June 2012
23 posts
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Supreme Court upholds the individual mandate: Chief Justice Roberts says mandate may be upheld as within Congress’ taxing power.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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Obama will learn how the Supreme Court rules on his healthcare law from watching the news — and SCOTUSblog! — and won’t get any advance word on the opinion, the White House says.
Asked where Obama will be when the highly anticipated decision is announced on Thursday morning, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “In my office.”
“We turn on televisions and...
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Obama has staked out a clear lead in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, a new poll shows.
Overall, the Quinnipiac University survey, taken just days after Obama’s immigration policy announcement, found Obama ahead of Romney by 9 percentage points in Ohio (47 percent to 38 percent), 6 percentage points in Pennsylvania (45 percent to 39 percent) and 4 percentage points in Florida (45 percent...
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Most Americans oppose President Obama’s healthcare reform even though they strongly support most of its provisions, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
Support for the provisions of the healthcare law was strong, with a full 82 percent of survey respondents, for example, favoring banning insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
Sixty-one percent are in...
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Finally talking immigration, Romney addresses...
Mitt Romney tried to make up ground with Hispanic voters in a speech today, promising a long-term solution to allow young illegal immigrants to stay in the United States, but offering just a few minor immigration proposals.
“Some people have asked if I will let stand the president’s executive action. The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace...
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About two-thirds of Americans believe George W. Bush is responsible for the nation’s struggling economy, with a smaller percentage blaming Obama, a Gallup poll shows.
READ MORE: Most say Bush to blame for weak U.S. economy, poll finds
Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing, May 31, 2012
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Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol being sued by man...
Talent manager Stephen Hanks, who heckled Bristol Palin in an LA bar and insulted her conservative politician mother, Sarah Palin, filed a lawsuit today accusing the single mom of defamation.
Palin, who rose to fame because of a teen pregnancy when her mother was running for vice president in 2008, had just ridden a mechanical bull at the bar when Hanks, who was a customer there, shouted out...
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Mitt Romney may be down on China and threatening to declare Beijing a currency manipulator from day one if he is elected president, but his past dealings with the country show he was not always so hostile.
From his early days at private equity firm Bain Capital to his time as Massachusetts governor, Romney welcomed investments from China, and bought and expanded companies that benefited from...
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Obama and his staff have taken pains to regularly remind the public that the U.S. economy has been adding jobs every month since March of 2010, for a total of 4.3 million new jobs.
That is about the same pace of job creation as occurred after the 1990-1991 and 2001 recessions, according to Yale economist Benjamin Polak — a heartening sign that the American job machine isn’t much...
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A Ku Klux Klan chapter wants to spruce up a stretch of roadway in northern Georgia, creating a legal quandary for transportation officials as they consider the white supremacy group’s “adopt a highway” application.
Under adopt-a-highway programs in Georgia and many other states, groups volunteer to pick up trash and plant trees along the highway. Road signs are typically...
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The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Jose Padilla, who said he had been tortured at a military jail in South Carolina and who sought to hold former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials accountable.
The justices let stand an appeals court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit by Padilla on the grounds his allegations lacked merit. The appeals court said he had no right to sue for...
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President Obama’s re-election campaign and affiliated Democratic groups raised more than $60 million in May, a steep jump from the previous month.
May’s increase gives Obama a boost as Mitt Romney closes the contributions gap.
It is also a bit of good news for Democratic supporters after the Republican victory in the Wisconsin governor recall election this week that was widely...
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The festering economic crisis in Europe could help determine the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, but don’t expect Obama or Romney to spend much time talking about it.
They’re not likely to discuss the topic in much detail in the weeks ahead, analysts say, because the risks of dwelling on Europe’s financial problems simply outweigh the possible benefits.
Obama could...
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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s victory delivers a psychological boost for Republicans and a blow to Democrats that could linger until the presidential election.
Many of Walker’s national supporters - who flooded the state with anti-Barrett ads and gave Walker a more than 7-to-1 financial advantage - saw the results as a vindication of his take-no-prisoners brand of fiscal...
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“This is more than just about fairness. Women are the breadwinners for a lot of...”
– President Obama, urging Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update equal pay laws by barring employers from punishing workers who share information about their pay and strengthen remedies for victims of sex-based pay discrimination.
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With Obama facing a stiff challenge from Mitt Romney in the election, his chances of winning the key state of Colorado could hinge on marijuana legalization, supported by a growing number of Americans.
At issue is whether Obama will get a boost from young voters expected to be among the most enthusiastic backers of a Colorado ballot initiative that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of...
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Senator John McCain waited until just before the 2008 Republican convention to name his vice presidential pick, sticking to a timing tradition thought to pump up party activists before the big push to Election Day.
This year, there is at least a small chance that Mitt Romney might break with tradition and name his vice presidential choice earlier in the summer, according to people advising...
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“It is now clear to everyone that President Obama’s policies have failed to...”
– Mitt Romney, in a statement on the May jobs report, which showed employers added just 69,000 jobs in May (economists had expected 150,000) and a rise in the unemployment rate from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent. 