Politics

Deans’ Lecture Series Explores the Politics of 2012

Monday, 27 February 2012 08:32

Written by Administrator

(MAHWAH, NJ) – Ramapo College presents the Deans’ Lecture Series: The Politics of 2012, a series of three lectures set for February 29, March 14 and April 11. The Deans’ Lecture Series is an annual event sponsored by the College Deans.

On February 29, Media and the Elections, featuring Professor Danny Hayes of American University and Sasha Issenberg of Slate.com, will present Media and the Elections, a discussion addressing the relationship between the media and voting behavior, from 5 to 6:15 p.m. in the H-Wing Auditorium (H-129).

On March 14, Harvard Law School Professor and pre-eminent scholar in the field of race and politics, Randall Kennedy will discuss Race, Law, and Politics from 3 to 5 p.m. in Friends Hall (SC-219) in the Robert A. Scott Student Center.

On April 11, Columbia University Professor and leading scholar and author Todd Gitlin will discuss Occupy Wall Street and Class Divides from 5 to 6:15 p.m. in the H-Wing Auditorium (H-129).

“This lecture series is an opportunity for Ramapo College students and members of the public to come together and learn about the issues influencing Politics of 2012 through engaging with political experts and experiencing their insights into the political process,” said Ramapo Provost Beth Barnett. “Ramapo College is known for pushing boundaries and on our campus we are discussing the deeper and more significant influences on politics and voter behaviors.”

The events are free and open to the public.

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Mitt Romney Faces Major Test in Michigan Primary, Once Thought an Easy Win

Tuesday, 14 February 2012 13:19

Written by Administrator

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By Rosalind S. Helderman/Washingtonpost

DETROIT — Once thought an easy win for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the Michigan Republican primary is shaping up to be one of the biggest tests yet for Romney’s presidential hopes — and an unexpected opportunity for the surging campaign of former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

As one of only a handful of states that will vote during a long lull between Romney’s triple loss to Santorum last week and Super Tuesday, the two weeks leading up to Michigan’s Feb. 28 contest are quickly becoming a critical time in the campaign.

A new poll from the American Research Group shows Romney trailing slightly in his home state, a development that is giving Santorum aides new hope of another surprising victory. His advisers believe that a strong showing is now possible in the the state where Romney was born and his father served as governor.

A Michigan upset could be a turning point in the Republican primary, finally setting up the former Pennsylvania senator as the alternative to Romney and turning the remaining contests into head-to-head battles between the two men.

Romney advisers also appear to see Michigan as increasingly key — and believe that a loss in a state he enters with every conceivable advantage would be widely perceived as devastating.

“This might be one of the most important races of the whole process,” said Steve Mitchell, a Republican pollster based in East Lansing. “If Romney loses Michigan, the perception is that it’s just a huge loss for him, one that could really cost him the nomination.”

Both camps have been working to play down expectations. In a Fox Business Network interview last week, Romney said he didn’t expect Michigan “to be a landslide.” And Santorum adviser Hogan Gidley said Tuesday that the campaign is “under no illusions” that a Michigan win is likely.

But with two full weeks left until the votes are cast, the two sides are ramping up their efforts.

Santorum began running television ads in Michigan on Tuesday, Gidley said. An independent group working on Romney’s behalf announced Monday that it had purchased $600,000 in ad time to blanket Michigan airwaves in the next week.

The Romney campaign also announced Tuesday that it will begin running a positive spot in Michigan, in which he talks about restoring the state’s once robust economy. “Michigan has been my home and this is personal,” Romney says in the ad.

Both men have scheduled competing economic addresses to be delivered to the Detroit Economic Club — Santorum on Thursday and Romney on Feb. 24.

And Romney on Tuesday penned an op-ed in the Detroit News to try to explain his opposition to the 2009 auto bailout that Democrats argue has been key to turning around GM and Chrysler. In the op-ed, Romney wrote that President Obama mismanaged the bailout by giving unions too much power.

He also lays an unabashed claim to his Michigan roots and argues having a “Detroiter in the White House” would be good for the car industry.

“It’s going to be a slugfest here. We didn’t think we’d matter, and now we’re at the eye of the storm,” said James Muffet, president of Citizens for Traditional Values, a Michigan-based group, with an e-mail list of 15,000 social conservatives, that has so far not endorsed in the race, in part because the group’s board of directors is split.

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Senator Demands Answers from Freddie Mac’s Regulator

Monday, 06 February 2012 10:48

Written by Propublica

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Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) sent a list of questions about Freddie Mac’s controversial trades to the mortgage giant’s regulator, highlighting how much remains unknown even after a flurry of statements from the regulator.

ProPublica and NPR reported on Monday that Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage-insurance company, placed multibillion-dollar bets that pay off if homeowners stay trapped in expensive mortgages with interest rates well above current rates.

Questions the Senator put to the regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, include why Freddie made the deals in the first place; when the FHFA learned of the trades; what role, if any, the FHFA played in them; and what the FHFA plans to do about the billions of dollars worth of deals Freddie still has on its books.

Freddie began increasing those deals, called inverse floaters, deals dramatically in late 2010, the same time that the company was making it harder for homeowners to get out of such high-interest mortgages.

No evidence has emerged that these decisions were coordinated, and Freddie says that they weren’t.

But the trades highlight a conflict of interest: Freddie’s charter calls for the company to make home loans more accessible, but Freddie also has giant investment portfolios and could lose substantial amounts of money if too many borrowers refinance.

Freddie and its sister company Fannie Mae are regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. But with those companies in government conservatorship, the FHFA is more than a regulator. It also acts essentially as Freddie’s board of directors.

In a letter to Senator Casey dated Tuesday, FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco said that last that Freddie’s trades, known as inverse floaters, had raised “concerns.” He explained that FHFA believed “that the risk associated with these transactions is inconsistent with FHFA’s goals of having Freddie Mac reduce its risk profile and avoid unnecessary complexity that requires specialized risk management practices.”

In a previous statement, Mr. DeMarco said that those concerns forced Freddie to agree not to engage in any new inverse floater deals. Freddie had stopped making the deals a few months earlier, according to the FHFA, but it is unclear why. Freddie retains about $5 billion worth of the floaters on its books.

In his letter today to Mr. DeMarco, Senator Casey wrote:

…I would appreciate you addressing some additional questions:

· What rationale did Freddie Mac have for its increased purchase of inverse floaters in 2010 and 2011?

· What was FHFA’s involvement in the sale? Please detail for me when FHFA was made aware of these purchases, and when they intervened.

· What type of oversight does FHFA practice over Freddie Mac’s investment division? Are potentially risky trade pre-approved by you or other FHFA officials?

· Although Freddie Mac has ceased their purchase of the types of securities in question, they are still in their portfolio. How does FHFA plan to address these securities moving forward?

· What steps will you take to ensure that in the future FHFA is able to intervene before risky trade take place?

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Wisconsin Releases Recall Petition Names Amid Safety Concerns

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 10:44

Written by Administrator

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by CNN Wire Staff

Wisconsin released the names of more than 1 million people who signed a recall petition against Gov. Scott Walker, state officials said, despite safety concerns among petition signers.

"In the interest of full transparency, the board has always planned to release copies of recall petitions to anyone who requested them and to post them online," said Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel.

"However, we recently heard from a number of people who are concerned about their personal safety if their names and addresses are made public."

The state Government Accountability Board announced its plans Tuesday, citing Wisconsin's Public Records Law and a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the release of referendum petitions in Washington State.

The documents are posted on the board's website as PDFs.

"Weighing all of these concerns and public interests, we have concluded that the balancing test of the Public Records Law favors disclosure of the entire recall petition without redaction of information on a recall petition ..." the board's statement said, noting the public and officeholders have the right to view the petitions.

"Few processes in the electoral system or elsewhere are more public than the signing of recall petitions against state elected officials."

Before the decision, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican like Walker, said the signatures should be made public, stating the importance of transparency in the recall process.

"Our law I think is very clear that the maximum amount of information that is available should be made available," he said. "It's general knowledge that if you do something in public, that's going to be public information."

This would be the first time in Wisconsin's history that a governor has faced recall.

In fact, there have only been two successful gubernatorial recalls in United States history, that of California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 and that of North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

Read The Full Article in The CNN

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In Florida, Romney Takes Aim at Resurgent Gingrich

Monday, 23 January 2012 09:32

Written by Administrator

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By Philip Rucker and Amy Gardner/Washingtonpost

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney unleashed his harshest personal attack of the campaign on Newt Gingrich here Sunday, saying “it was proven that he was a failed leader” as the former governor pivoted sharply to regain his footing in the wake of Gingrich’s stunning resurgence over the weekend.

As the dramatically altered presidential campaign moved to Florida, Republican leaders braced for a long and potentially bitter nominating contest. After upending the campaign in South Carolina with a commanding victory, Gingrich moved quickly to capitalize on it. He launched an aggressive fundraising blitz — aides said his “money bomb” raised $1 million in eight hours — and hired new staff to help him compete with Romney as the contest moves to a much more expensive front.

Romney, meanwhile, tried to recast the race as a choice between two kinds of leaders. “We’re not choosing a talk show host,” Romney told an evening rally of more than 500 in Ormond Beach. “We’re choosing the person who should be the leader of the free world.”

“Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader,” Romney said. Then he brought up the ethics investigation into the former House speaker. “At the end of four years, it was proven that he was a failed leader, and he had to resign in disgrace. I don’t know whether you knew that. He actually resigned after four years in disgrace.”

Romney also sought correct his handling of his taxes, saying he would release his most recent returns on Tuesday and acknowledging his previous reluctance to do so was a “mistake.”

Heading to Florida, the two front-runners drew their battle lines for a debate Monday night, when Romney will be under intense pressure to blunt Gingrich’s momentum and do what has long eluded him: capture the enthusiasm of the Republican base.

Gingrich did so last week in South Carolina, but the challenge for the former House speaker is to stir the same passion in the far more populous and politically diverse state of Florida, where expensive media markets require deep pockets and where Romney’s well-financed campaign has been blanketing the airwaves for weeks.

Read The Full Article in The Washington Post

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