Essential Reads
Essential Reads is your one-stop source for the top stories of the day as reported by your favorite Washington Week panelists. It's a simple way to save time and stay informed about the news you need to know. Check it out every day!
Feb 28, 2012
-
Strife Spurs Rethinking of Afghan Mission
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy NewspapersAs violence continued Monday in Afghanistan over the accidental burning of Qurans by U.S. troops last week, American military officials and analysts are beginning to question whether the United States needs to change its mission of training Afghan soldiers and police, a key plank of President Obama's withdrawal strategy.
Read More -
Tight Race in Michigan
By Jeff Zeleny, New York TimesPolls show Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in a close race for Michigan’s Tuesday primary. Jeff Zeleny reports.
Watch Video
Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum (CNN)
-
Where Does The Economic Recovery Stand?
With David Wessel, Wall Street JournalMorning Edition's Steve Inskeep talks to David Wessel, of The Wall Street Journal, and Zanny Minton Beddoes, of The Economist, about how to read the latest economic signs, and whether there are any bright areas for growth.
Feb 27, 2012
-
Syria, Iran and the Obama Doctrine
By David Sanger, The New York TimesArm the Syrian rebels! And, while we’re at it, give the Israelis the tools they need — bunker-busters, refueling aircraft — so that if they decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, they’ll get it right the first time. Both calls have resonated across Washington in recent days. The demand to level the playing field against the Syrian government — which is getting arms from Russia and Iran — came from Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. Talk of increasing the credibility of Israel’s threat to flatten Iran’s far-flung nuclear facilities has arisen in many quarters, from the Republican presidential candidates to think tanks that have charged that the Obama administration has not yet made “all options are on the table” a credible threat.
Read more -
Romney defends wealth, Santorum touts values
By Sam Youngman and Steve Holland, ReutersIn a tight race to win the Michigan primary, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney strongly defended his wealth on Sunday and challenged voters to support someone else if they did not like his success.
Read more.jpg)
-
Revenge of the 'super PACs'
By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles TimesChalk up another win for the law of unintended consequences. When federal courts ruled in 2010 against restricting donations to political action committees, Republican strategists rejoiced. Here, they thought, was a way for the GOP's deep-pocketed donors to gain an advantage over President Obama's fundraising machine. But look what happened. "Super PACs," as the newly empowered political action committees are known, have mutated like election-year Godzillas, wreaking havoc in an increasingly bloody Republican primary campaign.
Read more -
Obama’s Deficit Dilemma
By Jackie Calmes, The New York TimesPresident Obama was backstage at an auditorium at George Washington University last April preparing to give a major speech, when William M. Daley, then his chief of staff, spied an unexpected guest in the audience: Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee, whose budget plan Mr. Obama was about to shred.
Read more -
Rick Santorum presses culture wars attack
By Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington PostRick Santorum has opened up a new and provocative front in the political culture wars as he boldly tries to cast the race for the White House as a battle between the secular and the religious. In back-to-back speeches over the weekend, the candidate described President Obama as “a snob” for focusing on the importance of a college education and disparaged the idea of a separation between church and state by attacking President John F. Kennedy, who made it a key point in his 1960 campaign.
Read more
Feb 24, 2012
-
Conventional Wisdom
By John Dickerson, SlateDisney may be in Orlando, but in Republican Party politics, Tampa is the home of Fantasyland. That's where the GOP convention will be held the week of Aug. 27. As the Republican race appears more likely to stretch into spring (or beyond), journalists and political operatives have started to imagine make-believe scenarios for what might happen if GOP delegates show up with funny hats, pins, and suntan lotion but no confirmed nominee.
Read More -
"Cool" Obama Returns GOP Fire on Gas Prices
By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPoliticsPresident Obama said Thursday in Miami that Republicans who want his job and others in Congress are not telling America the truth. Whether the president's complaints had merit was not the news. What was noteworthy was how the GOP assaults leveled at the president during the campaign -- and the pile-up of televised presidential debates -- are registering with Obama.
Read More -
What Happens if Mitt Romney Wins Michigan?
By Dan Balz, Washington PostFor the past week, much of the focus of the Republican presidential race has centered on the consequences Mitt Romney will face if he loses Michigan’s primary. After a debate in Arizona on Wednesday, the question should be: What will happen if he wins his home state? Polls in Michigan show a tight race between Romney and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.). Romney won Michigan four years ago, but there’s no guarantee he will do so again on Tuesday.
Read More -
Koran Burning in Afghanistan Fuels Bloody New Attacks on U.S. Forces
By Yochi J. Dreazen, National JournalThe deaths of a pair of American soldiers in Afghanistan Thursday highlights the bloody intersection of two dangerous aspects of the long war there: the growing Afghan fury over the burning of Korans and the continued killings of Western troops by their Afghan counterparts. An Afghan soldier shot and killed the U.S. soldiers at an outpost in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province and then, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter, fled into the large crowd of demonstrators outside the base. They were protesting reports that American troops had burned copies of the Koran, the holiest text in Islam.
Read More
Protests in Afghanistan over burnt Qurans (CNN) -
Poll: Santorum Surges in Pennsylvania
By Naftali Bendavid, Wall Street JournalRick Santorum might not seem like a good candidate for a “favorite son” vote in Pennsylvania. After all, last time he ran in the state, Mr. Santorum was clobbered by 18 points in his 2006 Senate re-election race—one of the worst losses for a sitting senator in decades.
Read More
Feb 23, 2012
-
Out of Air in Arizona
By John Dickerson, Slatehe 20th and perhaps final Republican presidential debate wheezed across the finish line and collapsed. At times it felt like the candidates had already talked themselves out on the big themes and could only bicker over table scraps. There was a long symposium on how earmarks and the congressional appropriating process work. Then, there was a confusing discussion of Arlen Specter, his re-election, and the judiciary committee. Who won? Ask the undecided Republicans in Michigan.
Read More -
Study Tests Claims of Republican Candidates’ Debt Plans
By Jackie Calmes, New York TimesA centrist budget-watchdog group is punching trillion-dollar holes in the claims of Republican presidential candidates that they would rein in the mounting federal debt if elected, according to an analysis to be released on Thursday.
Read More -
Afghanistan Protests: U.S. Embassy on Lock Down
With Martha Raddatz, ABC NewsAn accidental burning of Qurans led to Anti-U.S. protests.
-
Obama's Corporate Tax Plan Presages Election Debate
By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPoliticsPresident Obama's corporate tax reform "framework" unveiled Wednesday is unlikely to become law in an election year, but a partisan and economically rooted debate about individual and business taxes will figure prominently before November. Two competing visions for fiscal rejuvenation after 2013 are guaranteed to clash when Obama and a GOP nominee finally face one another later this year.
Read More -
Mitt Romney Attacks Put Rick Santorum on Defensive in GOP Presidential Debate
By Dan Balz and Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington PostRepublican presidential candidate Rick Santorum was thrown on the defensive here Wednesday night as rival Mitt Romney attacked the former senator over spending and earmarks and accused him of compiling an inconsistent and contradictory record. In the first GOP debate since he won a trio of states two weeks ago, Santorum fired back, accusing Romney of his own inconsistencies, but he struggled under repeated criticism to explain his record. The squabbling became so intense at times that the two talked past each other, with voices raised, each trying to gain the upper hand.
Read More
Feb 22, 2012
-
Santorum's Risky Message
With John Dickerson, CBS NewsAs Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum emerges as the new front-runner, his radical brand of conservatism is put on full display. Scott Pelley spoke with CBS News political director John Dickerson on the risk his messages pose in the general election.
-
Obama Readies Plan to Cut Corporate Tax Rate
By Richard Rubin and Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg NewsThe Obama administration will propose today reducing the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent along with removing tax breaks for companies to help offset lost revenue, an administration official said. The plan would eliminate dozens of tax breaks and reshape the current manufacturing deduction to reduce the tax rate on manufacturing to 25 percent, according to the official, who outlined the proposal on condition of anonymity because it hadn’t been released.
Read More
