In an effort to undermine GOP opposition to letting the Bush tax cuts lapse at the end of this year, President Obama today called for the tax cuts to be extended, but only for families with incomes under $250,000.

Republicans have steadfastly argued that, with the economy apparently moribund, raising taxes on any income group by letting the cuts expire is a bad idea, Reuters noted.

The White House’s latest move puts pressure on the GOP to defend its position against charges it is protecting the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. It also provides a new distraction from last week’s extremely disappointing jobs data for June, a topic the administration would like to avoid. Read 

In a rare show of election-year bipartisanship, Barack Obama signed a bill funding transportation projects and keeping student loan interest rates from doubling.

Earlier this year, there was serious concern that both of these important legislative priorities would go unfulfilled. Without action, the student loan rate was set to increase from 3.4% to 6.8% on June 30, and many important infrastructure projects like highway construction and bridge maintenance would go undone. The bill was passed by the House on June 29 by a 373-52 margin, and in the Senate by a 74-19 margin later that day. Obama signed the bill Friday.

Highlighting the bipartisan nature of the bill, members of Congress from both parties, as well as representatives from local and state governments, were on hand to witness Obama signing the bill. In the wake of bruising campaigning for the presidency and seats in Congress, it’s nice to see politicians play nice, if only for a little while. Read 

Mitt Romney built on a momentous May, where he out-raised Barack Obama for the first time this election cycle, with an even better June.  According to reports from a Republican National Committee official, Romney’s campaign topped $100 million for the month of June.

Not only is this the most money Romney’s raised in one month so far, it apparently is the largest amount any GOP candidate has ever raised. The figure comes from the total amount given to Romney’s campaign, the RNC, and a fundraising committee jointly run by Romney and the RNC.

Romney’s campaign said the money came mostly from new donors across the country, especially in states like New York, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio, which all vastly outperformed expectations. Read 

We’ve stated months ago that Mitt Romney should consider a woman for the VP spot, and it looks like his wife might agree with us.

In a interview with CBS This Morning that aired Thursday, Ann Romney said she and Mitt have “been looking at” the possibility of choosing a woman to fill the VP spot.  “And I’d love that option as well,” she continued.

Although Ann Romney has limited involvement in discussions regarding the presidential candidate’s No.2 pick, she told CBS that she’s given the matter a lot of thought. Read 

President Barack Obama’s May announcement that he supports legalizing same-sex marriage earned him a lot of political capital with gay rights groups and criticism from some conservative organizations. Perhaps more importantly, it helped him bolster his campaign coffers.

According to a report by NPR, in the three days following his endorsement of gay marriage, his campaign donations almost tripled. He pulled in $9 million over those three days, compared to $3.4 million for the prior three days.

This figure doesn’t even factor in donations of $200 or less, which are not required to be documented in the Federal Election Commission reports the figures were pulled from. Read 

In North Carolina politics, there are no do-overs. That’s what one unfortunate state representative discovered Monday, when a voting mistake decided the future of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state.

State Rep. Becky Carney, D-Charlotte, meant to vote against a bill legalizing fracking in North Carolina. Instead, she pressed a button indicating she supported the bill, and was unable to change her vote once she realized her error. Her vote allowed the measure to pass with enough votes to override a veto by North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue.

Under North Carolina House rules, a vote cannot be changed if it would alter the overall voting outcome, and the House Speaker, Republican Thom Tillis, refused to waive the rules so that she could change her vote, despite her protests. Read