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A Tale of Two Shiftys' There is a bigger controversy about to break wide-open that's potentially far more significant than Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell approving Nikki Haley's non-subtle attack on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. That bigger controversy is the Spanish version of the GOP State of the Union rebuttal containing an "amnesty pledge". As this is written, Governor Nikki Haley is trying to get out ahead of the building expose'. Haley just gave a DC press conference claiming she does not support "amnesty"; however, against her earlier admission of Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell approving the script - the...

Harvard professor and legal eagle Alan Dershowitz talks about political correctness and 'safe spaces' on college campuses. Dershowitz tells college students to "stay home" if they want a safe space. ... they don't want to hear opposing points of view. They know everything they need to know about race, about gender, about rape, about you name it, climate control. They don't want to hear opposing points of view... ... We have to distinguish between safe spaces for ideas, where there should be none, and physically safe places where you're not intimidated or you're not threatened. And christian speakers, pro-Israel speakers,...

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are most likely the six GOP presidential candidates that will appear on the main debate stage at the Fox Business GOP primary debate in South Carolina this Thursday, according to Politico. After the recent NBC News Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Politico calculated the candidates not likely to make the debate stage this time around are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Florina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The super PAC supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is going after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The pro-Bush Right to Rise super PAC is sending out mailers questioning Christie's record as governor in its first direct attack at Christie in Iowa. -snip- Both candidates lag far behind the pack in Iowa. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll of the Iowa Republican primary found Bush at 4 percent and Christie at 3, far behind Sen. Ted Cruz at 28 percent leading the field, followed by Donald Trump at 24 percent.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97%, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%, Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are most likely the six GOP presidential candidates that will appear on the main debate stage at the Fox Business GOP primary debate in South Carolina this Thursday, according to Politico. After the recent NBC News Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Politico calculated the candidates not likely to make the debate stage this time around are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) 93%, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Florina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen....

The ethanol mandate, known formally as the Renewable Fuel Standard or RFS, is an object lesson in misguided government policy surviving long after its original rationales have been destroyed. The national security rationale was that oil was scarce, but now we're the world's leading oil producer and have begun exporting crude. The environmental rationale was that ethanol would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but since a landmark study was published in Nature in 2008 we've known: "there's little doubt that ethanol is making global warming worse." Even the jobs rationale fails. Per the Congressional Budget Office: "roughly the same amount of...

FoxNews released a new poll on Friday. As I've said many times, at this stage of the game it is foolish to focus on specific numbers. Divining what the voting cohort of November 2016 will look like is virtually impossible. But what the polls, taken as a group, can show us are trends. First we'll look at the topline numbers and then try to scratch around in the seething, effervescing puddle of intergers and see what we can see. National Topline. Trump 35, Cruz 20, Rubio 13, Carson 10, Christie 2, Bush 4, Paul 2, Fiorina 3, Kasich 2, Huckabee...

Saudi Arabia is mulling the sale of shares in Aramco, believed to be the world's most valuable company, as part of plans to repair its finances and open up its economy. The announcement was made by the country's deputy crown prince as Saudi's secretive, state-owned oil firm grapples with the effects of oil prices nearing 12-year lows . Mohammed bin Salman told The Economist: "That is something that is being reviewed, and we believe a decision will be made over the next few months." The Saudi economy has taken a battering from the oil price decline and the finance ministry...

Donald Trump has not faded. Worse for the Republican establishment, Ted Cruz is rising. The Field poll in California has Cruz now in the lead. With polling in Iowa and California showing Cruz has skyrocketed in a few months, it is only a matter of time before national polls reflect the trend. Meanwhile, among the establishment's favorite candidates, there is no consensus. Chris Christie is gaining so much in New Hampshire that the Rubio super PAC has begun attack ads against Christie. Christie, meanwhile, is beating up Jeb Bush and Rubio. Bush is attacking Rubio. In South Carolina, the Jeb...

Just four weeks from today, Iowans will cast the first official votes of the 2016 presidential election. And what was once a very crowded GOP field, with 17 people officially declaring their candidacies, is really down to only three potential scenarios. Let's assess the impact of each on the race going forward should it become a reality. Scenario #1-Ted Cruz Wins Convincingly And by convincingly, I mean with 35% or more, which only two Republicans have ever scored in Iowa's history (George W. Bush 2000 and Bob Dole 1988). With the combined strengths of his existing structure and the vocal...

Let's you and him fight! That was John Heilemann on today's With All Due Respect, trying to lure Chris Christie into a fight with Republican voters. Heilemann's first foray was to invite Christie to "name an issue where you are out of step with the conservative base of the Republican party." When Christie wouldn't bite, Heilemann tried again, asking Christie to name "an issue where you feel like the conservative base is wrong." Christie called out Heilemann's ploy, saying "you're kind of looking for some Sistah Souljah moment" which Christie described as "manufactured and political." Even those who are not...

resident Obama will meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch today to discuss his options surrounding the implementation of new gun control measures through executive action. Because Obama is choosing to go around Congress on the issue, Republicans are vowing to immediately reverse whatever action he takes should they win back the White House in November. Rubio:"All these executive orders he's gonna come out with tomorrow that are going to undermine our Second Amendment rights -- on my first day in office, they're gone," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Sunday morning.  Christie: New Jersey...

As President Obama prepares to announce new executive actions on gun control Monday, a newly released Gallup Poll shows that "guns/gun control" ranked near the bottom of Americans' most pressing concerns in 2015. In fact, guns/gun control ranked 19th out of 23 top problems facing the country last year.

The South will play a crucial role in the 2016 presidential contest, both in the nominating process and in the General Election. For the Republicans, Dixie's plethora of primaries come quickly after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary and will probably determine the nominee. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton's strong support among African Americans in the Southern primaries should cement her already commanding lead for her party's nomination. And in the General Election, at least three Southern states are likely to be competitive and may well determine the outcome of the race for the White House. Until...

Now we're getting somewhere. When our governor went after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz last week, the dispute starkly defined the battle lines in this year's Republican presidential primary. Someone has to represent the conservatives in the party. And someone has to represent the moderate/establishment voters. When it comes to the conservatives, Cruz and Donald Trump seem to have their votes locked up. But we've got a real race for spot of the establishment candidate. There are at least four candidates in contention. None of them wants to mess with Trump. But if Christie can establish himself as the establishment's hit...

New York real-estate developer Donald Trump has dominated the Republican nomination campaign for months -- but his strongest support doesn't come from any of the organized blocs in the Republican party. He polls well among conservative and evangelical voters, to be sure, running competitively against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with these voters. He draws considerable support, also, from self-identified "liberal"or "moderate" Republicans. In fact, in the latest Quinnipiac poll, his biggest polling margin against his GOP rivals was among moderate and liberal Republicans. But his strongest support comes from Republicans who used to be Democrats, according to new polling analysis...

New York is reaping the whirlwind of sky-high cigarette taxes with a wave of smuggling decimating the state’s revenue. New York raised taxes on cigarettes to $4.35 in 2010 from $2.75. In total, cigarette taxes have increased by 190 percent since 2006. The sharp rise has resulted in a raft of unintended consequences which are dealing a significant blow to the state’s finances. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reports New York’s revenue from cigarette taxes has plunged by $400 million over the past five years.

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump would "get crushed" by Hillary Clinton, fellow Republican Jeb Bush said Sunday. "Donald Trump, I don't believe, is going to be the party's nominee," Bush told "Fox News Sunday." "And if he is, he's going to get crushed by Hillary Clinton. I wanted to point that out."

News articles concerning the most influential political donors in America typically list the same names: The Koch brothers, George Soros, Sheldon Adelson and, lately, Tom Steyer. But as we reach the end of 2015, none of these billionaires has spent big in the 2016 contest, at least not at an individual candidate level. In their absence, a number of lesser known donors are shaping up to be major players in 2016. Here are five to watch: 1. The DeVos Family We're cheating by including a whole family in our list, but there is no way of separating out this high-spending...

After the British victory at the Battle of the Second El Alamein in November of 1942, Winston Churchill spoke to the British people. Churchill eloquently stated, “Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Perhaps, the same can be said of the opening salvos of the 2016 Presidential Election. We have watched numerous debates on both sides, filled with candidates grandiose and not very grandiose. Gradually, the field is being thinned and on February 1, 2016, the games truly begin at the Iowa Caucuses....