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On defense, Perry talks of faith, military heroes

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LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry avoided contentious social issues in a speech Wednesday at the nation’s largest evangelical university, offering the youth a testimonial about his own path to Christian faith and praising the men and women of the military.

The Republican presidential contender urged students at Liberty University to remember the legacies of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without explicitly invoking his own presidential bid, he cast life’s choices as tributes to the military’s sacrifice in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

[media-credit name="Associated Press" align="alignleft" width="300"][/media-credit]

Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry speaks at the Vines Center on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on Wednesday Sept. 14, 2011. Perry told students at the nation's largest evangelical university that they should raise their voices to keep Washington politicians from telling them how to live their lives. (AP Photo/News & Daily Advance, Jill Nance)

“Because of what they gave, I simply ask you to make the most of the freedom that they sacrificed.”

In a brief detour into politics, he urged the students to speak up for the kind of country and future they want. “Don’t leave it to a bunch of Washington politicians to tell you how to live your life,” he said.

Perry’s 20-minute speech to a packed arena was warmly received. But it was unlikely to quiet building criticism from his GOP rivals over two cultural issues: his failed effort to require girls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease and a Texas law allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition. Neither issue sits well with social conservatives, who hold great sway in the GOP nomination race.

The GOP race has been dominated by economic concerns and criticism of President Barack Obama’s stewardship, pushing such cultural questions to the back burner. But in recent days, during a debate Monday and on the campaign trail, Perry’s rivals have started trying to exploit Perry’s perceived weaknesses on such issues to deflate his front-runner status in national polls.

“It is time that Gov. Perry is known for what he really is: not a long-time conservative governor, but a big-government moderate who has made a career of supporting harmful policies during his tenure as governor,” former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said Tuesday.

Specifically, Santorum, Rep. Michelle Bachmann and other opponents for the Republican presidential nomination are singling Perry out for signing an executive order in 2007 requiring Texas girls to be vaccinated against the virus that can cause cervical cancer, an effort the Legislature rejected.

On immigration, Perry has had to defend in-state tuition for illegal immigrants as well as his opposition to a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Both positions conflict with conservative GOP orthodoxy.

Perry ignored those divisive issues in his remarks on this campus in central Virginia. Instead, he introduced himself as a small-town native who went to college hoping to become a veterinarian but struggled with his studies.

“Four semesters of organic chemistry made a pilot out of me,” the Air Force veteran joked.

Perry also described his spiritual path as a young man, saying that at age 27 he was “lost, spiritually and emotionally,” drifting with no sense of purpose.

“My faith journey is not as someone who turned to God because I wanted to,” Perry said. “It was because I had nowhere else to turn.”

He also brought a spiritual element to his recollections of the Sept. 11 attacks, noting that many of the students were just children on that day. “You’ve grown up fast and you know the presence of evil is real in this fallen world,” he said.

So far, voters are saying the economy and the 9.1 percent national unemployment rate matter most in the GOP race. In rough economic times, feeding the family tends to trump social issues.

But Perry’s rivals have been trying to change that. Perry complicates Bachmann’s prospects because both appeal to similar voters — tea partyers who are frustrated with the economy and say Washington is out of touch and social conservatives who care about cultural issues.

Both Perry and Bachmann are competing for voters who are looking for an alternative to Romney. He is running for president a second time after losing in 2008; Romney wasn’t able to overcome skepticism of his Mormon faith among evangelicals in the lead-off caucus in Iowa and first-in-the-South primary state South Carolina.

The candidates are likely to take on social issues again next week when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy formally ends, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.

The GOP contenders are already using social issues to raise money ahead of the next campaign collection deadline, Sept. 30. Santorum and Bachmann both wrote to supporters asking for money after Monday’s GOP debate — and noted their attacks on Perry’s record on social issues.


News Blog: Romney vs. Perry

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Palin: “Orrin Hatch is part of the one percent”

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Sarah Palin, former Alaskan governor and former U.S. vice presidential candidate, annouced her support for Sen. Orrin Hatch this week in a surprise endorsement given in a Fox News interview.

Palin joins other GOP heavyweights in pledging support for the six-term Utah senator – this coming just days after Republican 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney offered his endorsement to Hatch. In an upset during the Utah Republican Convention, Hatch couldn’t secure the 60 percent delegate vote required to avoid a primary election to take place in June.

“Orrin Hatch is part of the one percent. No, not that one percent you’ve heard about. He’s part of the one percent of national politicians who I think should be reelected.” Palin said.

Since hitting the national stage as Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential runningmate during the 2008 presidential election, Palin has collected a series of uncomfortable public appearences.

In a 2008 ABC News interview with Katie Couric, Palin stumbled through foreign policy topics, particularly in responding to a question Couric asked Palin about a statement the former governor made: “You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska,” Palin said when asked about her foreign policy experience.

Also in 2008 as sitting governor, Palin carried out a tradition of giving a governor’s pardon to a Thanksgiving turkey, while the slaugtering of other turkeys is happening right behind Palin during an on-camera interview. During the incident, Palin was on the GOP ticket as vice president to candidate Sen. McCain.

Hatch welcomed Palin’s endorsement saying he is “deeply honored,” commenting on the former governor’s committment to stand for liberty.

“There are few as committed to the cause of liberty and the ideals that have made this nation great as Sarah Palin,” said Hatch in a press release. “Her voice is critical to pushing for the real reforms that are essential to righting our fiscal ship and ensuring America is prosperous for our children and grandchildren.”

Sen. Hatch will defend his long-held seat in the U.S. Senate from former Utah state senator, Republican Dan Liljenquist, on June 26 in the primaries. The victor goes on to challenge Democratic candidate Scott Howell, also a former Utah state senator who narrowly captured the needed minimum 60 percent delagate majority to defeat opponent Pete Ashdown.

As election day approaches, annoucements of other GOP endorsements were made on Hatch’s behalf.

“I want him to win,” Palin said. ”I join Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and other Conservatives who would like to see ‘Mr. Balanced Budget’ return to Washington.”

Hatch promised to bring the values of Utah to Washington D.C.

“My promise to the people of Utah,” Hatch said, ”is that I will never stop fighting to bring those common-sense Utah values to Washington.”

Mia Love hopes to make history in November

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High-ranking conservatives around the country have been lining up to endorse and support Mia Love, dubbing her a “rising star” in the GOP ahead of her November match-up against three-term incumbent Jim Matheson.

Love has garnered national attention after her convincing primary victory and impressive record as mayor in Saratoga Springs. An individual running for a seat in Congress as a strict conservative in Utah isn’t necessarily unique. Love’s background, however, renders her entirely unique from anything the country has ever seen before.

Mia Love is a 36-year-old black woman from Brooklyn. If elected, she will become the first black Republican woman to ever serve in Congress.

Love lived on the east coast throughout college until she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was then that she decided to move to Utah.

“I wanted to see what it was like to actually walk to a temple,” said Love. “I fell in love with Utah and the beauty of it.”

Politics was never a goal for Love after settling down in Saratoga Springs. Love began working in the marketing field while raising a family. It wasn’t until after the birth of her first child that Love considered getting involved to preserve the ability to have choices.

“I remembered a voice in the back of my head where my Dad told me, ‘You are not going to be a burden to society. You are going to give back,’” Love said. “This is my way of giving back.”

[media-credit name="Associated Press" align="alignright" width="300"][/media-credit]

Mia Love speaks during her rally at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center on Aug. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Chris Detrick)

Love’s parents immigrated to America from Haiti with $10 to their name. Love said they learned English and American history, then became U.S. citizens.

“My parents have never taken a handout,” said Love. “They worked hard and they just wanted opportunity. I’m a product of that. I watched my parents work hard and I realized that hard work builds self-esteem and gives you an opportunity to leave something for your future generation.”

Love said that her approach to politics is directly related to lessons learned from her parents. After serving two terms on the city council in Saratoga Springs, Love decided to successfully run for city mayor, where she has been serving for two and a half years.

Megan Lee, a former BYU student who recently moved from Saratoga Springs, said of Love, “She did a great job on the city council and I was proud to have a woman as my mayor. We went through a lot of growth in Saratoga Springs, and she really helped.”

As mayor, Love has overseen massive population growth and worked to increase the city’s bond rating issued by Standard and Poor’s.

“We have the highest bond rating available; we are never going to have anything higher,” said Love. “We are doing well. We don’t have the option of printing money, so we have to balance our budgets. We have to live within our means. We are non-partisan, we don’t have R’s and D’s stamped on our foreheads, yet somehow we are able to make things work and live within our means. I think Washington can take a lesson from that.”

Along with managing a growing city and running a congressional campaign, Love is also a mother of three children. Her children, however, serve as personal motivation. Love said she has passed on characteristics to her children that she received from her parents, and her children know that her service in the community is for their benefit.

“For the first time in history, Americans are saying that they don’t believe that this country will be as prosperous for future generations as it has been for them,” said Love. “We are literally stealing from future generations to pay for the present.”

Utah’s newly-formed Fourth Congressional District runs west of I-15 from as far north as West Valley City down past Nephi. Although technically the incumbent in November’s race, current congressman Matheson’s new district is very different than the one he’s been serving in since 2001. Matheson is the son of former Utah governor Scott Matheson.

“Jim Matheson is a great guy. He’s a nice person, and I don’t think anyone could ever say differently,” said Love. “But Jim Matheson has changed. I have a  different opponent that I’m going up against. He no longer represents the state of Utah. He puts Matheson first. When it is politically expedient and his job is on the line, then he’ll vote with the district.”

The Love campaign is centered on conservative ideals that Love says will combat America’s biggest current problems.

Love said, “I’m laser-focused on making sure that we are fiscally disciplined, government is limited and that there is personal choice and accountability.”

Jim Matheson’s website reads that he “feels strongly that the federal government should balance its budget and live within its means. He believes it is fiscally reckless and morally wrong to pile debt on future generations.”

Matheson has stated that he views every race he’s run as challenging, and that we won’t treat this one much differently from previous races. The most recent poll conducted by Deseret News/KSL on June 25 has Matheson ahead by 15 points. Election day is November 6.

Republican Party seems as divided, angry as ever

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Republican Party seems as divided, angry as ever

BOSTON (AP) — The Republican Party seems as divided and angry as ever.

Infighting has penetrated the highest levels of the House GOP leadership. Long-standing geographic tensions have increased, pitting endangered Northeastern Republicans against their colleagues from other parts of the country. Enraged tea party leaders are threatening to knock off dozens of Republicans who supported a measure that raised taxes on the nation’s highest earners.

“People are mad as hell. I’m right there with them,” Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express, said late last week, declaring that she has “no confidence” in the party her members typically support. Her remarks came after GOP lawmakers agreed to higher taxes but no broad spending cuts as part of a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.”

“Anybody that voted ‘yes’ in the House should be concerned” about primary challenges in 2014, she said.

At the same time, one of the GOP’s most popular voices, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, blasted his party’s “toxic internal politics” after House Republicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was “disgusting to watch” their actions and he faulted the GOP’s most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The GOP’s internal struggles to figure out what it wants to be were painfully exposed after Mitt Romney’s loss to President Barack Obama on Nov. 6, but they have exploded in recent days. The fallout could extend well beyond the party’s ability to win policy battles on Capitol Hill. It could hamper Republicans as they examine how to regroup and attract new voters after a disheartening election season.

To a greater degree than the Democrats, the Republican Party has struggled with internal divisions for the past few years. But these latest clashes have seemed especially public and vicious.

“It’s disappointing to see infighting in the party,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican operative and former Romney aide. “It doesn’t make us look like we’re in a position to challenge the president and hold him accountable to the promises he made.”

What’s largely causing the dissension? A lack of a clear GOP leader with a single vision for the party.

Republicans haven’t had a consistent standard-bearer since President George W. Bush left office in 2008 with the nation on the edge of a financial collapse. His departure, along with widespread economic concerns, gave rise to a tea party movement that infused the GOP’s conservative base with energy. The tea party is credited with broad Republican gains in the 2010 congressional elections, but it’s also blamed for the rising tension between the pragmatic and ideological wings of the party ‚ discord that festers still.

It was much the same for Democrats in the late 1980s before Bill Clinton emerged to win the White House and shift his party to the political center.

2012 presidential nominee Romney never fully captured the hearts of his party’s most passionate voters. But his tenure atop the party was short-lived; since Election Day, he’s disappeared from the political world.

Those Republican leaders who remain engaged ‚ Christie, Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus ‚ are showing little sign of coming together.

Those on the GOP’s deep bench of potential 2016 presidential contenders, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have begun staking out their own, sometimes conflicting ideas for the party.

Over the short term at least, the party’s divisions probably will continue to be exposed.

Obama has outlined a second-term agenda focused on immigration and gun control; those are issues that would test Republican solidarity even in good times. Deep splits already exist between Republican pragmatists and the conservative base, who oppose any restrictions on guns or allowances for illegal immigrants.

It’s unclear whether Obama can exploit the GOP fissures or whether the Republican dysfunction will hamper him. With Boehner unable to control his fractured caucus, the White House is left wondering how to deal with the House on any divisive issue.

Fiscal issues aren’t going away. The federal government reached its borrowing limit last week, so Congress has about two months or three months to raise the debt ceiling or risk a default on federal debt. Massive defense and domestic spending cuts are set to take effect in late February. By late March, the current spending plan will end, raising the possibility of a government shutdown.

Frustrated conservative activists and GOP insiders hope that the continued focus on fiscal matters will help unite the factions as the party pushes for deep spending cuts. That fight also may highlight Democratic divisions because the party’s liberal wing vehemently opposes any changes to Social Security or Medicare

“Whenever you lose the White House, the party’s going to have ups and downs,” said Republican strategist Ron Kaufman. “My guess is when the spending issues come up again, the Democrats’ warts will start to show as well.”

The GOP’s fissures go beyond positions on issues. They also are geographical.

Once a strong voice in the party, moderate Republicans across the Northeast are nearly extinct. Many of those who remain were frustrated in recent days when Boehner temporarily blocked a vote on a disaster relief bill.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said campaign donors in the Northeast who give the GOP after the slight “should have their head examined.”

Boehner, who just won a second term as speaker, quickly scheduled a vote on a narrower measure for Friday after the new Congress convened, and it rushed out a $9.7 billion measure to help pay flood insurance claims.

Weary Republican strategists are trying to be hopeful about the GOP’s path ahead, and liken the current situation to party’s struggles after Obama’s 2008 election. At the time, some pundits questioned the viability of the Republican Party. But it came roaring back two years later, thanks largely to the tea party.

“If we have learned anything from the fiscal cliff fiasco, conservatives discovered we need to stand firm, and stand together, on our principles from beginning to end,” said Republican strategist Alice Stewart. “It’s frustrating to see the GOP drop the ball and turn a position of true compromise into total surrender. The Democrats succeeded in their strategy of divide and conquer.”

Republicans vow to charm minority voters

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Republicans vow to charm minority voters

Since losing a handful of seats during the last election cycle along with back-to-back losses for the presidency, Republicans now realize the party’s conservative platform needs to be more progressive. Many of the woes are coming from inside the Grand Old Party itself.

Republican National Convention leader Reince Priebus explained the shortfalls of the Conservative party and losing the 2012 election. John McCormick of Bloomberg News reports:

“There’s no one reason we lost,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, said at a March 18th National Press Club gathering in Washington. “Our message was weak, our ground game was insufficient, we weren’t inclusive, we were behind in both data and digital, and our primary and debate process needed improvement.”

Priebus said the RNC would spend $10 million this year, an unprecedented amount in a non-election year, to hire hundreds of workers to network with, court and register minority voters.

The minority vote played a critical role in the 2012 election with 80 percent going to the Democratic ticket. In January, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called his own party “the stupid party” and talked about what the Republican party needs to do to win future elections.

On March 3rd, former Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney spoke with Fox News Sunday‘s Chris Wallace about why his campaign failed and why the Democrats’ message resonated with voters:

WALLACE: Looking back, how do you rate yourself as a presidential candidate?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I see my mistakes and I see my flaws, and I did better this time than I did the time before.

Mitt Romney

The Conservative platform is shouting reform on its ideologies. Former presidential contender Mitt Romney comments on his narrow loss in 2012. (AP Photo)

MITT ROMNEY: And — and I won’t get a third chance. I’m not doing it again. The weakness that our campaign had and that I had is we weren’t effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters, to Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, other minorities.

That was a real weakness. We did very well with the majority population, but not with minority populations. And that was a — that was a failing. That was a real mistake.

WALLACE: Why do you think that was?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I think the ObamaCare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated in a — particularly among lower incomes. And we just didn’t do as — as good a job at connecting with that audience as we should have.

Gun control policy and the same-sex marriage debate still remain hot political issues, but immigration reform is most likely to find common ground in the highly partisan Legislature. Mark Salter, from Real Clear Politics, explains why:

Congressional Democrats understand that their Latino supporters expect such loyalty to be rewarded by making immigration reform the party’s top legislative priority this year. The president has promised as much.

Republican leaders recognize the demographic changes taking place in this country and that they can’t win national elections now or in the future without making inroads into the Democrats’ immense share of the non-white vote.

Key components of the GOP’s strategy include initiatives to increase party-voter appeal and to expand its base of minority supporters. The announcement that the GOP is spending millions to rebuild its ground game came as no surprise to some observers, with 2016 just around the corner and the parties now on equal footing with no incumbent president running.

Paging Reality: Happy day for the GOP

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The “Mad as Heck” caucus lost its most vocal proponent last week when Rep. Michele Bachmann announced she won’t run for re-election in 2014.

I’m overjoyed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a conservative that disagrees with President Obama on health care, foreign policy and many other issues, but Bachmann has become a straw man used by liberals to tear down the conservative movement.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the GOP has a seriously damaged brand. Mitt Romney ran ahead of Republican Senate candidates in every swing state, suggesting the party had a brand problem. The Republican National Committee even commissioned an official autopsy report of the failed 2012 election, something you rarely do when you’re handling things well. It makes the branding point clear, especially beyond hardcore conservatives.

“The Republican Party needs to stop talking to itself,” the report notes. “We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with us on every issue.”

I think it is fair to say that extremists like Bachmann have a lot to do with that. She is polarizing, even in Republican circles. In 2012, Mitt Romney won Bachmann’s district by nearly 15 points, but she eked out a win by 1.2 percent. That came without much funding support for her challenger, but that was going to change in the 2014 rematch.

Politico reported that her challenger released polls showing him leading Bachmann one week before she declared she wouldn’t run. In addition, national Democrats were gearing up to pour money into the race. That’s pretty rare for a candidate in what would typically be considered a safe Republican seat.

It is even more rare when the representative being challenged is as prolific a fundraiser as Bachmann.

So what was wrong with Bachmann?

Well, there was the time she encouraged citizens to undermine the census by refusing to participate. She said that participating in the census enabled the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII, implying that could happen again. Such talk may be popular in the tin-foil-hat-wearing community, but its only real effect would be to disenfranchise uncounted voters.

Then there was the time that she accused a high-ranking U.S. official of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood without any evidence other than the fact that she is Muslim. That McCarthy-like witch hunt should send chills down the spine of any religious minority. It drew rebukes from numerous religious groups, Speaker of the House John Boehner and 2008 GOP Presidential Nominee John McCain.

Then during the presidential race, she claimed that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation, perpetuating myths about vaccinations that have already taken many lives by discouraging parents from protecting their children.

In that same election, Bachmann announced that Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts was unconstitutional, despite a lack of any legal reasoning that would suggest that was the case.

One might argue that she was simply denouncing a law unpopular with conservatives to win votes, but her position is more sinister than you think. Bachmann, who holds two law degrees, was essentially taking the liberal position of undermining federalism. Her failure to recognize the fundamental difference between state and federal governments would be an excusable error for someone without a background in law.

For someone who studied and practiced law, it suggests a deficiency in her conservatism, her intelligence or her integrity.

Unfortunately, our cable news environment often gives undue attention to the most extreme voice in the room. It is into this situation, that firebrands like Bachmann have found a way to become stand-out political stars very quickly.

Her populist banter was a great way to generate large donations. There is no shortage of people furious with the federal government and the president. To be honest, I’m often among them.

But populism isn’t a governing philosophy. Candidates who repeatedly sell out principles for a few donations will eventually paint themselves into corners — offending voters left and right and thereby losing the legitimacy to govern.

That happened to Bachmann. It is why, despite running in a very conservative district, she probably couldn’t win re-election. So she’s retiring to save face.

It is also why only liberal commentators like James Carville responded to the announcement by saying it was a “sad day.

Republican Party seems as divided, angry as ever

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Republican Party seems as divided, angry as ever

BOSTON (AP) — The Republican Party seems as divided and angry as ever.

Infighting has penetrated the highest levels of the House GOP leadership. Long-standing geographic tensions have increased, pitting endangered Northeastern Republicans against their colleagues from other parts of the country. Enraged tea party leaders are threatening to knock off dozens of Republicans who supported a measure that raised taxes on the nation’s highest earners.

“People are mad as hell. I’m right there with them,” Amy Kremer, chairman of the Tea Party Express, said late last week, declaring that she has “no confidence” in the party her members typically support. Her remarks came after GOP lawmakers agreed to higher taxes but no broad spending cuts as part of a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.”

“Anybody that voted ‘yes’ in the House should be concerned” about primary challenges in 2014, she said.

At the same time, one of the GOP’s most popular voices, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, blasted his party’s “toxic internal politics” after House Republicans initially declined to approve disaster relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy. He said it was “disgusting to watch” their actions and he faulted the GOP’s most powerful elected official, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The GOP’s internal struggles to figure out what it wants to be were painfully exposed after Mitt Romney’s loss to President Barack Obama on Nov. 6, but they have exploded in recent days. The fallout could extend well beyond the party’s ability to win policy battles on Capitol Hill. It could hamper Republicans as they examine how to regroup and attract new voters after a disheartening election season.

To a greater degree than the Democrats, the Republican Party has struggled with internal divisions for the past few years. But these latest clashes have seemed especially public and vicious.

“It’s disappointing to see infighting in the party,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican operative and former Romney aide. “It doesn’t make us look like we’re in a position to challenge the president and hold him accountable to the promises he made.”

What’s largely causing the dissension? A lack of a clear GOP leader with a single vision for the party.

Republicans haven’t had a consistent standard-bearer since President George W. Bush left office in 2008 with the nation on the edge of a financial collapse. His departure, along with widespread economic concerns, gave rise to a tea party movement that infused the GOP’s conservative base with energy. The tea party is credited with broad Republican gains in the 2010 congressional elections, but it’s also blamed for the rising tension between the pragmatic and ideological wings of the party ‚ discord that festers still.

It was much the same for Democrats in the late 1980s before Bill Clinton emerged to win the White House and shift his party to the political center.

2012 presidential nominee Romney never fully captured the hearts of his party’s most passionate voters. But his tenure atop the party was short-lived; since Election Day, he’s disappeared from the political world.

Those Republican leaders who remain engaged ‚ Christie, Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus ‚ are showing little sign of coming together.

Those on the GOP’s deep bench of potential 2016 presidential contenders, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have begun staking out their own, sometimes conflicting ideas for the party.

Over the short term at least, the party’s divisions probably will continue to be exposed.

Obama has outlined a second-term agenda focused on immigration and gun control; those are issues that would test Republican solidarity even in good times. Deep splits already exist between Republican pragmatists and the conservative base, who oppose any restrictions on guns or allowances for illegal immigrants.

It’s unclear whether Obama can exploit the GOP fissures or whether the Republican dysfunction will hamper him. With Boehner unable to control his fractured caucus, the White House is left wondering how to deal with the House on any divisive issue.

Fiscal issues aren’t going away. The federal government reached its borrowing limit last week, so Congress has about two months or three months to raise the debt ceiling or risk a default on federal debt. Massive defense and domestic spending cuts are set to take effect in late February. By late March, the current spending plan will end, raising the possibility of a government shutdown.

Frustrated conservative activists and GOP insiders hope that the continued focus on fiscal matters will help unite the factions as the party pushes for deep spending cuts. That fight also may highlight Democratic divisions because the party’s liberal wing vehemently opposes any changes to Social Security or Medicare

“Whenever you lose the White House, the party’s going to have ups and downs,” said Republican strategist Ron Kaufman. “My guess is when the spending issues come up again, the Democrats’ warts will start to show as well.”

The GOP’s fissures go beyond positions on issues. They also are geographical.

Once a strong voice in the party, moderate Republicans across the Northeast are nearly extinct. Many of those who remain were frustrated in recent days when Boehner temporarily blocked a vote on a disaster relief bill.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said campaign donors in the Northeast who give the GOP after the slight “should have their head examined.”

Boehner, who just won a second term as speaker, quickly scheduled a vote on a narrower measure for Friday after the new Congress convened, and it rushed out a $9.7 billion measure to help pay flood insurance claims.

Weary Republican strategists are trying to be hopeful about the GOP’s path ahead, and liken the current situation to party’s struggles after Obama’s 2008 election. At the time, some pundits questioned the viability of the Republican Party. But it came roaring back two years later, thanks largely to the tea party.

“If we have learned anything from the fiscal cliff fiasco, conservatives discovered we need to stand firm, and stand together, on our principles from beginning to end,” said Republican strategist Alice Stewart. “It’s frustrating to see the GOP drop the ball and turn a position of true compromise into total surrender. The Democrats succeeded in their strategy of divide and conquer.”


Republicans vow to charm minority voters

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Republicans vow to charm minority voters

Since losing a handful of seats during the last election cycle along with back-to-back losses for the presidency, Republicans now realize the party’s conservative platform needs to be more progressive. Many of the woes are coming from inside the Grand Old Party itself.

Republican National Convention leader Reince Priebus explained the shortfalls of the Conservative party and losing the 2012 election. John McCormick of Bloomberg News reports:

“There’s no one reason we lost,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, said at a March 18th National Press Club gathering in Washington. “Our message was weak, our ground game was insufficient, we weren’t inclusive, we were behind in both data and digital, and our primary and debate process needed improvement.”

Priebus said the RNC would spend $10 million this year, an unprecedented amount in a non-election year, to hire hundreds of workers to network with, court and register minority voters.

The minority vote played a critical role in the 2012 election with 80 percent going to the Democratic ticket. In January, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called his own party “the stupid party” and talked about what the Republican party needs to do to win future elections.

On March 3rd, former Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney spoke with Fox News Sunday‘s Chris Wallace about why his campaign failed and why the Democrats’ message resonated with voters:

WALLACE: Looking back, how do you rate yourself as a presidential candidate?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I see my mistakes and I see my flaws, and I did better this time than I did the time before.

Mitt Romney

The Conservative platform is shouting reform on its ideologies. Former presidential contender Mitt Romney comments on his narrow loss in 2012. (AP Photo)

MITT ROMNEY: And — and I won’t get a third chance. I’m not doing it again. The weakness that our campaign had and that I had is we weren’t effective in taking my message primarily to minority voters, to Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, other minorities.

That was a real weakness. We did very well with the majority population, but not with minority populations. And that was a — that was a failing. That was a real mistake.

WALLACE: Why do you think that was?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, I think the ObamaCare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated in a — particularly among lower incomes. And we just didn’t do as — as good a job at connecting with that audience as we should have.

Gun control policy and the same-sex marriage debate still remain hot political issues, but immigration reform is most likely to find common ground in the highly partisan Legislature. Mark Salter, from Real Clear Politics, explains why:

Congressional Democrats understand that their Latino supporters expect such loyalty to be rewarded by making immigration reform the party’s top legislative priority this year. The president has promised as much.

Republican leaders recognize the demographic changes taking place in this country and that they can’t win national elections now or in the future without making inroads into the Democrats’ immense share of the non-white vote.

Key components of the GOP’s strategy include initiatives to increase party-voter appeal and to expand its base of minority supporters. The announcement that the GOP is spending millions to rebuild its ground game came as no surprise to some observers, with 2016 just around the corner and the parties now on equal footing with no incumbent president running.

Paging Reality: Happy day for the GOP

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The “Mad as Heck” caucus lost its most vocal proponent last week when Rep. Michele Bachmann announced she won’t run for re-election in 2014.

I’m overjoyed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a conservative that disagrees with President Obama on health care, foreign policy and many other issues, but Bachmann has become a straw man used by liberals to tear down the conservative movement.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the GOP has a seriously damaged brand. Mitt Romney ran ahead of Republican Senate candidates in every swing state, suggesting the party had a brand problem. The Republican National Committee even commissioned an official autopsy report of the failed 2012 election, something you rarely do when you’re handling things well. It makes the branding point clear, especially beyond hardcore conservatives.

“The Republican Party needs to stop talking to itself,” the report notes. “We have become expert in how to provide ideological reinforcement to like-minded people, but devastatingly we have lost the ability to be persuasive with, or welcoming to, those who do not agree with us on every issue.”

I think it is fair to say that extremists like Bachmann have a lot to do with that. She is polarizing, even in Republican circles. In 2012, Mitt Romney won Bachmann’s district by nearly 15 points, but she eked out a win by 1.2 percent. That came without much funding support for her challenger, but that was going to change in the 2014 rematch.

Politico reported that her challenger released polls showing him leading Bachmann one week before she declared she wouldn’t run. In addition, national Democrats were gearing up to pour money into the race. That’s pretty rare for a candidate in what would typically be considered a safe Republican seat.

It is even more rare when the representative being challenged is as prolific a fundraiser as Bachmann.

So what was wrong with Bachmann?

Well, there was the time she encouraged citizens to undermine the census by refusing to participate. She said that participating in the census enabled the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII, implying that could happen again. Such talk may be popular in the tin-foil-hat-wearing community, but its only real effect would be to disenfranchise uncounted voters.

Then there was the time that she accused a high-ranking U.S. official of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood without any evidence other than the fact that she is Muslim. That McCarthy-like witch hunt should send chills down the spine of any religious minority. It drew rebukes from numerous religious groups, Speaker of the House John Boehner and 2008 GOP Presidential Nominee John McCain.

Then during the presidential race, she claimed that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation, perpetuating myths about vaccinations that have already taken many lives by discouraging parents from protecting their children.

In that same election, Bachmann announced that Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts was unconstitutional, despite a lack of any legal reasoning that would suggest that was the case.

One might argue that she was simply denouncing a law unpopular with conservatives to win votes, but her position is more sinister than you think. Bachmann, who holds two law degrees, was essentially taking the liberal position of undermining federalism. Her failure to recognize the fundamental difference between state and federal governments would be an excusable error for someone without a background in law.

For someone who studied and practiced law, it suggests a deficiency in her conservatism, her intelligence or her integrity.

Unfortunately, our cable news environment often gives undue attention to the most extreme voice in the room. It is into this situation, that firebrands like Bachmann have found a way to become stand-out political stars very quickly.

Her populist banter was a great way to generate large donations. There is no shortage of people furious with the federal government and the president. To be honest, I’m often among them.

But populism isn’t a governing philosophy. Candidates who repeatedly sell out principles for a few donations will eventually paint themselves into corners — offending voters left and right and thereby losing the legitimacy to govern.

That happened to Bachmann. It is why, despite running in a very conservative district, she probably couldn’t win re-election. So she’s retiring to save face.

It is also why only liberal commentators like James Carville responded to the announcement by saying it was a “sad day.

GOP set to question Sebelius on health law

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans plan to seek answers from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the Obama administration’s troubled start for its health care website to buy insurance, and are raising concerns about the privacy of information that applicants submit under the new system.

GOP lawmakers said Sunday that the Obama administration will face intense scrutiny this week to be more forthcoming about how many people have actually succeeded in enrolling for coverage in the new insurance markets.

Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner is scheduled to appear during a House hearing on Tuesday, followed Wednesday by Sebelius before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The officials will also be grilled on how such crippling technical problems could have gone undetected prior to the Oct. 1 launch of that website, healthcare.gov.

“The incompetence in building this website is staggering,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., second- ranking Republican on the panel and an opponent of the law.

Democrats said the new system needs more time and it can be fixed to provide millions of people with affordable insurance. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, said the system was “working in Kentucky.”

But the federal online system experienced another problem on Sunday.

A component of that system that has been working relatively well experienced an outage. The federal data services hub, a conduit for verifying the personal information of people applying for benefits under the law, went down in a failure that was blamed on an outside contractor, Terremark.

“Today, Terremark had a network failure that is impacting a number of their clients, including healthcare.gov,” HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters said. “Secretary Sebelius spoke with the CEO of Verizon this afternoon to discuss the situation and they committed to fixing the problem as soon as possible.”

Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, of which Terremark is a part, said: “Our engineers have been working with HHS and other technology companies to identify and address the root cause of the issue. It will fixed as quickly as possible.”

Blackburn said she wanted to know much has been spent on the website, how much more it will cost to fix the problems, when everything will be ready and what people should expect to see on the site. Blackburn and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., raised questions about whether the website could guard the privacy of applicants.

“They do not have an overarching, solid cybersecurity plan to prevent the loss of private information,” said Rogers, who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters said when consumers fill out their applications, “they can trust that the information they’re providing is protected by stringent security standards and that the technology underlying the application process has been tested and is secure.”

The botched rollout has led to calls on Capitol Hill for a delay of penalties for those remaining uninsured. The Obama administration has said it’s willing to extend the grace period until Mar. 31, the end of open enrollment, providing an extra six weeks. The insurance industry says going beyond that risks undermining the new system by giving younger, healthier people a pass.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who has urged the Obama administration to postpone the March 31 deadline, said she is concerned applicants would not have a full six months to enroll. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is seeking a yearlong delay to the penalty for noncompliance, said there is a need for a “transition period to work out the things.”

The administration was under no legal requirement to launch the website Oct 1. Sebelius, who designated her department’s Medicare agency to implement the health care law, had the discretion to set open enrollment dates. Officials could have postponed open enrollment by a month, or they could have phased in access to the website.

But all through last summer and into early fall, the administration insisted it was ready to go live in all 50 states on Oct. 1.

The online insurance markets are supposed to be the portal to coverage for people who do not have access to a health plan through their jobs. The health care law offers middle-class people a choice of private insurance plans, made more affordable through new tax credits. Low-income people will be steered to Medicaid in states that agree to expand that safety-net program.

An HHS memo prepared for Sebelius in September estimated that nearly 500,000 people would enroll for coverage in the marketplaces during October, their first month of operation. The actual number is likely to be only a fraction of that. The administration has said 700,000 people have completed applications.

Blackburn spoke on “Fox News Sunday,” Beshear appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Rogers was on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Manchin was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week” and Shaheen made her comments on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Online opinion outpost: Nov. 12

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Online opinion outpost: Nov. 12

The Online Opinion Outpost features opinions and commentary on the latest hot topics from national news sources. As much as you love hearing from The Universe, we thought you might like to hear from journalists around the nation.

To read the op-eds in full, visit universe.byu.edu.

Obamacare

USA Today

Obamacare is starting to resemble a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds.

A month after launch, the online health exchanges where individuals are supposed to shop for insurance remain slow or unusable, except in states that opted to run their own marketplaces and did a more competent job than the administration.

As if that weren’t trouble enough, critics are justifiably mocking President Obama for his repeated, untrue promise that if people liked their health plans, they could keep them. Oops.

CNN

The Obamacare website might still not be working, but journalists are. All across the country, as Republicans try to highlight tragic tales of Americans losing their current health insurance and allegedly stuck with more expensive options, journalists are coming to the rescue. In case after case, journalists investigated these stories and called the policyholders and combed the insurance exchange websites to bring actual facts to bear in our public debate about Obamacare.

 

Iran

The Washington Post

As the Obama administration moves into a decisive stage of nuclear negotiations with Iran, officials are considering a two-step process that would begin with a freeze and modest rollback of Iranian enrichment of uranium, matched by a limited easing of U.S.-led economic sanctions on Tehran.

Officials hope this first phase would be followed later by a comprehensive agreement that would lift all sanctions in return for a verifiable halt in Iranian nuclear weapons capability. This second phase is many months down the road, but the shape of a possible initial phase has likely already been discussed with U.S. negotiating partners in the “P5+1” group (Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) and may be shared with the Iranians on Thursday in Geneva.

 

GOP Struggles

CNN

Results for Republican candidates in the most high-profile 2013 races this year — a resounding re-election win by Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey and losses for Virginia governor and New York mayor — stand as a reminder to party leaders that the civil war in their ranks remains a toxic turnoff to voters.

A pattern has emerged: GOP candidates who wade into the hottest ideological fights — such as the government shutdown or the attempt to defund Obamacare — enjoy a burst of publicity and cheers from right-wing think tanks, conservative donors and media celebrities.

But the same rowdy, combative style that delights audiences at tea party rallies tarnishes the party label among independent voters. That makes life politically difficult for middle-of-the-road Republicans.

USA Today

Despite all the election night punditry, Tuesday’s results probably don’t portend much about the 2014 elections, much less 2016. But the results do hold important lessons for the GOP if it wants to field competitive candidates in national and statewide elections.

 

House votes to start new Benghazi investigation

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House votes to start new Benghazi investigation

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Thursday rammed through a measure opening a new investigation of the deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya, vowing to dig deeper in a search for truth. Democrats declared it merely a political ploy to raise campaign cash and motivate voters.

A bitterly divided House voted 232-186 to establish the panel that Speaker John Boehner insisted would answer questions that linger almost 20 months after the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission. Seven Democrats, many facing tough re-election campaigns, broke ranks and joined Republicans in supporting the probe.

The panel’s investigation will be the eighth on Benghazi and will examine the entirety of the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Independent, bipartisan and GOP-led probes have faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the outpost, leading to four demotions. No attacker has yet been brought to justice.

Republicans say they’re unsatisfied with explanations so far, and they have leveled a range of accusations against President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior administration officials. Chief among them: that the administration misled the American people about the nature of the attack during a presidential election campaign and stonewalled congressional investigators.

“We will not take any shortcuts to the truth, accountability or justice,” Boehner said during the House debate.

Democrats remain divided over whether to boycott the select committee. They are concerned that their participation would grant legitimacy to what they believe will be a partisan forum. But they also worry that if they avoid it they won’t have the chance to counter GOP claims and defend potential witnesses — including Clinton, a possible 2016 presidential candidate.

After the vote, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was noncommittal about whether Democrats would participate on the special committee, but assailed the new probe. “Our nation deserves better than yet another deeply partisan and political review,” she said.

Party leaders will meet with their rank and file Friday to decide on the next step.

Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida criticized the “song and dance” she said came from Clinton when House members wanted to question her about Benghazi a few months after the attack. Clinton’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee was delayed when she missed a month of work toward the end of her tenure after suffering a virus, then a fall and a concussion, and then brief hospitalization for a blood clot near her brain.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said no evidence uncovered in any of the investigations thus far suggests wrongdoing by the administration. Republican claims have descended into “the crass and unbelievable,” she said.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the questions “have been asked and answered time and time and time again,” and he added: “Let’s end the political circus.”

Benghazi has produced 13 public hearings, the release of 25,000 pages of documents and 50 separate briefings. The select committee won’t be the only inquiry, as other GOP-led congressional panels continue their probes, including a House Oversight investigation which just last week took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing a Cabinet member. Secretary of State John Kerry hasn’t said when he might testify.

Democrats deride the effort as a conservative campaign designed to energize Republican voters in typically low-turnout midterm elections.

Boehner’s legislation creates a select House committee through the end of the year. It will have to be reapproved when a new Congress begins in January or go out of existence. The select committee has no explicit financial constraints.

Earlier this week, the National Republican Congressional Committee sent an email vowing that “no one will get away” from the committee’s investigation and asking people for donations.

Rep. Steve Israel of New York, the Democratic campaign committee chairman, called fundraising off Benghazi “despicable and insulting.” Boehner on Thursday refused to criticize the fundraising drive.

In an opinion piece Thursday in USA Today, the congressman whom Boehner has chosen to head the probe signaled he’d re-examine the entirety of the Benghazi attack, including questions Democrats and some senior Republicans consider settled.

The GOP-led House Armed Services Committee concluded months ago the U.S. military couldn’t have responded in time to save Stevens and the others. Still, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina asked: “Was our military response during the pendency of the siege sufficient?”

The Obama administration says officials tried to provide the public with the best information available after the attack at a time when U.S. embassies, consulates and other facilities were facing angry demonstrations across the Muslim world over a YouTube video mocking Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The administration originally attributed Benghazi to a similar protest that extremists hijacked but retracted that account amid severe criticism.

House Democrats have issued several demands if they are to participate in the select committee. Boehner already has rejected their call for equal representation on the panel, deciding instead to fill it with seven Republicans and five Democrats. The Democrats also seek guarantees they’ll have equal access to documents, say on subpoenas and right to question witnesses.

In a letter to colleagues late Thursday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., raised the possibility of Pelosi appointing just one Democrat to the panel to ensure Democrats have access to documents and witnesses.

James’ return to Cleveland could complicate GOP

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James’ return to Cleveland could complicate GOP

WASHINGTON — Balloon drops might be competing with basketballs in Cleveland.

NBA superstar LeBron James’ announcement Friday that he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA could throw up a roadblock for Republican plans to nominate their presidential contender in 2016 on Lake Erie’s shores. If James leads his team into post-season play in 2016, Republicans could find their preferred June 28 start date for the convention impossible.

That leaves Republicans with the backup date of July 18 — still earlier than parties typically nominate their presidential hopeful in recent years, but later than RNC chief Reince Priebus preferred.

“All options remain on the table as we’re still very early on in the negotiation process,” RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said. “We’re excited about Cleveland, and LeBron’s return is further evidence that it’s a city on the rise.”

Priebus insisted his party’s convention be scheduled for early summer of 2016, roughly two months sooner than has become the norm. That would give the GOP’s next presidential nominee quicker access to tens of millions of dollars in general election cash.

“The candidate can be broke but they’re not able to raise general election money until the convention is held,” Priebus said earlier this week.

But James’ return to the Cavaliers from the Miami Heat could complicate that timeline and perhaps Republican efforts to win the White House. Teams with James have made it to the league finals in five of the last eight seasons, and his move to Cleveland is unlikely to reverse that trend.

Cleveland on Tuesday won the unanimous backing of a RNC panel, all but guaranteeing the GOP’s 2016 presidential pick will accept the party’s nomination in perennially hard-fought Ohio. RNC lawyers are now in negotiations with Cleveland’s organizing committee over the exact terms of the bid, including how many weeks of early and exclusive access Republicans can expect in the Cavaliers’ arena.

If the RNC insists on its preferred date and weeks of early access to hang balloons and bunting, the Cavaliers could be forced to look at other venues for post-season play. Ohio State University’s basketball arena in Columbus is one such option.

The full 168-member RNC is expected to finalize the deal next month.

Ohio’s allure as a political prize proved tempting. The last candidate to win the White House without Ohio was John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, in 1960.

During the 2012 presidential race, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney made Ohio a central piece of their strategies. Combined, they spent $150 million on television ads and were frequent visitors to the state, which narrowly broke in Obama’s favor.

Online Opinion Outpost: Nov. 11, 2014

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Online Opinion Outpost: Nov. 11, 2014

The Online Opinion Outpost features opinions and commentary on the latest hot topics from national news sources. As much as you love hearing from The Universe, we thought you might like to hear from journalists around the nation.

Democrats’ loss
Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal

Fifty years from now, no one will remember the names of the one-term Democratic senators or candidates who were washed out in the 2014 midterm elections. What they will remember is that the Democrats in 2014 became the party of a modern Herbert Hoover. In Barack Obama, they were led by a detached president whose name history will attach to a prolonged, six-year economic catastrophe. They became the party of economic despair. The party of economic despair will always lose.

That is the one certain thing we learned in the 2014 midterms: Low economic growth in the modern U.S. economy is a total, across-the-board, top-to-bottom political loser.

The ascendant GOP congressional majority needs to do one thing: Liberate the locked-in U.S. economy. Start opening every valve the Obama Democrats turned shut. That’s the real gridlock.

 

Obama and the GOP
The New York Times

President Obama refused on Wednesday to submit to the Republican narrative that his presidency effectively ended with the midterm elections.

He said he will not agree to the repeal of health care reform, as many Republicans demand. He will not sit around doing nothing while they look for the courage to enact immigration reform. He will continue to demand a higher minimum wage and new spending on public work  and expansion of early education programs.

“Obviously, Republicans had a good night,” he said, a quiet admission that his party got drubbed, losing control of the Senate, as well as at least 14 House seats. But he said he hopes to meet regularly with Republican leaders and work on areas where there is mutual agreement.

Newt Gingrich, CNN

Friday’s White House meeting with congressional leaders is a timid first step by President Obama toward learning to work effectively with a Congress that will now be controlled by Republicans.

President Obama’s press conference was almost two different events. One was conciliatory and suggested to the voters, “I hear you.” The other was confrontational and almost hostile, asserting that he will do what he wants through executive action unless Republicans give him exactly what he wants through legislation.

In the days that follow, however, President Obama faces an important strategic choice between two paths forward, one productive, the other destructive.

The first option, the path toward a productive working relationship, is clear. House Speaker John Boehner and presumptive Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have each laid down markers for how a productive way forward can take place.

If they can start small and build while ignoring (temporarily, at least) the stories of the day, the President and the new Congress have a strong chance of finding ways to work together.

If, however, President Obama takes the other path before him — pursuing the vision of an unrestrained executive he sketched in his press conference — he is likely to have a very difficult time collaborating with Congress on anything.

If President Obama wants to have the effective working relationship with Congress that he says he does, he will have to take the path that can lead to such a relationship. It is wide open. The other path is a path to national pain and division.

 

GOP’s next steps
The Washington Post

Unlike the dog that chased the car until, to its consternation, he caught it, Republicans know what to do with what they have caught. Having completed their capture of control of the legislative branch, they should start with the following six measures concerning practical governance and constitutional equilibrium:

– Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
– Repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board.
– Repeal the Affordable Care Act’s tax on medical devices.
– Improve energy, economic and environmental conditions by authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
– Mandate completion of the nuclear waste repository in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.
– Pass the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.

Such measures may be too granular to satisfy the grandiose aspirations of those conservatives who, sharing progressives’ impatience with our constitutional architecture, aspire to have their way completely while wielding just one branch of government. But if, as is likely, the result of Congress doing these and similar things is a blizzard of presidential vetoes, even this would be constructive.


House GOP sues administration over health care law

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House GOP sues administration over health care law

WASHINGTON — House Republicans sued the Obama administration on Friday over its implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care law, saying he had overstepped his legal authority in carrying out the program.

GOP lawmakers filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Washington the morning after Obama announced unilateral executive actions to expand protections for millions of immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally. While Republicans complained that Obama had unconstitutionally exceeded his powers with those actions, the suit filed Friday did not address immigration.

“If this president can get away with making his own laws, future presidents will have the ability to as well,” Boehner said in a written statement announcing the lawsuit. “The House has an obligation to stand up for the Constitution, and that is exactly why we are pursuing this course of action.”

The House authorized the lawsuit in a near party-line vote in July as congressional re-election campaigns were heating up. Democrats said Obama had acted legally and said the GOP measure was a political stunt aimed at motivating conservatives to vote and distracting them from calls by some to go even further and impeach the president.

The lawsuit was filed Friday against the departments of Health and Human Services and the Treasury.

It accuses Obama of unlawfully delaying the health care law’s requirement that many employers provide health care coverage for their workers.

It also accuses him of illegally making $175 billion in payments to insurance companies from a federal account that is not authorized for that purpose.

Congressional Republicans have all opposed the health care overhaul. The GOP-led House has voted over 50 times to repeal it or pare it back.

Former GOP nominee Romney will not run for president in ’16

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Former GOP nominee Romney will not run for president in ’16

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a three-week flirtation with another run for president, Mitt Romney said definitively on Friday that he will not seek the White House in 2016.

The Republican Party’s 2012 nominee plans to tell supporters about his plans to pass on another national campaign during a conference call. He first let his staff know in a separate call that he was out of the race.

“After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee,” Romney said in a statement, which he planned to read to supporters on the call.

The former governor of Massachusetts had jumped back into the presidential discussion on Jan. 10, when he surprised a small group of former donors at a meeting in New York by telling them he was eyeing a third run for the White House.

It was a monumental change for Romney, who since losing the 2012 election to President Barack Obama had repeatedly told all who asked that his career in politics was over and that he would not again run for president.

In the days since that meeting in New York, which caught several in attendance off-guard, Romney made calls to former fundraisers, staff and supporters, and gave three public speeches in which he outlined his potential vision for another campaign.

“I’m thinking about how I can help the country,” he told hundreds of students Wednesday night at Mississippi State University.

In that speech, and what amounted to a campaign stop a few hours before at a barbeque restaurant with Mississippi State’s football coach Dan Mullen in tow, Romney sounded every bit like a politician preparing to run for president.

“We need to restore opportunity, particularly for the middle class,” Romney said. “You deserve a job that can repay all you’ve spent and borrowed to go to college.”

But as Romney sounded out his former team about putting together a new national campaign, he discovered that several of his past fundraisers had already made plans for 2016 and were committed to supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Several key former Romney donors told The Associated Press this week that in Bush they see someone who can successfully serve as president, as they believe Romney could. But they also think Bush has the personality and senior staff needed to win the White House, something the former Massachusetts governor could not bring together in his two previous presidential campaigns.

“I’ve got great respect for Gov. Romney, and I busted my buns for him,” said Chicago investor Craig Duchossois, whose wife contributed $250,000 to a pro-Romney super PAC while he collected tens of thousands more for Romney’s last campaign. “But I have turned the page.”

Romney also lost one of his most trusted political advisers on Thursday when David Kochel joined Bush’s team. Kochel, who led Romney’s campaign in Iowa in 2008 and 2012, is in now line to play a senior role in Bush’s campaign should he run.

Romney’s inner circle was surprised to lose Kochel, whom a Bush spokesman called one of “the most respected strategists” in the country.

The exit of Romney from the campaign most immediately benefits the other favorites of the party’s establishment wing, including Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

The more conservative side of the field is largely unchanged, with a group of candidates that will likely include Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Online Opinion Outpost: May 12

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Online Opinion Outpost: May 12

The Opinion Outpost features opinions and commentary on the latest hot topics from national news sources. As much as you love hearing from The Universe, we thought you might like to hear from journalists around the nation.

Deflategate
Buck Sexton, CNN

“Deflategate” isn’t some terrible tragedy. It is a failing of sport, not of law. Nobody got fired, nobody was hurt. The NFL will do what it does, the league will move on, billions of dollars will be made. In the grand scheme of things, “Deflategate” is a blip on the radar of American sports culture.

Mother’s Day
Jason F. Wright, Fox News

But what good is it to spend $20 billion on Mother’s Day and drop our dirty clothes on the floor Monday morning? (Guilty.) Do we fawn over our moms on Sunday and then spend Monday evening watching SportsCenter while she does the dishes? (Awkward pause.) Do we call her on Mother’s Day and then not again until we need something? (Guilty of that, too.)

Baltimore

The Editorial Board, New York Times

As shocking as they are, these facts make perfect sense in the context of the century-long assault that Baltimore’s blacks have endured at the hands of local, state and federal policy makers, all of whom worked to quarantine black residents in ghettos, making it difficult even for people of means to move into integrated areas that offered better jobs, schools and lives for their children. This happened in cities all over the country, but the segregationist impulse in Maryland generally was particularly virulent andwell-documented in Baltimore, which is now 63 percent black.

The Editorial Board, Washington Times

There’s lots to do in Baltimore and everywhere else to repair relations between the races. The language of insult and affront is important for everyone to use carefully. It’s just as important that rioters, looters — and thugs — be called out and called their right names. Identifying the evildoers, naming their crimes and putting them before a court to explain themselves, taking punishment if appropriate, is necessary if peace is to be re-established in Baltimore.

Minimum wage
David Neumark, LA Times

Based on my research, I think it is likely that a $15 minimum wage in Los Angeles will lead some teenagers currently focused on their education to take part-time jobs at the new, higher minimum, and displace low-skilled workers from the jobs they now hold. That seems like a bad outcome.

Republican candidates
Neil Assur, Forbes

Indeed, 2016 is shaping up to be a somewhat unusual Republican primary race.  Of the three new official candidates, only Mr. Huckabee has any real political experience, serving as the governor of Arkansas until 2007.  Ms. Fiorina’s only foray into the political arena came in a failed bid for senate, and Dr. Carson has never run for any political office.   It certainly seems as though this election’s crop of candidates packs a bit less of a punch than those of the recent past.

Editorial Board, New York Post

Funny thing happened on the 2016 road to the White House: The party of “old white guys” stopped being so old, white or just guys. It even has a fair bit of debate overissues.

And, by the way, the Republican field’s average age is 54 to the Democrats’ 64.

The GOP: Not all old, not all white — and not all guys. Toss the stereotypes aside.

Patriot Act
USA Today

While the phone program’s benefits are dubious, its costs are clear. Several major tech companies have said that privacy intrusions have hurt U.S. companies. Meanwhile, innocent Americans suffer an assault to their privacy each day the government collects data on their calls. And if this sort of collection goes on, history demonstrates the government is likely to abuse it.

California drought
Mark L. Clifford, CNN

Issues like droughts and climate change aren’t abstract realities in Asia. They are serious threats. If necessity is the mother of invention, we’re likely to see many more innovations coming out of Asia in the years ahead.

For Asia, water is a matter of poverty and prosperity, and sometimes of life and death. Asian countries are recognizing that there are solutions, but they are rarely easy and require often novel partnerships between government, business and society.

Perhaps California can learn a few things from Asia.

Religion news in brief

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Religion news in brief

GOP hopeful Dr. Ben Carson blasts Planned Parenthood

Dr. Ben Carson has urged people of faith to stand up against what he calls the “blatant evil” of Planned Parenthood.

The Republican presidential hopeful addressed a rally outside the U.S. Capitol yesterday as an anti-abortion group released a third undercover video of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the provision of organs from aborted fetuses for research. The organization says the videos are heavily edited.

Carson told abortion opponents he had spent many nights as a surgeon “toiling so hard to save one of those lives.”

Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who also are seeking the GOP nomination, said Congress should cut off the hundreds of millions of dollars it gives Planned Parenthood.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office says he’s working “to address this horrific issue with the goal of taking a vote” before Congress’s August recess.

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Massachusetts Marine killed in Tennessee called ‘exemplary’

The Massachusetts Marine who was killed a by a gunman in Tennessee this month has been remembered by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield as “exemplary” and “a leader and a man of true courage.”

Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan was one of five service members killed by a Muslim gunman in Chattanooga on July 16. The gunman was killed by police.

Bishop Michael Rozanski said the 40-year-old Sullivan’s “love for his family, his selfless dedication to being a Marine and his solid faith in God” helped him face deployments in Iraq and the fatal attack on July 16.

Monday’s funeral Mass at Holy Cross Church — the church Sullivan attended as a child — was attended by family, friends, active duty Marines and dignitaries, including Gov. Charlie Baker, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.

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Air Force base near Clovis accused of religious favoritism

Officials at an Air Force base in New Mexico are denying claims that they improperly promoted an upcoming religious event.

The Clovis News Journal reports that emails about an Aug. 15 Gospel Explosion event planned for the Cannon Air Force Base chapel said “please post everywhere and spread the word.”

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says a master sergeant and first lieutenants sent emails to seven people who later contacted the organization. In a news release Thursday the group said the emails could be construed as supporting or endorsing religion.

Base public affairs representative Lt. Erin Recanzone says the invitation was promoted like any other base-hosted event, including standup comics and golf tournaments.

She says the base thoroughly investigates all concerns related to religious freedom.

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Mormons reevaluate Boy Scout links after OK for gay adults

The lifting of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay adult leaders has drawn a sharp response from the largest sponsor of Scout units.

The Mormon church, which serves more than 427,000 boys in nearly 38,000 scout units, says the admission of openly gay leaders is “inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church.” One possibility, church officials suggest, would be for the Mormons to form their own worldwide scouting movement.

After the Mormons, the next largest sponsors of U.S. Scout units are the United Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Methodists’ General Commission on United Methodist Men said decisions on whether or not to accept gay adult leaders would rest with individual churches.

Catholic Bishop Robert Guglielmone (goo-yel-MOH’-nee) of Charleston, South Carolina, who helps oversee Catholic scouting programs, said he and his colleagues are “cautiously optimistic” that they’ll be able to continue choosing scout leaders that meet their standards.

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Sheriff’s office: Man dies from snake bite at church service

A Kentucky sheriff’s office says a man has died from a snake bite he suffered during a church service.

The Bell County sheriff’s office said Monday that 60-year-old John David Brock of Stoney Fork was handling the snake during a Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in Jenson. Authorities say Brock was bitten on his left arm and refused medical treatment.

The sheriff’s office says Brock went to his brother’s home, where he later died. The local coroner pronounced Brock dead.

Snake handling at religious services is most common in Southern Appalachian states. The basis for the practice is a disputed passage in the Gospel of Mark.

Trump on ‘Tonight Show:’ Will apologize ‘if I’m ever wrong’

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Donald Trump clarified, sort of, a long-standing question about his personality during an appearance on Friday's "Tonight Show." Host Jimmy Fallon asked him, playfully, if the billionaire developer and GOP presidential front-runner has ever apologized for anything.
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