Steve Benen

In August, the Obama administration announced some very good news: thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and following the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, contraception would be covered by insurance plans as preventive care. The health care reform law already requires insurers to cover “preventive health services” for free, but […]

The Democratic National Committee sent a press release to reporters last night with an interesting image: For those who can’t quite make it out, there’s a tropical beach on the left, alongside a parody of Mitt Romney’s official campaign logo. The words “Believe in America” have been replaced by “Believe in the Cayman Islands.” The […]

The tech industry and free speech advocates have been desperately fighting to derail misguided efforts to combat online privacy, and have had extraordinary success just this week raising the visibility of their efforts. As of this morning, it looks like they’ve won. At issue are two related bills: the Senate’s Protect IP Act (PIPA) and […]

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In South Carolina, Public Policy Polling now shows Newt Gingrich taking the lead, 35% to 29%, over Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are tied for third at 15%. * […]

This is a ruling that will have an important impact on House races later this year. The Supreme Court on Friday instructed a lower court in Texas to take a fresh look at election maps it had drawn in place of a competing set of maps from the Texas Legislature. The justices said the lower […]

As the Republican presidential field shrinks to just four candidates, we’re left with four experienced contenders, all of whom can fairly be characterized as political professionals. But only one of the four has never held office in Washington: Mitt Romney. He’s tried to serve in D.C. — running for the Senate in 1994 and for […]

I generally don’t invest too much energy in scrutinizing Ron Paul’s comments during debates, but one of his claims last night struck me as bizarre, even for him. CNN’s John King said there are a large number U.S. military servicemen and women returning from war, and the unemployment rate among veterans is very high. The […]

About a month ago, Mitt Romney was asked whether he’d release his tax returns. He said, “I doubt it,” adding, “I don’t intend to.” Eight days later, Romney said he’d “consider” releasing his tax returns, but the disclosure would only come after he’s elected to the White House. Earlier this week, Romney said he’s “not […]

The very first question in last night’s debate was directed to Newt Gingrich, and it dealt with the gossip that had generated so much chatter throughout the day. CNN’s John King noted that Gingrich’s second ex-wife claims he asked for an “open marriage,” and asked the disgraced former House Speaker, “Would you like to take […]

In Monday night’s debate, Mitt Romney stumbled badly when asked if he’d release his tax returns. The obvious dissembling was painful to watch: “[Y]ou know, if that’s been the tradition and I’m not opposed to doing that, time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I am going to get asked to do that […]