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Mormonism and American Politics

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

WNYC

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

The LDS membership, notably in Utah, is the most faithful to the Republican party than any other group, even more than people who identify as evangelicals.

—Richard N. Ostling, former religion writer for the Associated Press and Time Magazine and co-author of Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [10]

How This Weekend Changed the Republican Race

Monday, August 15, 2011

By Stephen Reader

Connecting [Michele Bachmann's] ideas very specifically with the jobs crisis hasn't been her strong suit so far; that's something she'll have to demonstrate in the very near future, or she's going to be seen as a less viable candidate, particularly as someone else with populist credentials enters the Republican presidential fray.

—Reihan Salam, columnist at The Daily and blogger for National Review Online's The Agenda, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [23]

Anna and the Independent Voter: Hard to Organize, Harder to Keep

Thursday, August 11, 2011

By Anna Sale : Reporter, WNYC News

President Obama is losing support among independents, and there’s a mad dash among political organizers to grab them as they peel off. But their approach differs on how they diagnose who independent voters are and what they care about. 

And their success will depend on their ability to navigate the political graveyard that’s littered with efforts to change the system during hotly contested, highly partisan political campaigns.

Comments [12]

Iowa Turning Point

Thursday, August 11, 2011

By Sarah Kate Kramer

These candidates are more and more going to start attacking each other and focusing their fire on taking out their opponents.

—Congressional correspondent for Bloomberg News Lisa Lerer  on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [2]

Anna and the Independent Voter: Colorado Lessons

Thursday, August 04, 2011

By Anna Sale : Reporter, WNYC News

All through August, Anna Sale is on a search for the independent voter. These are the prize voters who could make up the margin in the 2012 contest, but their definition is elusive and their politics mixed. First stop, Colorado.

Comments [10]

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman - Eight Months In

Thursday, August 04, 2011

This is a matter of restoring public confidence. People do not believe that there's one set of rules for everyone on Wall Street anymore, we have to restore that confidence for the markets to get going. And as you can see the housing markets are still paralyzed by the overhang from this disaster.

—Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, on The Brian Lehrer Show

Comments [6]

David Weprin for NY-9

Thursday, August 04, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

Where I come from, sixty-forty is a pretty significant victory, so I’d be very happy to get sixty percent.

—Democratic candidate David Weprin for CD-9, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [47]

After the Deluge: New York's Congressmen Explain Why Yes, Why No on the Debt Ceiling Vote

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

By Sarah Kate Kramer

They threatened to destroy the economy and that was a threat. This was not normal negotiations, this was hostage taking and giving into the hostage takers lest they murder the hostages, the hostage being the economy.

—US Representative Jerold Nadler, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [91]

Anyone Want A Sugar-Coated Satan Sandwich?

Monday, August 01, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

You’re going to see a lot of sound and fury from Tea Party groups and Republicans who have an edge in opposing the deal… The guys who want an advantage want to look more ideological, but most people in the party are going to go for his, because it’s the best possible deal they could have gotten.

—David Weigel, who covers politics and policy for Slate magazine, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [63]

Did it Work? The Stimulus

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

By Sarah Kate Kramer

But again that's kind of a defensive thing, saying it's not as bad as it could have been, and yet we still have 9.1 percent unemployment and the misery index at a high not seen since 1983, so all of this stuff is not quite comforting.

 —Roben Farzad, senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek

Comments [16]

Bloomberg's Anti-Poverty Record: Right or Wrong?

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I think what the mayor is doing is giving a free market analysis, that's to say the problem is not with institutions, with the local economy, the problem is with the individual family, and if you can just incentivize the family, whether it's a high school kid or a mother and father, then that will solve the problem.

 —Glenn Pasanen, public finance columnist for Gotham Gazette

Comments [4]

Juan Williams

Juan Williams: Return Engagement

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

Debate now, in this country, is stultified, and the best example would be the budget debate going on up in Washington, on Capitol Hill. These people are locked in by extremists positions on both sides, more so to me on the Republican side.

— Juan Williams, Fox News political analyst, former senior correspondent for National Public Radio and author of Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [77]

Stephen Sweeney on NJ Budget Battles

Monday, July 25, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

When people started looking at these cuts, they were getting angry like I was...People see this as mean-spirited, cruel, honestly it’s heartless. Look, if you want to fight with me, fight with me. But don’t take innocent hostages.

— New Jersey Senate president Stephen Sweeney, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [4]

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott

DOE Chancellor Walcott On Closing Schools

Friday, July 22, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

People are constantly trying to make this a charter versus non-charter debate. I’m not going to get sucked into that. It’s about quality options.

— New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [11]

How To Negotiate: From Debt Ceilings to State Unions

Friday, July 22, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

The question is often trying to figure out what kind of situation you’re in, because even when you’re in a long-term relationship, you’re still trying to decide who gets how much of the pie.

— Alex Colvin, associate professor of Labor Relations and Conflict Resolution at Cornell University, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [4]

Debt Ceiling Update - Is the Gang of Six Plan a Tax Increase or a Tax Decrease?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

By Sarah Kate Kramer

The reality is if Republicans by and large consider this to be a tax increase, it can't pass. Politically, they can't vote for it. And the people who say hey, it's not a tax increase, it's really a tax cut, there are all these wonderful things like lower rates, a simpler tax code, etc, then if they win that argument you can conceivably see a path forward for this.

—Roll Call staff writer Steven Dennis on The Brian Lehrer Show

Comments [27]

J Street and the New Zionism

Thursday, July 21, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

To favor a Palestinian state and the creation of it on those lines is a fundamentally pro-Israel position, because Israel isn’t going to make it as a Jewish home and as a democracy if we don’t give up part of the land.

— Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street and JStreetPAC and the author of A New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [30]

housing, house, foreclosure, foreclosing

Housing Numbers and the Debt Ceiling

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

[P]eople are getting over this American dream of homeownership. They realize it can turn into much more of an American nightmare—that a house, in reality, is much more of a liability than an asset, and people prefer to rent than to own.

— Felix Salmon, finance blogger for Reuters, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [10]

US President Barack Obama signs the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act alongside members of Congress, the administration and US Vice President Joe Biden

Did It Work? Dodd-Frank

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

I don’t want to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, but... these firms are even too-bigGER-to-fail now.

— Roben Farzad, senior writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [4]

Around the World with Hillary Clinton

Monday, July 18, 2011

By Alec Hamilton : Assistant Producer, WNYC News

Do I think that so far she’s been one of the great Secretaries of State in American history? No I don’t think so. But do I think that she’s been a better-than-average Secretary of State? Absolutely.

— Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs and author of How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle, on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Comments [3]

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