Political Wire

The Incredible Shrinking Budget Talks

October 29, 2013 at 6:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Grand bargains are out. Tax hikes are out. Short-term and stopgap solutions are very much in,” Roll Call reports.

“That’s the reality in Washington this week, as budget conferees meet for the first time Wednesday to try to hammer out a deal.”

“Publicly, the White House and top Democrats are still talking about a “balanced” plan requiring new revenue as part of a long-term budget blueprint that would replace the sequester and tackle the nation’s long-term debt challenges. But almost no one expects that to happen.”

Battle Lines Drawn for 2014

October 29, 2013 at 6:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The 2014 midterm just got a lot more interesting. The twin dramas of the government shutdown and botched rollout of Obamacare have snapped a sleepy 2014 election season out of its slumber, sharpening the battle lines for each party and setting the stage for a consequential midterm that few expected even two months ago.”

White House Knew Millions Would Lose Their Insurance

October 28, 2013 at 8:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama “repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years,” NBC News reports.

Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act say “that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter or the equivalent over the next year because their existing policies don’t meet the standards mandated by the new health care law. One expert predicts that number could reach as high as 80 percent.”

[Read more…]

Massive Gender Gap Give McAuliffe a Big Lead

October 28, 2013 at 7:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Washington Post-Abt SRBI poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) leads Ken Cuccinelli (R) by 12 points, 51% to 39% among likely voters in next Tuesday’s election. Libertarian Robert Sarvis is at 8%.

Key findings: “The margin between the two candidates is driven by a huge gender gap. Among men, the two candidates are running even, with Cuccinelli at 45 percent and McAuliffe at 44 percent. But among women, Cuccinelli trails by 24 points — 58 percent to 34 percent.”

Poll Suggests Two Americas

October 28, 2013 at 7:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new ABC News/Fusion Poll finds an “almost unfathomable gap” in public attitudes on basic issues
involving gender, race, religion and politics in America.

“The gaps in nearly all cases are largest among partisan and ideological groups – so enormous and so fundamental that they seem to constitute visions of two distinctly different Americas.”

Pell Mulls Run for Rhode Island Governor

October 28, 2013 at 5:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Herbert Claiborne “Clay” Pell IV (D) confirmed that he’s actively exploring whether to jump into the 2014 Democratic primary for governor of Rhode Island and expects to make a decision within weeks, WPRI reports.

Pell is the grandson of the late Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) and has never held elected office. He and his wife, the Olympic figure-skater Michelle Kwan, live in Providence.

Why Virginia Matters

October 28, 2013 at 5:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mark Murray: “The reason why Virginia matters is that, politically, no other state better reflects the center of American politics than the Old Dominion.”

“In the last two presidential contests, the state’s popular vote (Obama 53%-46% in ’08; Obama 51%-47% in ’12) exactly matched the national popular vote… And Virginia, demographically, looks like the country at large — whites near 70% of the population, African Americans in the double digits, Latinos at 8%, Asian Americans at 6%. It also has a fairly even mixture of urban, suburban, and rural areas.”

Shutdown Hurt the Economy

October 28, 2013 at 4:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wonk Wire‘s “chart of the day” shows how political dysfunction in Washington “that created tremendous uncertainty recently is now filtering through the economy.”

Former Congressman 3-Year Prison Term

October 28, 2013 at 4:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), “convicted in June on 17 counts of extortion, racketeering and other federal charges, was sentenced to three years in prison this morning at the U.S. District Court in Tucson,” the Arizona Republic reports.

Judge Blocks Parts of Texas Abortion Law

October 28, 2013 at 4:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A federal judge barred Texas from enforcing two key provisions of abortion restrictions that were to take effect Tuesday, the Austin American Statesman reports.

“The two measures passed in July amid a marathon Democratic filibuster
and massive protests at the state Capitol. Aside from provisions on
abortion-inducing drugs and admitting privileges, the law also only
allows abortions in surgical centers and bans the procedure after 20
weeks.”

Cheney Defends Spying on World Leaders

October 28, 2013 at 3:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN that “there is an interest in conducting surveillance on a country or a leader, even a clear ally.”

Said Cheney: “We do have a fantastic intelligence capability, worldwide against all kinds of potential issues and concerns. We are vulnerable, as was shown on 9/11, and you never know what you’re going to need when you need it.”

He added: “We do collect a lot of intelligence. Without speaking about any particular target or group of targets, that intelligence capability is enormously important to the United States, to our conduct in foreign policy, to defense matters, economic matters, and I’m a strong supporter of it.”

The Deficit Isn’t the Biggest Problem

October 28, 2013 at 3:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

E.J. Dionne: “Here’s the mistake made by President Obama and the Democrats that nobody is talking about: They have been too fearful of confronting our country’s three-year obsession with the wrong problem.”

“And here is the tea party’s greatest victory: It has made the wrong problem the center of policymaking.”

“The wrong problem is the deficit. The right problem is sluggish growth and persistent unemployment.”

RNC Changes Spending Strategy

October 28, 2013 at 1:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Republican National Committee “is taking a drastically different approach to spending its money in the upcoming mid-term elections next year, putting up more money early on in the campaigns to build the party’s grassroots rather than stockpile its cash until the final days of the election as it has been in the past,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Now, instead of spending primarily on television ads and get-out-the-vote operations during the election’s final 90 days, the RNC says it is investing in consistent outreach to minority communities, and bulking up on its field and digital operations.”

McCain Praises Clinton’s Work as Secretary of State

October 28, 2013 at 12:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told Bloomberg that Hillary Clinton was an “outstanding” secretary of state — with the exception of her handling of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, last year.

Said McCain: “I don’t think there’s any doubt she has widespread support. Her work as secretary of state, with the exception of this issue of Benghazi — which isn’t going away — I think has been outstanding. I think she would be viewed by anyone, Republican or Democrat, as a very formidable candidate for 2016.”

Can Congress Get Back to Governing?

October 28, 2013 at 12:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Roll Call: “Two pivotal conference committees could test the post-shutdown theory that now is the time for both parties and chambers to finally come to the table and resolve their differences.”

“The high-profile conferences on the budget and the farm bill could serve as the primary sites of legislative activity, but it’s not yet clear how much of either conference’s inner workings the public will get to see.”

Graham Threatens to Block All Nominations

October 28, 2013 at 12:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened “to throw a wrench into Senate operations over the investigation of last year’s attack on Americans in Benghazi, Libya,” Roll Call reports.

“The Republican could cause a bottleneck for routine executive branch appointments that require Senate confirmation on which Senate Democrats wouldn’t want to burn through the time needed to overcome an objection.”

Where Republicans are Most Vulnerable in 2014

October 28, 2013 at 10:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Businessweek ranks the states where Republicans may be most vulnerable in the 2014 midterm elections.

The most vulnerable states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, New Jersey, Indiana, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

Bonus Quote of the Day

October 28, 2013 at 10:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Bill Clinton, he makes a lot of money making speeches. And he changes a lot of lives with his speeches. I watch him. I learn. If you can get people to listen, they will react.”

— Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, quoted by ESPN, when asked about his motivational speech in the dugout during last night’s World Series game.

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