The Caucus: Obama Goes After Republicans in New Michigan Ad

Tracking and analyzing campaign advertising.

DETROIT — President Obama is highlighting his support for the federal assistance plan that helped rescue Detroit automakers in a new television commercial that accuses Republican presidential candidates of abandoning the industry in its darkest hour.

The 30-second commercial, called “Made in America,” also mentions Mitt Romney’s now well-known opinion article that carried the headline “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

Over images of factory employees hard at work and smiling families, an announcer says, “when a million jobs were on the line, every Republican candidate turned their back, even said, ‘Let Detroit go Bankrupt.’”

Then the commercial pivots to the president. “Not him,” says the announcer as a sound bite of the president plays. “Don’t bet against the American auto industry,” Mr. Obama is shown saying.

The ad is certain to draw even more of a focus on the sensitive and complex politics of the auto industry bailout, which all the Republican candidates have said they opposed. Mr. Obama and Democrats have sought to draw attention to that opposition now that Detroit car makers are adding jobs and the economy in Michigan is showing signs of progress.

In a Detroit Free Press poll released today, there were signs that Mr. Romney’s opposition to the bailout were complicating his prospects here in his home state. Asked what they disliked most about Mr. Romney, 12 percent of likely Republican primary voters cited his opposition to the rescue plan.

View the original article here

Republicans drop demand to pay for payroll tax cut

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the House of Representatives on Monday dropped their demand for spending reductions to pay for extending a tax cut for 160 million American workers, setting up a likely breakthrough for agreement with Democrats.

The about-face cleared the way for the Republican-led House to vote this week to renew for 10 months the tax cut set to expire on February 29.

The Democratic-led Senate would likely support the payroll tax extension as laid out by the Republicans, even though they prefer including in the deal provisions on jobless benefits and payments for doctors treating Medicare patients that Republicans now want to negotiate separately.

Notably, the offer was issued by both House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican, and his deputy Eric Cantor, who has often taken a more hardline approach in budget negotiations with Democrats over the past year.

Republicans made deficit reduction a rallying cry during last year's budget battles with Democrats that brought the U.S. government to the edge of a shutdown three times and cost the country its coveted AAA credit rating from the Standard & Poor's rating agency.

Dropping the demand for spending cuts to finance the payroll tax cut could draw fire from conservatives within the party who oppose adding to a trillion-plus deficit.

The decision, however, allows Republicans to put behind them an issue that has divided them and hurt their tax-cutting image among voters before the November elections.

"They folded," a senior Democratic aide said. "Republicans know their ongoing handwringing on getting their members to support this tax cut is a loser for them."

Many economists said extending the tax cut through the 2012 election year was needed to shore up sluggish U.S. growth even as some Republicans questioned its economic value. The tax cut could inject about $100 billion into the U.S. economy this year.

If the impasse had persisted, President Barack Obama could have added it to his list of complaints about what he calls a "do nothing Congress," a central theme in his re-election campaign.

ELECTORAL CONCERNS WEIGH

Public approval of Congress is at record lows and polling data show voters primarily blame Republicans, who control the House of Representatives.

"In the middle of the Republican presidential primary and the general election coming up, they didn't want to saddle their party with torpedoing a bill to extend a tax cut," said Dan Ripp of Bradley Woods, a private firm that tracks Washington for institutional investors.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson, a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement, voiced concerns about adding the roughly $100 billion cost of extending the payroll tax cut to the debt but acknowledged that "there is such great political pressure" to extend the payroll tax cut.

Democrats have gained an upper hand in the battle over the payroll tax cut, using Republican opposition to a Democratic plan to pay for it with a tax on millionaires to portray them as favoring the wealthy over the struggling middle class.

The White House reacted cautiously to news of the Republican offer, first reported by Reuters, calling it "hypothetical."

Congressional Democrats said they would prefer to negotiate a comprehensive payroll tax cut package that also included an extension of unemployment insurance benefits and provision to continue pay at current rates for doctors treating elderly Medicare patients.

"Republicans are suddenly feeling the pressure to make sure middle class tax cuts are extended without delay," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. "But we cannot ignore Americans who are out of work through no fault of their own, or put at risk up to 48 million seniors' access to their doctors."

STALLED TALKS NO MORE

Talks on extending the 4.2 percent rate on taxes workers pay into the Social Security trust fund had stalled over how to pay for it, with both sides refusing to make significant compromises and accusing each other of bad faith negotiations. If Congress fails to extend the tax break, the payroll tax rate workers pay will rise to 6.2 percent on March 1.

Boehner and Cantor blamed Democrats for blocking agreement on spending cuts to cover the roughly $170 billion price tag of extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for a full year, along with keeping doctor payments under the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly at current rates.

"(This) has made it necessary for us to prepare this fallback option to protect small business job creators and ensure taxes don't go up on middle class workers," they said in a statement.

Republicans first made the compromise offer over the weekend, aides said.

A Republican aide said the party had been discussing the move for a week and decided to go ahead with the plan when weekend talks failed to produce a comprehensive agreement.

Talks over the weekend were held between Senator Max Baucus, the top Democratic negotiator, and Representative Dave Camp, the top Republican negotiator.

After the weekend discussions, Camp spoke by phone with fellow House Republican leaders, including Boehner and Cantor, and decided to move ahead with a separate payroll tax cut bill that doesn't include spending cuts to pay for it.

Negotiations will continue on averting a pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients and on an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, while also seeking a way to pay for the package, the Republican leaders' statement said.

A senior Senate Republican aide predicted that the House Republican leadership plan would win Senate support.

"We have said that tax cuts tend to pay for themselves and we should not be overly concerned with paying for them," the aide said.

"They (House Republican leaders) came to the same conclusion as we (Senate Republicans) did last December: it's not smart being seen as being opposed to a tax cut or demanding that they be paid for," the aide said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; editing by Mary Milliken)

View the original article here

Republicans Accuse Obama of Using Gimmicks in Budget

The theatrics of budget day are time-honored. The party that does not hold the White House decries “magic asterisks” and “Enron accounting” in the president’s budget, then declares it dead on arrival. But the indignation that greeted Mr. Obama’s budget on Monday seemed to be amplified by the presidential election, debt crises already rocking Europe and the sheer size of the additional debt envisioned by the president’s plan: $6.7 trillion through 2022.

“The president has abandoned his role as leader of the nation,” declared Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming.

Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, accused the president of mocking the American people. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, asked why the president “is even seeking a second term” after his “true failure of leadership.”

At the heart of Republican objections is accounting. Mr. Obama boasted of $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years in his proposal. Republican budget writers on Capitol Hill saw a fraction of that, as little as $300 billion.

At issue is how the government projects spending and deficits. Of the $4 trillion in deficit reduction noted by the White House, $3 trillion would come from tax increases and spending cuts. Another $900 billion would come from domestic spending caps agreed to with Republicans last year to resolve the impasse over raising the nation’s statutory borrowing limit.

But if Congress and the president did nothing but continue current policies, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, said the accumulated debt over the next 10 years would be only $300 billion higher than the debt Mr. Obama is projecting if all his policies are adopted.

In large part, that is because automatic cuts to military and nonmilitary programs totaling $1.2 trillion are already set to go in force in 2013. The Obama budget assumes those cuts will not happen. The president also assumes that sharp cuts to reimbursement rates for doctors treating Medicare patients will not ever go into force. Republicans say that effectively negates $522 billion over 10 years.

Republicans also protest that President Obama is “saving” nearly $1 trillion by not spending over the coming decade what the United States has spent each year on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. True, a Republican administration may have unwound those wars more slowly than the Obama administration has, but Republican budget writers say that no one believes combat costs would have stayed steady over the next 10 years. Therefore, counting savings is misleading, Republicans say, since the savings come from money that would never have been spent.

As Senate Budget Committee Republicans count it, the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that Mr. Obama wants to negate, the $522 billion in Medicare physician reimbursement costs and the war savings from spending that was never going to happen should be subtracted from the $3 trillion in new deficit reduction that the White House is presenting. That leaves about $300 billion in real deficit reduction over the coming decade.

A senior administration official conceded the Republican point that the $3 trillion in new deficit reduction the budget claims is offset by eliminating the across-the-board cuts scheduled to take place next year, but he dismissed its importance. Whether the White House says it is offering $3 trillion in new savings and $1 trillion in previously agreed-upon savings or $2 trillion in new savings on top of last year’s $2 trillion, the total is the same: $4 trillion in deficit reduction.

The official also said that the budget does assume the cuts to Medicare reimbursement never take place, but that the deficit each year is adjusted upward to reflect that cost.

Democrats also dismissed Republican charges that war savings is budget gimmickry. Even some leading Republicans, like Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, have used the same approach, and Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are considering canceling automatic military spending cuts by declaring that war savings will more than make up for the lost deficit reduction.

Republican indignation on Monday came in marked contrast to their response to George W. Bush’s budget proposals, which did not count costs for the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, for the same Medicare physician payment adjustments, or for the annual cost of staving off an expansion of the alternative minimum tax.

If the Obama White House had budgeted for 2013 and beyond the way Mr. Bush had, its deficit forecast for 2022 would have been $167 billion, or 0.7 percent of the economy, one Obama administration official said. Instead, because White House budgeters are adjusting for such costs, the deficit is forecast to be 2.8 percent of the economy that year, $704 billion.

Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, who was White House budget director for some of those Bush budgets, called the Obama budget “beyond the line.” Asked about the gimmicks the Bush budget office used, Mr. Portman responded, “His are at a new level.”

The one charge the White House has no defense against is that with the new budget, Mr. Obama has broken his 2009 promise to cut the deficit in half in his first term. The deficit that year was a record $1.4 trillion. The deficit in fiscal 2012 will total $1.3 trillion.

The Republican National Committee released an online advertisement to greet Budget Day with images of a toddler at play as her mother frets about the debt she will be saddled with by Mr. Obama’s recklessness.

“President Obama, you broke your promise,” the narrator scolds. “I’ll never forget that.”

View the original article here

The Caucus: The Obama Campaign Tweets, and Republicans Pounce

Republicans on Wednesday criticized President Obama’s campaign manager for sending a Twitter post that they said was insulting to Hispanics.

Jim Messina, a former top White House official and the manager of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign, tweeted a part of Tuesday’s column by Dana Milbank of The Washington Post.

“Line of the day from WAPO’s Dana Milbank: ‘The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos,’ ” Mr. Messina tweeted.

Republicans quickly pounced, accusing him of insensitivity.

“This message from Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, shows us how little Team Obama understands the Latino community,” said Alexandra Franceschi, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. “His insensitive comment ignores Latino diversity and shows how Team Obama takes Latinos for granted.”

Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, said in a statement: “Are these people for real? Does Messina think that Latinos are not aware of Obama’s double talk? I think he’s going to end up swallowing the whole chimichanga this November!”

Mr. Messina quickly acknowledged the complaints, saying in a second post that “tweeting someone else’s words caused a stir, but the GOP is on the wrong side of every Hispanic voter priority.”

He also used his second tweet to link to a memorandum from Mr. Obama’s campaign which argues that Republican policies have alienated Latino voters.

View the original article here

Republicans push to wrap up payroll tax talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans expressed frustration on Thursday at the slow pace of negotiations over extending a tax break for workers that expires at the end of the month, accusing President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats of blocking agreement.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said negotiators needed to "get moving" to reach agreement on how to pay for the roughly $170 billion package for a full year.

"Right now, the only ones blocking an agreement are the Senate Democrats and the president," Boehner said at a news conference. "It's time for them to act."

Failure to strike a deal would mean an effective tax hike on 160 million workers in an election year, dealing a blow to a U.S. economy that has shown unexpected strength in recent weeks. The tax break provides an extra $1,000 for an average family.

A Democratic aide dismissed the Republican charges, saying the party was making a "real effort" to get a deal.

Negotiators are deadlocked over how to cover the cost of the legislation. Both sides have been reluctant to make any real concessions on Democrats' demands for tax increases on wealthier Americans and Republicans' push for spending cuts, as they try to outmaneuver each other for political advantage.

It is the same dispute that prevented lawmakers from reaching agreement in December on extending the tax cut through the 2012 election year.

Democrats offered on Thursday to scale back unemployment insurance benefits to 93 weeks from 99. Republicans, who want them cut to 59 weeks, swiftly rejected the proposal.

Democrats believe they have the advantage in the talks and are reluctant to make significant concessions unless they see a willingness by Republicans to soften their central demand for the package to be paid for entirely with spending cuts.

The No. 2 Republican in the House, Eric Cantor, said Republicans would like talks wrapped up by the end of next week when Congress will go on a weeklong break. But Boehner said separately he did not want to set any deadlines.

The current two-month extension expires on February 29. If Congress fails to act, the 4.2 percent tax workers pay for the Social Security retirement fund will snap back to 6.2 percent.

Some economists worry that failing to extend the payroll tax cut could slow already sluggish U.S. economic growth by as much as 1 percentage point this year.

The tax cut package also includes extending jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and the cost of averting a 27 percent pay cut for doctors treating elderly Medicare patients.

Election-year politics have complicated the search for a deal on how to pay for the tax cut package. The Republican plan calls for a premium increase for upper-income Medicare patients that has been rejected by Democrats, who are likely to use protecting the Medicare as a campaign issue.

Republicans, want to protect their tax-cutting image and rejected a Democratic proposal to impose an extra 1 percent tax on incomes over $1 million.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Peter Cooney)

View the original article here

Are House Republicans Mitt Romney's 'biggest liability'?

Tuesday was a terrible day for Mitt Romney. Conservatives abandoned him in droves for once-insignificant rival Rick Santorum, who won three statewide presidential contests. Still, the former Massachusetts governor remains heavily favored to win the GOP nomination. If (or when) he does, he'll surely be associated throughout the campaign with the one branch of the federal government his party controls, the deeply unpopular House. That may not be good news for Mitt. House Republicans don't seem too keen to moderate their more controversial policy prescriptions in order to help their nominee appeal to a general election audience. Is this Romney's biggest campaign challenge?

The House GOP is "Romney's biggest liability": House Republicans are going out of their way to become "an albatross to Romney's presidential bid," says Jonathan Bernstein at The Washington Post. They're "apparently preparing to dive off a cliff again" by doubling down on Rep. Paul Ryan's unpopular Medicare-voucherizing plan, and fighting a popular tax on the rich that would pay for an extension of the payroll tax holiday. "These are both issues where conservative orthodoxy is on one side, and the bulk of the American people" are on the other. Every time the House GOP brings up its "unpopular conservative positions," Romney is "going to take hits."
"Mitt Romney's biggest liability: The House GOP?"

But at least we'll get a real contest of ideas: "The future of Medicare is on the line," says Cory Adams at Big Think. And thanks to the House GOP's continued focus on Ryan's controversial plan, which Mitt has backed, "a Romney vs. Obama match-up will surely address this contentious issue." In the end, that may hurt Mitt. But we should all be glad that "in an era of record U.S. deficits, the question of individual liberty and the responsibility of the state is coming to the fore in a way that is hasn't for decades."
"Paul Ryan, individual liberty, and the fate of Medicare"

Plus, Romney's real problem is his social squishiness: "Conventional wisdom has long held that the 2012 election would be about fiscal and economic issues" like Medicare and taxes, says Joel B. Pollak at Big Government. But as Santorum's resurgence shows, "social conservatism may be due for a revival." That will be Romney's Achilles' heel: He's a notorious "flip-flopper" on social issues, and "after a year of frustrating compromises in Congress," voters want a man of conviction.
"Will 2012 be about social conservatism after all?"

View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

Other stories from this topic:

Like on Facebook - Follow on Twitter - Sign-up for Daily Newsletter

View the original article here

Republicans push to wrap up payroll tax talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans expressed frustration on Thursday at the slow pace of negotiations over extending a tax break for workers that expires at the end of the month, accusing President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats of blocking agreement.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said negotiators needed to "get moving" to reach agreement on how to pay for the roughly $170 billion package for a full year.

"Right now, the only ones blocking an agreement are the Senate Democrats and the president," Boehner said at a news conference. "It's time for them to act."

Failure to strike a deal would mean an effective tax hike on 160 million workers in an election year, dealing a blow to a U.S. economy that has shown unexpected strength in recent weeks. The tax break provides an extra $1,000 for an average family.

A Democratic aide dismissed the Republican charges, saying the party was making a "real effort" to get a deal.

Negotiators are deadlocked over how to cover the cost of the legislation. Both sides have been reluctant to make any real concessions on Democrats' demands for tax increases on wealthier Americans and Republicans' push for spending cuts, as they try to outmaneuver each other for political advantage.

It is the same dispute that prevented lawmakers from reaching agreement in December on extending the tax cut through the 2012 election year.

Democrats offered on Thursday to scale back unemployment insurance benefits to 93 weeks from 99. Republicans, who want them cut to 59 weeks, swiftly rejected the proposal.

Democrats believe they have the advantage in the talks and are reluctant to make significant concessions unless they see a willingness by Republicans to soften their central demand for the package to be paid for entirely with spending cuts.

The No. 2 Republican in the House, Eric Cantor, said Republicans would like talks wrapped up by the end of next week when Congress will go on a weeklong break. But Boehner said separately he did not want to set any deadlines.

The current two-month extension expires on February 29. If Congress fails to act, the 4.2 percent tax workers pay for the Social Security retirement fund will snap back to 6.2 percent.

Some economists worry that failing to extend the payroll tax cut could slow already sluggish U.S. economic growth by as much as 1 percentage point this year.

The tax cut package also includes extending jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and the cost of averting a 27 percent pay cut for doctors treating elderly Medicare patients.

Election-year politics have complicated the search for a deal on how to pay for the tax cut package. The Republican plan calls for a premium increase for upper-income Medicare patients that has been rejected by Democrats, who are likely to use protecting the Medicare as a campaign issue.

Republicans, want to protect their tax-cutting image and rejected a Democratic proposal to impose an extra 1 percent tax on incomes over $1 million.

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Peter Cooney)

View the original article here