Tonight, at 9:00 pm, The Washington Examiner co-hosts the Republican presidential debate in Ames, Iowa, on Fox News. If you do not have access to the Fox News Channel, you can watch the debate live on washingtonexaminer.com.
The last debate in New Hampshire turned out to be a disaster for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He had been attacking frontrunner Mitt Romney for passing “Obamneycare” as governor of Massachusetts. But when he was invited to make the same attack in Romney’s presence, Pawlenty wilted under the heat. He has since dropped from the top-tier of candidates and is now attacking Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., instead.
Pawlenty’s latest line of attack is that “Any bobblehead can stand up here and spout out the Republican talking points.” Almost everybody that hears these words believes that Pawlenty is implicitly calling Bachmann a “bobblehead.” Is he? More importantly, if he is directly asked whether or not he believes Bachmann is a “bobblehead” that “can stand up here and spout out the Republican talking points,” will Pawlenty man-up to his rhetoric, or will he shrink again like he did in New Hampshire?
The Examiner will have our top political reporters all covering the debate tonight including Michael Barone, Byron York, Tim Carney, Susan Ferrechio, Hayley Peterson, and Phil Klein. You can catch all their coverage on on Twitter and the newly redesigned Beltway Confidential Blog, here.
Around the Bigs
The Hill, Boehner, McConnell announce picks for deficit ‘supercommittee’: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) appointed Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to serve on the panel. Hensarling will serve as co-chairman. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appointed Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to represent Senate Republicans on the panel.
The Wall Street Journal, Stocks Dive Again on Europe, Economy Fears: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 519.83 points, or 4.62 percent, as rumors spread that France may lose its AAA credit rating.
The Los Angeles Times, Bank chiefs seek to reassure investors: The chief executives of the nation’s three biggest banks – JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. – are all fighting speculation that their plummeting stocks mean they will need another government bailout.
The New York Times, Financial Turmoil Evokes Comparison to 2008 Crisis: Experts say they can not rule out the possibility that this year’s market collapse will become as bad as the 2008 financial meltdown. “So far it’s not as bad as 2008, but it could get much worse because the sovereign debt concerns are much more global than the subprime mortgage risk of 2008,” Darrell Duffie, a professor of finance at Stanford tells The Times.
The New York Times, U.S. Seeks Ideas on Renting Out Foreclosed Property: The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury Department are jointly requesting ideas are jointly requesting ideas on how Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration can dispose of the approximately 250,000 properties they own. The government is looking for partnership ventures that will allow the properties to be pooled, sold and privately managed as rentals.
The Wall Street Journal, Obama Panel Calls for More ‘Fracking’ Rules: A report commissioned by President Obama recommended that the Department of Energy issue more regulations on the use of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas.
The Washington Post, Poll: Spreading gloom about government; most dissatisfied with political system: Barely a quarter of those surveyed by a new Washington Post poll say the federal government can fix the nation’s economic problems. That number is 21 points from a October 2010 Washington post survey and is less than half its 2002 levels.
The Wall Street Journal, China Flexes Naval Muscle: China launched its first aircraft carrier to sea yesterday. China plans to develop four larger carriers by around 2020. The United States currently has 11 carriers but that number was set to shrink even before the latest round of defense cuts.
Campaign 2012
Romney: Documents obtained by Politico from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance show that the Romney administration touted tax increases passed under his administration to Standard and Poor’s when the state was making their case to have their credit rating upgraded. Romney has been reminding voters, “When I was governor, S&P rewarded Massachusetts with a credit rating upgrade for our sound fiscal management and the underlying strength of our economy. That didn’t happen by accident.”
Bachmann Real Clear Politics Erin McPike finds that Bachmann is just a much better at retail politics than Pawlenty. Mike Pedersen, a Humboldt resident tells McPike he is voting for Bachmann over Pawlenty because “she had much more to say. She seems much more electable.”
Pawlenty: According to National Journal, Pawlenty is still struggling to pack them in. NJ reports from Denison, Iowa, “Only about two dozen people showed up on Wednesday to hear him speak at Cronk’s, a well-known coffee shop in this western Iowa town, leaving plenty of untouched cookies and lemonade. His long-shot rival, Atlanta businessman Herman Cain, drew a spillover crowd there two days ago.”
Righty Playbook
The Examiner‘s Phil Klein notes that Super Congress appointee Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, has been holding oversight hearings on Obamacare and asks: “Will Upton push super committee to cut Obamacare?”
At The Corner, Andrew Stiles looks at Upton’s fiscal record including this nugget: “Was one of only three Republicans to vote against extending the Bush tax cuts (on capitol gains and dividends) in 2005.”
At RedState, Daniel Horowitz explains why the GOP’s picks for the “Super Duper Committee” won’t make a difference: “Even if the committee would miraculously approve some real spending cuts, does anyone really believe that Obama would support the recommendations more than he did Simpson-Bowles?”
Lefty Playbook
The Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU) is launching a $1.5 million media campaign (including TV and radio ads and direct mail) that will run in six states: Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Virginia. The campaign will urge Washington to spend more money on jobs and forget about deficits.
At The American Prospect, Harold Meyerson explains why the Wisconsin recall election results “were bad news for progressives.”
Jonathan Bernstein tells liberals not to worry about the compromise rhetoric coming from Democrats on the Super Congress: “it makes perfect sense that Democrats express eagerness to make a deal now, and then after there’s no deal they will express their frustration that Republicans weren’t willing to meet them halfway. But that doesn’t mean that Democrats will in fact be any less vigilant in fighting for their preferences than the Republicans will be in fighting for theirs. “
