“I couldn’t conceive of people being so pig-headed, so stubborn, so willing to see our economy go up in flames as. … I knew it would be political, but I didn’t think they would literally shoot the hostage.”
That was a pretty typical Democratic sentiment back in the immediate aftermath of last year’s debt limit fight. But the above quote actually comes this week from Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. He along with pretty much everyone else in the Republican Party, is clutching his pearls because, faced with another major legislative deadline, Democrats are the ones making the loudest demands.
The chutzpah is a thing to behold. Read More
From TPM Reader JEH …
I’m seeing a common theme in various aspects of the Republicans’ new defense of secrecy. Remember how McConnell (I think) argued that requiring disclosure of big donors was an attack on free (money) speech, because people might stop doing business with their companies and harm their business? Mitt’s defense of his secrecy seems to be much the same thing — “If I release my tax returns, Democrats will use them to be mean to me, so I can’t do that.”
Inside Romney’s decision to go Full Breitbart on Obama.
By happenstance, Sens Durbin and Levin are pushing a new bill to force candidates to disclose their offshore tax havens.
RNC finds one Republican who doesn’t think Romney should release his tax returns.
David Taintor has a great piece on how Obama’s “you didn’t build it” line bubbled up on right-wing blogs, went through the Fox spin cycle, and became a major line of attack from Mitt Romney himself.
A new study by the Brennan Center says that some 10 million citizens in states with new voter ID laws face a ‘serious burden’ on their ability to vote in November.
TPM Reader DS: “Isn’t it time for Mark Halperin to say this tax returns stuff is bad news … for Obama?”
If I’m understanding this right the Romney campaign has decided that the economy isn’t going to do it. So they’re shifting toward a campaign centered on cocaine, Tony Rezko, Reverend Wright, etc.
In other news, Romney team threatens to slip on a banana peel if Obama doesn’t back off on the tax return stuff.
How many different things has Team Romney tried this week to change the conversation away from Bain and taxes? Count ’em.