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...

  • Romney Comment Derails Republican Campaign Again

    By Philip Rucker, The Washington Post

    Romney faced another distraction Monday, as Mother Jones magazine unearthed a video that it said showed the candidate speaking at a May 17 fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla. In the video, Romney says...

  • The Next President Will Step into Deficit Hell

    By Knowledge Wharton, Knowledge@Wharton

    To hear the candidates tell it, the presidential election offers a dramatic choice on the economy: Vote for me, each says, if you want a robust recovery; pick my opponent, and we'll plunge back into...

  • “This is No Way to Run a Government!”–Adm. Mullen

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    s a former Secretary of Defense and CIA director who served eight of the last nine presidents, Bob Gates has navigated treacherous issues before—Soviets during the Cold War, the Taliban, South...

  • Romney to Roll Out Details of Economic Plan

    By Philip Rucker and David Nakamura, The Washington Post

    Republican Mitt Romney, who last week struggled with his responses to a major ­foreign-policy crisis in the Middle East, will now turn his focus back to the economy with a new offensive aimed at...

  • Policy Bigwigs Sound the Alarm over 'Fiscal Cliff'

    By Josh Boak and Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times

    With Congress back in session, two competing views have emerged about the impact of the looming fiscal cliff—it’s either the jolt needed for politicians to finally rise above their philosophical...