“The people who vote on taxes are the people who pay them.”
— Pollster Mark Penn, quoted by National Journal, arguing that President Obama’s drive for higher taxes on the rich will eventually bite him.
Obama Approval Up Slightly
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds President Obama’s approval rate up a bit to 49%, with disapproval at 50%.
However, the poll also showed Obama would finish just behind Mitt Romney if the presidential election were held today, 44% to 43%, among registered voters. It was the first Reuters/Ipsos poll to show Romney ahead, although his slim lead is within the survey’s margin of error and technically a dead heat.
Giffords Vows to Return to Congress
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) “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 of a Tucson grocery store,” the AP reports after obtaining a copy of her memoir, called Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, due out later this month.
The book also describes lighter moments, “like when President George H.W. Bush
and his wife, Barbara, visited Giffords at the Texas hospital. Giffords
kept replying to Bush with the only word she was able to say: ‘chicken.’ At another point, a specialist showed her various politicians
to see if she recognized people. When she saw former California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, she said: ‘Messin’ around. Babies.'”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be.”
— Mitt Romney, in an editorial board meeting with the Seacoast Media Group.
McConnell Now Wants Grand Bargain
As the supercommittee charged with reducing the deficit works on a plan
that both cuts at least $1.2 trillion over ten years and can pass
Congress, recent shifts by Republican leadership may signal the return
of the “grand bargain” that President Obama and House Speaker John
Boehner (R-OH) had originally tried to negotiate.
Earlier reports indicate that Boehner has softened his line on tax increases in the final deal, while The Hill
reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “has made an
about-face in recent days and now favors a huge deficit-reduction
deal.”
“At the beginning of this week, Senate GOP and
Democratic sources said McConnell appeared to favor a $1.2 trillion
package out of the deficit-reduction supercommittee… A $4 trillion
deal has gained more popularity in the Senate GOP conference this week
as lawmakers have become convinced that Obama wants the
deficit-reduction supercommittee to fail.”
Clinton Says the Country is a Mess
Bill Clinton writes in his new book, Back to Work, that last summer’s political fight over raising the U.S. debt ceiling made the nation look “weak and confused” overseas, the AP reports.
He also “describes the current state of the country as ‘a mess’ and largely blames the anti-government sentiment embodied in the tea party movement that has held sway since the 1980s. But Clinton also criticizes Obama and other Democratic lawmakers for not making a stronger case for the steps they took to stabilize the U.S. economy in 2009, like the bank and auto company bailouts and the $787 billion economic stimulus program.”
Romney Automated Calls Attack Perry
Mitt Romney paid for automated telephone calls in Iowa accusing rival Rick Perry of contributing to illegal immigration, the AP reports.
The call is the first paid attack by Romney on Perry.
Making it in the Political Blogosphere
From a profile in Making it in the Political Blogosphere: The World’s Top Political Bloggers Share the Secrets to Success by Tanni Haas, which is out next week:
“Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire has a special place in the political blogosphere. Operating much like a traditional wire service, it’s the site to which thousands of political insiders — Members of Congress and their staff, political consultants and pollsters, lobbyists, journalists, and political bloggers — go several times a day to get news, analysis, and commentary on the latest political developments that drive political debate in the U.S.”
“60 Minutes” Grills Both Pelosi and Boehner
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “pushed back hard” against an upcoming 60 Minutes report “that is expected to raise questions about potential conflicts of interest between congressional leaders’ personal stock holdings and their involvement in legislation that may affect those investments,” Politico reports.
Republicans More Enthusiastic About Voting
A new Gallup poll finds Republican voters are more likely to express enthusiasm about voting in next year’s presidential election.
On the national level, 56% of Republican registered voters and 48% of Democratic voters are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting. In 12 key swing states, the Republican advantage in enthusiasm is 59% to 48%.
Quote of the Day
“Are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago?”
— Rick Perry, quoted by National Journal, in a campaign swing through Iowa.
Boehner Says Debt Deal Will Include Tax Increases
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) acknowledged that any bipartisan agreement on debt reduction will need to include some new tax revenue, CBS News reports.
Said Boehner: “I think there is room for revenues, but I think there clearly is a limit to the amount of revenues that are available.”
“The comment was significant because Boehner and other Republican leaders have repeatedly insisted that tax increases are off the table, and most Republicans in the House and Senate have signed a ‘taxpayer protection pledge’ vowing not to raise taxes.”
Unemployment Ticks Down to 9%
The U.S. government reports 80,000 jobs were created last month as the unemployment rate inched down to 9.0%
Cain Stays Steady in the Polls
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Herman Cain “is showing initial resilience in the face of allegations of sexual impropriety: More than half of potential Republican voters say the controversy is not serious, fewer than a quarter say it makes them less likely to support Cain, and he’s running essentially evenly with Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination.”
Romney edges Cain nationally among Republican voters, 24% to 23%, essentially a dead heat between the two. Rick Perry trails with 13% followed by Newt Gingrich at 12%.
A warning sign: Cain slips to third place among those who see the charges as serious and Republican women are significantly more likely than men to say the scandal makes them less apt to support Cain.
Montana Senate Race Very Close
A new Montana State University Billings poll finds Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) barely ahead of Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in the U.S. Senate race, 36% to 35%, with 25% still undecided.
Corzine Resigns
Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of MF Global Holdings Ltd, Bloomberg reports.
“His resignation came four days after the bankruptcy filing as the company’s bets on European sovereign debt rattled investors. U.S. regulators are investigating about $633 million missing from MF Global customer accounts.”
First Read: “Why not stick around and fix this? Why run away? Perhaps there are legal
reasons to do. Perhaps he thinks it’s the honorable thing to resign.
Maybe he was an absentee CEO and is embarrassed this happened on his
watch. Whatever the explanation, it’s not good for Corzine’s reputation.
The whole point of Corzine’s relevance in politics was his knowledge
and success of the financial world. Politicians can recover from sex
scandals because the public is willing to separate the personal flaws if
the professional work is on the up and up. Corzine’s fall may be harder
to recover from.”
In Defense of the Cain Story Tipster
Whether or not Rick Perry is behind Herman Cain’s sexual-harassment troubles, Paul Begala says there’s nothing “despicable” about giving reporters a tip about a candidate’s impropriety,
“Here’s the Begala Standard: if an attack is fair, factual, and about the public record, it’s not dirty. Business experience — and, yes, one’s conduct around the office or in an after-work watering hole — is relevant. Scrutinizing it is fair. You don’t attack someone’s race or religion or gender or sexual orientation. You don’t go after family. You don’t pry into private lives, but you look at public performance in office, or in prior campaigns; you look at business and financial matters, votes and quotes (and for the presidency and vice presidency I think health is a legitimate inquiry). And there’s nothing wrong with encouraging journalists to do so as well.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“He hasn’t handled a largely irrelevant media ambush very well. He isn’t a
sufficiently good enough liar to be president, I guess.”
— Rush Limbaugh, on Herman Cain facing sexual harassment allegations.
