Month: June 2013
Graham: GOP In a Death Spiral
If we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016. We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community in my view is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who we run in my view.
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who helped write a bipartisan immigration bill under debate in the Senate, said “conservatives who are trying to block the measure will doom the party and all but guarantee a Democrat will remain in the White House after 2016’s election,” the AP reports.
Said Entirely Without Irony, We Assume
One of the worst abuses of power imaginable.
— Vice President Dick Cheney, quoted by National Journal, on the IRS targetting of conservative groups.
Obama’s Approval Is Dropping
8 percentage points
Amount President Obama’s approval rating has dropped over the past month, to 45%, the president’s lowest rating in more than a year and a half, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. Said pollster Keating Holland: “The drop in Obama’s support is fueled by a dramatic 17-point decline over the past month among people under 30, who, along with black Americans, had been the most loyal part of the Obama coalition.”
McCain Less Volcanic These Days
John’s been better than I’m used to. There have been fewer volcanic moments.
— Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), quoted by the New Yorker, on working with Sen. John McCain on the bipartisan immigration bill.
Anybody Remember Terrorism?
…as I listen to the debate about the disclosure of two government programs designed to track suspected phone and e-mail contacts of terrorists, I do wonder if some of those who unequivocally defend this disclosure are behaving as if 9/11 never happened — that the only thing we have to fear is government intrusion in our lives, not the intrusion of those who gather in secret cells in Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot how to topple our tallest buildings or bring down U.S. airliners with bombs planted inside underwear, tennis shoes or computer printers.
Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and contrarian, being right for once.
iPadding Crime Numbers
3%
Increase in crime overall in New York City this year, but if thefts of Apple mobile devices are excluded, the rate would have decreased over last year.
The Testimony Issa Suppressed: Self-Described Conservative Republican IRS Official Said He Initiated Extra Scrutiny on Tea Party
A U.S. Internal Revenue Service manager, who described himself as a conservative Republican, told congressional investigators that he and a local colleague decided to give conservative groups the extra scrutiny that has prompted weeks of political controversy.
In an official interview transcript released on Sunday by Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, the manager said he and an underling set aside “Tea Party” and “patriot” groups that had applied for tax-exempt status because the organizations appeared to pose a new precedent that could affect future IRS filings.
Cummings, top Democrat on the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee conducting the probe, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the manager’s comments provided evidence that politics was not behind IRS actions that have fueled a month-long furor in Washington.
“He is a conservative Republican working for the IRS. I think this interview and these statements go a long way toward showing that the White House was not involved in this,” Cummings told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.
“Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved. And if it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on,” he added.
Americans Approve Fighting Terror — in Theory
62%
Of Americans support the government investigating potential terror even if it means sacrificing privacy, but when asked about the actual means to investigate, only 56% said it was acceptable to search phone records, and 52% supported monitoring email. Another 34% believe preserving privacy is more important than foiling terror.
Poll: 58% of Californians Support Gay Marriage
As the Supreme Court prepares a decision on the fate of Proposition 8, nearly six in 10 California voters now believe same-sex marriage should be legal, with support rising among older voters and in all regions of the state, a new poll has found.
The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll reveals that attitudes in the state toward gay marriage have changed significantly since Californians banned it in 2008 by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent. The Supreme Court will decide this month whether the ban will continue.
“There has been movement across the board” in favor of same-sex marriage, said Dave Kanevsky, research director of the American Viewpoint, a Republican polling firm that helped conduct the survey. “Every group has moved.”
The poll found that 58 percent of the state’s registered voters believe same-sex marriage should be legal, compared with 36 percent against, a margin of 22 points. When the same pollsters asked that question three years ago, 52 percent favored gay marriage and 40 percent opposed it, a 12-point spread…
