AFL-CIO Prez: Obama in Bed With Tea Party

Establishment, Tea Party, libertarians all negative in different ways

(NEWSER) - With the Republican Party so divided, it's no surprise that its response to President Obama's State of the Union address would also be divided, notes the Washington Post . In addition to an official response by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and a Tea Party response by Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and the other GOP candidates also weighed in:

• Cain's rebuttal focused on familiar Tea Party complaints—"Obamacare," "class warfare," and the "liberal media." Cain also addressed old sexual harassment allegations against him, noting that the "false attacks" derailed his campaign, but that accusations against Newt Gingrich failed because "the American people are waking up to dirty, gutter politics,” he said. “The American voters are saying, ‘We ain’t stupid.’"

Now he says he didn't really mean it, and just wanted to get 'people to think'

(NEWSER) - Glenn Beck is back in the news, this time over comments that are rankling plenty of conservatives. On Friday, Beck made a bold statement: That Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama are basically the same progressive guy, so if you're a member of the Tea Party and support Gingrich, there's only one explanation: You must be racist. "If you’ve got a big government progressive [in Gingrich] or a big government progressive in Obama, one in Newt Gingrich, one in Obama, ask yourself this, Tea Party: Is it about Obama’s race? Because that’s what it appears to be to me," he told Fox News. More»

Support to House Democrats drops nearly 50% in first quarter

(NEWSER) - Angry at lack of support by the Democratic Party in the face of Republican attacks, unions have sharply cut back their financial support, reports the Washington Post . Union political action committee spending for House Democrats dropped nearly in half for the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period in 2009—to $3.1 million from $5.8 million. “It doesn’t matter if candidates and parties are controlling the wrecking ball or simply standing aside,” said the president of the AFL-CIO Friday. “The outcome is the same either way." More»

President expresses support for public option in speech to AFL-CIO

(NEWSER) - President Obama honored the achievements of organized labor today, pointing out that iniatives like the minimum wage and paid vacation “bear the union label,” the AP reports. Speaking at an AFL-CIO meeting in Cincinnati, Obama asked for union support in his push to reform the health care system, and he pledged to make progress on a bill that would make it easier for workers to join unions. More»

But columnists think that's a little too simplistic

(NEWSER) - President Obama continued his lousy run last night in what Politico calls his "region of doom," a swath it defines as the "Upper South" that includes Appalachia. Obama's weak performances in Arkansas and Kentucky , of course, follow his close race against a felon in West Virginia. What gives? Two takes: More»