President Obama discloses up to $8.3 million in assets, as much as $1 million at JPMorgan Chase
President Obama’s total assets in 2011 were as high as $8.3 million in 2011, according to an annual financial disclosure filing released by the White House Tuesday. Much of the president’s wealth is in the form of US Treasury bills and notes, which total between $1.6 million and $6.25 million. The Obamas also have $500,001 to $1 million in a checking account at JPMorgan Chase, the bank currently under FBI scrutiny for a $2 billion trading loss.
FULL ENTRYMitt Romney casts President Obama as an enemy of free enterprise during speech in Iowa
Mitt Romney cast President Obama as an enemy of capitalism Tuesday in a speech at Drake University, calling the president an “old-school liberal whose first instinct is to see free enterprise as the villain and government as the hero.” They were new words set to a familiar tune. Romney repeated an earlier promise to cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, vowed again to repeal Obama’s signature health care law and said he would reform Medicare and Social Security.
FULL ENTRYThird-party group Americans Elect has ballot position but no candidate to fill it
Americans Elect, the well-funded nonprofit that in 27 states obtained a ballot position for a third-party presidential candidate, was forced to admit Tuesday that it has no candidate. The group’s plan was for voters to pick an independent candidate -- or one with a running mate from the opposite party -- via the Internet. Americans Elect chief executive Kahlil Byrd indicated in a statement that the group may seek to nominate a candidate in some alternative fashion.
FULL ENTRYAd by pro-Obama super PAC makes questionable assertion in attacking Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital
A day after the Obama campaign released an ad attacking Mitt Romney’s business record, a super PAC supporting the president’s reelection unveiled a similar ad Tuesday focusing on the same Missouri steel company and running in four of the same states. But the 30-second spot produced by Priorities USA Action relies, in part, on the dubious assertion that Bain Capital always turned a profit, no matter what happened to the businesses in which it invested.
FULL ENTRYPoll shows Mitt Romney with slight lead over President Obama, as Americans question Obama’s motive in backing gay marriage
Mitt Romney has taken a slim lead over President Obama, with two-thirds of Americans believing Obama endorsed same-sex marriage for political reasons, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published Tuesday. Romney holds a 46-percent-to-43-percent advantage over the president, but the Republican’s 3-point edge is within the survey’s margin of error. The monthly poll showed the two candidates tied in April, after Obama led in February and March.
FULL ENTRYDeval Patrick addresses state and national audiences as he talks health care
Speaking to state and national audiences, Governor Deval Patrick today defended the idea of government ensuring near universal health care, even as he called on lawmakers, health care providers, and the business community to work jointly on controlling its cost. The twin targets reflected his role both as leader of the state and a top surrogate speaker for President Obama. The Democratic incumbent is defending his federal health care overhaul from criticism by Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
FULL ENTRYDeval Patrick tells business leaders: ‘I’m not going anywhere’
His friendship with President Obama has sparked talk of a Cabinet appointment should the Democrats retain the White House this fall. His travel to presidential primary states and book-writing have prompted speculation about his own presidential candidacy in 2016 should Obama lose. And some time away from the office has fueled the opinion he’s lost interest in his current job. An amused-but-exasperated Governor Deval Patrick today has an answer for all the chatter: “I’m not going anywhere.”
FULL ENTRYElizabeth Warren calls for more regulation following $2B JPMorgan Chase loss
Elizabeth Warren, trying to ride her reputation as a Wall Street enforcer to the US Senate, today released a new radio ad calling for enhanced government regulation in the aftermath of JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss. “I stood up to big banks. I took on their army of lobbyists and help win the fight for a consumer protection agency,” the Democrat says in the new spot. “Wall Street isn’t going to change its ways until Washington gets serious.”
FULL ENTRYElizabeth Warren’s Democratic allies call on Scott Brown to release fundraising ties to JP Morgan Chase
Elizabeth Warren’s allies in the Massachusetts Democratic Party today called on US Senator Scott Brown to disclose any fund-raising ties he may have to JPMorgan Chase, the Wall Street bank that is under fire for a $2-billion trading loss. In a conference call with reporters, the party chairman, John Walsh, said Brown must reveal who sits on his “New York City Finance Committee,” an entity that hosted an evening reception for Brown on March 12.
FULL ENTRYObama campaign attacks Romney's record as Bain Capital executive
The Obama campaign Monday unleashed its first ad attacking Mitt Romney’s record as Bain Capital executive. The two-minute ad -- to begin running in the key battleground states of Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Virginia -- is coupled with a six-minute video featuring the story of GST Steel, a 105-year-old steel mill in Kansas City, Missouri that Bain purchased in 1993, saddled with debt, and shuttered eight years later after Romney and his partners reaped handsome profits.
FULL ENTRYNew Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, rumored VP possibility, criticizes Romney’s immigration strategy
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, discussed as a potential Republican vice presidential pick, chided presumptive nominee Mitt Romney when she knocked his immigration strategy in an interview published Monday. “ ‘Self-deport?’ What the heck does that mean?” Martinez said, referring to a plan Romney outlined in January. “The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can’t find work here,” Romney said at the time.
FULL ENTRYRon Paul will stop campaigning, focus on taking libertarian message to Republican National Convention
Ron Paul announced Monday that he will not spend money campaigning in upcoming primary states, focusing instead on building an influential presence at the RNC in August. Paul recently earned sympathetic delegates by blitzing state conventions in Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada with supporters. Many of the delegates are obligated to vote for Romney at the national convention but support Paul’s libertarian principles. Paul said these delegates will “carry a strong message ... that liberty is the way of the future.”
FULL ENTRYElizabeth Warren seeks ouster of top JPMorgan official from New York Fed
Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren today called on JPMorgan Chase chief executive officer Jamie Dimon to resign from New York Federal Reserve Bank board after his company’s $2 billion trading loss. Three top traders at the firm are being replaced today. Warren spoke with CNN and CBS about the latest Wall Street crisis, calling it a symptom of a destructive attitude. She said that banks should get back in the business of old fashioned banking, rather than the complex business transactions.
FULL ENTRYPresident Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage aligns with young voters and women, poll shows
President Obama’s endorsement of legal same-sex marriage is likely to resonate with young voters and women, two blocs where Obama is already strong, a new Gallup poll indicates. Support among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 is at 66 percent -- 19 points higher than in the 35 to 54 age group. The gap between men and women is 14 points, with 56 percent of female voters saying they support legal same-sex marriage.
FULL ENTRYPatrick, Frank say politics not a factor in president’s gay marriage endorsement
Governor Deval Patrick and Representative Barney Frank on Sunday downplayed the politics of President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage last week. The assertions of the Massachusetts Democrats are contested by some observers who believe Obama’s announcement was dictated by political strategy and that it could make a difference in certain states on Election Day. But Romney and other Republicans have minimized the gay marriage debate, perhaps sensing that it ranks lowly on most voters’ priority lists.
FULL ENTRYGovernor Patrick praises President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage: ‘It’s about convictions; it’s not about politics’
Governor Deval Patrick praised President Obama for his “clear and principled position” Sunday, four days after Obama became the first president to endorse same-sex marriage. “It’s about convictions; it’s not about politics,” Patrick said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Patrick also tried to undermine Romney’s number one selling point -- that he would manage the nation’s economic recovery better than the president.
FULL ENTRYMitt Romney’s sons recall their own antics in Mother’s Day video, leave out his pranks
The Romney campaign on Sunday released a Mother’s Day video tribute to the candidate’s wife, Ann. While the four-minute video features all five Romney sons praising their mother’s patience and love, in spite of their boisterousness, it does not include comments from Mitt Romney or any stories about the presumptive Republican nominee’s rambunctious behavior. The campaign is no longer highlighting Mitt Romney’s pranks, after The Washington Post reported Thursday that as a teenager Romney bullied a gay schoolmate.
FULL ENTRYMitt Romney speaks at conservative Liberty University in Virginia
Romney keeps politics at bay as he addresses Liberty University grads in religious terms
Mitt Romney on Saturday reaffirmed his opposition to same sex marriage – triggering a standing ovation – in a commencement address here in which the presumptive Republican nominee spoke in deeply religious terms that were far more personal. It was a significant departure for a candidate who is typically most at ease touring manufacturing facilities, participating in economic roundtables, and talking about data in power point presentations.
FULL ENTRYWarren criticizes JPMorgan Chase on $2b loss
US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren criticized JPMorgan Chase for a $2 billion loss by one of its trading groups and called for strong financial regulation at an appearance Friday. “We live in a world today in which we’re trying to recover from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and yet we learn today that JPMorgan Chase is engaging in the kinds of transactions that have lost $2 billion,” Warren said at the Fenway Community Development Corporation’s annual meeting.
FULL ENTRYAbout Political Intelligence
Glen Johnson is Politics Editor at boston.com and lead blogger for "Political Intelligence." He moved to Massachusetts in the fourth grade, and has covered local, state, and national politics for over 25 years. E-mail him at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen. |


Glen Johnson is Politics Editor at boston.com and lead blogger for "Political Intelligence." He moved to Massachusetts in the fourth grade, and has covered local, state, and national politics for over 25 years. E-mail him at 


