President Obama’s approval rating reached the 50 percent mark, while Republican voters expressed a desire for more alternatives in their race.

Original post:
Economic Gains Give Lift to Obama in Poll

President Obama’s decision to endorse super-PAC money as part of his reelection effort exposed the enduring divisions within the progressive community between pragmatism and idealism. Robert Reich, for example, put his disappointment bluntly : “Good ends don’t justify corrupt means.” Jonathan Chait disagreed , writing that “if you want to change the system, unilateral disarmament seems like a pretty bad way to go about it.” Read full article > >

Read the original here:
A make-or-break moment for democracy

Congressional Republicans rejected President Obama’s $3.8 trillion spending outline as nothing more than a political document meant to guide his reelection campaign while putting off any of the tough decisions about ballooning red ink until after the voters have cast their ballots. Read full article > >

See the article here:
Republicans call Obama’s budget a reelection plan, ‘gimmick’

Social Security’s disability program is a political quagmire — and a metaphor for why federal spending and budget deficits are so difficult to control. The numbers are too big; the details, too complicated; and the choices, when faced, too wrenching. President Obama’s new budget, estimated at $3.5 trillion or more, will raise all these problems. Experience suggests that little will be done to rein in long-term spending and deficits. Read full article > >

The rest is here:
Budget quagmire revealed by Social Security disability program

Sarah Palin said Saturday that Republicans should be in no hurry to wrap up the presidential nominating contest, declaring that a competitive campaign until the August convention in Tampa would not complicate the party’s efforts to defeat President Obama.

Link:
The Caucus: Palin Says Brokered Convention Wouldn’t Hurt G.O.P.

Think you pay too much for cell phone service? President Obama’s reelection campaign spent $143,862 last year just on text messages. Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee — even without a Republican nominee in place yet — spent twice as much money as all the GOP candidates combined in 2011. It is all part of the president’s expanding effort to mobilize supporters and start building the massive infrastructure for a successful reelection campaign. Read full article > >

More here:
Obama cranks up the campaign spending

It’s nine months until Election Day, but President Obama is already bringing out the big guns. Specifically, he is shouldering the Extreme Marshmallow Cannon . Obama walked into the State Dining Room at midday Tuesday and encountered 14-year-old Joe Hudy and the compressed-air cannon he invented to launch marshmallows as part of a science fair. Read full article > >

Original post:
Obama’s lucky break

Two fundraisers for President Obama are brothers of a casino magnate linked to violence and corruption in Mexico who is seeking a pardon.

Read this article:
Major Obama Donors Are Tied to Pepe Cardona, Mexican Fugitive

President Obama will use the backdrop of a White House science fair Tuesday to highlight a nationwide shortage of math and science teachers and unveil a plan to invest $100 million to help train 100,000 new educators over the next decade. Read full article > >

Read the original here:
Obama to announce $100 million plan to train new educators

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Mitt Romney returned to the campaign trail here Monday and trained his focus on President Obama, but his top aides and key surrogates fought to beat back a possible surge by Rick Santorum on the eve of Republican presidential contests in a trio of states . Read full article > >

Original post:
Romney tries to beat back possible Santorum surge in trio of states

Even as Mitt Romney tries to fend off the continuing challenge from Newt Gingrich and focus his attention on President Obama, he is now being forced to deal with another rival: Rick Santorum.

Read more:
The Caucus: Romney Takes Aim at a New Target – Santorum

IN THE VENOMOUS debate over illegal immigration, there is a point of agreement between President Obama and some of his would-be Republican rivals, including former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. They’d like to see undocumented immigrants “get to the back of the line” for citizenship. Unfortunately, that convergence of views distorts rather than illuminates the debate. Read full article > >

See original here:
Editorial Board: A line of would-be immigrants? There isn’t one.

The casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has relayed assurances that he will donate millions more toward defeating President Obama even if his candidate is not the nominee, associates said.

View post:
Gingrich Patron Adelson Called Open to Aiding Romney

Just before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3, a frustrated President Obama gathered Gene B. Sperling and the economic team in the White House and told them to design a jobs package he could offer the American public. Obama had spent much of the year locked in negotiations with Republicans over the national debt, with little to show for the effort but a sagging approval rating. He had wanted to argue publicly for ideas to create jobs, but hesitated in the midst of negotiations. Liberal critics reprised a familiar critique of the Obama White House: that it too often bows to political constraints and forfeits what’s right for what’s possible or easy. Read full article > >

Read the original post:
Gene B. Sperling: Obama’s jobs creator

President Obama will announce details Friday for a $1 billion Veterans Job Corps that the White House says will put up to 20,000 veterans to work over the next five years on projects to preserve and restore national parks and other federal, state and local lands. Read full article > >

Visit link:
Obama to announce Veterans Job Corps