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!
Apr 19, 2012
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New Photos Raise New Questions About Whether the Military Can Police Itself
By Yochi J. Dreazen, National JournalDefense Secretary Leon Panetta has apologized for grisly new photos showing American soldiers posing with the body parts of Taliban suicide bombers and promised that “anyone found responsible for this inhuman conduct will be held accountable.” If similar recent events are any indication, those punishments will be a long time coming.
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Who is Mitt Romney and What Does He Believe?
By Dan Balz, Washington PostMitt Romney has turned his attention to November’s presidential election, and the Republican establishment is beginning to fall in line behind him. Endorsements for him have grown from a stream to a flood this week, including from big names such as House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
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Panetta Apologizes for Photos
With Martha Raddatz, ABC NewsSecretary of Defense sorry for photos of U.S. soldier with enemies' remains.
Apr 18, 2012
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Obama Seeks More Oil Market Oversight
By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPoliticsAre gasoline prices rising in the United States because of illegal excess market speculation? The White House on Tuesday offered no evidence to support that hypothesis, but President Obama, worried about climbing prices at the pump, nevertheless urged lawmakers to adopt legislation he said would protect consumers and beef up the government's watchdog surveillance of oil trades.
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Romney Campaign Backs Away from Nugent's Obama Remark
By Sam Youngman, ReutersRepublican candidate Mitt Romney's campaign called for civility on Tuesday after aging rock star Ted Nugent made an apparent threat against President Barack Obama before an audience of U.S. gun lobbyists.
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Secret Service Prostitution Scandal Roils DC
With Pierre Thomas, ABC NewsA prostitution scandal involving the Secret Service has grown in scope, with the disclosure that U.S. agents and military personnel had been with at least 20 women in hotel rooms before President Barack Obama arrived in Colombia for a summit with Latin American leaders.
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Latino Voters Take Center Stage in Both Presidential Campaigns
By Karen Tumulty, Washington PostWith the GOP presidential nomination no longer in doubt, President Obama and Mitt Romney this week are urgently turning their focus to Hispanic voters — a group whose alienation from Republicans threatens GOP prospects for winning the White House and has given the Obama campaign an early opportunity to lock in the support of a key constituency.
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As Gas Prices Cast Cloud, Obama Calls for Scrutiny on Market
By Helene Cooper, New York TimesWith his re-election prospects influenced by the price of gasoline, President Obama on Tuesday demanded more “cops on the beat” to crack down on oil market manipulation, calling on Congress to bolster federal supervision of oil markets and to increase penalties for subverting markets.
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Apr 17, 2012
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Obama Push on Oil Markets Seen as More Political Than Practical
By Coral Davenport, National JournalUnder continued attack from Republicans for high oil and gasoline prices, President Obama unveiled on Tuesday a slate of measures to crack down on financial speculation in energy-futures trading, which Democrats say helps drive up prices. But while a Rose Garden announcement gave the president a platform to be seen calling for action on fuel prices, it’s not clear whether financial speculation is even a major contributor to oil and gasoline prices—or whether the administration’s proposals could have any real impact on the price at the pump.
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Raise the Minimum Wage
By Deborah Solomon, Bloomberg NewsHere’s an unhappy observation about the minimum wage: Congress last increased the rate in stages in 2006, topping it out at $7.25 an hour in 2009, or $15,080 a year. That amount, when adjusted for inflation, is actually lower than what a minimum-wage worker earned in 1968 and is too meager to offer anyone the chance to climb out of poverty, let alone afford basic goods and services.
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"Trust" to Join "Fairness" as Obama Buzzword, Sources Say
By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPoliticsIf the White House gets its political way, "trust" will be a word President Obama and his surrogates use in the next few weeks as often as Obama has talked about "fairness," and Mitt Romney, once dubbed as hollow to the core, will increasingly be ID'd as a card-carrying ultra-conservative who bobbles into Etch A Sketch moments because his core is causing him problems.
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Secret Service Scandal: By the Numbers
With Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg NewsBloomberg's Julianna Goldman reports on the taxpayer costs involved in the scandal involving Secret Service members and now military personnel involving prostitution in Colombia before President Barack Obama arrived for a summit, an incident that the top armed forces commander said left the service “embarrassed.”
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The Bubble Wars
By John Dickerson, SlateOne way to think about the 2012 presidential campaign is as a battle between two houses: Barack Obama's White House and Mitt Romney's San Diego house. The Romney campaign would like to make Obama a prisoner to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., turning every perk and privilege of the presidency into a sign that he is far removed from the people he is supposed to lead, especially anyone struggling in this economy.
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Cybersecurity Bills Compete For Attention
By Tom Gjelten, NPRCybersecurity will get a lot of attention on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks, with several competing bills up for consideration. The most stringent proposal mandates minimum cybersecurity standards and requires companies to notify the government when their networks have been breached. White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan says it is essential that the federal government take steps to better prepare the country for devastating cyber attacks.
Apr 16, 2012
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Lead-up to Labor Day May Determine Winner of Presidential Race
By Dan Balz, Washington PostThe intensity of the initial skirmishes in the campaign between President Obama and Mitt Romney underscores a new reality about presidential politics. What happens in the months before Labor Day and the candidates’ debates in the fall will shape the race and, if history is a guide, determine who wins in November.
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A Presidential Hangout: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Clubhouse
By Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, TIMEYou would never take a second glance at 716 Jackson Place if you were strolling through the neighborhood around the White House and Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. But the unmarked, four-story, white-painted townhouse with brown sandstone steps is easily the most exclusive club on the planet. You have to call the White House for reservations — and at the moment, only four men are eligible to use it.
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Secret Service Scandal: Agents Solicited Prostitutes?
With Pierre Thomas, ABC NewsEleven agents have been suspended for allegations involving prostitutes.
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Americas Meeting Ends With Discord Over Cuba
By Jackie Calmes and William Neuman, New York TimesA summit meeting of Western Hemisphere nations ended without a final statement of consensus on Sunday, after the United States and some Latin American nations remained sharply divided over whether to continue excluding Cuba from such gatherings.
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Obama Adviser Plouffe Presses Romney on Release of Old Tax Files
By Mike Dorning and Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg NewsDavid Plouffe, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney should release decades of back tax returns, framing the issue of as one of “transparency and trust” that will help define the choice for voters in November. “If he’s got nothing to hide, then there’s nothing to lose,” Plouffe said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” airing this weekend.
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Whistleblower Controversy
With Eamon Javers, CNBCCNBC's Eamon Javers reports the IRS Whistleblower program is running up against a brick wall.
