The Donald waves down from Trump Tower to crowd amassed for the pope. Nothing but boos. pic.twitter.com/cgROTkQ0RD
— Nate Schweber (@nateschweber) September 24, 2015
NEW HAMPSHIRE–PRESIDENT–DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY—CNN/WMUR: Sanders 46, Clinton 30, Biden 14, O’Malley 2, Webb 1, Chafee 0
NEW HAMPSHIRE–PRESIDENT–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY—CNN/WMUR: Trump 26, Fiorina 16, Rubio 9, Carson 8, Kasich 7, Bush 7, Cruz 5, Paul 3, Christie 5, Huckabee 0, Graham 1, Pataki 0, Jindal 0, Santorum 0
Jonathan Chait: “Like all of the non-Trump Republican candidates, Jeb Bush’s economic strategy is built around a program of regressive, debt-financed tax cuts, just as it was under the last Republican administration. In a very clever interview, John Harwood repeatedly asks Bush why he is pursuing this course despite its repeated failure. Bush’s attempts to respond reveal the tangle of denial, non-falsifiability, and cant that undergird the party’s unshakable commitment to voodoo economics.”
Washington Post: “Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. That 19th century adage could be modernized for 2016: if you’re seeking the Republican presidential nomination, don’t screw around with Roger Ailes. The Fox News honcho wields enormous power over an incredibly influential medium, and he’s not messing around after Donald Trump declared that he’s boycotting the cable channel.”
“Megyn Kelly’s show opener last night demonstrated Trump’s dilemma. Kelly used a fresh round of polls to make the case that Trump is on the decline, even though the businessman still maintains a significant lead, using language that sounded like it was written expressly to get under his skin. Combined with critical comments by other Fox hosts, the harsher new tone spells real trouble for Trump.”
Molly Ball addresses the current debate about whether Pope Francis is liberal.
“What makes Francis different is really a matter of which Catholic beliefs he has elevated to the level of communal concerns—public policy—and which he has framed as individual choices. To Francis, sharing wealth and fixing global warming are matters that governments should address, while not committing homosexual acts or having abortions are individual choices he endorses. (As he famously put it: ‘Who am I to judge?’) This is quite different from the American Catholic church, which has poured its political energy into laws banning gay marriage and restricting abortion.”
“Francis is not an American politician, but his perspective on the state’s role in these issues lines up pretty well with that of most American Democrats.”
“Francis aligns more with Democrats than Republicans on other issues: He favors immigration reform, played a major role in the Obama administration’s détente with Cuba, and supports the Iran nuclear deal. No wonder the president and other American liberals are trying to claim him—and conservatives see him as a threat.”
Jeb Bush’s campaign says his plan will get us to 4% growth. We are already there:
The U.S. economy grew almost 4% in the second quarter, powered by higher consumer spending and a bit stronger business investment than previously reported, revised figures show.
Gross domestic product – the value of everything a nation produces – rose at a 3.9% annual rate from April to June, according to the government’s second update of how fast the nation’s economy expanded during the spring. Previously the Commerce Department had said GDP increased 3.7%. The figures get revised as the government gets more data on how the economy performed.
Thanks Obama and Democrats.
Lisa Miller says Pope Francis is the Barack Obama of the Papacy.