Campaign News

Buffett Rule Defeated On Procedural Senate Vote Coverage of the debate over the Buffett Rule and the Senate's vote on a bill based on the policy is mostly positive toward the Administration's position. Due to the timing of the Senate's vote, the bill's demise was not mentioned by the network newscasts last night. However, print and online coverage this morning describe the vote as a successful effort by Democrats to draw attention to Mitt Romney's relatively low Federal income tax rate. Moreover, Romney's tax policies and apparent unwillingness to release additional years of his personal tax returns were covered extensively on NBC Nightly News and ABC World News, respectively.
Many major news outlets note polling showing the strong popularity of the Buffett Rule, and all make clear that the Senate vote was largely along party lines, with Republican opposition dooming the popular tax policy. Around 40 local television newscasts last night touched on the results of the Senate vote, and many of those also noted the vote was largely along party lines.
USA Today reports, "The Democratic-controlled Senate failed on Monday to reach a super-majority needed to pass a tax plan offered by President Obama to require millionaires to pay a 30% minimum effective tax rate." USA Today adds, "Senate Republicans criticized the bill as an election-year ploy by the president who has been campaigning on a message that all Americans should pay their 'fair share' in order to help balance the budget. ... Democrats...countered that wealthy Americans are currently enjoying some of the lowest tax rates in modern history." Bloomberg News notes that "the 51-45 vote...fell short of the 60 needed to advance the measure."
The AP says Senate the "anti-climactic outcome was no surprise to anyone in a vote that was designed more to win over voters and embarrass senators in close races than to push legislation into law. At the White House, Obama denounced the vote, saying Republicans chose 'once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few Americans at the expense of the middle class.'"
According to the Washington Post , "The outcome was the first phase of a week-long congressional discussion about taxes, timed by both parties to coincide with Tuesday's deadline for submitting federal tax returns." The Post notes that Sen. Chuck Schumer "told reporters Monday that [Mitt] Romney is a 'poster child' for why the provision is necessary," adding, "It could be called the Romney Rule."
Similarly, the New York Times reports, "With taxes due on Tuesday, a Washington debate on the tax code this week was inevitable, but the escalating attacks reflect the peculiarities of this election year. Democrats have known for weeks that the Buffett Rule would not win the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster, but they pressed forward in part to try to make...Romney, the face of economic 'unfairness.' Mr. Romney paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent on $21.7 million in income in 2010, the only full year's tax returns he has released."
Roll Call reports Schumer "said Democrats would continue to revisit the issue ahead of the elections."

Lawmakers Blast GSA Officials For Lavish Conference Spending Monday's hearing regarding excessive spending for a General Services Administration conference sparked heavy media coverage. All three nightly newscasts devoted about two minutes of coverage each on the investigation. NBC Nightly News reported, "Today, what happened in Vegas ended up on Capitol Hill. And the GSA official in charge of the lavish conference Jeff Neeley asserted his right to remain silent six times." Myers: "But Neeley seemed less reticent about his Vegas experience in these photos posted on his wife's Google Plus page. They appear to be enjoying a luxurious suite at the M Resort, which hosted a conference during the scouting trip the year before. The conference which cost taxpayers almost a million dollars drew bipartisan scorn."
ABC World News reported, "Neely organized the now infamous $823,000 conference in 2010, which included $75,000 spent on a bicycle building exercise, $6,000 for commemorative coins, and $3,000 spent on this mind-reader, motivational speaker. The conference held events where wasting taxpayer dollars was mocked. ... One confidential witness told the Inspector General those who protested this culture of waste were quote, 'squashed like a bug' by Neely."
The CBS Evening News reported, "The GSA's Inspector General detailed today how Neely and his subordinates made between six and ten scouting trips to Las Vegas before the conference at a cost of more than $130,000."
In its lead story, Fox News' Special Report reported that "before the hearing, Chairman Issa suggested this may only be the start of excessive spending revelations." Issa: "It really is the tip of the iceberg. We are seeing a pattern at the GSA. And remember, the GSA sets the standard for...getting a good value for the American people for all of government."
The New York Times said, "It is a remarkable moment when Congressional Democrats and Republicans turn their scorn from each other and join forces to focus it on someone else. But that is precisely what happened on Monday when members of both parties on a Congressional oversight committee grilled the former head and other officials from the General Services Administration."
The Washington Post reports that GSA Inspector General Brian Miller "said Monday that he is investigating possible bribery and kickbacks in the agency," and "his office has asked the Justice Department to investigate 'all sorts of improprieties' surrounding the 2010 event." The Post notes that Miller's remarks "enraged" lawmakers.

Panetta Defends Weekend Flights That Have Cost Taxpayers More Than $800,000 The Washington Post reports Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "said Monday that he regretted that his frequent flights home to California on a military jet have cost taxpayers more than $800,000 since July," although "he gave no indication...that he would end the weekend commutes." The Post notes that Panetta's trips have attracted increased attention "in part because Pentagon leaders say they are scraping by to adjust to a new era of austerity."
The Washington Times adds, "Although Mr. Panetta said he regrets the cost and will try to find a way to economize in the future, he said the nearly weekly trips home to his family´s Walnut ranch in Monterey, Calif., are important."

Agents' Security Clearances Terminated As Secret Service Probe Continues The investigation into whether an advance team of Secret Service agents and military personnel hired prostitutes and engaged in other misconduct while in Colombia generated a total of 13 minutes and 25 seconds of coverage on the network newscasts last night. Major print media continued to cover the story as well.
ABC World News reported in its lead story, "The US Secret Service is facing its biggest scandal in history. So grave, 11 agents have been told their top security clearances have been terminated." ABC (Thomas) added, "Sources tell ABC News, military officials suspect ten or more of their own may have been soliciting sex from prostitutes. That's in addition to the 11 Secret Service agency and officers already under investigation. ... And sources say, local women were coming back to the hotel with agents. Now, ABC News has learned that Secret Service personnel may have been partying at strip clubs."
On NBC Nightly News, Mike Isikoff said, "Sources tell us, among those involved, were two Secret Service supervisors, three members of the elite counter assault team, whose job it is to repel attacks on the President's motorcade, and three members of the counter sniper team. ... We're told all of those involved had hard copies of the President's day by day, minute by minute schedule. And if the prostitutes had access to that, they could have potentially given it to a foreign intelligence service, a drug cartel or even a terrorist group."
The New York Times reports that the scandal "has dredged up an image that the agency appeared to have moved beyond." The Times adds, "The 11 Secret Service employees involved have had their security clearances revoked, pending the outcome of the investigation, an agency spokesman said."

Washington News

Polls Range From 9-Point Obama Lead To 3-Point Romney Edge A new series of polls out in the last 24 hours paint conflicting pictures of the state of the presidential contest. While two tracking polls show Mitt Romney with a slight lead, other surveys show President Obama well ahead.
Rasmussen Reports ' daily presidential tracking poll shows Obama's approval rating at 47%, with 51% disapproving. That's little changed from a 46%/52% split yesterday. In a 2012 trial heat, Romney leads Obama 47%-44%. The poll surveyed 1,500 likely voters from April 13-15.
The first installment of the Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 47%-45%. While both candidates secure 90% of their respective bases, Romney leads 45%-39% among independents. The poll surveyed 2,225 registered voters from April 11-15.
However, a CNN /Opinion Research Corporation poll of 910 registered voters taken April 13-15 shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney 52%-43%. That's down from a 54%-43% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll also shows respondents believe that Obama can better "get the economy moving" than Romney by a 44%-42% margin, while 49% said the President agrees with them "on the issues that matter most," with 37% choosing Romney.
Nearly splitting the difference is a Reuters /Ipsos poll which shows Obama leading Romney 47%-43%. That's down from a 52%-41% Obama lead in a similar survey a month ago. The poll surveyed 891 registered voters from April 12-15.

Obama Campaign Blasts Romney's Overheard Comments On Spending Cuts NBC Nightly News reported, "Some candid comments [Mitt] Romney made at a Florida fund-raiser are getting some attention -- comments he did not intend for the whole world to hear, at least not yet." NBC went on to report that Romney "said he might cut things like Housing and Urban Development, 'which my dad was head of, that might not be around later.' Romney also said he would shrink the Department of Education. And on taxes he said he would likely eliminate the mortgage deduction on second homes for the wealthy, as well as limit or cut state income tax deductions to pay for his cuts across the board."
The New York Times reports, "Senior advisers to Mitt Romney said Monday that Mr. Romney...was merely tossing around ideas, not making policy announcements." The Times adds that the Obama campaign "used Mr. Romney's comments as evidence that he and his campaign regularly hide the truth from the public." Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said, "Apparently, Governor Romney believes only high-dollar donors have a right to know what programs he will cut."
The Washington Times reports that New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and New Jersey Rep. Robert Andrews (D) "said in a conference call arranged by the" DNC "that Mr. Romney...offered a glimpse of his secret political plans when he suggested at a closed-door fundraiser over the weekend that he'd shrink the Department of Education and eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development."

Obama Raised $53M Last Month For His Campaign, DNC The AP reports that President Barack Obama "raised a combined $53 million for his campaign, the Democratic Party and other campaign funds in March, his campaign said Monday." The President "has collected nearly $350 million since the start of the campaign last year, representing a boost in campaign cash compared with recent months. He has raised about $127 million for his campaign, the" DNC "and other campaign funds since the beginning of 2012."
USA Today reports that Obama's "March haul is nearly twice the $29.1 million he collected for himself and the party in January." The Obama camp "outlined the fundraising in an Internet video Monday that featured donors who had given as little as $5. More than 567,000 people contributed to the campaign last month."
On the website of Politico , Alexander Burns says, "The more interesting test of Obama's fundraising potential may come in the April numbers, now that it's unavoidably clear who the Republican nominee will be. High on the list of reasons why Democrats believe Obama's fundraising has been solid, but not jaw-dropping, is that there hasn't been a general election-like contrast with a Republican opponent, and financial supporters of both the grassroots and high-dollar variety haven't felt the urgency they otherwise might."
Obama, Romney Camps Expected To Opt Out Of Public Financing Program The AP reports that "for the first time since public financing of presidential campaigns began in 1976, both major-party candidates will likely turn down federal subsidies for their general-election campaigns" this year. The AP notes, "Breaking a campaign" vow, Obama "opted out of the public financing program in 2008 and went on to raise $750 million." Obama is expected to opt out of the program again this year, as is Mitt Romney, who's "on track to raise $600 million."

Romney Picks Longtime Aide To Lead VP Search Fox News' Special Report reported Romney "has tapped his long-serving and trusted advisor Beth Meyers to lead his vice presidential search effort. Meyers served as Romney's chief of staff when he was governor of Massachusetts and was campaign manager for Romney's 2008 bid for the Republican nomination."
The Washington Post reports that Myers, "55, an early protege of George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove, will be behind what is expected to be the first major presidential-style decision Romney will make. In an interview Monday, she said Romney will want 'to hear a lot of voices, and he wants to get all the information he needs to then make his choice.'" The Post adds that Romney "told ABC News's Diane Sawyer that he has no specific deadline for making his selection, but that 'it would certainly be by the time of the convention.'"

Poll Shows Walker Leading Democratic Challengers In Recall The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports a new Public Policy Polling Poll shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leading all of his potential Democratic challengers in this summer's recall election, "though his edge over Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is within the poll's margin of error." In head-to-head matchups, Walker tops Barrett 50%-45%, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk 50%-43%, Secretary of State Doug La Follette 51%-40% and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout 50%-38%. The poll surveyed 1,136 likely voters from April 13-15 for Daily Kos.