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Obama Shuns Use of ‘Spending’ in Budget

February 2, 2015 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

President Obama’s budget message shuns the word “spending,” McClatchy reports.

“He refers to proposed new spending most often as ‘investing,’ as in investing in children or teachers or national defense. He also prefers to say his budget ‘provides’ things, such as child care. In his budget message to Congress, he uses some form of the word ‘invest’ 18 times. He uses some form of the word ‘provide’ 7 times. He uses a variation of the word ‘spend’ just three times, and none to describe his proposals.”

“A budget fact sheet sent out by the White House has a similar trend: 52 references to investing, 28 to providing, and just 6 to spending.”

Begich Will Not Run for Mayor

February 2, 2015 at 12:09 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

Former Sen. Mark Begich’s (D-AK) “next move is no longer a secret — he will not be running for the Mayor of Anchorage in this year’s election,” KTVA reports.

Said Begich: “I think I could offer a lot to the city as mayor. But, at the same time, those offices can come and go.”

Behind Scott Walker’s Rise

February 2, 2015 at 11:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

Peter Beinart: “Walker’s rise is a reminder that among Republican primary voters, and especially Iowa-caucus goers, the market for ideological or even stylistic innovation, may be smaller than the media assumes. Because the most striking thing about Scott Walker’s speech at the Freedom Summit, and his emerging campaign message more generally, is how retro it is. Walker concedes nothing to the conventional wisdom about what the GOP must do to compete in a more culturally tolerant, ethnically diverse and economically insecure America. And the GOP faithful love it.”

“While every Republican presidential hopeful wants to be seen as Reaganesque, other leading contenders clearly hope to improve on the Gipper’s relationship with people of color. Walker, by contrast, isn’t updating the 1980s script at all.”

Will Rubio Really Give Up His Senate Seat?

February 2, 2015 at 11:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “is moving full throttle towards a White House bid, hitting the road hard to raise money and elevate his profile. While allies and advisors say he hasn’t made a final decision, most now privately expect he’ll take the plunge,” The Hill reports.

“It’s a gamble for the 43 year-old Rubio, who has to choose between running for another Senate term next year and undertaking a White House bid. Staying in the Senate is the surer bet, though reelection isn’t guaranteed in swing-state Florida.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 2, 2015 at 11:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

“What I would also remind everybody and mentioned to our House friends at our joint retreat: How would you like to have to get 261 votes on almost everything you do? I hope that some day we will have a supermajority in the Senate, but for 100 years we haven’t, and there are some obvious limitations.”

— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by Politico, telling House GOP colleagues there are limits to what the Senate can do.

Pataki Explores Presidential Bid with New PAC

February 2, 2015 at 10:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard 42 Comments

Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) told Fox News he’s actively exploring a 2016 Republican bid for president with a trip to New Hampshire this week and the opening of a new political action committee.

How Direct Marketing Fueled Ben Carson’s Rise

February 2, 2015 at 10:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“If you want to understand the conservative appeal of the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, messages like this, which go out by the thousand on conservative email lists, are the place to start. No prospective candidate’s name and likeness, including the Democratic field-clearer Hillary Clinton, has been as successful in attracting small donations over the last year than that of Carson,” Time reports.

“In addition to his own political action committee, Carson has lent his name and signature to other online efforts, including Newt Gingrich’s American Legacy PAC, where he is the face of a $5.9 million campaign called ‘Save our Healthcare,’ which raises money in the name of fighting President Obama’s health insurance reforms. A separate independent effort, the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, raised more than $12 million in the 2014 cycle through email and direct mail with appeals featuring Carson’s name. That effort, which Carson plays no direct role in supporting, collected more during the reporting period than Ready For Hillary, the SuperPAC run by Hillary Clinton’s former aides to prepare the ground for her campaign.”

“Carson’s online fundraising efforts are so prolific that his own political operation is sometimes not aware of them.”

Two Republican Races for President

February 2, 2015 at 9:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

First Read: “There are two 2016 GOP races going on right now: One, the establishment contest, where Jeb and Christie are wooing deep-pocketed donors, especially now that Romney is out of the race. And two, the conservative grassroots contest, where the candidates will be jockeying to prove themselves as the most in tune with today’s Republican Party.”

“The establishment-vs.-conservative divide is what makes Walker worth watching over the next year, because he has the ability to straddle both worlds. Given that Walker has battled with Wisconsin Democrats — and won — few conservatives are going to question his conservative bona fides. And given that he’s won his state of Wisconsin three times in the past four years (2010 election, 2012 recall, 2014 re-election), he could appeal to some establishment Republicans who are looking for a non-Bush winner.”

Kashkari Ignored Advice to Stop Spending His Money

February 2, 2015 at 9:42 am EST By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

Failed California gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari (R) “ignored the advice of advisors who urged him to stop dipping into his waning personal fortune to finance a campaign they knew he could not win,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Kashkari strategist Aaron McLear: “We thought it was crazy, but that’s Neel.”

Christie Says Parents Deserve Choice About Vaccinations

February 2, 2015 at 8:53 am EST By Taegan Goddard 98 Comments

Amid an outbreak of measles that has spread across 14 states, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that parents “need to have some measure of choice” about vaccinating their children against the virus, breaking with President Obama and much of the medical profession, the New York Times reports.

Said Christie: “It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”

[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]So Christie thinks it’s acceptable to imprison a nurse possibly infected with Ebola but vaccinations of children aren’t important? [/speech_bubble]

McCain Defends Palin’s Bizarre Speech

February 2, 2015 at 8:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

Sen. John McCain said he hadn’t seen Sarah Palin’s widely-panned speech last month, but told CNN that it wasn’t a disqualifier if she wanted to run for president.

Said McCain: “If she did not give a good speech, she’s not the first politician that didn’t give a good speech from time to time, including me.”

He added Palin could still be an asset for the GOP in 2016, and said he’ll “absolutely” have her campaign with him as he seeks re-election in Arizona.

Quote of the Day

February 2, 2015 at 8:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

“Eight years is only the beginning.”

— Barack Obama Foundation, announcing a new slogan.

How Republicans Built an Edge

February 2, 2015 at 7:52 am EST By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

National Journal: “It is undeniable… that the current Democratic coalition does better in presidential years than it does in midterm elections. Yet all of these explanations have a common problem: They obscure the possibility that 2014 was not an isolated event but rather the latest manifestation of a resurgent Republican coalition.”

“These advantages remain partially in place for Democrats today, but they are being severely undermined by two trends that have emerged in the past few elections—one surprising, the other less so. The less surprising trend is that Democrats have continued to hemorrhage support among white working-class voters—a group that generally works in blue-collar and lower-income service jobs and that is roughly identifiable in exit polls as those whites who have not graduated from a four-year college. These voters, and particularly those well above the poverty line, began to shift toward the GOP decades ago, but in recent years that shift has become progressively more pronounced.”

“The more surprising trend is that Republicans are gaining dramatically among a group that had tilted toward Democrats in 2006 and 2008: Call them middle-class Americans.”

Clinton Works to Hone Economic Message

February 2, 2015 at 7:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

“Hillary Clinton has been consulting with an array of economists and academics—including liberal Joseph Stiglitz, former Fed chairman Paul Volcker and new faces outside the traditional orbit of Democratic policy experts—as she prepares for a likely presidential campaign that would make sluggish wage growth and middle-class prosperity a central focus,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“One of Mrs. Clinton’s broader goals is to develop ways to address economic anxiety without sounding like a combative populist or demonizing high-income groups, said a person familiar with her thinking.”

Ryan Will Stay Neutral During Primaries

February 2, 2015 at 7:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) told NBC News that he’s staying neutral in the Republican presidential primary.

Said Ryan: “Had Mitt jumped in, I think that would have changed circumstances. But since I’m the chair of this trust, chair of the fund to get ready for the eventual nominee, that requires my neutrality.”

Ryan chairs the Presidential Trust, which is responsible for raising funds for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. It is a position he also held in 2012.

GOP Candidates Race to Lock Down Staff

February 2, 2015 at 7:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

“Republican presidential contenders are locked in a behind-the-scenes struggle to secure experienced staff to run core parts of their campaigns, a boon for top GOP firms that are so flooded with requests they might take on multiple candidates,” National Journal reports.

“Jeb Bush’s early and aggressive moves to build a team have sent other campaigns scrambling to avoid being left with inexperienced staffers who are ill-prepared for the rigors of a presidential contest. Compounding the problem, candidates will also need well-run super PACs aiding them, further stretching the pool of qualified operatives.”

Ahmadinejad Eyes Possible Return in Iran

February 2, 2015 at 6:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

“Iran’s hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday launched his official website, in a possible return to the political scene a year before legislative elections,” AFP reports.

“The hardline conservative has stayed out of the public eye since his mandate ended in June 2013 and the election of Hassan Rouhani, his moderate successor as president of the Islamic republic.”

Obama Will Address Income Inequality in Budget Proposal

February 1, 2015 at 5:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

“President Obama will propose a 10-year budget on Monday that stabilizes the federal deficit but does not seek balance, instead focusing on policies to address income inequality as he adds nearly $6 trillion to the debt,” the New York Times reports.

“The central question Mr. Obama’s budget will pose to Congress is this: Should Washington worry about what may be the defining economic issue of the era — the rising gap between the rich and everyone else — or should policy makers primarily seek to address a mountain of debt that the White House hopes to control but only marginally reduce as a share of the economy?”