2012 Elections

Budget Battles

  • The Great Debate

    Five Debate Moments that Changed Elections

    By Robert Speel, The Conversation

    Every presidential election year in my American Political Campaigns and Elections course, I get an opportunity to spend a full lecture discussing with students some of the famous moments from...

  • House panel says IRS official waived rights, contempt possible

    Lois Lerner Is Cleared, Sparking Conservative Fury

    By Rob Garver

    Concluding that “poor management is not a crime,” the Justice Department on Friday informed members of Congress that it would not be filing criminal charges against anyone in what has become known as...

  • GOP Leaders Take on Far Right Pressure Groups

    By Eric Pianin

    There have been plenty of theories about why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) strode onstage at a conservative gathering late last week carrying a rifle. Ostensibly, McConnell, the 72-...

  • Romney: If Hillary Runs, She Won’t Need Bill

    By Thomas Ferraro, Reuters

    Failed 2012 U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said on Sunday he expects Hillary Clinton to win or lose the White House on her record, not that of her husband, former Democratic...

  • Joint Session of Congress

    Voters Give a Thumbs-Down to Their Own Lawmakers

    By Eric Pianin

    In another sign of public outrage over a dysfunctional and politically divided Congress, a record low percentage of registered voters now say their own House member deserves another chance while even...

  • Obama Footsoldiers Step into Fiscal Cliff Fight

    By Andy Sullivan, Reuters

    The election ended more than a month ago, but the campaign continues for many of the 2 million-plus foot soldiers who helped secure Obama's second term. Flush with victory, many volunteers and...

  • Fiscal Cliff Cuts Will Diminish Obama’s Second Term

    By Peter Wallsten and Zachary A Goldfarb, The Washington Post

    Even if President Obama succeeds in getting Republicans to agree to tax hikes on the wealthy as part of a “fiscal cliff” deal, the country’s grim budget realities will still cast a long shadow —...

  • DeMint Leaving Senate to Head Conservative Think Tank

    By Sean Sullivan and RACHEL WEINER, The Washington Post

    Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a leading conservative voice in the Senate, will resign his seat in January to become the next president of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, he announced...

  • Cliff Deal or Not? Experts Say “Don’t Bet on It”

    By Eric Pianin

    With negotiations between the White House and House Speaker John Boehner over ways to avoid a year fiscal cliff stalled for now, many budget policy and political experts say they are highly dubious...

  • Cliff Deal Turns the Screws on Boehner and the GOP

    By Josh Boak and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times

    he yearend fiscal crisis may create a challenge for House Speaker John Boehner within his own Republican party— as to where, how, and when they’ll cut spending over the next decade.