Romneys spend personal funds on campaign
(Credit:
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The contribution marks the first time this election cycle that the couple put their own money into his campaign for president. When he ran in 2008, the Romneys put more than $42 million into his campaign.
The presumptive Republican nominee was able to make it through the primary this year without writing himself a check, though he never ruled out the option. When asked last year if he would consider putting his own money into his campaign, he kept his answer non-committal.
Continue »Romney: N.H. bridge shows stimulus failed
"You all know the story of this bridge. This is part of the president's stimulus plan," Romney said from the parking lot of a Ford dealership adjacent to the Sawyer Bridge. The bridge hasn't been used by vehicles since the 1800s and does not reach from one bank to the other, but local leaders were able to get more than $150,000 from the federal stimulus bill to restore the structure.
"[The Obama administration] said `Look, we put in place a whole series of elements that are critical to the future of America.'And you've got one behind us right there," Romney said in reference to the bridge. "That's what they're saying. This is the absolute Bridge to Nowhere if there ever was one. That's your stimulus dollars at work."
Continue »Will birtherism ever go away?
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
(Credit: AP)News Analysis
(CBS News) Sometimes, when you want to believe something badly enough, no amount of evidence to the contrary will change your mind.
To understand how this plays out, consider the subset of Americans who still identify as "birthers." Birthers are people who express their dislike of President Obama by arguing - forcefully - that he was not born in the United States, and is thus not eligible for the presidency.
Some birthers were finally disabused of that notion when President Obama, whose birth had been announced in two Hawaii newspapers and who had already released his short-form birth certificate, released his long-form birth certificate last April. The percentage of Americans who said Mr. Obama was born outside the United States fell from 20 percent before the release to 10 percent afterward. But even then, one in ten Americans held tight to their birtherism, showing a remarkable willingness not to let the facts get in the way of their convictions.
The birthers made their presence felt once again on Thursday. A conservative reporter tracked down a 1991 promotional booklet from a literary agency in which Mr. Obama was listed as having been "born in Kenya." Conservative news aggregator Matt Drudge gave the report huge play, leading his site with it Thursday evening. He followed up Friday with a series of links tied to the story, including one asking, "How did the mainstream media miss this?"
Hollande stands by plan to pull Afghanistan troops
President Barack Obama meets with French President Francois Hollande in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Friday, May 18, 2012.
(Credit: Pool,AP Photo/Eric Feferberg)(CBS News) Newly-inaugurated French President Francois Hollande stood by his campaign promise to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2012 at the White House Friday, though he vowed to "continue to support Afghanistan in a different way."
Hollande, who was elected less than two weeks ago, made the comments during a brief appearance with President Obama in the Oval Office ahead of the Group of Eight (G-8) and NATO summits. Under his predecessor, Nikolas Sarkozy, France had initially planned to keep troops from Afghanistan through 2014.
Hollande vowed during his campaign to remove all 3,300 French troops from Afghanistan, but he later softened that to say that all "combat units" would be out by the end of the year. On Friday in the Oval Office, he vowed to find the "right means" by which to France can "continue and comply" with its in-country commitments.
Continue »Boehner pressures Holder over "Fast and Furious"
Attorney General Eric Holder
(Credit: File,AP Photo/Danny Johnston)(CBS News) House Speaker John Boehner is ratcheting up the pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder in conjunction with an investigation into the government's role in letting thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Boehner and his top two deputies, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, joined Rep. Darrell Issa in their pursuit of documents related to the case, known as "Fast and Furious." Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been aggressively investigating the situation.
Continue »Obama announces global food initiative
President Barack Obama speaks at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Friday, May 18, 2012, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
(Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)Mr. Obama, in remarks kicking off this weekend's G-8 summit, called on G-8 partners to reaffirm their commitments to anti-poverty measures and outlined a plan aimed at increasing investments in African agriculture, developing agricultural innovations, and reducing risks among vulnerable communities.
"The government cannot and should not do this alone. This has to be all hands on deck," Mr. Obama said of the goal to reduce global poverty.
"Reducing malnutrition and hunger around the world advances international peace and security," the president said.
Continue »Romney makes first general election ad buy
(CBS News) Mitt Romney today released his first television ad of the 2012 general election.
In the commercial, which is reportedly set to run in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, the Romney campaign lays out what he would do on his first day in office. The ad says on Day One, Romney will approve the Keystone pipeline, work on tax cuts and regulations, and start measures to replace the Affordable Healthcare Act, which is referred to in the ad as "Obamacare." Romney told reporters on Thursday that the ad would be "positive."
The campaign released the ad in both English and Spanish. The ads in both languages are 30 seconds and identical to each other.
Continue »G8 is largest world leader gathering at Camp David
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Alex Wong/Getty Images)
"The allocation system, of course, is classified," says White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
World leaders with sizeable entourages may be used to more expansive accommodations than they'll find at Camp David, but Donilon told reporters "there are adequate facilities there for each delegation."
He noted that the G8 Summit represents the largest single gathering of world leaders ever received at Camp David.
It's been 70 years since British Prime Minister Winston Churchill became the first foreign leader invited to the camp, then called "Shangri-La" by FDR. Some years later, President Eisenhower would re-name the 143-acre property for his father and 5-year old grandson, both named David. Ike said a place called "Shangri-La" was "just a little fancy for a Kansas farm boy."
Continue »Americans Elect fails to produce a candidate
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end," the organization said in a statement. The reason? "No candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect Online Convention in June."
Americans Elect, which raised tens of millions of dollars and created a national online primary voting system, required known candidates to collect the signatures of 1,000 people in ten states. Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who sought the Republican Party nomination but dropped out after failing to gain traction, is among those who attempted to get on the Americans Elect ticket.
Continue »Democrats push back against voter ID laws
(CBS News) President Obama and Democrats in Congress are pushing back against the new voter identification laws and requirements that Republican-led states have been busy implementing across the country.
The president's re-election campaign will shortly launch the website GottaVote.org, an information hub designed to help voters meet voting requirements. Currently, the site asks lawyers to join the campaign's Victory Counsel, a volunteer legal team that helps Americans overcome barriers to voting. It also mentions a May voter registration "weekend of action."
As first reported on Politico, the site on Thursday featured a video telling the story of Dorothy Cooper, a 96-year-old Tennessee voter. In 2011, the Tennessee legislature passed strict new voter ID requirements. Cooper had trouble obtaining a voter ID card, even after presenting the four pieces of identification required.
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