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Obamacare Not Hurting U.S. Companies

February 19, 2015 at 2:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

“The biggest entitlement legislation in a generation is causing barely a ripple in corporate America,” Bloomberg reports.

A review of conference-call transcripts and interviews finds the Affordable Care Act “is putting such a small dent in the profits of U.S. companies” that many refer to its impact as “not material” or “not significant.”

“That’s even after a provision went into effect this year requiring companies with 50 or more full-time workers to provide coverage, and after more workers are choosing to enroll in existing company coverage because of another requirement that all Americans get insured.”

Wonk Wire: A GOP flip flop on Obamacare

Christie Pushes Persona Over Policy

February 19, 2015 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

Gov. Chris Christie, “while he considers a presidential future for himself, is visiting key states and sharing, as he did Monday, many of the same familiar stories and popular applause lines that he has used at events across New Jersey since taking office,” the Bergen Record reports.

“Christie is not offering directly, as Bush did Wednesday, the outlines of a presidential platform. And Christie is doing something else that Bush is not — shaking hands and connecting with voters the same way he did when he twice won the governorship of a blue state, analysts said. For Christie it is a smart move, they said, because voters in New Hampshire and Iowa expect that kind of one-on-one attention.”

Adelson Won’t Back a Candidate Until Next Year

February 19, 2015 at 12:52 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 17 Comments

Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson won’t get involved in the presidential primary contest until “well into 2016,” his top political adviser told Bloomberg.

Said adviser Andy Abboud: “Any support of a presidential candidate is at least a year away.”

“What Adelson does matters. The 81-year-old billionaire casino owner spent more money on the 2012 presidential race than anyone else in the country, and his every move is being closely watched for signs that he has a favorite this time around.”

Biden Visits Another Early State

February 19, 2015 at 12:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

“Vice President Biden will travel to New Hampshire Wednesday — his third trip to a state with an early 2016 presidential nominating contest this month,” The Hill reports.

“By the end of February, Biden will have traveled to three of the four states with the earliest presidential nominating contests in 2016 this month alone.”

Why Bush Might Not Be Best Against Clinton

February 19, 2015 at 9:46 am EST By Taegan Goddard 90 Comments

Philip Klein: “In a general election, nominating Bush would neutralize one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest liabilities (the idea that she, too, is a figure from the past trying to ride her last name to power). Instead of having the clear contrast that would be possible if Republicans were to name a fresh candidate, the 2016 election would devolve into a proxy battle over whether Americans want to restore the Bush or Clinton presidencies. Whether the GOP likes it or not, that isn’t a matchup that favors Republicans.”

An Election Stuck in the Past

February 19, 2015 at 9:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

First Read: “The problem you get when a Bush, a Clinton, a Huckabee, a Santorum, and even a Paul are all preparing White House bids is an early presidential contest that seems stuck in the past. For Jeb Bush, the current question is: If you’re your own man, why are you surrounding yourself with many of the same foreign-policy advisers your brother and father had, including the architects of the 2003 Iraq war? For Hillary Clinton, the current question is: Why is Clinton Inc. continuing to engage in shady fundraising practices, with the Clinton Foundation accepting donations from foreign governments? (Conflict of interest, anyone?) And for Rand Paul, who appears set to announce his presidential bid on April 7, the question is going to be: Do you agree or disagree with what your father said about (fill in the blank)?”

“To be sure, all elections litigate the past — a record in public service, old statements, problematic associations, even what happened during your childhood. But ultimately, most presidential elections are about the future.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 19, 2015 at 9:08 am EST By Taegan Goddard 32 Comments

“Vice President Biden, in a very candid moment, which he enjoys, flew into LaGuardia and said, ‘You fly into LaGuardia, and you think you’re flying into a Third World country.’ Now, that was a slight overstatement, slightly insensitive, slightly insulting. But, basically true.”

— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), quoted by the New York Observer.

Most Expensive Election Ever But With Fewer Donors

February 19, 2015 at 9:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard 10 Comments

Center for Responsive Politics: “The 2014 election was the most expensive midterm election in history, costing a grand total of $3.77 billion. But for the first time since 1990, fewer Americans donated money in this midterm election than the one before.”

Can Jeb Bush Be His Own Man?

February 19, 2015 at 8:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard 18 Comments

Rick Klein: “Can you be your own man while sharing a last name with other men with complicated legacies inside and outside your own party? Can you be your own man while talking to the same men (and some of the women) who advised those other men during some of the low and high points of their foreign policies? These are central questions facing Jeb Bush, as he only starts to answer for how he plans to define himself as opposed to the Presidents Bush.”

“The fact is he can’t and won’t ever entirely be able to be his own man in politics. His name and family connections confer early front-runner status on him, making him something other than just another ex-governor. They also make him the fundraising juggernaut he will always be. (One wonders whether the money folks talking about the ‘shock and awe’ fundraising strategy remember what that phrase meant in George W. Bush’s Iraq war.) For big donors as for the foreign-policy establishment, the Bush name is a comfortable and powerful one. For voters and caucus-goers, it gets quite a bit more complicated. The next question inevitably becomes, does a man who once famously said he never disagreed with anything his brother did as president find a few areas where he parts ways?”

Perspective

February 19, 2015 at 8:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer:

“I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at ‘NewsHour’ every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming.”

“This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future.”

Quote of the Day

February 19, 2015 at 7:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard 140 Comments

“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”

— Rudy Giuliani, quoted by Politico.

Outside Spending Did Not Sway 2014 Elections

February 19, 2015 at 7:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

Alan Abramowitz: “Republicans made major gains in the 2014 Senate elections but the findings reported here indicate that outside spending by conservative groups had little or nothing to do with those gains. The main reason why Republicans did very well in 2014 was that Democrats were defending far more seats than Republicans and many of those seats were in states that normally favor Republicans based on recent presidential voting patterns. Democrats lost all seven of their seats in states carried by Mitt Romney in 2012 even though Democratic candidates enjoyed an advantage in outside spending in several of those races.”

Obama Faulted for Not Using ‘Islamic’ Label

February 19, 2015 at 7:08 am EST By Taegan Goddard 55 Comments

New York Times: “Obama aides say there is a strategic logic to his vocabulary: Labeling noxious beliefs and mass murder as ‘Islamic’ would play right into the hands of terrorists who claim that the United States is at war with Islam itself. The last thing the president should do, they say, is imply that the United States lumps the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims with vicious terrorist groups.”

“But Mr. Obama’s verbal tactics have become a target for a growing chorus of critics who believe the evasive language is a sign that he is failing to look squarely at the threat from militant Islam. The vague phrasing, they say, projects uncertainty and weakness at a time when extremists claiming to fight for Islam threaten America and its interests around the world.”

Los Angeles Times: “Republicans accuse Obama of tiptoeing around the issue out of an apparent reluctance to offend Muslims.”

Kasich Not Close to Deciding on Presidential Bid

February 19, 2015 at 7:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

For those thinking Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) would announce a bid for next year’s Republican presidential nomination during a trip to South Carolina, the Columbus Dispatch notes his answer last night was clear: Not yet.

Said Kasich: “All options are on the table, and I’m not even close to making a decision on this.”

Harris Defends Early Start to Senate Campaign

February 19, 2015 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) “defended her aggressive young U.S. Senate campaign, which some of her fellow Democrats have complained is aimed at keeping others, notably a Latino candidate, out of the race,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Harris :”I have always entered races early and run hard, and that’s what I’ve done in this race. I make no apologies for it.”

Bush Adviser May Join Super PAC Instead

February 19, 2015 at 6:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

“Mike Murphy, the Republican strategist who has played a critical role in getting out Jeb Bush‘s message and rolling out of the former Florida governor’s all-but-certain presidential run, may not end up with a job on the campaign itself,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Murphy has had discussions about joining Mr. Bush’s “super PAC,” a high-dollar outfit that will work independently of the official campaign to promote his candidacy.”

Clinton Foundation Has Raised $2 Billion

February 19, 2015 at 6:11 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“Since its creation in 2001, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has raised close to $2 billion from a vast global network that includes corporate titans, political donors, foreign governments and other wealthy interests,” according to a Washington Post review of public records and newly released contribution data.

First Read: “If this looked like a conflict of interest when she was secretary of state, why doesn’t it look like a conflict of interest as she prepares for another presidential bid? “

Bush Pledges Own Course as He Uses Family Advisers

February 18, 2015 at 8:52 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 32 Comments

Jeb Bush “promised to chart his own course on foreign policy — even as he announced a campaign brain trust associated with the most contentious policies of his brother’s and father’s presidencies,” the Washington Post reports.

“That was the contradiction as Bush stepped delicately into territory where the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and the 43rd, George W. Bush, still loom large.”