The group tasked with getting Republicans elected to the House of Representatives — and keeping them there — added 10 party members to its incumbent protection program this week, a development that Democrats hailed as a nod from the other side that the lower chamber is in play.The National Republican Congressional Committee now has 30 incumbents enrolled in its Patriot Program, which establishes benchmarks for the most vulnerable incumbents and provides the financial support to help get them there.Democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to reclaim control of the House, and have an ambitious…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/gop_effort_to_aid_at-risk_incumbents_heartens_democrats.html
"Hell is paved with good intentions," George Bernard Shaw wrote, "not bad ones." And Shaw never wrote about the unintended consequences of American campaign finance law or the Florida GOP primary, which provide ample proof that the more good-government types try to regulate money and politics the more convoluted campaign finance becomes.Mitt Romney won 46 percent of the vote in Florida; Newt Gingrich won 32 percent. Campaigns that support Romney outspent pro-Gingrich groups, $15 million versus $4 million. According to Politico, the pro-Romney political action committee…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/why_super_pacs_outspend_candidates_112994.html
A few weeks ago, Rick Santorum got some criticism for saying the Supreme Court erred in saying states may not outlaw contraception. The idea that Americans could legally be forbidden to buy condoms or birth control pills struck most people as a gross violation of personal liberty.They are right, of course. But many of those who think it's wrong to forbid Americans to buy contraceptives think it's just fine to require them to buy contraceptives. In this group, unfortunately, are President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who…
from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/02/inoculating_against_religious_freedom_112995.html
