Steve Benen

On “Fox News Sunday,” Chris Wallace pressed Rick Santorum on his plan to triple the federal tax credit for children, in the hopes that Americans will have more babies. The host told the presidential candidate that the Wall Street Journal editorial page complained that Santorum is “essentially agreeing with liberals who think that the tax […]

It’s disconcerting to think Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R) might actually believe her own rhetoric. “On Monday, we’re going to be celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday and I can’t think of anybody currently in my life right now that more epitomizes the values and the vision of Dr. King than Gov. Rick Scott,” […]

There was an interesting exchange on CNN’s “State of the Union” yesterday, when Candy Crowley pressed David Axelrod on one of Mitt Romney’s favorite talking points. To establish the context, the Romney campaign released a memo on Saturday, insisting that “nearly 1.7 million jobs have been lost” since President Obama took office. CNN’s Crowley relied […]

It was only a matter of time. Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and Obama administration official, has probably known for a long while that he would not be the Republican presidential nominee, at least not this year. It was only 10 days ago when Huntsman said he looks forward to the re-emergence of “a […]

We covered a fair amount of ground over the weekend. Here’s a quick overview of what you may have missed. On Sunday, we talked about: * The religious right has found its man for 2012. For the movement’s sake, it should have done this months ago. * Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC and I apparently have […]

Prominent religious right groups and leaders have known all along they don’t want to see Mitt Romney get the Republican presidential nomination. They have not, however, coalesced around an alternative — in fact, they haven’t even tried. An “emergency” meeting in Texas yesterday sought to change this dynamic. Evangelical leaders pursued a last-ditch effort on […]

Me, in August: “‘Corporations are people’? In this little figure of speech, wouldn’t that make Mitt Romney a metaphorical serial killer?” The new ad from Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC: “As head of Bain Capital, he bought companies, carved them up, and got rid of what he couldn’t use. If Mitt Romney really believes ‘corporations are […]

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I wanted to follow up briefly on John Bolton’s shot, on Mitt Romney’s behalf, against President Obama’s counter-terrorism record. Specifically, the right-wing former ambassador made this argument on Friday in South Carolina: “You know, the irony is, he’s campaigning on the basis that he’s a success as […]

Delivering his victory speech in New Hampshire this week, Mitt Romney used three words three times: “jobs,” “economy,” and “Europe.” One of those things is not like the other. Keep in mind, the references to our friends on the other side of the Atlantic had nothing to do with the potential impact of the Eurozone […]

Misguided efforts to combat online privacy have been threatening to stifle innovation, suppress free speech, and even, in some cases, undermine national security. As of yesterday, though, there’s a lot less to worry about. At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the even more offensive Stop Online Piracy Act in […]