Super Committee

Republican Acknowledges GOP Pushed Ryan Plan In Super Committee Negotiations

Brian Beutler | November 22, 2011, 12:34PM

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

If you're having a hard time buying that one party was more reasonable than another in the Super Committee negotiations, read Republican co-chair Jeb Hensarling's obituary for the panel in the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, check out this part about the GOP's big ask:

Democrats on the committee made it clear that the new spending called for in the president's health law was off the table. Still, committee Republicans offered to negotiate a plan on the other two health-care entitlements--Medicare and Medicaid--based upon the reforms included in the budget the House passed earlier this year....

Republicans on the committee also offered to negotiate a plan based on the bipartisan "Protect Medicare Act" authored by Alice Rivlin, one of President Bill Clinton's budget directors, and Pete Domenici, a former Republican senator from New Mexico. Rivlin-Domenici offered financial support to seniors to purchase quality, affordable health coverage in Medicare-approved plans. These seniors would be able to choose from a list of Medicare-guaranteed coverage options, similar to the House budget's approach--except that Rivlin-Domenici would continue to include a traditional Medicare fee-for-service plan among the options.

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Newt Gingrich

Former Directors Blast Gingrich's Plan To Eliminate Congressional Budget Office

Brian Beutler | November 9, 2011, 6:00AM

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Newt Gingrich wants to swing into Washington like a wrecking ball and demolish the key barriers between the GOP and the end of universal health care. But his primary target isn't Obamacare itself. Rather it's a non-partisan agency most people outside the beltway have never heard of -- but that the D.C. establishment would arise and take arms to protect.

"If you are serious about real health reform, you must abolish the Congressional Budget Office because it lies," Gingrich said at a Saturday debate with embattled pizza entrepreneur Herman Cain. "Every hospital will tell you that if you get the family and patient involved, it is better and less expensive. The Congressional Budget Office refuses to see this as a savings. It wants more bureaucracy and less patient involvement."

In a technical sense, Gingrich is correct. The Congressional Budget Office will make it hard for Republicans to completely repeal Obamacare, even if they unify control of government in 2013. CBO is the agency that evaluates for lawmakers the impact their legislation is expected to have on the federal budget. And unfortunately for Republicans, the health care law was devised to score as a deficit reducer, particularly after its first 10 years of existence. By direct corollary, the CBO says repealing the whole thing would increase projected deficits. For political and (more importantly) procedural reasons, that would make a complete repeal almost impossible.

Some Republicans want to change the rules that make CBO's words so powerful. Gingrich, by contrast, wants to get rid of CBO altogether. In response, former CBO heads are leaping to its defense -- including a key conservative economist, influential among Republicans.

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Barack Obama

Just The Facts: Republicans Falsely Claim Obama Seeks Biggest Tax Hike In History

Brian Beutler | September 29, 2011, 11:19AM

President Barack Obama

After President Obama unveiled his jobs and deficit reduction plans, he took to the road to draw a contrast between himself and the Republican politicians who want to end his political career. Obama's proposes to spend money now on hiring people and cutting taxes temporarily to spur further job growth, and pay for it in just over a year, in large part by raising taxes on wealthy Americans.

The Republican vision -- phasing out safety net programs like Medicare in order to maintain low tax rates on the same group of affluent people -- is far less popular. So in their own tried and true way, Republicans recast Obama's plan for "shared sacrifice" as "the largest tax increase in history."

What a difference! But also untrue.

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Bill Clinton

Clinton Says GOP Climate Deniers Making The U.S. 'Look Like A Joke'

David Taintor | September 20, 2011, 2:59PM

Former President Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton has some tough words for Republican climate-change deniers: quit making the U.S. "look like a joke."

Kicking off his Clinton Global Initiative in New York, the former president said Americans should make it "politically unacceptable" for people to engage in climate change denial, according to Politico.

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Rick Perry

Bill Clinton Scoffs At Rick Perry's Platform: 'I Mean, This Is Crazy' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 15, 2011, 2:59PM

Former President Bill Clinton (D)

Former President Bill Clinton spoke Monday morning to the International Association of Fire Fighters conference in Manhattan, The New York Observer's PolitickerNY reports -- and he had some tough words for the newest entrant into the GOP race for president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"I got tickled by watching Governor Perry announce for governor, for president," Clinton said -- perhaps stumbling a bit in the wind-up of a joke. "He's a good looking rascal."

The former president elaborated: "And he's saying 'Oh, I'm going to Washington to make sure that the federal government stays as far away from you as possible -- while I ride on Air Force One and that Marine One helicopter and go to Camp David and travel around the world and have a good time.' I mean, this is crazy."

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Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton: GOP Voting Crackdown Worst Since Jim Crow

Benjy Sarlin | July 6, 2011, 6:04PM

Former President Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton weighed in on Republican efforts in several states to pass new restrictions on voting, comparing the measures to the Jim Crow laws of the past.

"There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today," Clinton said in a speech at a Campus Progress conference in Washington.

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Health Care

Inactivity My A$$: Judge Dismisses Key Argument Of Health Care Reform Foes

Brian Beutler | June 9, 2011, 1:14PM

President Barack Obama

Oral arguments are over in the highest profile lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Obama's health care reform law. So the new parlor game for observers and stakeholders is identifying key moments from Wednesday's proceeding in Atlanta that indicate where the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals may be headed.

The three-judge panel in the case, brought by 26 mostly Republican states and others, posed tough questions to both plaintiffs and defendants and made it clear they found merit in arguments from both sides. But in a brief exchange with plaintiffs' attorney Paul Clement, one of the judges -- Bill Clinton appointee Frank Hull -- dismissed one of health care reform foes' key arguments out of hand.

Specifically, Hull cast aside the plaintiff's claim that by compelling non-participants in the insurance industry to buy health insurance, it regulates "inactivity."

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Medicare

Despite What Boehner Says, Republicans Have Voted To Cut Medicare, Repeatedly

Brian Beutler | May 27, 2011, 1:54PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

The words "voted to" could come back to haunt House Speaker John Boehner.

In his weekly Capitol briefing with reporters Thursday, Boehner made an unmistakably false claim. "The only people in Washington, DC who have voted to cut Medicare have been the Democrats when they voted to cut $500 billion in Medicare during Obamacare," he said. Given a chance to walk it back, Boehner's spokesman did not.

Even if you leave out the key modifier "voted to" this is far from true. Both parties have actually "cut" Medicare many times over the years. Republicans in particular haven't just voted for cuts, but passed legislation that presidents either signed or vetoed.

That happened repeatedly in the 1990s, as laid out in detail here. In late 1995 and early 1996, it precipitated a government shutdown. In 1997, it resulted in the Balanced Budget Act.

But if you leave the modifier in, this turns into a huge whopper.

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Medicare

Paul Ryan And Bill Clinton Chat Backstage About Medicare, NY-26 (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | May 25, 2011, 3:36PM

Former President Bill Clinton (D) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is not backing down from his Medicare privatization proposals, in the wake of the GOP's stunning defeat in the NY-26 special election. And as ABC News reports, he's getting some friendly advice from an unlikely source: Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

The two were seen talking backstage at Wednesday's Fiscal Summit held by the Pete Peterson Foundation, where they were both speaking. And apparently without their knowledge, a camera picked up some of the conversation.

"I'm glad we won this race in New York," Clinton can be seen saying in the video. "But I hope Democrats don't use it as an excuse to do nothing."

Ryan responded: "My guess is it's gonna sink into paralysis, is what's gonna happen. And you know the math. I mean, It's just -- we knew we were putting ourselves out there. But you gotta start this. You gotta get out there. You gotta get this thing moving."

Clinton told Ryan to call him if he ever wanted to talk about the issue, Ryan said he would, and the two parted.

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NY-26

Party VIPs Chris Christie and Bill Clinton Hit The Phones In NY-26

Benjy Sarlin | May 24, 2011, 2:46PM

NY-26 Congressional Candidates Jane Corwin (R) and Kathy Hochul (D).

Both parties are calling in the big guns to rally voters as residents in New York's 26th district line up to vote in today's special election.

On the Republican side, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of the most popular party members nationally, has a robo-call making the rounds backing Republican Jane Corwin.

"Now, I'm sure you've received many phone calls about this election already, nut please just give me a few seconds of your time as the election draws near," Christie says in the call, according to The Buffalo News. "I'm calling to ask you for your support for Jane Corwin for Congress as you go to the polls Tuesday, May 24th. I ran for governor of New Jersey because like you, I wanted to see REAL change. Jane Corwin is a fighter who knows how to get things done. We're in critical times for our country, and Washington needs stand-up leaders who will fight to control spending and change business as usual."

Rallying Democrats, former President and current New York State resident Bill Clinton has recorded a call as well. Clinton's script focuses tightly on the Medicare angle that Democrats have been pushing in the district, an approach they credit with their current lead in the polls.

"You can count on Kathy to say no to partisan politics that would end Medicare as we know it to pay for more tax cuts for multi-millionaires," he says. "That's just one reason I hope you'll join me in supporting Kathy Hochul for Congress in the Special Election tomorrow, May 24th."

Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan Doubles Down On Medicare Plan, Likens It To Clinton Budgets

Benjy Sarlin | May 18, 2011, 12:23PM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

After treading lightly around his plan to cut and privatize Medicare in a speech Monday, Paul Ryan doubled down on the proposal Wednesday in an op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor.

While the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concludes that Ryan's plan would achieve its savings by forcing seniors to pay thousands of dollars more in medical costs within a decade of its passage, Ryan claimed that those "demonizing" his budget as a blow to the safety net have it all wrong.

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart: Bill Clinton Is the Michael Jordan Of Press Briefings (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 15, 2010, 10:20AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night said President Barack Obama's decision to leave former President Bill Clinton alone in the White House Briefing Room last week exudes "the kind of cool confidence that borders on delusional."

"You're going to leave that guy, the Michael Jordan of press briefings, in charge, while you go to a Christmas party?" Stewart asked.

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Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton Backs Tax Deal: 'I Hope That My Fellow Democrats Will Support It' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 5:13PM

It seems like old times. Former President Bill Clinton took to the White House press room this afternoon, to voice his support for a compromise policy with Republicans, and to urge dissatisfied liberal Democrats to come over and vote for it. This time, though, he was offering his assistance to the current President Barack Obama, and for the tax cut and unemployment benefit deal that Obama and Republican leaders rolled out this week.

"So in my opinion, this is a good bill, and I hope that my fellow Democrats will support it," said Clinton. "I thank the Republican leaders for agreeing to include things that were important to the president. There's never a perfect bipartisan bill in the eyes of a partisan. And we all see this differently. But I really believe this will be a significant net plus for the country. I also think that in general a lot of people are breathing a sigh of relief that there's finally been some agreement on something."

After introducing Clinton, Obama actually left the briefing, leaving Clinton alone with the White House press corps.

The former president also added this advice to Democrats who are opposed to extending the Bush tax cuts on the top income brackets: "I think this a net plus. And you know how I feel, I think the people that benefit most should pay most. That's always been my position -- not for class warfare reasons, for reasons of fairness and rebuilding the middle class in America. But we have the distribution of authority we have now in the congress, and the one we're gonna have in January. And I think this is a much much better agreement than would be reached were we to wait until January, and I think it will have a much more positive agreement on the economy. So for whatever it's worth, that's what I think."

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MN-GOV

Mark Dayton To Raise Money With Bill Clinton, George Soros

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2010, 2:54PM

Former President Bill Clinton, gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton (D-MN)

This should just tickle certain right-wingers pink.

As Minnesota Public Radio reports, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Dayton has a very special fundraiser coming up, to help pay for his efforts in the state recount. The headliner at the December 13th event will be none other than former President Bill Clinton.

But that's not all. It will also be held in New York, at the home of George Soros.

Going into the recount, Dayton led Republican nominee Tom Emmer by 8,770 votes, or 0.42%. While this is within the 0.5% needed to trigger a statewide recount, many observers have doubted that Emmer could pull ahead, as Dayton's lead is probably too wide to be reversed barring any surprising discoveries in the hand count. However, a possible drawn-out legal contest could potentially result in Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty staying in office in the interim, with the opportunity to work with a newly elected Republican legislature.

FL-SEN

Kendrick Meek Explains It All: I Never, Ever Agreed To Drop Out (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 29, 2010, 10:14AM

Kendrick Meek did talk to Bill Clinton about dropping his Democratic bid to be the next Senator from Florida, a move that supporters of the plan say would have opened up an opportunity for independent Charlie Crist to catch Republican Marco Rubio's rising star before Election Day. But Meek insists he did not agree to drop out of the race, ever, as Clintonistas told Ben Smith at Politico and many, many other reporters yesterday.

That is the takeaway from Meek's round of TV appearances this morning, and it is the story as Meek is telling it. Team Clinton did not respond to my requests for comment on Meek's take last night.

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FL-SEN

Democrat Meek Denies Agreeing To Clinton-Arranged Deal To Drop FL-SEN Bid And Endorse Charlie Crist

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 28, 2010, 8:10PM

Marco Rubio, Charlie Crist, and Kendrick Meek at a Florida Senate debate

An explosive new story from Politico's Ben Smith has led to some serious sniping between the two men trailing Republican Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate race. Smith reports that Bill Clinton orchestrated a deal with Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek (the guy currently running a distant third to Rubio) to drop out of the race and endorse independent candidate Charlie Crist, the guy running second.

The deal could have given Crist a real shot at beating Rubio and, therefore, moderates and Democrats a chance at stopping Rubio's rapid rise in the GOP. Rubio has been a conservative darling of the GOP ever since he pushed Crist out of the Republican primary and into his current independent bid. Most say Rubio will be a major player on the Republican scene if, as polls currently suggest, he cruises to victory Tuesday.

All that could have been different if Clinton's deal had happened. But, as Smith reports it, after first warming to the idea of dropping out -- things went so far that a unity rally was planned for Oct. 26 -- Meek "lost his enthusiasm for the arrangement, spurred in part...by his wife's belief that he could still win the race."

Now comes the sniping. Crist confirms Smith's account of things. Meek says it's not true. That's led to a new war of words between the two men while Rubio continues his march toward certain victory.

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Political movies

TPM Fact Check: New Conservative Anti-Spending Flick Plays Real Loose With Facts

Christina Bellantoni | October 15, 2010, 8:03AM

A new film, "I Want Your Money."

When "I Want Your Money" hits theaters today, it will likely be hailed by Republicans eyeing Congressional control as exposing the Obama administration for being fiscally reckless. Already, the creator Ray Griggs has made the rounds on Fox News, which heaped praise on the filmmaker for including Fox contributors in the documentary.

But there's one big problem -- a bunch of the facts don't add up. The most egregious omission is failing to mention that Ronald Reagan, who is depicted as a fiscal hero in the film, raised taxes.

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2010 elections

NYT Mag Interview: Here Comes Obama 2.0

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 13, 2010, 6:28PM

President Obama on the way to George Mason University

The New York Times Magazine is up with this weekend's massive interview with President Obama by the paper's Peter Baker. The story in a nutshell? Obama is ready to reboot after a tough first two years in office.

From the story:

While proud of his record, Obama has already begun thinking about what went wrong -- and what he needs to do to change course for the next two years. He has spent what one aide called "a lot of time talking about Obama 2.0" with his new interim chief of staff, Pete Rouse, and his deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina. During our hour together, Obama told me he had no regrets about the broad direction of his presidency. But he did identify what he called "tactical lessons." He let himself look too much like "the same old tax-and-spend liberal Democrat." He realized too late that "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects" when it comes to public works. Perhaps he should not have proposed tax breaks as part of his stimulus and instead "let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts" so it could be seen as a bipartisan compromise.

Here are some highlights from the transcript of Baker's long interview with the President.

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KY-SEN

Rand Paul Goes There: Lewinsky Jokes Abound As Clinton Stumps For Dem In KY-SEN

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 12, 2010, 1:05PM

Rand Paul (R)

When President Bill Clinton stumped for Kentucky's Democratic nominee for Senate, Jack Conway, he was met with a barrage of jokes about his past from Conway's Republican opponent, Rand Paul. Clinton tried to raise fears about foreign donor money with the voters he spoke to in Kentucky; Paul responded by reminding everyone that Clinton once had oral sex performed on him in the Oval Office.

It was not rhetoric in the style of the Lincoln-Douglass debates. But it was fairly entertaining.

"I'm not sure I would trust a guy who had had sexual relations with an intern. I mean, do you think he's an honorable person?" Paul told supporters at a campaign stop on Monday, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"I think that's disgusting," Paul added. "It gets to the point where we discount what he says."

There was more, as PoliticsDaily reports. "They complain they want all these workplace rules," Paul told the audience in Shelbyville, KY. "Do you think there ought to be a law against having, using the prerogatives of your position and your power of your job, to have relations with an intern? I think that's disgusting. It gets to the point where we discount what he says. He showed himself less than honorable in office."

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Political movies

In Anti-Spending Flick Cartoon Bill Clinton Chases Sarah Palin, Obama Smokes In Oval Office

Christina Bellantoni | October 7, 2010, 12:19PM

A scene from "I Want Your Money"

A new conservative anti-spending film starring Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee aimed at influencing the midterm elections paints President Clinton as chasing Sarah Palin's skirt and includes a scene where a cartoon Ronald Reagan K.O.'s President Obama in a boxing ring.

Filmmaker Ray Griggs has told TPM in an interview he used animation in "I Want Your Money" because he wanted to educate young people about the deficit. Problem is, the facts he uses are skewed to make Obama and Nancy Pelosi look like spending bandits -- and, while he canonizes Reagan, he fails to mention that the Gipper also raised taxes.

TPM obtained a copy of the film, which includes interviews with Gingrich, Huckabee, Andrew Breitbart and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, Griggs' narration about the good 'ol days under Reagan, interviews with tea partiers, man-on-the-street clips from New York's Times Square about the definition of socialism and several cringe-worthy animated scenes of Obama interacting with former presidents dead and living.

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John Boehner

Say What?! Republicans Echo Bill Clinton's Rhetoric In Anti-Pork Crusade

Brian Beutler | October 1, 2010, 4:21PM

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

How untenable is the idea of eliminating earmarks? So untenable that Republicans are now borrowing from Bill Clinton to walk back what was recently one of their top initiatives.

"I am proud to stand with Leader Boehner in calling for an end to earmarking as we know it," Tweeted House GOP conference chair Mike Pence today. The sentiment was echoed -- retweeted, as the kids like to call it -- by Boehner himself, and Pence put out a statement today calling for "Congress to make the hard choices that are necessary to break Washington's spending addiction, and ending earmarks as we know them is a step in the right direction."

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Pledge To America

Bill Clinton: Dems Should Present National Platform For Midterm (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | September 23, 2010, 12:47PM

Former President Bill Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton is giving his advice to Democrats for the midterm elections: Come out with a coherent national agenda to counter the Republicans.

During an interview on Morning Joe, Clinton discussed the House Republicans' "Pledge to America" that was released today, modeled after Newt Gingrich's 1994 "Contract With America" that helped steamroll the Democrats during Clinton's first midterm election in 1994.

Clinton said that Gingrich had provided the country with a "political science gift": "Newt Gingrich proved with that Contract for America that you could nationalize the midterm elections. So, I think that the president and the Democrats -- even at this late date should do this as an opportunity and an obligation to say, alright, they've organized their national plan. Here's what ours is. If you hire us for two more years, here's what we're going to do."

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2010 elections

Clinton: I Don't Think Dems Are Putting Up A Good Fight Yet (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | September 22, 2010, 5:16PM

Former President Bill Clinton

In an interview with PBS's Judy Woodruff airing today, former President Bill Clinton urged his fellow Democrats to effectively communicate what's at stake in the election this year, to avoid having voter anger steamroll them at the ballot box.

"I would advise [Obama] and all the Democrats to talk about what we are going to do now and ask them who is more likely to do it," Clinton told Woodruff, according to the transcript made available by PBS. "If this is a referendum on people's anger and apathy -- so our side stays home and their side's inside -- we don't do well."

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | September 17, 2010, 5:20PM

Christine O'Donnell

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Former President Bill Clinton, Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R-DE).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).

• Fox News Sunday: Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell (R-DE), former Bush White House Adviser Karl Rove.

• NBC, Meet The Press: Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

DE-SEN

O'Donnell In 1996: Investigate Bill Clinton For Murder Of Vince Foster (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | September 16, 2010, 2:24PM

Christine O'Donnell, December 28, 1996

Here's another wonderful gem from Christine O'Donnell's past as a frequent guest on TV shows. Back in 1996, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's finances were being investigated, O'Donnell complained that people were on a witch hunt to find anything to get Gingrich, instead of paying attention to serious ethics scandals -- like putting Bill Clinton on trial for the supposed murder of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster.

Back in the 1990s, a favorite right-wing conspiracy theory was the accusation that the Clintons had arranged the murder of Foster, a former law partner of Hillary Clinton, in the midst of the Whitewater investigations. Multiple investigations, including the work of Clinton-hunting independent counsel Kenneth Starr, have all concluded that Foster committed suicide. However, O'Donnell was squarely in the conspiracy camp back then.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O'Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]

During an appearance on C-Span -- the same interview previously highlighted by the Huffington Post, in which O'Donnell discussed the need to crack down on lewd pop culture -- O'Donnell complained about the ethics investigations of Gingrich.

"I think it's very interesting that President Clinton has come on a lot more charges and a lot more serious charges than what Newt Gingrich is being charged on, yet we're not making as big of an issue, we're not forcing that he go to trial," said O'Donnell. "We're not giving people like Paula Jones a fair trial, we're not giving the case of Vincent Foster a fair trial -- when there is a lot more empirical evidence that Clinton is involved in wrongdoing."

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CA-GOV

Jerry Brown Jabs At Bill Clinton Over Whitman Ad, Apologizes (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | September 14, 2010, 11:02AM

CA-GOV candidate Jerry Brown (D), former President Bill Clinton

Jerry Brown is now apologizing for taking a shot at Bill Clinton in the course of the California gubernatorial race, after his Republican opponent launched an ad using 18-year-old footage of Clinton attacking Brown when they ran against each other for president.

The Whitman ad showed Clinton accusing Brown of raising taxes when he was previously governor of California in the 1970s and early 1980s. Brown responded in an interesting way, with some amateur video to match.

"I mean Clinton's a nice guy, but who ever said he always told the truth?" Brown joked to a crowd of supporters, which prompted them to cheer a joke at the expense of their party's former president. "You remember, right? There's that whole story there about, did he or didn't he. Okay, I did -- I did not have taxes with this state! So let's be clear about that. Thank you very much."

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CA-GOV

Meg Whitman Uses Bill Clinton To Slam Jerry Brown (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | September 9, 2010, 2:31PM

Meg Whitman Ad Uses 18-Year-Old Footage To Slam Jerry Brown

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman is using former President Bill Clinton in a new double-whammy ad starring the most popular Democrat in the country and trying to suggest to California voters that Jerry Brown is a relic from years past.

Whitman's new television ad features Clinton attacking Brown during one of their 1992 presidential primary debate. "He doesn't tell people the truth," Clinton says, pointing. There's little love lost between the two Democrats.

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AR-SEN

How Blanche Lincoln Fell So, So Far Behind In Arkansas

Eric Kleefeld | September 7, 2010, 8:45AM

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

As we head into the true crunch time of the 2010 election, the crucial period between Labor Day and November 2, let's take a look at what might just be the steepest uphill climb for Democrats this fall: Holding on to the Arkansas Senate seat held by incumbent Dem Blanche Lincoln.

Just take a look at the TPM Poll Average to see how much ground Lincoln would have to make up to score a victory in November. The Republican nominee, Rep. John Boozman, is ahead of Lincoln by a whopping 60.3%-31.2%.

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2010 elections

Bill Clinton Heading Out On Campaign Trail For Democratic Candidates

Christina Bellantoni | September 2, 2010, 8:05AM

Former President Bill Clinton

Fire up the Bubba-is-more-popular-than-Obama meme machine! Former President Bill Clinton has announced three political events for southern candidates, and a spokesman hints there are more to come.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) was the first on Wednesday to announce Clinton would join her in his native Arkansas to "celebrate my first year as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee." Clinton helped Lincoln boost enthusiasm during her competitive Democratic primary against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. She prevailed in a run-off, thanks in part to a Clinton rally. But she's now badly trailing Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) for the general election.

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Spending

Dick Morris: GOP Will Shut Down The Government Again (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | August 30, 2010, 3:59PM

Conservative commentator Dick Morris

Republican pollster Dick Morris told conservative political activists that newly elected Republicans should shut down the government next year. Morris said the party must elect lawmakers who will stand up and say "No" to President Obama's requests for more government spending and predicted a repeat of how Republicans forced a shutdown under President Clinton after they won control of Congress.

"There's going to be a government shutdown, just like in '95 and '96 but we're going to win it this time and I'll be fightin' on your side," Morris said at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation Conference on Friday in Washington.

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