First Read: “Beginning the sixth month of his second term in office, President Obama today hosts — along with Vice President Biden — a daylong White House conference on mental health. This comes after Friday’s event on student loans, last Tuesday’s trip to New Jersey to talk about rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, and the even earlier national-security speech at the National Defense University. And these different events raise this question: What is the White House’s overall message? Because right now it’s all over the place. The above events are all worthy, don’t get us wrong. But they seem disconnected from whatever larger narrative the president offered up in January during his inaugural and State of the Union.”
Lautenberg is Dead at 89
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died at age 89, the New York Times reports.
Lautenberg “died as a result of complications from viral pneumonia at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, his office said. He had decided not to run for another term next year.”
Meltdown at America’s Most Conservative Political Consulting Firm
McKay Coppins has a fascinating look at the collapse of the political consulting firm behind the rise of Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz.
“This is the headquarters of the largest, most combative, and perhaps
most controversial band of messaging warriors in Republican politics.
Their blandly named company, Strategy Group for Media, has spent a
decade developing a slashing formula for turning the party’s right-wing
rejects into members of Congress. Now there are at least 40 Republicans
in Congress who have worked with the Strategy Group, which serves as a
campaign and strategy clearing house for the uncompromisingly
conservative wing of the congressional caucus that has been at the
center of American politics since 2010.”
Deficit Deal Not Likely
Wall Street Journal: “Shrinking near-term federal deficits, slowing health-care cost increases and partisan gridlock have all but wiped out the likelihood for a deal this year to reduce long-term U.S. deficits, perhaps delaying a compromise until after the 2014 midterm elections, White House officials and congressional lawmakers said.”
Christie Pulling In Big Democratic Donors
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “is cashing in donations from top Democratic fundraisers and other traditionally liberal donors across the country, even nabbing the support of a handful of rainmakers aligned with President Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel,” the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
“The checks are flying into the Republican governor’s war chest from all sorts of unlikely places — the hedge fund run by liberal billionaire George Soros, for example, and the politically progressive halls of the University of California, Berkeley.”
Quote of the Day
“To screw up a U.S. Senate special election isn’t a theory for us. We’ve done it, so nobody is taking anything for granted.”
— Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman John Walsh, quoted by the Boston Globe.
Wife of Virginia Governor Received Questionable Payment
Maureen McDonnell “was paid $36,000 last year to attend a handful of meetings as a consultant to the philanthropic arm of one of the state’s major coal companies,” the Washington Post reports.
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) “indicated on his annual financial disclosure forms for 2011 and 2012 that his wife served as a paid trustee of a family charity, the Frances G. and James W. McGlothlin Foundation. But in an interview, James McGlothlin said the $21 million family foundation never named McDonnell to its board.”
Senate Republicans Tiptoe Around Activist Base
National Journal: “Republicans scheming to take back control of the Senate next year are walking a delicate line between the politically pragmatic decisions they need to make to win and an activist base that sees a nefarious, hidden agenda in Washington’s meddling.”
Book Claims Obama Made Deal to Back Clinton in 2016
An update to the paperback version of The Amateur by Edward Klein claims President Obama “made a secret deal to support Hillary Clinton when she runs for president in 2016, campaign sources say, payback for the support her husband gave him in 2012,” the New York Post reports.
Issa Calls White House Spokesman a Paid Liar
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) called White House press secretary Jay Carney a “paid liar” who is not being truthful about the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service, Politico reports.
Said Issa: “Their paid liar, their spokesperson… he’s still making up things about what happened and calling this a local rogue.”
Romney’s Plans Revealed
Mitt Romney’s transition organization published a 138-page report detailing how it had prepared for a potential Romney victory in the 2012 presidential election, Time reports.
“It is the product of a team of nearly 500, who labored in Washington and around the country to be ready to help Romney assume the reins of power on January 20th, 2013, in accordance with the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010.”
Many Wish Attorney General Would Step Down
New York Times: “Over the course of four and a half years, no other member of President Obama’s cabinet has been at the center of so many polarizing episodes or the target of so much criticism. While the White House publicly backed Mr. Holder as he tried to smooth over the latest uproar amid new speculation about his future, some in the West Wing privately tell associates they wish he would step down, viewing him as politically maladroit. But the latest attacks may stiffen the administration’s resistance in the near term to a change for fear of emboldening critics.”
Panetta Gets a Book Deal
Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary and director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has struck a $3 million deal to write a memoir of his life and career, the New York Times reports.
Said Panetta: “I have seen Washington at its best and at its worst. My goal is to give readers the opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn the lessons of how our democracy works, and sometimes how it fails to work.”
Bill Would Allow Spying on Bank Accounts of Unemployed
A GOP bill that is speeding through the Wisconsin state Legislature “would require jobless people to provide more proof that they are seeking work, and make it easier for the state to recover overpayments — including those made because of government errors — by allowing officials to peek into unemployed people’s bank accounts,” the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
Lawmaker’s Top Aide Implicated in Phantom Ballot Scheme
Rep Joe Garcia’s (D-FL) chief of staff “abruptly resigned Friday after being implicated in a sophisticated scheme to manipulate last year’s primary elections by submitting hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests,” the Miami Herald reports.
“Garcia said he had asked Jeffrey Garcia, no relation, for his resignation after the chief of staff — also the congressman’s top political strategist — took responsibility for the plot. Hours earlier, law enforcement investigators raided the homes of another of Joe Garcia’s employees and a former campaign aide in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation into the matter.”
Donors to GOP Group Also Drew Scrutiny
Wall Street Journal: “At the same time the Internal Revenue Service was targeting tea-party groups, the tax agency took the unusual step of trying to impose gift taxes on donors to a prominent conservative advocacy group formed in 2007 to build support for President George W. Bush’s Iraq troop surge.”
Learn How to Cook Mitt’s Meatloaf Cakes
Coming this fall: The Romney Family Table: Sharing Home-Cooked Recipes & Favorite Traditions by Ann Romney.
“For Ann, cooking is far from just a meaningless chore; it is ‘part of the most important occupation on earth–raising a family.’ But while cooking for her husband, their five sons, five daughters-in-law, and twenty-one grandchildren has been rewarding, it can also be challenging. Ann shares some of the tips that have helped her along the way, as well as the stories behind many of her favorite recipes–including Mitt’s Meatloaf Cakes, homemade ice cream, and Welsh Skillet Cookies.”
The GOP’s Built-In Midterm Turnout Advantage
David Wasserman: “Midterm elections have always drawn older voters, and usually drawn white voters, to the polls in disproportionate numbers. Older voters are less transient, have grown deeper roots in their local communities, and pay much more attention to non-presidential elections than their younger counterparts. In the 1980s, that didn’t hold partisan consequences. Today, that amounts to a built-in midterm turnout advantage for Republicans.”
