It's rare that a criminal publicly announces his intent to commit a felony. But when it came to their scorched-earth campaign of obstructionism to destroy the Obama presidency, GOP leaders weren't shy about their plans. While 15 top Republicans schemed in private on the night of Obama's inauguration to "challenge them on every single bill […]

When President Obama suggested Monday that private gain does not always equal the public good and maximizing shareholder value is not necessarily a qualification for the White House, Mitt Romney branded those self-evident truths "attacks on the free enterprise system." But if Romney's experience at Bain Capital was the story of the day, the candidates' […]

In the wake of the debt ceiling crisis he helped manufacture last summer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted it was "a hostage that's worth ransoming" which "also is a new template" for the future. As it turns out, those threats were among the few true words McConnell has uttered. Because while he's promising once […]

"When the president told me yesterday that he wanted a clean increase in the debt limit," House Speaker John Boehner said this week, "It almost took my breath away." It shouldn't have. After all, Congress raised the debt ceiling 17 times under Ronald Reagan and seven more under George W. Bush, including a "clean" increase […]

A new Gallup poll released Monday offered both good news and bad for Mitt Romney. While his favorability jumped 11 points since February to reach a personal best of 50 percent, Romney still badly lags other recent nominees at the same stage in their campaigns. Despite the improvement, Mitt Romney is still plagued by an […]

In the wake of her state's vote to ban marriage equality last week, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue caused quite a stir when she declared "We look like Mississippi." In response, Mississippi's Republican chief executive Phil Bryant call Perdue's remark "disappointing" and warned "I think she'll regret that after she's had some time to reflect […]

Like the force of gravity or the sun rising in the east, Mitt Romney's pathological lying is now taken for granted. As Steve Benen among others can attest, documenting Romney's runaway mendacity may now be America's greatest growth industry. Explaining the causes of Mitt's daily dissembling may be another. Rick Perlstein looked to Shakespeare, seeing […]

For months, Mitt Romney, John Boehner and other Republican leaders have falsely claimed that "President Obama made the economy worse." The same crowd which for years cried that George W. Bush "inherited a recession" accused Obama of blaming his predecessor for the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Now, the GOP has seized on […]

Two funny things happened this week on Mitt Romney's way to the White House. First, the man who cried "let Detroit go bankrupt" announced "I'll take a lot of credit" for President Obama's million-job saving rescue of the American auto industry. But just as telling was the Republican's claim that, despite Obama's "Forward" campaign slogan, […]

After this week's election results in France and Greece, press, pundits and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are questioning the future of draconian austerity policies in Europe. As well they should. Euro-region unemployment has reached its highest levels in 15 years. Across the channel, David Cameron's Tories have led the UK back into […]