“The Constitution must be amended. The Dred Scott decision had to be repealed, we have to repeal Citizens United.”
— Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), quoted by BuzzFeed, comparing the decision upholding slavery to the campaign finance ruling.
Woman Claims She Was Fired for Voting for Obama
An Ohio woman says that she was fired for voting for President Obama, the Dayton Daily News reports.
Patricia Kunkle’s lawsuit claims the Bobbie Gentile, president of Q-Mark Inc., “threatened employees with termination last year if President Obama was re-elected and that Obama supporters would be the first to be terminated if he were re-elected. Kunkle’s suit said her voting preferences came up in conversation the day after the election and that she was fired Nov. 9 for what the suit claims Gentile said was in the ‘best interest of the company.'”
The GOP’s Very Weak Position
The Cloakroom: It’s actually the Republicans who are overreaching.
Paul Gives Back $600K to Treasury
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) gave a $600,000 check to the U.S. Treasury, “taking the money he said he didn’t need from his office’s budget to make a tiny dent in the nation’s massive federal debt,” CNN reports.
Said Paul: “We watch every purchase. We watch what computers we buy, what paper we buy, the ink cartridges. We treat the money like it’s our money, or your money, and we look at every expenditure.”
Taking Down Rove
Michael Tackett: “For more than a decade, Republicans have looked to Karl Rove for the solution. Now, a growing number see him as the problem.”
Maggie Haberman: “After his electoral wipeout in November — and motivated by years of
resentment that’s spilling over — Rove’s credibility within his own
party is at an all-time low.”
The GOP’s Bad Message
Byron York: “Could the GOP message on the sequester be any more self-defeating?
Boehner could argue that the sequester cuts are necessary as a first —
and somewhat modest — step toward controlling the deficits that threaten
the economy. Instead, he describes them as a threat to national
security and jobs that he nevertheless supports. It’s not an argument
that is likely to persuade millions of Americans.”
Marc Ambinder: Five reasons why Republicans might risk the sequester.
Obama May Weigh in on Gay Marriage Case
The White House “is quietly considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage, a step that would mark a political victory for advocates of same-sex unions and a deepening commitment by President Obama to rights for gay couples,” the AP reports.
Kerry Plans to be More Aggressive
In the three weeks since John Kerry succeeded Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, “he’s already sent unmistakable signals of his independence with a more assertive, proactive and risk-taking stewardship of America’s foreign policy — with a more sustained focus on the Middle East and Europe than his predecessor,” Politico reports.
Kerry “views the job as the apex of his up-and-down 40-year political career and aspires to a more central policymaking role in the Obama administration than Clinton, who practiced what one official called ‘odometer diplomacy’ — a focus on globetrotting to bolster America’s relationships abroad coupled with attempts to cope with an array of pop-up crises.”
Quote of the Day
“Tell everybody back home, I’m sorry I let them down, OK?”
— Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), to Lynn Sweet after pleading guilty to misuse of campaign funds.
Killing Jesus
“After million-selling books on the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly is turning to the most famous killing of all,” the AP reports.
“O’Reilly’s Killing Jesus: A History will be published on Sept. 24.”
Americans Favor Obama Over GOP on Most Issues
A new USA Today/Pew Research poll finds President Obama “starts his second term with a clear upper hand over GOP leaders on issues from guns to immigration that are likely to dominate the year. On the legislation rated most urgent — cutting the budget deficit — even a majority of Republican voters endorse Obama’s approach of seeking tax hikes as well as spending cuts.”
“The survey underscores the quandary for the GOP as it debates the party’s message in the wake of disappointing losses last November for the White House and in the Senate.”
Key finding: “Now just 22% of Americans, nearly a record low, consider themselves Republicans.”
These results mirror a Bloomberg poll released last night.
Controversy Takes Toll On Menendez
A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds voters disapprove of the job Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is doing by 41% to 36%, a
15-point drop in less than a month, and by 44% to 28% say that he is not honest and trustworthy.
Clinton Will Charge $200K a Speech
Hillary Clinton will charge $200,000 for a two-hour speech when she hits the speaking circuit in a few months, the Washington Times reports.
Updating Reaganomics
Ramesh Ponnuru: “Today’s Republicans are very good at tending the fire of Ronald Reagan’s memory but not nearly as good at learning from his successes. They slavishly adhere to the economic program that Reagan developed to meet the challenges of the late 1970s and early 1980s, ignoring the fact that he largely overcame those challenges, and now we have new ones. It’s because Republicans have not moved on from that time that Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, in their responses to the State of the Union address last week, offered so few new ideas.”
Paula Broadwell Military Promotion Revoked
The U.S. Army “has revoked the promotion of Paula Broadwell, the one-time mistress of CIA Director David Petraeus,” CNN reports.
“Broadwell, a major in the Army reserves, had been approved last August for promotion to lieutenant colonel. The Army made the decision to revoke the promotion earlier this month.”
Obama Hits 3 Year High as Republicans Sink to New Low
A new Bloomberg National Poll finds President Obama enters the latest showdown with Congress with his highest job approval in three years and public support for his economic message, while his Republican opponents’ popularity stands at a record low.
Key findings: 55% of Americans approve of Obama’s in office, the strongest support since Sept 2009. Meanwhile, just 35% of the country has a favorable view of the GOP, the lowest since Sept 2009.
In addition, Americans by 43% to 34% say Republicans are more to blame than and Democrats for what’s wrong in Washington.
Flashback Quote of the Day
“I think when you’re — when you’re attacking the integrity of someone
who has been in public service for his entire lifetime, at great
sacrifice, supporting no fewer than eight children and with the many
sacrifices and the many contributions Senator Domenici has made, not
only to the country, but to New Mexico…”
— Michelle Laxalt, in a 2007 interview on Larry King Live, defending the senator who recently admitted to being the father of her son.
Is Marco Rubio Really Electable?
Nate Silver: “Among Republican presidential nominees since 1960, in fact, only the extraordinarily conservative Barry Goldwater, who had a score of 67, rates as being more conservative than Mr. Rubio.”
Nate Cohn: “In the best-case scenario, Rubio’s attractive candidacy and appeal among Latinos might allow the Republican nominee to match Romney’s historic performance among white voters and exceed 40 percent of the Latino vote. But while that would have given George W. Bush a clean win eight years ago, a similar performance might only allow Rubio to win by an extremely narrow margin. Demographic changes have shifted in the Democrats’ favor, and even exceptional performances by candidates attempting to reassemble the Bush coalition may no longer prove sufficient to win national elections. From this perspective, Rubio’s electoral appeal isn’t just limited, but dangerous to Republicans. It threatens to stifle the GOP’s incipient reckoning with the party’s appeal and its attempt to build a new and more viable electoral pathway for Republicans.”
