Archives: February 2012

8 Reasons Why Romney is Struggling

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 28

There's a good a chance Mitt Romney will win the primaries in Arizona and Michigan tonight, drawing that much closer to the Republican nomination. But the media's portrayal of him...

Should Obama Have Embraced Bowles-Simpson?

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 27

The New York Times has a fairly critical feature story today on why the Obama administration couldn't manage to pull off the "grand bargain" on deficit reduction that it spent...

Dow 13,000? Thank Democrats

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 22

Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly peaked above 13,000 before dipping at the close. Like all Dow milestones, this one touched off the usual celebration. It may be no...

Barack Obama, "Greatest Gun Salesman in America"

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 21

Last fall, I wrote about a surprising trend: gun sales have skyrocketed since Barack Obama became president. During that time, the stock of gunmaker Sturm Ruger (RGR) has outperformed gold....

Public Financing: A 'Scarlet Letter' for Presidential Candidates

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 20

A guest post from Bloomberg's money-and-politics whiz, Jonathan D. Salant (follow him on Twitter @JDSalant): All the attention on Super PACs has overshadowed another, no less important story about how...

Why Solyndra Won't Go Away

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 17

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the ongoing congressional investigation of Solyndra, the failed solar company that received a $535 million federal stimulus loan. To Republicans, the Solyndra episode is...

Obama's Doomed-But-Useful Budget

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 16

Even before President Obama introduced his 2013 budget on Monday, the condemnatory e-mails from Republicans were rolling in: The budget raises taxes, especially on the rich; it does nothing to...

Will the SEC's Private Equity Investigation Hurt Romney?

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 15

For the time being, the charge that Mitt Romney is a "vulture capitalist" for his work at Bain Capital has quieted down -- Rick Perry, who coined the term, dropped...

Obama's Budget, Explained in One Chart

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 14

President Obama's budget, released yesterday, has come under attack from Republicans for all sorts of reasons. Two of the biggest ones are its proposed cuts to military spending -- traditionally...

President Obama's Anti-Romney Budget

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 13

President Obama's budget, released this morning, is being cast --- correctly --- as a "political document." That was the term of disparagement Paul Ryan used in a conference call with...

Another, Futile, Try to Unmask Secret Donors

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 09

A guest post from Bloomberg's money-and-politics reporter, Jonathan D. Salant: President Obama isn't the only one shaking up campaign finance. House Democrats today introduced a new version of legislation that...

The Awkward Politics of Presidential China-Bashing

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 08

Next week, President Obama is set to meet with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (above), who is in line to become the country's next president. This is a fraught...

Why It's Dumb to Call Obama a Socialist

Posted by: Joshua Green on February 06

For all their bickering, the Republican presidential candidates don't have much trouble agreeing that President Obama has been terrible for the economy. Newt Gingrich says he's "a left-wing radical'' bent...