Republicans are doubling down in their assault on President Obama’s birth control requirement, insisting that his accommodation of religious nonprofits does not address religious concerns. But by attempting to keep the heat …

Tax Avoidance Questions Continue To Haunt Romney

Reporters covering the GOP primary horse race may have moved on, but a key question continues to dog Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign — one that will loom large if he wins his party’s nomination. Has he avoided U.S. taxes by investing a fortune offshore?

At a town hall event in Maine on Friday, an antagonistic questioner asked Romney, “Do you think it’s patriotic of you to stash your money away in the Cayman Islands?”

In response, Romney correctly noted that money U.S. taxpayers invest offshore is largely taxed just as it would be if they invested it in the states. But he once again denied avoiding any U.S. taxes by investing offshore — a claim tax experts openly doubt.

Obama To Draw Contrast With GOP In Budget

Though required by law, White House budgets are largely political documents that tend to become more and more political as reelection time gets closer and closer.

This year’s will technically be no different — but the long-term stakes will be much higher than they usually are and clarifying that fact for voters will be key to President Obama’s appeal in 2012.

McConnell: GOP Will Fight To Let ANY Employer Deny Birth Control Coverage

Not satisfied with President Obama’s new religious accommodation, Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that permits any employer to deny birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday.

“If we end up having to try to overcome the President’s opposition by legislation, of course I’d be happy to support it, and intend to support it,” McConnell said. “We’ll be voting on that in the Senate and you can anticipate that that would happen as soon as possible.”

Women’s Groups Broadly Support Birth Control Compromise

On Friday, the Obama administration announced a rule change to accommodate religious organizations on the issue of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. So far, pro-choice groups who hoped the administration would not to cave on the issue have seemed broadly satisfied with the changes, having been assured by the President that “all women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services.”

The new rule shifts the onus of coverage from employers to insurers. “The insurance company will be required to reach out directly and offer her contraceptive coverage free of charge,” an administration official told reporters on a conference call.

Women’s groups are taking the administration at its word that the change will not cost women coverage. “In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women’s health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring all women will have access to birth control coverage, with no costly co-pays, no additional hurdles, and no matter where they work,” read Planned Parenthood’s statement. “We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman’s ability to access these critical birth control benefits.”

White House Seeks To Mute Catholic Uproar Over Contraception Rule

In the days since the conservative and religious uproar over the Obama administration’s new contraceptive rule first erupted, the White House has been attempting to thread a policy needle so that nearly all women can receive free contraceptive services from their employer-provided health insurers, without forcing religious non-profits to provide benefits they oppose on “moral” grounds.

On Friday, President Obama announced the plan, which senior administration officials described in detail on a conference call with reporters.

“All women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services,” one official said. But if a religious institution declines to provide coverage that includes contraceptive services, “the insurance company will be required to reach out directly and offer her contraceptive coverage free of charge.”

How Scalia Helped Obama Defend The Birth Control Rule

This article was updated at 1:00 pm ET to include breaking news after publication.

The Obama administration is already facing lawsuits challenging its requirement that insurance plans cover birth control as a violation of religious freedom. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has flatly called the regulation unconstitutional. But although it’s unclear how much traction the legal challenges will gain, especially in light of the White House adjusting the mandate Friday, the President and his backers have one unlikely man to thank for helping their cause: Justice Antonin Scalia.

“One thing I think is crystal clear — there is no First Amendment violation by this law,” Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA, told TPM. “The Supreme Court was very clear in a case called Employment Division v. Smith, written by none other than Antonin Scalia, that religious believers and institutions are not entitled to an exemption from generally applicable laws.”

Dems Slam Romney For Inconsistencies On Birth Control

In his 2006 Massachusetts health care law, Mitt Romney embraced a virtually identical contraception coverage mandate as President Obama recently has, experts say, and as a result expanded access to birth control for hundreds of thousands of women. And Democrats really want you to know that.

“They are practically mirror images or each other,” John McDonough, a professor of public health at Harvard, said on a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee. “They completely reflect each other.”

Romney has embraced the shocked, shocked tone of leading Republicans on this issue in recent days, and Democrats have acted swiftly to flag up inconsistencies in his position.

Rubio Bill Lets ANY Employer Deny Birth Control Coverage

Legislation introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to reverse the Obama administration’s birth control rule would effectively permit any employer to deny contraception coverage in their employee health plans, critics note.

“Any employer could deny birth control coverage under Rubio’s bill and all the employer would have to do is say it’s for a religious reason,” said Jessica Arons, Director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program at the liberal Center for American Progress. “There is no test to prove eligibility. It’s a loophole you could drive a truck through.”

Poll: Random People In A Phonebook Would Do Better Than Current Congress

What’s a phone book, you ask? Before smart phones and high-speed internet access, people had to consult a massive book to look up phone numbers. And according to a recent Rasmussen poll, a plurality of voters think the random people inside it would do a better job than the current Congress.

Forty-three percent of respondents said a group of random people selected from the phone book would do a better job addressing the nation’s problems than their current representatives. Thirty-eight percent of respondents disagreed and 19 percent weren’t sure.