuts expire of toward the idea that this is a potential opportunity to...

  • Obama’s Ethics Lesson: Don’t Pay Your College Loan

    By Edward Morrissey

    For the last several days, Barack Obama has been trying to mitigate the damage done to his campaign from his claim in Roanoke, Virginia that small business owners didn’t deserve credit for their own...

  • The Outrageous Farm Bill That’s Packed with Pork

    By Liz Peek

    The scorching summer – and consequent crop damage – is prompting frantic calls to pass a new farm bill. A version of the every-five-years legislation, which will replace the existing law due to...

  • Higher Costs Bring Some U.S. Manufacturers Home

    By Scott Malone and Ernest Scheyder, Reuters

    With just $11 million in revenue last year, Seesmart is a tiny company, but it is one of many manufacturers of all sizes – from Master Lock to blue-chips General Electric Co and Caterpillar Inc –...