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09 Feb 2012 11:19

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Politics: After three-state Tuesday sweep, checkbooks open up for Santorum

  • $1million raised in just 24 hours after Santorum’s super Tuesday  source
  • » That’s quite a haul in 24 hours. The Santorum campaign confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that, after the candidate’s sweep of Tuesday’s primary battles, over $1 million in new donations have poured into the campaign’s coffers — roughly $800,000 of which came from online donors alone. Not bad, sweater vest.

08 Feb 2012 10:28

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Politics: Rick Santorum wants to be “the conservative alternative to Barack Obama”

  • I don’t stand here and claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.
  • Rick Santorum • Offering up a bold line while speaking to supporters in St. Louis, who picked him for the non-binding primary in Missouri last night. He also won caucuses in Minnesota, and somewhat surprisingly, Colorado. Two weeks ago, it looked like Gingrich was the guy going toe-to-toe with Romney. Now, with last night’s wins, that storyline looks old hat. Does Santorum have a shot at going all the way? source

07 Feb 2012 20:41

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Politics: Tuesday primaries, caucuses not really all that super. … zzzzzz

  • Currently watching the results from the biggest primary day of the season thus far. That doesn’t mean much, though. In Missouri’s non-binding primary (which means that the results of the primary will have no effect on how delegates will be decided next month, i.e. it means nothing), it’s a fairly close race between Romney and Santorum, and the two caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado are happening tonight, too. source

05 Feb 2012 11:27

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Politics: Annoyed Paul supporters turned away from Nevada caucus for orthodox Jews

  • situation Yesterday’s Nevada caucus happened at a time that was difficult for some Jewish voters to take advantage of, due to the fact that it was happening during the sabbath. This was a problem for Sheldon Adelson, the major Nevada GOP figure who is Jewish. So, partly to account for him, a special later caucus was held after sundown on Saturday night — at a school named after Adelson.
  • problem However, Ron Paul’s camp told some voters — who weren’t Jewish, by the way — that the caucus was a “second chance” for them to vote if they missed earlier caucuses. However, this didn’t happen. Volunteers there would only let people take part if they had religious reasons to be there — a claim subject to perjury laws. “It’s discrimination,” one annoyed 23-year-old voter said. source

29 Jan 2012 12:17

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U.S.: GOP: We’ll make this payroll tax cut extension work, we swear

  • There is broad agreement on doing the payroll tax holiday through the end of the year … The problem is paying for it. … (Democrats) just don’t want to cut any spending. That is what made it problematic. But we will get it done. We will get it done before the end of February.
  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell • Emphasizing that the payroll tax cuts that proved a thorn in the GOP’s side back around Christmas will get extended through the new year, no matter how many arms McConnell has to twist. The thing is, though, he’s not the guy who has to do the hard work. It’s Boehner in the House, who pissed off his rightward-leaning members by ignoring their wishes to score a deal. However, even Boehner is confident: “I’m confident that we’ll be able to resolve this fairly quickly,” he said. The tax cuts expire at the end of February, but there’s no word on how they plan to pay for this. source

24 Jan 2012 10:50

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Politics: Five things rumored to be on Obama’s State of the Union agenda tonight

  • one He’ll likely propose reforming taxes, ending the Bush tax cuts and raising taxes for the wealthy.
  • two He’ll likely make another push for the “Buffett Rule,” which would set a minimum tax rate for the super-rich.
  • three More tax breaks for big business, in an effort to encourage them to bring jobs back to the U.S.
  • four More job-training and education, largely meant for high school grads who want technical degrees.
  • five A renewed push to help refinance homeowners who are still struggling to make ends meet. source

24 Jan 2012 01:11

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Politics: Mitt Romey’s tax forms finally released: Here are the highlights

  • 14% the effective tax rate for
    Mitt Romney in 2010
  • $21M the amount he made in 2010 — a tally which mostly came from investments
  • $3M the amount Romney paid in federal taxes that year, according to forms he just released
  • $3M the amount in charitable deductions he paid — and got deductions for — that same year source
  • » The “duh” sentence in this story: “His tax bill is significantly higher than the amount paid by most Americans.” What tipped you off, Wall Street Journal, the fact that there’s “million” in the amount?
 

23 Jan 2012 20:57

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Politics: Debate preview: What you should expect in tonight’s #FLDebate

  • OHMIGOD OHMIGOD BRIWI IS MODERATING!!!!! Seriously guys, after the Gawker thing, this man can do no wrong. But the people on the other side of the stage? They’ve got a ton of issues ahead of the Florida debate, which we’ll be tagging with #FLDebate tonight. (It’ll be live over here.) So, with that said — last week’s debates, especially Thurdsay’s, were nasty — will tonight’s debate have similar fireworks? Here’s what we’re watching for:

19 Jan 2012 21:53

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Politics: DebateSC FanFic: Newt Kills The King

  • As John King is in the middle of a question about Gingrich’s ex wife, the former House Speaker’s rage slowly builds, until suddenly, a crazed look strikes his face. He leaps into action, barreling forward through podium and charging across the stage. The former Representative from Georgia leaps off the podium, pulls a switchblade from his sock in whilst mid-air, and plunges the knife into John King’s chest. As the audience sits in stunned silence, he picks up the fallen moderator’s mic, wipes the sweat off his brow, and says, “The King is dead.” The crowd goes wild, and Gingrich goes on to win South Carolina by 30 points.

15 Jan 2012 23:26

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Politics: Peace out, Jon: Three reasons Huntsman’s quitting the race

  • Great for the general election. Not so great for the primaries. Jon Huntsman was long the odd man out in the 2012 election, the guy with just enough support in most polls to show up at most of the debates, but never enough to be the focus of them. While his politics found fans (particularly his early pro-science stance, which stood out from the rest of the GOP and he later flip-flopped on), he was attempting to be the un-cola in a year when every other candidate in the race was trying to prove exactly how conservative they were. Huntsman will end his campaign Monday (a day after winning an endorsement from The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper) and will offer his support to Mitt Romney, a guy he didn’t hide his animosity towards. Here’s why:
  • one Huntsman never faced the kinds of controversy that faced Mitt Romney or Ron Paul did, he did face skepticism from the conservatives that he needed to impress during the season’s primaries. They skewed right; he skewed moderate.
  • two His most recent job was the U.S. ambassador to China, giving him three negative marks: One, he was a foreign affairs candidate in a campaign focused on the economy, he worked under Obama, and it gave some on the right xenophobic fodder.
  • three Perhaps the most damaging? He put all of his eggs in one basket — New Hampshire — in hopes he’d pull out a squeaker which he could build on. And his third-place showing was not enough to set that long-term momentum. source