Barack Obama

CHART: What Gov't Job Cuts Have Done To The Unemployment Rate

Brian Beutler | May 9, 2012, 5:58AM

At a public event in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, President Obama went counterintuitive. Bloated government is a phenomenon of Republican leadership, he noted, and it's helped them weather economic downturns in a way he hasn't been able to.

"[A]fter there was a recession under Ronald Reagan, government employment went way up. It went up after the recessions under the first George Bush and the second George Bush," he said. "So each time there was a recession with a Republican president, compensated -- we compensated by making sure that government didn't see a drastic reduction in employment. The only time government employment has gone down during a recession has been under me. So I make that point just so you don't buy into this whole bloated government argument that you hear. And frankly, if Congress had said yes to helping states put teachers back to work and put the economy before our politics, then tens of thousands more teachers in New York would have a job right now. That is a fact. And that would mean not only a lower unemployment rate, but also more customers for business."

As we've noted before, the numbers back this up completely.

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Medicare

How An 'Obamacare' Repeal Would Take Medicare And The Rest Of The Health Care System With It

Brian Beutler | April 24, 2012, 12:50PM

health care reform, obamacare, supreme court

If the Republican Party gets its way, it will repeal President Obama's health care law wholesale. Mitt Romney's committed to repealing it, as are the party's congressional leaders and rank-and-file members on Capitol Hill. That's the plan if they win big in November -- unless the Supreme Court beats them to the punch and overturns the entire law.

According to the Democratically-appointed public trustee of the Medicare program, that wouldn't just spell doom for "Obamacare," but for Medicare and the entirety of the country's ailing health care system.

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Barack Obama

How Congress Helps Republicans, But Not Democrats, Weather Bad Economies (Charts)

Brian Beutler | March 14, 2012, 5:43AM

If President Obama's economic recovery continues apace, and his re-election prospects grow along with it, it won't be because Congress went out of its way to help. As we noted Tuesday, Obama's economy has benefitted from less of Washington's largesse than did crypto-Keynesian Ronald Reagan's. But this is actually part of a broader pattern. Recently, Republican presidents have benefited from accommodating Congress during times of economic weakness, while Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama watched Congress suddenly grow stingy under their watch.

That pattern has significant implications for how these presidents weathered economic downturns politically, and to a great extent explains the political troubles Obama's faced in his first term.

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Gabrielle Giffords

In New Memoir, Giffords Vows To Return To Congress

Josh Petri | November 4, 2011, 12:52PM

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) listens as her husband, Captain Mark Kelly speaks at his retirement ceremony.

The AP reports that in her upcoming memoir, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) vows to return to Congress. The book details her months of intense therapy and her emotional battle to come to terms with the events of nearly a year ago.

The book, titled "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope," will be released on November 15th. Among the details reportedly included: Before the shooting, Giffords was attempting to conceive.

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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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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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Libya

Senior Senate Dems Defend Obama's Decisions on Libya

Susan Crabtree | March 23, 2011, 3:36PM

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Three senior Senate Demorats are coming to President Obama's defense on his decision to seek international support before directing air strikes against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the assistant majority leader, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (MI) and Sen. Jack Reed (RI), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, gave the President a collective pat on the back for his diplomatic and military decisions on Libya in the last week in the face of harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle that Obama's handling of the Libyan crisis was too little too late and did not seek congressional approval for the military action.

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John Boehner

Back To The Future: Boehner's Recipe For Recovery Same As Bush's

Brian Beutler | June 11, 2010, 9:51AM

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

Using catchy slogans and scary rhetoric, the Republicans have done a masterful job of painting themselves as the party of austerity and fiscal discipline. "Where are the jobs?" "Runaway deficits." "Government takeover." After years of profligacy, they say, they've gotten religion, and can be trusted to run the show once again. But scratch lightly and, just below that veneer, you'll find that nothing has changed at all.

"I've admitted that Republicans made their fair share of mistakes when they had the majority in this institution," said House Minority Leader John Boehner at his weekly press conference yesterday morning. "But I think our members have learned their lessons."

The lesson, though, is that Republicans were right all along--tax cuts can cure all that ails the country--and that they just fell into a brief trap of allowing too much discretionary spending.

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AZ-03

Bush Sr. Raises Money For Quayle Jr.

Rachel Slajda | May 6, 2010, 11:23AM

Rep.-Elect Ben Quayle (R-AZ)

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush hosted a fundraiser Tuesday for Ben Quayle, the son of Bush's vice president and a candidate for Congress from Arizona.

Quayle is running to replace retiring Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ). Although he has less political experience than some of his opponents, he's raised the most money, bringing in $550,000 as of March 31.

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George W. Bush

George W. Bush Chooses UVa. For Oral History Project

Christina Bellantoni | November 12, 2009, 12:26PM

Former President George W. Bush

Former President George W. Bush has chosen the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia to conduct a "comprehensive oral history of his presidency."

The Miller Center and Bush's foundation announced the George W. Bush Oral History Project this morning, saying the university's scholars will do 100 interviews with the Bush Cabinet and outside advisers during the 5-year project.

"This oral history project will offer future generations a comprehensive look at what it was like to lead the country during some extraordinary challenges," Bush said in a statement.

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