All DC Decoder
- Congress: Will fiscal cliff, election results lead partisans to stand down?
Post-election, the GOP-led House still sees its mandate as tax-hike prevention. Obama and the Democrats still want to raise taxes for the wealthy. But if they don't work together, the looming 'fiscal cliff' – which no one wants to see – may doom them all.
- Whose votes count, whose don't? The legal landscape before Election Day
Here's how judges have ruled in four major election-law flash points: voter ID laws, early voting, provisional ballots, and the purging of voter registration rolls.
- Hurricane Sandy blows climate change back onto the presidential campaign
Climate scientists caution against any direct connection between a hybrid storm like Sandy and Earth’s warming trend. But that possibility has brought climate change back into the conversation.
- Can we live with the budget 'sequester'? Yes, but it’s better if we don’t.
Congress has many incentives to prevent the $100 billion 'sequester', the feared 'fiscal cliff' among them. But it’s main drawback is that it’s a blunt tool for a delicate budgetary task.
- Two reasons the Obama-Christie photo op in N.J. is worth its weight
Two months ago, Gov. Chris Christie was delivering the keynote at the Republican National Convention. Now, six days before Election Day, he gives President Obama just what he needs: a vision of bipartisanship.
- Mitt Romney plans Pennsylvania ad blitz. Can he turn state red?
Pennsylvania is one of the blue states where the Romney team says momentum has changed the campaign calculus. But other factors might be behind the decision to ramp up ads there, too.
- Did Mitt Romney suggest eliminating FEMA?
In a GOP debate last year, Mitt Romney promoted the idea of sending emergency management back to the states, or better yet, the private sector. Now his campaign says he would not abolish FEMA.
- Mitt Romney's big economics speech: Can he deliver 'big change?'
In Iowa, Mitt Romney tells voters President Obama made the economy he inherited worse and pledges policy changes to bring the US economy 'roaring back.'
- Richard Mourdock: the theology behind his rape comments
Senate candidate Richard Mourdock was apparently espousing the doctrine of providence in his comments about rape earlier this week. But he bungled it, and some Evangelicals aren't pleased.
- Obama unveils economic plan: 5 ways it differs from Romney's
The little blue 'new economic patriotism' booklet is President Obama's answer to Mitt Romney's 5-point plan – and to voters who want to know what he would do with a second term.
- Presidential debate 101: Does Romney have 'economic policies of the 1920s'?
In Monday's presidential debate, President Obama accused Mitt Romney of wanting to take America back to the economic policies that preceded the Great Depression. It was a timely zinger, but its accuracy depends on what Obama actually meant.
- Presidential debate 101: Did Obama make 'apology tour' in Middle East?
In Monday night's presidential debate, Mitt Romney attacked President Obama's Middle East positions, saying that when the president traveled there, he characterized America as 'dismissive and derisive.'
- Romney tax plan: How rich could pay the 'same' and still pay less
Romney promises to make the rich keep paying a constant percentage of all US income taxes. That's very different from asking them to pay a constant share of their earnings.
- Why the Benghazi terrorist attack still dogs Obama
When it comes up in the presidential candidates’ foreign policy debate Monday night, President Obama will have some serious explaining to do about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last month that killed the US Ambassador and three other Americans.
- Romney’s wavering path on abortion. Do voters care?
Abortion is a tricky issue for both Romney and Obama campaigns. In polls, a plurality agrees that abortion should be generally available. But a substantial number want to restrict its availability.
- Presidential debate 101: Does Romney want extra $2 trillion for Pentagon?
Romney's call for Pentagon spending to be no less than 4 percent of GDP could add $2 trillion to its budget. But Obama's claim that this is money the military doesn't want misses a key issue: civilian control.
- Set aside debate over Romney tax math: Is tax reform a good idea?
The momentous policy challenge of how to fix America's dysfunctional tax system has been largely obscured by the debate over Mitt Romney's tax math. But there's broad support for tax reform.
- Presidential debate 101: Does $25,000 deduction cap make Romney tax math work?
At the last presidential debate, Romney floated the number $25,000. According to one analysis, such a cap on deductions would generate $1.3 trillion in revenues, short of the estimated $5 trillion in tax cuts.