No privilege for most stay-at-home moms -poll
The recent flap over women voters — especially stay-at-home mothers — has sent both Republican and Democratic pundits scrambling and with good reason: many stay-at-home moms aren’t affiliated with either party and are a ripe target for swing votes, a new poll shows.
The survey from Gallup Inc also finds that moms who don’t work aren’t exactly a pampered lot, despite Ann Romney – the wife of a multi-millionaire businessman – being portrayed as their standard bearer. It found most moms who stay home are more economically disadvantaged than their working peers.
Women with more education and those with higher family incomes are far more likely to work after having children than lower-income women and those who have less schooling, the polling firm found.
“It does appear that stay-at-home mothers are more economically disadvantaged than working mothers, rather than more advantaged. And this may be directly related to education,” Gallup said in its poll released this week.
The dust-up over whether women who don’t work and instead stay home with their children are privileged arose last week when Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen made comments that seemed to criticize Ann Romney, whose husband Mitt is one of the wealthiest people to ever seek the U.S. presidency and who has never been employed outside her home.
According to Gallup, which interviewed more than 45,000 U.S. adult women over three months earlier this year, most mothers with children under age 18 work outside the home — 63 percent. Thirty-seven percent stay home.
The survey found 84 percent of moms with young kids who have postgraduate-level education also have a job along with 75 percent of college graduates and 66 percent of those with just some college coursework. That compares with 48 percent of those who have at most a high school education.
The Oscars, an evening of golden statues and golden donors – to Democrats
In a presidential election year, the Oscar statuettes are not the only gold-plated figures at Hollywood’s annual Academy Awards ceremony. The audience on Sunday will be sprinkled with big political donors — at least to Democrats.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks Animation, which has three films up for awards, is a top bundler for President Obama who has donated $4 million in national and state-level races, according to The Sunlight Foundation, which analyzed data about filmdom donations. Katzenberg gave half that total – $2 million – to Priorities USA Action, a pro-Obama Super PAC.
Steven Spielberg, who produced the best picture nominee “War Horse,” has spent $1.6 million in donations to Democratic state and federal candidates and committees, including Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and California Governor Jerry Brown, Sunlight said.
Among other big names, George Clooney, a best actor nominee for “The Descendants,” has given $178,000 to Democratic candidates and committees including Obama and the Democratic National Committee. Brad Pitt, a Best Actor nominee for “Moneyball,” donated $100,000 against California’s Proposition 8, the effort to ban same-sex marriage. Glenn Close, a best actress nominee for “Albert Nobbs,” has donated $47,900 to recipients including Obama and the DNC. And director Martin Scorsese, up for best director for “Hugo,” has made donations totaling $27,600, to recipients including Obama, the DNC and New York’s two senators, both Democrats, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
“The results of our inquiry do absolutely nothing to dispel the notion that the Hollywood hills are a Democratic stronghold,” Sunlight said.
Picture Credit: Actor George Clooney and President Barack Obama at a 2006 news conference about Clooney’s recent visit to the Darfur region of Sudan. REUTERS/Jason Reed
The political leanings and loyalties of accomplished, talented, admired, emotionally-expressive, social-justice sensitive individuals are hardly a new revelation. They coincide with the majority of the professionals in higher education, just as the well-known maxim states: “slower minds, keep right”
Washington Extra – Proposals to nowhere
A line kept cropping up in our stories from Washington today, something along the lines of “unlikely to be passed in Congress.”
President Obama went out to Falls Church, Virginia to tout his $5 billion to $10 billion plan to help homeowners refinance. The proposal, sketched out in last week’s State of the Union address, could provide relief to many locked into high rates by their homes’ sagging value. But it doesn’t look like it will overcome Republican opposition.
Democrats also introduced today the “Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012,” longhand for the “Buffett Rule” that Obama also raised in his address last week. The idea is that millionaires would pay a minimum 30 percent effective tax rate. It has almost no chance of passage in a Republican-controlled House that has sworn off tax increases.
Sure, this kind of political theater is part of the Washington spectacle. But we thought it was best to tell readers to sit back and enjoy the show – rather than start making plans for the future.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Washington Extra – Black box
For the past week or so, we’ve watched Democrats and Republicans playing chess on the payroll tax cuts, trying to outmaneuver each other and gain the upper hand in this final bitter budget battle of 2011. Today, it looks like the match moved off the chessboard and into the unknown.
In this vacuum, people are struggling to know what happens next. Eric Lascelles, chief economist at RBC Global Asset Management in Toronto, told us his confidence that the tax cut will be extended in 2012 “is beginning to waver.”
“As usual,” he added, “the political process is such a black box it’s hard to credibly put odds on this.”
President Obama might be feeling the same way, especially after he seemed fairly certain Saturday that the extension was all sewn up by the deal in the Senate. He came out today and said “let’s not play brinkmanship. The American people are weary of it.”
Obama may get something worse than brinkmanship, and that is nothing happening. There will be no votes in the House Wednesday and we hear some members who live in faraway places like California are heading home for Christmas. They will come back this week if needed, but it is increasingly looking like they won’t be. Congress may be effectively shutting down for the holidays, this year’s business far from finished.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Obama says time running out for payroll tax cut deal President Obama demanded that Republicans in the House of Representatives quickly pass a short-term extension of a payroll tax cut, showing an unwillingness to back down in a fight that could result in higher taxes for 160 million American workers. The House rejected a short-term deal passed by the Senate and called for fresh negotiations on the expiring tax break that saves the average American worker $1,000 a year. But Harry Reid, leader of the Senate, insisted he would not recall the chamber to reopen negotiations.
Washington Extra – Home for the holidays
There will be no vacation for you, Congress, until you get your work done. That was the stern message from President Obama today. But it probably wasn’t his warning that pushed Democrats and Republicans to get back to serious negotiations to finish the year’s business. More likely, it was fear of voter backlash.
For the third time this year, Americans were hearing about the threat of a government shutdown because Democrats and Republicans could not strike a deal on some basic legislation –a spending bill needed to fund many government agencies beyond Friday. After a flurry of meetings on Capitol Hill, we received word that the deal was near.
Separate negotiations on the legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits also seemed to gather pace after days of distractions and setbacks. If the negotiators are successful, Congress’ work might all be done by the weekend.
And then lawmakers can go home for the holidays with their mission accomplished. But by taking the country to the brink once again, it would come as no surprise if they still got hit with some backlash back home.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Washington Extra – Theater of the absurd
No one said extending the payroll tax cut in Congress by December 31 would be a walk in the park. But did we really expect it to turn into another marathon with multiple detours?
After a rare display of bipartisanship on Monday on a spending bill to keep the government running through 2012, Tuesday gave way to another day of bitter back and forth, in which Democrats and Republicans aimed to out-maneuver and out-smart each other.
The Republicans managed to pass their payroll tax cut bill in the House with the controversial measure to speed up the decision on green-lighting the Keystone oil pipeline. It almost certainly won’t make it through the Senate and the White House made clear today that President Obama will veto it if it does. He’s decided the Keystone pipeline has to wait until after the elections and won’t be dragged into this debacle.
In theory, the House-approved bill clears the way for the two sides to compromise and get the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits extended by year end. It’s pretty clear that most Republicans and Democrats want to give the boost to voters and the fragile American economy. And the White House says it still expects an “eleventh hour” deal. But after watching the elaborate political theater that played out on Tuesday, it’s anyone’s guess when cooler heads might prevail.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
U.S. lawmakers in showdown over payroll tax cuts U.S. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are locked in an end-of-year fight that threatens a government shutdown, an effective tax hike for 160 million Americans and the loss of benefits for millions of unemployed. With just days left to resolve the crisis, both parties traded recriminations on Tuesday even as they tried to out-maneuver each other for political advantage in a high-stakes battle that will likely carry over into the 2012 elections.
For more of this story by Caren Bohan and Rachelle Younglai, read here.
Shaq throws in support for Obama in 2012
NBA star Shaquille O’Neal said on Monday he believes President Barack Obama is doing a ”fabulous job” and will win the 2012 presidential election.
O’Neal, who retired from pro basketball this year, joined a handful of celebrities endorsing the Democratic president, ranging from singer Lady Gaga and actor Tom Hanks to Basketball hall-of-famer Magic Johnson.
“It’s a hard job … You can’t please everybody but I think he’s doing a fabulous job,” O’Neal told CNN host Piers Morgan. ”The world is in a little bit of turmoil right now — the economy’s down — but … he’s going to pick it back up and I think he’s going to win this next election.”
A group of current and former NBA stars are due to play in a fundraising game in Washington on Dec. 12, the Obama campaign website says. Confirmed players include Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, Alonzo Mourning and Jerry Stackhouse.
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Scott Audette (Shaq waves to fans at an exhibition game), REUTERS/Larry Downing (Obama compares his shoe with a basketball sneaker belonging to O’Neal)
Im black and I can confirm that there are many local black politicians that play and win on race. Especially with urban poor in gerrymandered districts.
However in statewide and national races, this is not true. There are many famous black personalities that supported Clinton over Jesse in prior primaries. Shaq was one of them.
As to why do 90% of African Americans support Obama – well its because many are poor and poor peoples interests are represented by Democrats (well at least from a superficial level). Cain would have not got majority of the black vote if he would have won the Republican nomination against a white democrat. Its not racial voting when there are underlying ideological reasons.
Washington Extra – Blame to go around
A Reuters Ipsos poll shows the blame for the failure shared fairly equally among the political parties and the president. Just over one in five respondents (22 percent) blame all three (Democratic and Republican lawmakers as well as Obama) the most — slightly more than the 19 percent who blame both parties’ lawmakers but not the president.
For 13 percent of respondents, Obama alone is blamed most, better than the 18 percent who just blame Republicans but worse than the 7 percent who blame the Democratic lawmakers alone. And while Congress suffers the most in the public’s eye, with 51 percent taking a less favorable view of Capitol Hill in the wake of the failure, Obama’s standing drops for 35 percent of those polled.
While Obama can run from this unpopular Congress, he cannot hide from voters when it comes to the country’s debt crisis. A full 87 percent of the poll respondents said they were very or fairly concerned about the super committee’s failure. If there is anything to console him in this poll, it might be that Americans still think he has the best chances of solving the debt crisis when compared to his possible Republican contenders in 2012.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Americans blame all sides for debt committee failure: poll Americans blamed the failure of Washington’s debt “super committee” on Republican and Democratic lawmakers and President Barack Obama, although more than a third said it lowered their opinion of the president, according to Reuters/Ipsos poll results on Tuesday. Eighteen percent blamed Republican lawmakers most for the committee’s failure to reach agreement on a plan to reduce the U.S. budget deficit and 13 percent blamed Obama most.
For more of this story by Patricia Zengerle, read here.
Let’s put the “For 24 months, the Dems controlled all 3 branches of government” talking point into a little historical context, shall we?
In 2001 the CBO showed the United States is on track to pay off the entirety of its national debt within a decade.
From 2001 to 2009, with support from congressional Republicans, George Bush ran enormous deficits, adding nearly $5 trillion to the debt.
In 2002 Dick Cheney declares, “Deficits don’t matter.” Congressional Republicans agreed, approving tax cuts, two wars, and Medicare expansion without even trying to pay for them.
In 2009 Barack Obama inherited $1.3 trillion deficit from George Bush; Republicans immediately moved to condemn Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility.
In 2009 (the beginning of this 24 month “monopoly over government” the right likes to talk about) Congressional Democrats unveiled several domestic policy initiatives, including health care reform, cap and trade, and the DREAM Act all of which would lower the deficit. The GOP opposed ALL of them, while continuing to push for deficit reduction.
In September of 2010, Obama’s first fiscal year, the deficit shrank by $122 billion. Republicans again condemned Obama’s fiscal irresponsibility.
In October of 2010, S&P endorsed the nation’s AAA rating with a stable outlook, saying the United States looks to be in solid fiscal shape for the foreseeable future.
In November 2010, Republicans won a U.S. House majority, citing the need for fiscal responsibility. The first thing they did was demand extension of Bush tax cuts, relying entirely on deficit financing. And the GOP continued to accuse Obama of fiscal irresponsibility.
In March 2011, Congressional Republicans declared their intention to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage — a move without precedent in American history — until a massive debt-reduction plan was approved.
By August 2011, S&P downgraded U.S. debt, citing the Republicans’ refusal to consider new revenues. Republicans rejoiced and blamed Obama for fiscal irresponsibility.
So now it’s the end of 2011, and the Supercomittee is deadlocked – over what? Democrats called for a balanced plan that required shared sacrifice, and Republicans refused. GOP members freely admit that they weren’t prepared to compromise on tax revenue — indeed, their “offers” demanded that Dems accept more tax cuts, making the debt problem worse, on purpose — dooming the entire process.
Opinion polling on the outcome shows a slightly higher percent blaming Republicans for the failure to reach a compromise. I’m surprised it was even close.
Washington Extra – Turkey talks
The good news? Thanksgiving will not be interrupted by eleventh-hour negotiations by the “super committee” to strike a deal to cut the burgeoning deficit. After months of work, the 11 men and one woman called it quits today. Their statement said “it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement.” No mention of the word on everyone’s tongues: failure.
Even in the early days of the super committee, we are learning, hope was in short supply. At one of the early breakfast meetings, members kept saying how hard it would be to reach agreement. South Carolina’s Democratic Representative James Clyburn said to his fellow panel members: “Do you want to know what’s hard? Desegregating South Carolina in the 1950s. I met my wife in jail.”
Right now, it’s hard to believe this Congress “can build on this committee’s work,” as the committee co-chairs said hopefully in their statement. There seems to be little faith left on the Hill. Just look at the harsh words from Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, who said the panel’s failure “represents yet another regrettable milestone in Congress’s steady march toward abject ineffectiveness.”
As our grade school grammar teachers would remind us, turkeys are done and people are finished. And the super committee? Done. Over. History.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
US deficit panel fails to reach deal U.S. lawmakers abandoned their high-profile effort to rein in the country’s ballooning debt in a sign that Washington likely will not be able to resolve a dispute over taxes and spending until 2013. Republican and Democratic members of a 12-member congressional “super committee” said they were unable to resolve their significant differences as they ran up against a deadline to deliver a plan that would cut U.S. deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
For more of this story by Thomas Ferraro and Richard Cowan, read here.
Washington Extra – Patriotic millionaires
As Democrats and Republicans hunkered down on opposite sides of the Capitol on Wednesday, showing no signs of a compromise on slashing the deficit, a group called the Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength made its move.
Nearly 140 members wrote a letter to President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress to “do the right thing” and “raise our taxes.” Next they hit up the bipartisan “super committee,” laboring under a Nov. 23 deadline to reach agreement on the deficit or trigger unpalatable budget cuts.
One of the corporate patriots said if Congress ended Bush-era tax cuts it would affect him and his fellow millionaires in his group “about as much as a dead fly interrupts a picnic.”
Another added “those of us who can afford it should step up. That is our message to the super committee. We hope they listen.”
Yeah, well, good luck with that. With just a week to go and members expressing some pretty serious doubts about a deal, the super committee twelve sound like they can’t even listen to each other.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Deficit committee locked in budget stalemate
Really?
Does anyone believe this kind of propaganda anymore?
If you want to donate money to charity or the state nobody would stop you…
Mr. obama knows what he is doing