Free Republic

When it comes to investigative reporters, how do you change a bulldog into a lapdog? Easy: change the occupant of the Oval Office from a Republican into a Democrat. Witness Carl Bernstein's pitiful performance on today's Morning Joe. The man who teamed with Bob Woodward to bring down Richard Nixon now credulously claims that he "can't imagine" that President Obama is possibly involved in the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Bernstein instead blames the "hyper-partisanship" in Washington. Yeah, cause politics were so kumbaya in 1972, Carl. View the video here.

The 257-167 roll call Tuesday by which the House passed the agreement that avoided the so-called fiscal cliff of middle-class tax increases and spending cuts and sent the measure to President Barack Obama. Voting yes were 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans. Voting no were 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans. X denotes those not voting. There are 3 vacancies in the 435-member House.

On Tuesday voters in California went the wrong way on three propositions. Voters approved Proposition 30 "temporarily" increasing the state sales tax and income tax on individuals making over $250,000. They voted against Proposition 31 that would allow the governor to cut the budget in fiscal emergencies. They voted against Proposition 32 would prevent unions from making campaign donations via members' dues. Moreover, and worse yet, Democrats picked up two more votes in the state legislature giving them a supermajority, capable of passing any tax hikes they want. Those results are so awful I suggest you prepare for the demise...

Last Friday, GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney disclosed his tax returns and health records. In particular, the release of the tax information was a pleasant surprise –released without pre-announcement or fanfare. Romney gave information that dates back to 1990 which ought to close Harry Reid’s mouth for a time .....–it would be absolutely wonderful if the “right” would get such a disclosed-documentary surprise from President Barack Obama. ...What are Americans on the “left” afraid of learning about Obama? Simple curiosity would demand that Obama’s academic records be released –let alone really wanting to know about the past of the man...

President Obama has come out swinging against his Republican rival, sponsoring television advertisements that ask, “What is Mitt Romney hiding?” The allusion is to such relatively minor matters as Mr. Romney’s prior tax returns, the date he stopped working for Bain Capital and the nonpublic records from his service heading the Salt Lake City Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Obama has defended his demands that Mr. Romney release more information about himself, declaring in August that “the American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United

CNN has been reporting for two hours now that the Secret Service is investigating a group of hackers who claim to have stolen Romney's tax returns from Price Waterhouse Coopers. They are demanding $1 million or say they will publicly release the returns. MODS: I looked but can find nothing here. If this is a duplicate, please delete.

PricewaterhouseCoopers told Whispers Wednesday that it has no evidence an anonymous group hacked its computer systems and stole GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax returns.

Secret Service Investigating Purported Ransom of Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns Someone claims to have stolen years of Mitt Romney’s tax returns from a Tennessee office of the financial firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the Secret Service is investigating what appears to be a ransom scheme. The local Democratic and Republican parties in Williamson County, Tenn., where the PricewaterhouseCoopers office is located, both received packages, each containing a thumb drive and a letter outlining a competitive-bidding ransom scheme that appears designed to pit Republicans and Democrats against each other over the release of Romney’s taxes. The letters stated an intention to publish Romney’s...

President Obama defended the tone of his campaign today, saying his team doesn't "go out of bounds." The president was asked by CBS's Nancy Cordes if he had compunctions about the tenor of the campaign, saying that "your campaign has suggested repeatedly without proof that Mr. Romney might be hiding something in his tax returns, they have suggested that Mr. Romney might be a felon for the way that he handed over power of Bain Capital, and your campaign and the White House have declined to condemn an ad by one of your top supporters that links Mr. Romney to...

Nancy Cordes, CBS: As you know, your opponent recently accused you of waging a campaign filled with anger and hate. You told Entertainment Tonight that anyone who attends your rallies can see that they are not angry or hate-filled affairs. But in recent weeks, your campaign has suggested repeatedly - without proof - that Mr. Romney might be hiding something in his tax returns. They have suggested that Mr. Romney might be a felon for the way that he handed over power of Bain Capital. And your campaign and the White House have declined to condemn an ad by one...

August 18, 2012 Obama Camp Wants Petition Signatures to Get Romney to Release Tax Returns Bridget Johnson The Obama campaign is asking supporters to sign a letter to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney release “just five years of tax returns.”In an email to the BarackObama.com list, campaign manager Jim Messina noted the letter he sent Friday morning to Romney’s campaign manager, vowing to get off Romney’s back about the returns if the documents were produced. The Romney camp brushed off Messina’s move.Now Messina has converted his letter into an online petition of sorts.“According to the one full year of returns...

BOSTON (AP) - Barack Obama's re-election campaign kept up pressure against Republican rival Mitt Romney on two fronts Friday, launching a new ad defending the president's record on Medicare while challenging Romney to release at least five years of tax returns.

The Sunday news shows featured a rare spectacle that at once revealed the decline of civility in Washington and the depth of GOP outrage over Harry Reid’s unproven claim that Mitt Romney didn’t pay income taxes for an entire decade: two of the nation’s top GOP officials flat out called the Senate majority leader a liar. That’s no ordinary criticism in official Washington. There are plenty of other ways that pols use to call out their partisan rivals on their statements. Reid’s GOP counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for one, has already said Reid’s charge is “beneath the dignity” of...

In an effort to rebuff demands that he cite his source for making the claim that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney hasn’t paid taxes in ten years, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) says he is invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. “We all know that Mr. Romney’s request that I name my source is a trap,” Reid complained. “Unauthorized disclosure of a person’s filings with the IRS is a felony. I’m not going to further blacken the name of my extremely credible source just to assuage someone’s out-dated notions of integrity.” Speculation is that Reid’s “extremely credible” unnamed...

Appearing on Wednesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, Washington Post financial columnist Steve Pearlstein accused Mitt Romney of being responsible for Bain Capital outsourcing jobs, even after leaving the company: "...they were doing it because that was the company that Mitt Romney had set up. I'm not saying that's bad. But for him to say, 'Well, not on my watch,' is – is, you know, a little silly." Actually, what's "silly" is Pearlstein apparently not reading his own paper's fact checking of Obama campaign attacks on Romney as an outsourcer. Attacks which the Post's Glenn Kessler gave four Pinocchios to...