Washington Post: Bachmann On Why She Worked For IRS: "First Rule Of War Is 'Know Your Enemy'"

On August 18, 2011, the Washington Post reported:

"This is fun. Michele Bachmann, on the campaign trail today, offered what seems to be a new explanation for her previous work as a lawyer for the Internal Revenue Service, something that has drawn some ire from the right. Her explanation: She worked for the IRS as a kind of secret anti-tax mole whose mission was to get to know the place in order to better undermine it later. As she put it: “The first rule of war is `know your enemy.’” This explanation seems a bit at odds with descriptions of the episode she’s given on previous occasions, when she’s said her anti-tax fervor was the result of her work for the IRS. This version on the trail explains her work for the IRS — which spanned four years, from 1988-1992 — in a way that will be more acceptable to hard-core anti-tax conservatives." BACHMANN: “We change the economy by changing the tax code. How many of you love the IRS? No! It’s time to change it. I went to work in that system because the first rule of war is ‘know your enemy.’ So I went to the inside to learn how they work because I wanted to beat them.”

RELEASE: American Bridge 21st Century Hires Matt Thornton & Ike Blake

WASHINGTON -- American Bridge 21st Century President Rodell Mollineau today announced the hires of Matt Thornton and Ike Blake to serve as senior communications adviser and director of media production, respectively. “I’m thrilled to add two all stars like Matt and Ike to the American Bridge team,” Mollineau said. “With Matt’s communications skills and Ike’s technical and creative abilities, American Bridge will be even better equipped to shape the political debate and hold Republicans accountable.” Thornton, who started this week, most recently served as communications director for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). He previously served as the communications director for former Congressman Zack Space (D-OH), and he has worked on campaigns in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and West Virginia. A Kansas native, he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

WSJ: GOP Candidates: Too Many Americans Pay No Taxes

On August 17, 2011, the Wall Street Journal reported:

"A new orthodoxy has emerged in recent days on taxes: Not enough people are paying them.

[...]

And Democrats are starting to take notice.

“Republicans are falling over themselves to protect millionaires and billionaires, and now it is clear that their presidential front runners are eager to raise revenue by taxing those who are struggling day in and day out to make ends meet,” said Ty Matsdorf of American Bridge 21^st Century, a new Democratic independent expenditures group tracking the GOP candidates."

Rick Perry Accuses Scientists Of Manipulating Climate Data

On August 17, 2011, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called climate change "a scientific theory that has not been proven," and accused scientists of manipulating the data in order to secure funding:

PERRY: "You may have a point there because, I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized. I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data, so that they will have dollars rolling into their, to their projects. I think we're seeing almost weekly or even daily scientists who are coming forward and questioning, the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change. Yes, our climate's changed, it's been changing for ever-ever since the earth was formed, but I do not buy into that uh, a group of scientists, who have in some cases found to be manipulating this information and the cost to the country and to the world of implementing these uh, uh anti-carbon programs is in the billions if not trillions of dollars at the end of the, of the day, and I don't think from my perspective I want America to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven, and from my perspective is more and more being put into question."

Rick Perry Says The Federal Reserve Is "Almost Treasonous"

On August 15, 2011, Texas Gov. Rick Perry bizarrely asserted that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was "almost" committing treason for, well, doing his job:

PERRY: If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous -- or treasonous in my opinion.

Huffington Post: Mitt Romney Mistakes New Hampshire For Iowa

On August 15, 2011, the Huffington Post reported:

Criss-crossing from early primary state to early primary state can get tiring. After awhile, it probably gets hard to tell Nashua from Des Moines.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ran into this problem when campaigning in Manchester on Friday, speaking at a town hall sponsored by the Granite Oath PAC. A tracker for the Democratic independent expenditure group American Bridge 21st Century caught Romney confusing the Granite State with the Hawkeye State.

Transcript:

I had Arnold Schwarzenegger come to my state and try to poach jobs from my state. I thought, "How in the world could he do this to a fellow Republican?" He put billboards up! With him on the billboard. And it said, you know, he was in a T-shirt there and it says "Come to California." So what do you think, I put billboards up in his state. And, uh, it had me in a T-shirt, flexing my muscles. And it said, "Smaller muscles, but much lower taxes. Come to Massachusetts." You guys are supposed to do that here in Iowa. I wouldn’t be able to compete in that case. Zero tax rate is pretty darn good.

Washington Post: When Republicans question Obama’s identity, it’s all part of the game

On August 15, 2011, the Washington Post's Greg Sargent wrote:

NBC’s Carrie Dann reports that Rick Perry has now taken to claiming that the United States should have a President who is “in love with America.” This will not be deemed outrageous or even noteworthy. That comes after Perry’s announcement speech over the weekend in which he repeated this falsehood:

“We don’t need a president who apologizes for America. We need a president who protects and projects those values.”

To my knowledge, the Post’s Glenn Kessler is the only reporter whopointed out that the claim that Obama apologized for America is, well, a falsehood.

Pawlenty Says Goodbye

On August 13, MSNBC's First Read reported:

"And file this away: At the last stop of Pawlenty's campaign before today's Ames Straw poll, the former Minnesota governor yesterday approached someone his campaign rarely openly welcomes -- a tracker from the liberal leaning organization American Bridge. Trackers are accustomed to being approached by campaigns, usually in an attempt to get them to leave. But rarely does the candidate seek out trackers -- and perhaps never has a candidate had a request similar to Pawlenty's: He wanted to take a photo with the tracker, telling him: "In case we never see each other again." So Pawlenty and a stunned tracker -- who had been following the candidate through Iowa since he announced his run on May 23 -- made their way up to the stage and stood next to each other and smiled while a photographer snapped a photo. Asked by NBC News whether it meant his campaign is running out of steam, Pawlenty answered, "Will [the tracker's name] has been following us around, and I wanted to make sure we got a picture before whatever is next for him."

MEMO: Unanswered Questions From The GOP Debate / Rick Perry Joins The Race

Thursday night, the Republican candidates for President took the stage for a debate in Iowa.

Though the proceedings were overshadowed by Rick Perry, who is following in Fred Thompson's footsteps as the GOP's "next big thing," there was a moment in the debate which provided perhaps the most important insight into the current state of the Republican Party. Each of the candidates raised their hand to indicate that they would walk away from any compromise legislation that included revenue, even at a 10:1 ratio in favor of spending cuts. This should not be considered a surprise considering the brinksmanship of Republican candidates who have used extreme rhetoric advocating default or dangerous economic policies to push our economy over the edge.

With that said, here are the questions that we’re still waiting for Republican candidates to answer, after the jump.

MEMO: Some Things To Consider As You Cover Rick Perry

Like his campaign predecessors Fred Thompson and Jon Huntsman, Gov. Rick Perry’s imminent announcement has inspired buzz and high expectations. Dissatisfied Republicans are in a frenzy over the GOP’s “next big thing.” Unfortunately though they fail to look past the glamour of a budding campaign and see who the candidate really is. We know political journalists will not do the same. Just as Fred Thompson failed to live up to the mythology surrounding his candidacy, America will soon discover Rick Perry is not what he seems. When the excitement around Perry inevitably dies down, as it did with Huntsman, an inherently flawed candidate will emerge. After the jump, some basic information to help guide you as you write about Rick Perry’s record in Texas, along with some important questions we hope this new presidential candidate will answer in the very near future.