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!

Nov 29, 2011

  • Gingrich Says He’s ‘Conservative Alternative’ to Romney

    By Jeff Zeleny, New York Times

    Newt Gingrich, who not long ago was urging his fellow Republican candidates to avoid tearing one another apart in pursuit of the party’s presidential nomination, took a new approach on Monday by explicitly declaring: “I don’t claim to be the perfect candidate; I just claim to be a lot more conservative than Mitt Romney.” With his candidacy on the rise, Mr. Gingrich opened a three-day campaign visit to South Carolina and warned Republicans to be suspicious of candidates who “adopt radically different positions.” It was a fresh glimpse into the sharpening tenor of the nominating fight as the first round of voting begins in five weeks.

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  • A Crude Hit to the Recovery

    By Jim Tankersley, National Journal

    The U.S. economy missed out on creating up to a quarter-million jobs this year because it lacked the infrastructure to capitalize on a rare divergence in global oil prices, a National Journal analysis shows. Simply put, American consumers paid a historically high premium for their gasoline. The economy suffered for it.

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  • Barney Frank Exits, Stage Left

    With Eamon Javers, CNBC

    WNBC's Jonathan Dienst reports on liberal Massachusetts democratic congressman, Barney Frank leaving Capitol Hill, with CNBC's Eamon Javers.

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  • States face bleak economic forecast, report says

    By Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post

    States are caught in a fiscal vise as weak economic growth, dwindling federal help and increasing appeals from hard-pressed local governments squeeze their budgets. Things have improved since the worst of the recession, but states still face a dire fiscal situation, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO).

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  • Romney campaign hits back after Dem 'flip' charges

    By Charles Babington, Associated Press

    Mitt Romney confronted double-barreled allegations Monday that he has flip-flopped on key issues, the first time the 2012 presidential campaign has focused squarely on what many see as the Republican contender's biggest political liability. The former Massachusetts governor hastily arranged for supporters to hold conference calls with reporters to combat a new Democratic ad that highlights his changed positions on abortion, immigration, guns and other issues.

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Nov 28, 2011

  • Storied Supreme Court: Justices Get Personal During Arguments

    By Joan Biskupic, USA Today

    "I don't usually like to reminisce," Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy began during a recent session of oral arguments. Then the 75-year-old justice recalled his days as a California trial lawyer as the basis for his question to the attorney standing before the bench.

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  • Will Romney’s immigration stance become his Latino problem?

    By Nia-Malika Henderson, Washington Post

    In dealing with the issue of immigration, Mitt Romney’s 2012 strategy is exactly like his 2008 strategy — run to the right, liberally use the words “amnesty” and “magnet,” and occasionally refer to illegal immigrants as simply “illegals.” The issue has emerged as one of the few where Romney has tried to credibly claim to be the most conservative candidate and where he has seemed to lose sight of the general election, where Latino voters will be crucial. So far, the strategy worked well with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whom Romney went after in an Oct. 8 debate.

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  • U.S., Pakistan offer different versions of attack on border post

    By Saeed Shah and Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers

    Tension between Pakistan and the United States over a U.S. air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers grew Sunday as the two sides offered widely disparate accounts of what might have taken place. NATO officials said Afghan and U.S. troops operating inside Afghanistan early Saturday had been fired on from the Pakistani side of the border and had requested close air support to help defend themselves. What happened next is still under investigation, officials said.

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  • Mitt Bashes Newt for Agreeing with Him on Immigration

    By Beth Reinhard, National Journal

    Bloomberg has a story today that quotes a 2006 interview with Mitt Romney, in which he took a dim view of the prospect of deporting illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. Romney's comments are at odds with the position he took last week when he assailed Republican rival Newt Gingrich's call for a "humane'' immigration policy that doesn't target longtime undocumented residents. Romney accused Gingrich of opening "a new doorway to amnesty.''

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  • Obama's Mini-Initiative: Shop "Small" on Saturday

    By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPolitics

    President Obama is trying to persuade voters that he supports America's smallest businesses, one jar of blueberry jam at a time. Small is in. Small is sweet. Small, let's face it, is comprehensible. When global problems are so migraine-inducing, a Cabinet full of high-powered micro-shoppers could become bigger than the sum of its itsy-bitsy parts.

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  • Big Baby

    By Todd S. Purdum, Vanity Fair

    Forget Newt Gingrich’s $1.6 to $1.8 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac and his up-to-$500,000 line of credit at Tiffany & Co. Overlook the Greek cruise and the mass campaign-staff exodus. Pay no attention to his two messy divorces and his impeachment of a president over an extramarital affair while he was conducting an affair of his own. But, please, don’t forget the pacifier.

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  • The supercommittee that wasn't

    By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times

    In retrospect, it should have been apparent from the start that an ad hoc committee of six Republicans and six Democrats, working in secret against a short deadline, probably wasn't the right place to make massive changes in tax and healthcare law. There was just too much distance between them. Republicans asked the six Democratic members, at various times, if they wouldn't like to abolish President Obama's healthcare law, or turn Medicare into a voucher system, or raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.

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  • Newt Gingrich Inc.: How the GOP hopeful went from political flameout to fortune

    By Karen Tumulty and Dan Eggen, Washington Post

    Anyone who doesn’t believe in an afterlife must not live in Washington. Rarely, however, has reincarnation been so lucrative as it has for the man who now tops some polls for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich transfigured himself from a political flameout into a thriving business conglomerate. The power of the Gingrich brand fueled a for-profit collection of enterprises that generated close to $100 million in revenue over the past decade, said his longtime attorney Randy Evans.

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  • ‘Spreading the Wealth’ in Democrats’ Favor

    By John Harwood, New York Times

    Fighting from behind in the final days of the 2008 presidential election, Senator John McCain found a weapon in an unscripted encounter between his opponent, Senator Barack Obama, and a voter. “When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” Mr. Obama told Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber. Mr. McCain seized on the remark as evidence of Mr. Obama’s adherence to “socialism.”

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  • Will demographic shifts save Obama in 2012?

    By Dan Balz, Washington Post

    The 2008 election was a reminder of the demographic forces that are changing America and potentially the political balance in the country. The most diverse electorate in the nation’s history added to the favorable winds that pushed President Obama to victory. He will need the assistance of those shifts even more in 2012 if he is to avoid defeat.

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Nov 23, 2011

  • Occupy the Gravy

    By John Dickerson, Slate

    First, a prayer: May your Thanksgiving gathering be the supercommittee of our dreams, which is to say a happy meeting where everyone gets along despite their ideological differences and divides the pie equitably. We recognize, however, that some families are like the actual supercommittee—and the day may end with one faction pouting to Chris Matthews in the guest room after a political debate. In that case, the better prayer is always Loudon Wainwright’s Thanksgiving one: "If I argue with a loved one, Lord, please make me the winner." In that spirit, we present Slate's annual guide to this year's political arguments, so that you might be lightly armed for small skirmishes.

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  • On payroll tax cut, Obama paints Republicans as hypocritical

    By Peter Wallsten and Lori Montgomery, Washington Post

    With taxes set to rise for nearly every American worker, President Obama sought Tuesday to highlight his tax-cutting bona fides, accusing Republicans of hypocrisy if they do not agree to extend a payroll tax cut that is set to expire in January. Obama’s comments were part of an escalating White House campaign against Republicans that is painting them as defenders of the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. That effort took on new life Tuesday, a day after a congressional “supercommittee” declared that it had failed in its efforts to forge a new fiscal path for the country, including possibly extending the payroll tax cut.

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  • In a World of Challenges, Iran Again Dominates GOP Debate

    By Yochi J. Dreazen, National Journal

    Egypt is being roiled by violent political protests, raising questions about the future of a vital American ally. Syria continues a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists, prompting talk of a Western military intervention there. China is poised to overtake the U.S. economically, and Beijing’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy threatens key U.S. priorities around the globe. Tuesday’s Republican debate revolved around a different country, however. As with the recent National Journal/CBS News debate, the eight Republican candidates taking part in CNN’s foreign policy debate devoted most of their comments to Iran and the difficult question of how to stop its nuclear program.

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  • GOP Candidates Address Iranian Nuclear Issues

    By Linda Wertheimer and Tom Gjelten, NPR

    Tuesday night's GOP presidential debate was hosted by CNN and two think tanks and was focused on foreign policy. Iran came up several times during the gathering. Is what the candidates said about Iran accurate?

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  • Thune to Endorse Romney

    By Jeff Zeleny, New York Times

    Senator John Thune of South Dakota is set to endorse Mitt Romney’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination here on Wednesday, marking the second conservative United States senator this week to declare support for Mr. Romney’s candidacy. Mr. Thune, who decided earlier this year against seeking the presidential nomination himself, will make the announcement during a morning campaign stop in downtown Des Moines with Mr. Romney. The endorsement, which was confirmed by two Republican officials, comes as Mr. Romney is intensifying his effort to compete in the Iowa caucuses that are less than six weeks away.

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