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!

Jun 12, 2012

  • Obama's Re-Election Woes

    With John Harwood, CNBC

    Depending on what degree the European crisis hits U.S. exports, and depending on the severity of the so-called fiscal cliff, the U.S. GDP could face a huge decrease. Sam Seder, "Majority Report" host; Tony Fratto, former White House deputy press secretary; Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; and CNBC's John Harwood, offer insight.

    Watch Video on CNBC

  • Commerce's Bryson to Take Leave of Absence

    By Jim Tankersley and Major Garrett, National Journal

    Commerce Secretary John Bryson, involved in separate traffic accidents in California over the weekend, informed President Obama on Monday evening that he is taking medical leave to cope with an unspecified illness. Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank will serve as acting secretary in his absence. Bryson had a seizure, according to a spokeswoman earlier in the day.

    Read More from National Journal

Jun 11, 2012

  • Ohio's Job Growth Doesn't Guarantee an Obama Win

    By Charles Babington, Associated Press

    The nation's unemployment rate of 8.2 percent may sink President Barack Obama's re-election bid, but one detail brightens his hopes. About 10 battleground states will decide the election, and seven of them have employment levels that beat the U.S. average.

    Read More

  • Scott Walker, the Motorcycle Daredevil of the GOP

    By Beth Reinhard, National Journal

    Scott Walker was proven right. In sporting terms, the man who will remain Wisconsin's governor literally bet his house on the premise that his sweeping antiunion measures would survive--and he along with them. He was willing to sunder his state, subject its residents to almost ceaseless turmoil, and force opposing sides to spend millions of dollars in combat to see his gamble through.

    Read More from National Journal

  • A Bad Week for Obama and the Democrats

    By Dan Balz, Washington Post

    All you need to know about the week the Democrats just had can be summed up by noting that both President Obama and former president Bill Clinton, the two best campaigners their party has seen in decades, had to clean up verbal messes they’d made earlier. And, oh yes, Mitt Romney’s campaign raised more money last month than Obama’s — by more than 25 percent.

    Read More

    (CNN, File Photo)

  • A 'Fine' Mess. Even Obama Loyalist Winces at Obama's Take on Private Sector

    By Major Garrett, National Journal

    When Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden's former top economist, began reviewing notes of President Obama's press conference on Friday, he stopped cold when he read "the private sector is doing fine." "It caught my eye," Bernstein told National Journal. Bernstein immediately fired off an email to the intern who took the notes to make sure it was accurate and not a rough or garbled translation. "I thought, 'Did he really say that?'" To his dismay, the intern wrote back that those were Obama's words. Verbatim.

    Read More from National Journal

  • Romney Adviser Takes U.S. Political Debate Overseas

    By Jackie Calmes, New York Times

    A senior economic adviser to Mitt Romney criticized President Obama and his policy toward crisis-torn Europe, and Germany in particular, in an op-ed article in a leading German newspaper on Saturday, raising the question of the propriety of taking America’s political fights into international affairs.

    Read More

Jun 08, 2012

  • Romney Outraised Obama in May by Over $16M

    With Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg

    Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee announced today that they raised more than $76.8 million last month, surpassing the amount reported by President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. Julianna Goldman reports on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves."

    Watch and Read more

  • Obama Criticizes Republicans Over Student Loan Rates

    By Jackie Calmes, The New York Times

    After a day of fund-raisers in California, President Obama on Thursday traveled again to swing-state Nevada for the one event of his two-day Western trip that was designated as an official appearance, as opposed to a campaign stop. But it again illustrated that everything is political in an election year.

    Read more

  • Romney tops President Obama in fundraising in May

    By Sam Youngman and Deborah Charles, Reuters

    Mitt Romney's presidential campaign significantly outpaced President Barack Obama in fundraising last month, a sign that the challenger could at least match the incumbent in the overall race for campaign cash. Romney and Republican groups raised more than $76.8 million in May, his campaign said on Thursday, topping the more than $60 million Obama and his Democratic allies collected in the scramble for the cash that will fuel the campaigns through the November 6 election.

    Read more

  • Will Central Banks Rescue World Economy...Again?

    With David Wessel, Wall Street Journal

    Can, will and should will central banks around the world (Fed, ECB, Asia) rescue the world economy from the politicians--again? David Wessel has details on The News Hub. Photos: Bloomberg/Bloomberg/Reuters.

    Watch and Read more

  • Tone Poem

    By Yochi Dreazen, National Journal

    Last October, Mitt Romney strode onto a stage in an ornate hall at South Carolina’s Citadel, one of the nation’s oldest military academies, to launch a series of political broadsides against President Obama. “I will never, ever apologize for America,” he thundered. “In Barack Obama’s profoundly mistaken view, there is nothing unique about the United States.” The coming era, Romney vowed, would be an “American Century,” with the U.S. retaining the world’s biggest economy and strongest military. A Romney presidency, he promised, would usher in that era.

    Read more

Jun 07, 2012

  • Can Mitt Romney match Wisconsin’s Scott Walker?

    By Dan Balz, The Washington Post

    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker provided a template for Republicans looking ahead to the presidential race with his victory in Tuesday’s recall election: big money, powerful organization and enormous enthusiasm among his base. Can Mitt Romney match that in November?

    Read more

  • Europe’s Woes Give Democrats a New Line of Attack

    By Helene Cooper, The New York Times

    In American politics, being European is bad again. But these days, President Obama and the Democrats, not the Republicans, are holding up their allies across the Atlantic as the poster children for bad policies.

    Read more

  • Clinton aides: Bill screwed up

    By John Harris and Alexander Burns, Politico

    Bill Clinton’s off-message musings in recent days on Mitt Romney, taxes and the state of the economy prompted a series of urgent and agitated calls between senior aides to both Clinton and President Barack Obama. In the past, these kinds of complaints have often prompted Clinton lieutenants to kindly suggest that the Obama team can go to hell: a former president can, should and will say what he wants.

    Read more

  • Celebratory Air at Obama Event for Gay Rights Supporters

    By Jackie Calmes, The New York Times

    Nearly a month after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, on Wednesday night he got a rousing reception and at least $2.5 million at a gala of gay rights supporters and a private, celebrity-studded dinner afterward.

    Read more

  • Have the Fed's Efforts Helped?

    With David Wessel, Wall Street Journal

    It's been 3 1/2 years since the Fed launched its first round of quantitative easing to try to boost growth. What did all these extraordinary, unconventional manuevers do for the economy? David Wessel discusses on The News Hub.

    View and Read More

Jun 06, 2012

  • Walker Survives Wisconsin Recall Vote

    By Monica Davey and Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times

    Gov. Scott Walker, whose decision to cut collective bargaining rights for most public workers set off a firestorm in a state usually known for its political civility, easily held on to his job on Tuesday, becoming the first governor in the country to survive a recall election and dealing a painful blow to Democrats and labor unions.

    Read more

  • Pakistan Drone Strike: End of Al Qaeda?

    With Martha Raddatz, ABC News

    Killing of Abu Yahya Al-Libi leaves Ayman al-Zawahiri as al Qaeda's lone leader.

    View and Read More

  • The GOP’s Land of Big Ideas

    by John Dickerson, Slate

    Republican anti-tax activist Grover Norquist sees a Wisconsin business opportunity for Mitt Romney now that Governor Scott Walker has survived. Walker built a network of campaign offices across the state. Romney should mount a friendly takeover. "The smart move for the Romney campaign would be to take over those same staff and don't let them shut down," says Norquist. "In Wisconsin they have the best turnout operation in history. They've been exercising all year. They're excited and they're cheerful."

    Read more