http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2008 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:52:06 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Wed, 16 May 2012 14:06:54 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Some six months before voters head to the polls to choose the next president of the United States, Gallup finds several indicators of the economic and political climate holding steady at levels that could be troublesome for President Barack Obama. According to Gallup polling in early May, Obama's approval rating is below 50%, Americans' satisfaction with the direction of the country is barely above 20%, and the economy remains a dominant concern.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/national_mood_a_drag_on_obama039s_prospects_280041.htmlhttp://www.gallup.com/poll/154679/National-Mood-Remains-Drag-Obama-Election-Prospects.aspxhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.gallup.com/poll/154679/National-Mood-Remains-Drag-Obama-Election-Prospects.aspx 100280041 PM Update Lydia Saad, Gallup 138018 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:08:22 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 The latest advertisement from the Obama campaign—which will air in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Virginia—is, so far, the most important one of the president’s re-election effort. Take a look:This is a brutal attack on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital, and far more effective than anything launched by the former Massachusetts governor’s Republican opponents in the GOP primary. The workers are given space to speak for themselves, and the result is a focus on the human toll of Romney’s career. The ad insinuates that this...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/obama_hits_mitt_where_it_hurts_280017.htmlhttp://prospect.org/article/obama-hits-mitt-where-it-hurtshttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://prospect.org/article/obama-hits-mitt-where-it-hurts 100280017 PM Update Jamelle Bouie, The American Prospect 137292 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:28:44 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Why is the country debating gay marriage right now?The deficit is out of control. The economy is stuck in neutral. Incomes are flat. Unemployment is stubbornly high. Europe is on the brink of collapse. The Middle East is on the brink of war. So why are we talking about gay marriage?The reason is simple: President Obama was facing a backlash from a core Democratic constituency, namely the gay rights community, and he had to respond because he desperately needs its campaign contributions.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/how_the_democratic_party_lost_its_way_280071.htmlhttp://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/16/how-democratic-party-lost-its-way/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/16/how-democratic-party-lost-its-way/ 100280071 PM Update Jay Cost, FOX News 135879 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:09:58 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 I never include the Keystone State in my list of presidential swing states for November. Am I making a mistake? Possibly.There are plenty of reasons to leave the commonwealth of Pennsylvania off any list of the most competitive states that will decide the next president.While the 2000 national election split the country almost down the middle — then-Vice President Al Gore (D) beat George W. Bush (R) in the popular vote by one-half of 1 percent — Pennsylvania went for the Democrat by more than 4 points. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/pennsylvania_in_play_for_november_maybe_280010.htmlhttp://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_135/Is-Pennsylvania-In-Play-for-November-214491-1.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_135/Is-Pennsylvania-In-Play-for-November-214491-1.html 100280010 PM Update Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call 30636 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:12:34 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 President Obama’s Chicago-based campaign team has been waiting months to launch a real attack against Mitt Romney’s experience at Bain Capital. Even before Romney’s Republican presidential rivals started going after him, Obama’s campaign was preparing for the moment that arrived this week.There is no mystery to the strategy underway: define Romney before he can fully pivot to general-election voters after a nomination battle that went on longer than expected and that kept the presumptive GOP nominee pinned to the right of the political spectrum as he...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/a_high_stakes_battle_over_bain_amp_the_economy_280003.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/high-stakes-in-romney-obama-battle-over-bain-economy/2012/05/15/gIQA7tgsRU_story.html?hpid=z3 100280003 PM Update Dan Balz, Washington Post 138019 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:51:41 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 It is no fun being a member of the GOP establishment these days. Another upstart has pulled off a surprise victory, this time  in Nebraska. Shades of Indiana! Even worse, Sarah Palin's endorsement seems to have made a big difference. The peasants are revolting! And nominating their candidates for the Senate.Someone  named Deb Fischer -- nobody at the National Press Club or Cosmos Club ever heard of her -- won the Republican primary. David Catanese of Politico explains:]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/nebraska_stuns_gop_establishment_280051.htmlhttp://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/05/nebraska_stuns_gop_establishment.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/05/nebraska_stuns_gop_establishment.html 100280051 PM Update Thomas Lifson, American Thinker 138030 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:19:05 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 At the very least, the Republican Party base’s revolt against its own establishment cost the GOP a 50-50 Senate tie in 2010, with primary voters forcing unelectable nominees on the party in three races that it had otherwise been on course to win. A decent case can be made that the uprising actually cost Republicans outright Senate control.And now the same thing may be happening all over again, with Nebraska joining a growing list of unexpected 2012 Senate battlegrounds – at least for the moment. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/democrats039_best_friend_the_gop_base_280058.htmlhttp://www.salon.com/2012/05/16/dems%E2%80%99_best_friend_the_gop_base/singleton/http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.salon.com/2012/05/16/dems%E2%80%99_best_friend_the_gop_base/singleton/ 100280058 PM Update Steve Kornacki, Salon 138020 Wed, 16 May 2012 10:36:39 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 The defeated Dick Lugar, in an impassioned and striking condemnation of the continuing polarization of American politics, blamed the Tea Party and his Republican primary opponent for demanding he submit to a "purification" exercise. Indeed, while the good Indiana senator admits he knew there would be "political headwinds" while facing re-election, he determined that his long years of service -- and the many policy challenges yet to be overcome -- were reason enough to step back into the arena.For that, we should applaud Lugar. We should also thank him for his...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/05/16/lugars_fatal_case_of_entitlement_syndrome_114155.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/05/16/lugars_fatal_case_of_entitlement_syndrome_114155.htmlhttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/05/16/lugars_fatal_case_of_entitlement_syndrome_114155.html 200280038 PM Update Reed Galen, RealClearPolitics 136821 Wed, 16 May 2012 12:44:12 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/gop_undermines_violence_against_women_act_280056.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-jarrett/republicans-violence-against-women_b_1520613.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-jarrett/republicans-violence-against-women_b_1520613.html 100280056 PM Update Valerie Jarrett, Huff Post Wed, 16 May 2012 14:20:01 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Would you hire President Obama as your financial adviser? Three years ago his administration invested more than $100 billion in taxpayer money to bail out General Motors. On Tuesday, the entire company, not just what the government owns, was worth less than $34 billion. By anyone’s definition, that investment is a glaring failure. Yet over the last few days the Obama campaign, in a $25 million marketing blitz, has flooded the airwaves with ads in battleground states, claiming the bailout should be counted a rousing success. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/obama_and_gm_cook_the_books_280057.htmlhttp://www.nationalreview.com/articles/300075/obama-and-gm-cook-books-john-lott-jr 100280057 PM Update John Lott, National Review 40085 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:21:03 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 It’s official. Just as he was voted in for a second term as Class A New York Fed director in February 2010, Jamie Dimon was reelected chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase yesterday afternoon. He got to keep his $23 million pay package, too. All without breaking a sweat.This means that at each of three of the top five bank-holding companies dominating U.S. derivatives exposure, loans, assets, and deposits, the same man holds the chairman and CEO positions—at Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and JPM Chase.  (Bank of America and Citigroup separated those roles.). If the...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/jamie_dimon039s_unshakable_hubris_280018.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/16/jamie-dimon-s-hubris-unshakable-as-jpmorgan-reelects-him-to-top-two-posts.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/16/jamie-dimon-s-hubris-unshakable-as-jpmorgan-reelects-him-to-top-two-posts.html 100280018 PM Update Nomi Prins, The Daily Beast 137762 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:21:55 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Having not won a World Series since 1908, and having last appeared on that stage in 1945—a war year in which the professional leagues were still populated by has-beens and freaks—the Chicago Cubs must contemplate the only solution that might restore the team to glory: Tear down Wrigley Field.Destroy it. Annihilate it. Collapse it with the sort of charges that put the Sands Hotel out of its misery in Vegas. Implosion or explosion, get rid of it. That pile of quaintness has to go. Not merely the structure, but the ground on which it stands. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/why_wrigley_field_must_be_destroyed_279977.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577404424241146562.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTophttp://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?mid=1&CALL_URL=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577404424241146562.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop 100279977 PM Update Rich Cohen, Wall Street Journal 138021 Wed, 16 May 2012 11:02:01 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Jamie Dimon calls it “a doozy.” And it was. A $2 billion credit derivatives trading bungle that could mushroom to a $4 billion loss. The shining industry agitator against some of the tougher regulations on banks has suddenly become the shining example of why still tougher regulations may be needed.After the economy nearly atomized in a cloud of cupidity, Dimon became known as America’s least-hated banker. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/dancing_with_derivatives_279991.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/dowd-dancing-with-derivatives.htmlhttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/dowd-dancing-with-derivatives.xml 100279991 AM Update Maureen Dowd, New York Times 137774 Wed, 16 May 2012 05:19:30 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 In the early 1950s, when I was a young college graduate and a new employee of the Frost Bank, my great-Uncle Joe Frost, then CEO, told me that the very first goal we had was to return the deposits we received from customers. Our obligation was to take care of the community's liquid assets and manage them safely so others could use them (via loans) to grow.Frost Bank was not big enough to be saved by the government, Uncle Joe told me at the time, so we would always need to maintain strong liquidity, safe assets and adequate capital. I was impressed that making money was not high on his...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/15/the_big_danger_with_big_banks_279989.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577406023330005352.htmlhttp://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?mid=1&CALL_URL=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577406023330005352.html 100279989 AM Update Tom Frost, Wall Street Journal 69031 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:33:12 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Mitt Romney delivered a speech today about the budget deficit. It’s hard to wrap your arms around Romney’s argument, because it’s an amalgamation of free-floating conservative rage and anxiety, completely untethered to any facts, as agreed upon by the relevant experts.In the real world, the following things are true: The budget deficit was projected to top $1 trillion even before President Obama took office, and that was when forecasters were still radically underestimating the depth of the 2008 crash. Obama did propose temporary deficit-increasing measures, an...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/mitt_romney039s_budget_fairy_tale_280012.htmlhttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/romneys-budget-fairy-tale.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/05/romneys-budget-fairy-tale.html 100280012 AM Update Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine 137955 Wed, 16 May 2012 11:02:21 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 An Important change is happening in the presidential race - the belief that Mitt Romney could actually win is spreading. There is a growing confidence among his supporters, and the polls are starting to pick up a shift in his favor.There is another indicator, however, and it is far more reliable. The left-leaning media is getting hysterical, launching over-the-top attacks on Romney and moving to protect President Obama as they see the public turning away from their man. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/hysterical_media_a_sign_obama039s_in_trouble_280002.htmlhttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/helping_bam_save_face_WshvPAOontURnPXJl8wX2Nhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/helping_bam_save_face_WshvPAOontURnPXJl8wX2N 100280002 AM Update Michael Goodwin, NY Post 136906 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:07:42 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 In my neck of artisanal, hormone-free Brooklyn, the latest CBS News/New York Times poll, which shows Mitt Scissorhands leading "The First Gay President" by three points, landed with a nasty thud. "I can't believe he might lose," my wife said when she spotted the offending numbers on the Web. "People are really willing to vote for Mitt Romney? They hate Obama so much they'd vote for Romney?"Â ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/romney_can039t_be_winning_can_he_280014.htmlhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2012/05/romney-leads-obama-in-latest-poll.htmlhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2012/05/romney-leads-obama-in-latest-poll.html 100280014 AM Update John Cassidy, The New Yorker 136979 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:37:34 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 In West Virginia, federal inmate Keith Judd recently swiped 42 percent of Democratic votes from the president, indicating the level of dissatisfaction among the rank and file. And according to a Talk Business–Hendrix College poll conducted on May 10, Obama leads John Wolfe, a virtually unknown candidate, in Arkansas’s 4th congressional district by only 7 points, 45–38.Three weeks earlier, the Talk Business–Hendrix College poll showed the president leading by 65–24 in the slightly less conservative 1st district, but that was before Obama...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/will_obama_lose_the_arkansas_democratic_primary_280011.htmlhttp://www.nationalreview.com/articles/300069/obama-s-appalachian-problem-brian-bolduc 100280011 AM Update Brian Bolduc, NRO 131872 Wed, 16 May 2012 09:55:30 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Mitt Romney isn’t the richest person to ever run for President – Ross Perot had him beat by a factor of ten. And if he’s elected, inflation adjustments might favor sprawling plantation owners like Washington and Jefferson, or Kennedy if family assets counted. But there’s no denying that in terms of total dollars a President Romney would be the wealthiest White House occupant ever, and would be even wealthier had he not set aside a trust, now worth $100 million, for his 5 boys. So just how rich is he?]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/what_mitt_romney_is_really_worth_280028.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2012/05/16/what-mitt-romney-is-really-worth/ 100280028 AM Update Edwin Durgy, Forbes 137983 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:38:32 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 WHAT WILL be the role of the US in the 21st century? This is a question I rashly agreed to address last week at the Carnegie Council in New York. In analysing it, I considered a closely related issue that also exercises Americans: is the future role of the US in its own hands? The answer is: yes but only up to a point. The US can control what it does. But it cannot control what others do.The historic dominance of the US is the fruit of its exceptional assets. It is a continental power bounded by oceans to the east and west, and unthreatening neighbours to the north and south.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/america039s_destiny_still_in_its_own_hands_280020.htmlhttp://www.realclearworld.com/ 100280020 AM Update Martin Wolf, Financial Times 36464 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:39:38 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Over the last four years, almost all of the news about the shaky European Union has been financial, with some attention paid to southern Mediterranean tabloid attacks on Germany and the German media counter-stereotyping of irresponsible siesta-loving sunny Mediterraneans.But as Greece falls apart, and as panic spreads to other debtors, we are starting to see a stage II political crisis, with socialists and extremists, both left and right, revolting over “austerity” — or rather over the mere taste of austerity that has never been really swallowed in whole. But all...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/the_eu_at_the_abyss_279987.htmlhttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/300012/eu-abyss-victor-davis-hanson 100279987 AM Update Victor Davis Hanson, National Review 122209 Wed, 16 May 2012 05:19:59 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Andrew Ng is an associate professor of computer science at Stanford, and he has a rather charming way of explaining how the new interactive online education company that he cofounded, Coursera, hopes to revolutionize higher education by allowing students from all over the world to not only hear his lectures, but to do homework assignments, be graded, receive a certificate for completing the course and use that to get a better job or gain admission to a better school.]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/15/the_college_education_revolution_279995.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/friedman-come-the-revolution.htmlhttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/friedman-come-the-revolution.xml 100279995 AM Update Thomas Friedman, New York Times 124830 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:48:49 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 What is social media – I mean, as opposed to plain old media?That's the unexamined question that will only become more pressing – and less clear – when Facebook shortly completes its IPO, with more and more people in plain old media feeling they ought to be in social media. And with more and more people in social media, with a $100bn or so of new liquid currency in the market, feeling it is the future of media. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/facebook_a_tale_of_two_media_models_280007.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/15/facebook-tale-two-media-modelshttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/15/facebook-tale-two-media-models 100280007 AM Update Michael Wolff, The Guardian 137927 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:49:33 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 One “mainstream” American journalist broke into sobs of joy last week when President Obama publicly announced his twirling pirouette (aka “flip-flop”) in support of gay marriage. In describing the unbinding of his emotions, Andrew Sullivan called Mr. Obama his “father figure.”Another of America’s most highly esteemed “mainstream” journalists, the former ESPN sports reporter who drew out Mr. Obama’s big gay marriage flip-flop, kept her wits about her. No crying from that steely paragon of...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/obama039s_gay_marriage_pirouette_280000.htmlhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/15/hurt-in-a-whirl-over-obamas-gay-marriage-pirouette/http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/15/hurt-in-a-whirl-over-obamas-gay-marriage-pirouette/ 100280000 AM Update Charles Hurt, Washington Times 137068 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:50:31 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 Whether or not he can make it stick in any meaningful way, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) revealed on Tuesday that Republicans still have an appetite for debt limit brinksmanship — even after the last round nearly crippled the economy, and left the GOP’s congressional approval ratings in the sewer.When Republicans went home for recess last August, after placing the country’s AAA credit rating at risk, and narrowly avoiding a self-imposed default on the national debt, they caught such an earful from constituents that they spent several weeks toning down their...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/why_the_gop_is_flirting_with_debt_limit_debacle_20_280001.htmlhttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/john-boehner-debt-limit-house-republicans-obama-elections-budget.php?ref=fpahttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/john-boehner-debt-limit-house-republicans-obama-elections-budget.php?ref=fpa 100280001 AM Update Brian Beutler, TPM 137850 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:51:12 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 The Globe has finally come clean. The cover-up has crumbled. The New England Historic Genealogical Society threw in the towel a few hours later.Now it’s Granny Warren’s turn. She needs to cop a plea to being a fake Indian, because it’s way beyond a reasonable doubt.Unless, of course, she wants to stick with her very believable story about her pappaw having “high cheekbones — like all the Indians do.”]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/time_for_elizabeth_warren_to_come_clean_280021.htmlhttp://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061131871http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061131871 100280021 AM Update Howie Carr, Boston Herald 136544 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:52:03 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 The minute Senator Rob Portman, the Republican from Ohio who helped Mitt Romney win his state’s primary, walked into the room, I knew that he would be the Republican vice presidential candidate.As he conceded proudly, he is a Boring White Guy, which is the phrase of the moment after “a Republican official familiar with the campaign’s thinking” told Politico that’s what Romney is looking for in a running mate. (The actual phrase was “incredibly boring white guy,” but for our purposes the initials BWG will suffice.) What...]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/portman_best_of_the_boring_white_guys_279994.htmlhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/rob-portman-the-best-of-the-boring-white-guys.html 100279994 AM Update Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg 134280 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:52:59 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 A short list of five to 15 leading Americans soon will be notified that the presumptive Republican nominee for president believes they are serious contenders to be his running mate. They will be asked for their agreement to join him on the GOP ticket if chosen, and in the meantime, to submit to a most intrusive and far-reaching vetting by lawyers and advisers working for the campaign. No other candidate, not even the presidential nominee himself, is subjected to the same scrutiny. ]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/what_i_learned_vetting_vp_nominees_280004.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577395783718349916.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTophttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577395783718349916.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop 100280004 AM Update A.B. Culvahouse, Wall St. Journal 137961 Wed, 16 May 2012 08:54:07 -0500 05/16/2012/00/00/00 The last thing President Barack Obama needs is a domestic crisis of gargantuan proportions, one that threatens to swallow up the NATO Chicago summit:Michelle vs. Oprah: The catfight.Does Michelle Obama really think Oprah Winfrey is too heavy to help in America's fight against obesity? Does Oprah really think Michelle doesn't want her "waddling around the White House"?]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/michelle_vs_oprah_with_a_side_of_pie_280006.htmlhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0516-20120516,0,6471944,full.columnhttp://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0516-20120516,0,6471944,full.column 100280006 AM Update John Kass, Chicago Tribune 137962 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/mr_boehner_and_the_debt_279998.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/mr-boehner-and-the-debt.html?ref=opinion http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/opinion/mr-boehner-and-the-debt.xml?ref=opinion 100279998 Editorials Wed, 16 May 2012 08:54:53 -0500 New York Times 137964 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/taxifornia_follies_280026.html http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/taxifornia-follies-151669865.html http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/taxifornia-follies-151669865.html 100280026 Editorials Wed, 16 May 2012 08:55:35 -0500 Las Vegas Review-Journal 137965 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/groping_toward_quotgrexitquot_280024.html http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2012/05/euro-crisis-0 http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2012/05/euro-crisis-0 100280024 Editorials Wed, 16 May 2012 08:56:53 -0500 The Economist 137967 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/05/16/us_to_reap_big_on_jobs_with_colombia_free_trade_pact_280022.html http://news.investors.com/article/611581/201205151857/america-to-reap-big-with-colombia-free-trade-treaty.htm http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://news.investors.com/article/611581/201205151857/america-to-reap-big-with-colombia-free-trade-treaty.htm 100280022 Editorials Wed, 16 May 2012 08:57:35 -0500 IBD 59583