Washington Examiner Political Digest
Examiner Politics Sunday: Weekend breaking news & comment from The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential bloggers
Michael Barone - Americans want the honor of 'earned success'Why aren't voters moving to the left, toward parties favoring bigger government, during what increasingly looks like an economic depression? That's a question I've asked, and one that was
addressed with characteristic thoughtfulness by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg in the New York Times last week.
Read MoreIn the wake of Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States government's credit rating from AAA to AA+, a number of commentators on the left are directing most of the blame not at high levels of government spending, and not even at tax rates they would like to increase, but at the ratings agency itself. Since S&P made enormous mistakes in rating securities backed by subprime mortgages prior to the economic meltdown, they argue, the ratings agency has no right to judge the U.S. government today.
Examiner writers report from the 2012 Campaign trail:
Philip Klein in Texas for Gov. Rick Perry's prayer rally in Houston:Perry leads 30,000 in prayer at rally
HOUSTON -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry led about 30,000 people in prayer here on Saturday, triggering a debate over how his leading role in a religious event would affect his expected bid for the Republican presidential nomination. After months of controversy over his promotion of the event, dubbed "The Response: A call to prayer for a nation in crisis," Perry took the stage only briefly, reading from scripture and steering clear of politics in his remarks.Read More
HOUSTON--Despite the media assumption that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is certain to run for president, his top aides insist that no decision has yet been made, and there’s no hard deadline other than a general desire to resolve the question by the end of the summer.
HOUSTON -- A
day-long prayer event organized by Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be simulcast by 1,100 churches across the country, according to event organizers, including several in the key primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
HOUSTON -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the potential Republican presidential candidate, will lead thousands in a short scripture reading here this morning, as part of the mega prayer event he helped organize.
And Haley Peterson in Iowa:
GRINNELL, Iowa - Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was still introducing himself and trying to win over voters one handshake at a time as he readies himself for a debate and straw poll that could make or break his nascent campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Read More
Pawlenty on Obama: 'You could stick a fork in him'
GRINNELL, Iowa -- Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says Obama is "done."
Follow on Twitter:@charliespiering
The Huffington Post just got a copy of Texas Governor Rick Perry's grades at Texas A&M from a
source that suggests Perry was "not the brightest guy around."
“I believe that this is without question the Tea Party downgrade,” Sen John Kerry, D-Mass., told David Gregory this morning on Meet the Press. “This is the Tea Party downgrade because a minority of people in the House of Representatives countered even the will of many Republicans in the United States Senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal to do $4.7 trillion, $4 trillion, [that had] a mix of reductions and reforms in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, but also recognize that we needed to do some revenue,” Kerry finished.
byPhilip Klein
Standard and Poor’s explanation for why it downgraded U.S. debt is written in such a way that it can be seized upon by all ideological stripes. The statement cites the unwillingness of Republicans to raise taxes and of Democrats to agree to entitlement cuts. And the rating agency’s discourse about the political dysfunction will provide column fodder for Washington pundits who long for the days when both parties would work together to reach compromises. But make no mistake, when all the dust settles, it will be difficult for President Obama to escape blame for this.
Follow on Twitter:@jsgehrkejr
On the day that Gov. Rick Perry is holding a National Day of Prayer, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., announced that over one hundred pastors and church leaders have endorsed Bachmann, as Republican candidates jockey for support before the Ames straw poll.
Follow on Twitter:@michaelbarone
Do great minds move in the same direction? Evidence in favor of this proposition comes from the fact that both
Charles Krauthammer and
Stephen Moore have columns in today’s papers advocating a 1986-style rate-cutting, preference-eliminating tax reform law. Many have argued that this would be precluded by the debt limit agreement, but they beg to differ.
Follow on Twitter:@freddoso
Throughout the debate over the debt ceiling, the media did all of us a great disservice. They reported as though the Republicans were threatening to ruin America's credit unless they got their way.
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