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LiveBlog for Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the change in President Obama’s immigration policy, and about Ron Barber’s win in Gabby Giffords’ House seat

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about immigration, Romney’s bus tour, and Anne Romney’s dressage horse

Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Fathers’ Day op-ed that Jeff’s dad wrote for the NY Times

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the guessing and waiting game that is the Supreme Court’s health care ruling

• Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney went on the offensive Monday on immigration, charging that President Obama broke a campaign promise by neglecting it for most of his presidency.

Mitt Romney made a bold prediction in Wisconsin to open the fourth day of his swing state bus tour: he would steal the Badger State from the Democratic column this November.

Voter advocacy groups plan to file a lawsuit as early as today challenging Florida’s effort to clean the voter rolls of non-citizens. The coalition said their suit is more expansive than the Department of Justice suit and could impact other states’ potential efforts to clear voting lists.

LiveBlog for Monday, June 18, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest with Mitt Romney, and about President Obama’s historic immigration policy change

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• The Obama administration announced that it would no longer seek the deportation of most young illegal immigrants, and would instead allow them to apply for work permits, a significant policy shift with potentially major electoral implications.

Mitt Romney would pursue some type of comprehensive, long-term reform to America’s immigration system, the former Massachusetts governor and his supporters said on Sunday.

• Rodney King, the African-American motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers became the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation’s history, was found at the bottom of his swimming pool early Sunday and later pronounced dead. He was 47.

Greece appeared to have avoided crashing out of the euro currency zone and destroying the world’s economy early Monday after political parties in favor of an international bailout deal won a slim election majority – but the region’s debt crisis showed no sign of abating.

LiveBlog for Friday, June 15, 2012

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the Minneapolis Bureau in hours 1 and 3 for two hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

Mayor Ralph Becker (D-Salt Lake City) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT from the US Conference of Mayors to talk about the need for bipartisanship in job creation legislation

• Country music superstar Chely Wright calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Los Angeles showing of her documentary, “Wish Me Away”

• In the key battleground state of Ohio, President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney made competing remarks just minutes apart on the number issue of the campaign: The economy.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama made a rare joint fundraising appearance when they visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick last night. The intimate dinner banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each.

• More than three years after Mr. Obama took office, 68 percent of Americans still say former President Bush deserves a great deal or a moderate amount of blame for the struggling economy, according to Gallup. Just 52 percent say the same about Mr. Obama.

• Egypt’s highest court ruled yesterday that the country’s entire parliament was illegally elected and ordered the body to dissolve after an “unconstitutional” vote.

LiveBlog for Thursday, June 14, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the economy, jobs, and the 2012 election

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 9:45am ET / 6:45am PT to talk about Romney’s economic message vs. President Obama’s economic message

• Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Coffee With Carlos

President Obama and Mitt Romney both head to Ohio today to deliver dueling remarks about the economy — each candidate attempting to sell his fiscal vision to voters as America’s most promising path toward renewed prosperity.

• Mitt Romney gave a “pre-buttal” to a speech Obama plans in Cleveland today, saying he expected him to speak “eloquently,” but that “words are cheap” and the president should be denied a second term based on his track record on the economy.

Even before JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was able to say one word of his much anticipated testimony to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, a Code Pink activist in a brown suit called him a “crook” and a “predator” who “needs to go to jail.”

LiveBlog for Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Jacki Schechner of Current TV’s news center calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to tell us why we should be skeptical about the insurance companies’ recent PR efforts

Gov. Jesse Ventura calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new book, “DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs In Government”

• Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ hand-picked Democratic candidate Ron Barber won a special election Tuesday in southern Arizona to finish her term, defeating a Republican who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010.

The Department of Justice is making good on its stated plan to sue Florida over Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s controversial sweep of the state’s voting rolls, filing a complaint Tuesday alleging that the efforts are in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called on Attorney General Eric Holder to step down at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Holder was there to answer questions about the Obama administration’s response to a report in the New York Times about U.S. efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

• Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary told jurors in Jerry Sandusky’s sex abuse trial Tuesday that he saw his ex-colleague with a prepubescent boy in an on-campus shower and that he that he heard “skin-on-skin smacking sound.”

LiveBlog for Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what Dems are doing to improve jobs and the economy

• Former and Future Rep. Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Romney’s “We don’t need teachers” gaffe on the campaign trail

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the latest from Scott Walker’s Wisconsin

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her heroic service in government, and about improving the economy for Americans

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Florida to stop its push to remove what it says are ineligible voters from their rolls. It comes the same day that Florida announced it was suing a different federal agency over the purge.

• The White House said late Monday that Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who was cited in a felony hit-and-run case in southern California over the weekend, will take a medical leave as he undergoes tests, evaluations.

• Democrats are hoping that late campaign appearances by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will help push her hand-picked successor to victory in a special congressional election in Arizona today.

LiveBlog for Monday, June 11, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Romney’s assertion that we have enough teachers, cops, and firefighters

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Mitt Romney condemned President Obama’s assessment of the private sector’s health as “fine” on Friday as a misreading of historic proportions. Romney seized on the comments, accusing Obama of being “out of touch.”

• Mitt Romney said in a speech in Iowa that Obama did not get the “message from Wisconsin.” Romney said that Americans “do not want more teachers, firemen, and policemen” calling them “more big government”.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson is being investigated in a felony hit-and-run case after allegedly crashing a Lexus into two vehicles in California on June 9, Los Angeles County police have confirmed.

• The House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. The dispute stems from Holder failing to turn over documents subpoenaed in the Fast and Furious “gunwalking” investigation.

The bittersweet love story “Once” captured eight Tony Awards on Sunday, including best musical direction, best lead actor in a musical and the top musical prize itself.

LiveBlog for Friday, June 8, 2012

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

Lucas Grindley, editor of The Advocate magazine, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the growing list of Cabinet Secretaries that are supporting marriage equality

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about jobs, the economy, and how to kickstart both

• Comedian Michael McDonald calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the news of the day and his upcoming gig at the Improv in Brea, CA

Bill Clinton said Thursday that he is “very sorry” for breaking with the Obama administration and suggesting that the Bush-era tax cuts for high earners should be extended into next year, telling CNN he did not fully understand the situation at hand.

The Obama campaign raised less money than presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney during the month of May, and the Obama campaign is using that fact to motivate voters to donate

• The Obama campaign warned Thursday that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will have full access to his Swiss bank accounts, his money in the Cayman Islands, and his Bain Capital income unless he puts his investments in a federally-recognized blind trust.

LiveBlog for Thursday, June 7, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Mark Kennedy Shriver, Senior VP of US Programs at Save The Children, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new book, “A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver”

The Rude Pundit calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the lack of a recall in Wisconsin and about the race for the White House

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the economy, jobs, and student loans

President Obama basked in the support of his gay and lesbian backers Wednesday night in Los Angeles, revving up an enthusiastic crowd with a pledge to block any attempt to roll back rights that gay Americans have gained under his administration.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Scott Walker’s solid victory in Tuesday’s Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election a vote in favor of conservative principles that will “echo throughout the country.”

• Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul conceded on Wednesday that he will not obtain enough delegates to win the Republican nomination, but said his success at obtaining delegates “shatters the predictions.”

LiveBlog for Wednesday, June 6, 2012

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

Kris Perry & Sandy Stier, plaintiffs in “Perry v. Brown”, call in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about their reaction to the 9th Circuit Court’s refusal to re-hear the Prop. 8 case

Marilu Henner, actress and author of “Total Memory Makeover”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about unlocking your memory potential

Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady and author of “Don’t Forget: God Bless Our Troops”, calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about helping our service members

• David Bender, author and political strategist, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the ramifications of yesterday’s recall loss in Wisconsin

Republican Gov. Scott Walker has survived the Wisconsin recall election, beating back a labor-backed effort to unseat him and again handing defeat to his Democratic challenger, 58-year-old Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

• The prospect of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage within the next year increased yesterday when a federal appeals court, over an indignant dissent by conservative judges, reaffirmed its ruling that struck down California’s Prop. 8.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, June 5, 2012

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours

Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the recall vote today against Gov Scott Walker

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to preview today’s historic recall vote in Wisconsin

David Shuster, correspondent for Current TV, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us what he’s found with his on-the-ground reporting in Wisconsin

• Public polling, internal polling and campaign strategists all tell the same story: GOP Gov. Scott Walker is clinging to a tiny lead over his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, heading into today’s recall vote in Wisconsin. Both parties are now focused on getting out the vote today.

• President Obama on Monday courted women voters as he urged the Senate to approve a bill that aims to narrow the gender gap for the wages of American workers.

• George Zimmerman’s lawyers have vowed to file a motion asking a Florida judge for a new bond hearing for their client Monday, a day after the murder suspect returned to jail on a judge’s order.

LiveBlog for Monday, June 4, 2012

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Ari Berman, writer for “The Nation” and author of “Herding Donkeys”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Florida’s purging of voters

• George Zimmerman arrived at the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Fla., early yesterday afternoon to turn himself in after a judge revoked his bail for allegedly hiding cash he’d amassed in donated legal funds for his trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

• Mitt Romney’s favorable ratings are on the rise, but a new CNN poll indicates that President Barack Obama remains more popular than his Republican challenger. While rising 14 points since February, Romney still trails the president, who currently has a 56% favorable rating.

Mitt Romney declared May’s disappointing jobs report a “harsh indictment” of President Obama’s stewardship of the economy, accusing the president of being overly focused on “legislative achievements” instead of putting Americans back to work.

• Vice President Joe Biden’s office has announced that his daughter Ashley has married a Pennsylvania doctor at a ceremony in Delaware. She is a social worker for the state of Delaware and he is a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia.

LiveBlog for Friday, June 1, 2012

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

Anna Chlumsky from the new HBO comedy “Veep” calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to tell us about her role in the Julia Louis Dreyfuss comedy

Ted Boutrous Jr., top lawyer for the same-sex couples who challenged Prop. 8 in California, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about yesterday’s ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional

• After nine days of deliberation, a jury on Thursday found John Edwards not guilty on one of six charges of campaign finance corruption. A mistrial has been declared on the other five counts.

• In a tightly-guarded surprise campaign stop, Mitt Romney visited failed energy company Solyndra Thursday and invoked the building as a symbol of what he called President Obama’s misuse of taxpayer dollars.

• A Boston news conference by Democrats yesterday opened a new front in the Obama campaign strategy by taking on Romney’s gubernatorial experience after previously targeting the multimillionaire businessman’s background as head of a private equity company.

• Former first lady Nancy Reagan served lemonade and cookies to Mitt Romney and his wife and offered him something extra — her endorsement.

LiveBlog for Thursday, May 31, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about health care, the economy, and Mitt Romney securing the GOP nomination

Robin Abcarian, National Reporter for The Los Angeles Times, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Right’s demands for President Obama to release his college transcripts

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about creating jobs and improving the economy

• President Obama and Mitt Romney briefly set aside their differences yesterday as Obama called and congratulated Romney on officially winning the delegates necessary to become the president’s Republican rival.

Fox News is under fire for a campaign ad-style four-minute video highly critical of President Obama, which ran twice on the cable channel’s morning program “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.

• At a ceremony this afternoon in the East Room, President and Mrs. Obama unveil the portrait of 43rd President George W. Bush, which will become part of the permanent White House collection. A portrait of former First Lady Laura Bush will also be unveiled.

LiveBlog for Wednesday, May 30, 2012

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Political Strategist David Bender calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Mitt Romney clinching the GOP nomination, and about the Birther issue

• With 91 percent of the votes counted, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney sailed to victory in yesterday’s Texas GOP primary, earning 69 percent of the vote and surpassing the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Texas Rep. Ron Paul earned 11 percent.

Donald Trump spent the day yesterday standing by his assertion that there is no actual proof that President Obama was born in the United States. Mitt Romney did not outright condone Trump’s suggestion, telling reporters that he does not agree with everything his supporters say and vice versa.

• Tea party candidate Ted Cruz achieved his goal Tuesday and forced GOP establishment favorite Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst into a runoff in the Texas U.S. Senate race.

Facebook’s stock sank to a new low at $28.65 Tuesday before closing at $28.84, down $3.07, or 9.6 percent. That’s down roughly 24 percent since the social networking service’s initial public offering earlier this month.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about S.E. Cupp, the word “conservative”, and Romney making the rich richer

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Memorial Day and about Romney and his economics

Joel Stein, columnist for Time Magazine, calls in at 10:45am ET / 7:45am PT to talk about his new book, “Man Made: A Stupid Quest For Masculinity”

President Obama on Monday paid tribute to missing and fallen U.S. forces, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

• At the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in San Diego on Memorial Day yesterday, Mitt Romney took a political tone. He expressed concern over the world’s security while singling out countries like Iran and China that he contends pose a threat.

Mitt Romney is likely to formally seal the Republican presidential nomination today with a big victory in Texas that may give him a burst of momentum in his November 6 showdown with President Barack Obama.

LiveBlog for Friday, May 25, 2012

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the economy, the VA backlog, and Afghanistan

• Robert Riley, former Secretary of Education under Bill Clinton, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to contrast Romney’s record on education vs. President Obama’s record

Becky Pringle, Secretary/Treasurer for the National Education Association, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to react to Mitt Romney’s education plan

• At a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday evening, President Obama attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital experience, but sought to make clear that his criticisms are not an attack on the private equity industry.

• Mitt Romney visited a charter school in a struggling Philadelphia neighborhood on Thursday and ran into some pushback from educators and protesters who took issue with his ideas on class size and the role of families in successful school systems.

President Obama holds a narrow advantage over presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in three of the most pivotal presidential battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia — according to new NBC-Marist polls.

LiveBlog for Thursday, May 24, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his efforts to reform the filibuster, and to reform Wall Street

Marcia Clark, prosecutor, author, and television correspondent, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her new book, “Guilt By Degrees”

• After repeatedly pinning the president for the unemployment level, which now sits at 8.1%, Mitt Romney pledged he could cut the rate by two points if he makes it to the White House. But, based on the current rate of growth, the CBO expects the jobless rate to fall to 5.5% by the end of 2017 anyway.

• Calling the nation’s falling educational standards “the civil rights issue of our time,” on Wednesday Mitt Romney proposed dramatically expanding school choice for low-income and disabled children.

• Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell, who oversaw the implementation of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the 90’s, said he has “no problem” with same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

Elizabeth Warren has closed the gap on GOP Sen. Scott Brown in their battle for Brown’s Massachusetts Senate seat despite a controversy over her heritage, according to a new poll.

LiveBlog for Wednesday, May 23, 2012

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act and the GOP’s War on Women

Mitt Romney won the Republican primaries in Kentucky and Arkansas on Tuesday, victories that puts him within striking distance of clinching the Republican presidential nomination.

• Casting himself as “Middle Class Joe” in a speech to 450 people at Keene State College in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden used layman’s terms to argue that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s private equity experience “no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber.”

• Despite a volatile and eventful past few weeks in the early presidential contest, President Barack Obama continues to hold a small – and slightly narrowing – lead over Mitt Romney, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

• Regulators are looking into a report that Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Facebook’s initial public offering last week, shared a negative assessment of the social network with major clients ahead of the IPO.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Mitt Romney

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act

• In a press conference marking the end of this year’s NATO Summit, President Obama touted the group’s formal agreement for a “responsible” withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan, and said that while gains in the country remain “fragile,” he does not believe there will ever be an “optimal point” to withdraw.

President Obama’s overall job approval rating in a new ABC News / Washington Post poll is now back under 50 percent (47 percent approve, 49 percent disapprove) after hitting the halfway mark last month for just the second time since the killing of Osama bin Laden.

• President Obama said yesterday that the ongoing discussion over Mitt Romney’s record at the private equity firm Bain Capital is “not a distraction” from the serious issues that should be debated in the presidential campaign.

A judge sentenced former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi yesterday to 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi’s intimate encounter with another man.

LiveBlog for Monday, May 21, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about racial attacks on President Obama, and about America’s changing ethnic makeup

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Comedian and activist Carol Leifer joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to hang out and tell us about her LA Power Of Choice Reception

Chicago is bracing for more demonstrations today, with protesters vowing to march to the Boeing Corp. headquarters a day after police clashed with a group of demonstrators at the end of a march protesting the NATO summit.

• President Barack Obama warned of “hard days” ahead in Afghanistan as world leaders Sunday opened a NATO summit confronted by questions about the country’s post-conflict future.

• Assurances from this weekend’s G8 Summit at Camp David that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro helped support world stock markets Monday after sharp losses over the past week.

Robin Gibb, a founding member of the Bee Gees who helped propel the group to international stardom, has died of cancer. He was 62.

LiveBlog for Friday, May 18, 2012

John Register, National Co-Chair of Obama for America, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what’s at stake for veterans in this election

Tina Dupuy, managing editor for Crooks & Liars, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s War on Women and the LGBT Community

Mary Phillips-Sandy, Editorial Producer of Comedy Central’s Indecision Blog, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about the election blog and the latest polls

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT from South Florida for a half hour of Fridays with Fugelsang

• Mitt Romney yesterday doubled down on his repudiation of a proposed ad campaign attacking President Obama for his ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, telling reporters such a campaign would have been “the wrong course for a PAC or a campaign.”

• After four months of paperwork, hype and speculation, the last piece of the Facebook IPO is in place: Facebook said it has priced its IPO at $38 a share. Shares were released last night to buyers, who can resell them on the open market beginning on today.

Disco queen Donna Summer has died, a family spokesperson told the AP. She was 63. Summer died of cancer Thursday morning in Naples, FL.

LiveBlog for Thursday, May 17, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Former and Future Congressman Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how the Bush economy is still affecting us

Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act and the GOP’s efforts to weaken it

The Obama campaign dispatched Vice President Joe Biden to eastern Ohio Wednesday to push the president’s economic record and take direct aim at presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s history as a venture capitalist.

• Responding to attacks by the Obama campaign about his work at the helm of Bain Capital, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney defended his record, saying he “was no longer” at the company when it closed a steel factory.

• The GOP-led House on Wednesday voted to approve the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a piece of legislation that is the subject of partisan controversy because the GOP stripped out some of the most basic protections for women.

John Edwards’ defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time Dem presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness stand, a sign of confidence after presenting two days of testimony and evidence.

LiveBlog for Wednesday, May 16, 2012

• Comedian and actor Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of the show to riff on the news of the day

• Veteran journalist Dan Rather calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News”

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s War on Women and her efforts to help veterans

Mitt Romney on Tuesday won GOP presidential primaries in Oregon and Nebraska, putting the former Massachusetts governor ever closer toward officially clinching the Republican presidential nomination.

• In a decidedly underwhelming fashion, Former President George W. Bush voiced his support for Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign for the first time yesterday.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took aim Tuesday at President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package, blaming it for a soaring federal debt that he likened to a prairie fire.

Court records show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a nose fracture and two cuts to the back of his head after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the end of Ron Paul’s campaign, and about Romney’s speech to the evangelicals

Ian Millhiser, Policy Analyst for The Center for American Progress Action Fund, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Romney’s lack of an immigration plan

• According to a new CBS News / NY Times poll, 46 percent of registered voters say they would vote for Romney, while 43 percent say they would opt for Mr. Obama. Romney’s slight advantage remains within the poll’s margin of error, which is plus or minus four percentage points.

• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Today he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed.

• Speaking to Barnard University’s graduating class yesterday, President Obama challenged the young women to persevere in the fight for equality through leadership, touting a pro-woman message and emphasizing his hopes that today’s young women “will help lead the way” for change in America.

Ron Paul said on Monday he will no longer be actively campaigning in the GOP presidential primaries but won’t formally suspend his campaign. Instead, the libertarian candidate’s organization will continue to accumulate delegates to send to the Republican National Convention.

LiveBlog for Monday, May 14, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s bullying, and the fight for LGBT rights

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), who introduced the Student Loan Affordability Act, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s efforts to block it

• Speaking at the graduation commencement of Liberty University, Mitt Romney told the crowd that people of different faiths can meet “in common purpose” through their moral decision-making. Romney also reiterated his position against same-sex marriage.

• For the third year in a row, a slight majority of Americans consider gay and lesbian relations morally acceptable, signaling that this is the new “new normal” in public opinion, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday just days after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage.

JPMorgan Chase is expected to accept the resignation of Ina Drew, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street, after the bank lost $2 billion in a trading blunder, a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The defense for John Edwards is scheduled to start this morning in the former presidential candidate’s corruption trial. Last week, the federal judge presiding over the trial turned down a motion to dismiss the charges against Edwards.

LiveBlog for Friday, May 11, 2012

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the studios of The Mic in Madison at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

Robin Abcarian, national reporter for The Los Angeles Times, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s high school bullying incident

Vice President Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office and apologized to President Obama a few hours before the president announced that he supports same-sex marriage. The president expressed that he understood Biden’s comments came from the heart.

• The Washington Post reported on a high school incident in which Mitt Romney repeatedly clipped the hair of a young man – presumed by other students to be gay – while other classmates pinned him to the floor, as the victim screamed for help and his eyes filled with tears. Romney repeatedly apologized Thursday for the incidents, even though he said he does not remember them.

• A fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign, held under a stretched transparent tent outside George Clooney’s sprawling tudor-styled canyon home, raised nearly $15 million, a record for a single fundraiser.

• The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would replace looming Pentagon spending cuts opposed by the GOP with a series of domestic program reductions opposed by congressional Dems.

LiveBlog for Thursday, May 10, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about President Obama’s evolved stance on marriage equality, and to co-host Right Wing World

Ian Millhiser, Policy Analyst for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s lack of an immigration plan

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP blocking the student loan debate

• Comedian and author Judy Tenuta joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out and talk about her new book, “Tenuta: Full Frontal Tenudity”

• Three days after Vice President Joe Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable” with two men or two women getting married, President Obama told ABC News in a hastily arranged interview that “same sex couples should be able to get married.”

• Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he unequivocally opposes “marriage between people of the same gender,” drawing a contrast to President Obama’s “evolving” position on the issue.

• Federal authorities and the Justice Department said Wednesday that they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos.

LiveBlog for Wednesday, May 9, 2012

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT to hang with us and talk about the news of the day

Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the results of yesterday’s primaries to defeat Gov. Walker

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the budget and the GOP’s non-stop obstructionism

• A majority of North Carolina voters on Tuesday approved a controversial amendment that will write a ban on same-sex marriage as well as civil unions for both gay and straight couples into the state Constitution.

• Sen. Richard Lugar – the longest-serving senator in Indiana history – has lost his Republican Senate primary on Tuesday to state Treasurer and Tea Party darling Richard Mourdock.

• Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett defeated three other Dems and is set to face Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker in next month’s recall election that has become a nationally watched battle over union rights.

• An insider who worked with the United States and an allied security service to thwart an al-Qaida bomb plot hatched in Yemen was the man picked to carry out the suicide attack on a U.S.-bound airliner. He’d been working for Western intelligence from day one.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, May 8, 2012

• Current TV correspondent David Shuster calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest in the 2012 Presidential Campaign

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the real start of the 2012 Presidential Campaign

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s plan to boost the military and cut social programs

The CIA thwarted a plot by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a new design. Officials, however, deny there was ever any immediate threat to the public.

Rick Santorum endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney late Monday night in an email to supporters, saying a private meeting with the former governor last week had given him confidence that issues important to him would be well represented in the general election.

• Speaking at a plant that stamps parts for truck manufacturers, Romney continued his attack on President Obama ‘s economic stewardship, including the April unemployment rate of 8.1 percent–a figure the presumptive GOP nominee has said is double what it should be.

President Obama’s re-election team unveiled a new ad Monday, striking back at the presumptive challenger Mitt Romney’s assertion that Mr. Obama’s three-plus years in power have been a failure.

LiveBlog for Monday, May 7, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about The Day Of Prayer and kicking Newt Gingrich when he’s down

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Vice President Joe Biden went where President Barack Obama hasn’t yet gone: In support of same-sex marriage, saying he’s “absolutely comfortable” with it. A spokesperson for the vice president quickly walked that back and said his position is “evolving on the issue”

President Obama dropped the gloves against Mitt Romney on a trip that took him to two swing states on Saturday, leveling his most direct criticism to date of the presumptive GOP nominee while making the case for a second term.

• Although Mitt Romney is considered the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul won a majority of delegates at two state conventions in Nevada and Maine this weekend.

Socialist François Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France’s next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

LiveBlog for Friday, May 4, 2012

Blake Butler, host of Local Edge Radio on our affiliate 880 The Revolution in Asheville, NC, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about North Carolina’s discriminatory Amendment One

Ari Berman of The Nation and “Herding Donkeys” calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new article, “Inside Romney’s NeoCon War Cabinet”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in from Phoenix at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the news of the day

• In letters from his last hideout, Osama bin Laden fretted about dysfunction in his terrorist network and crumbling trust from Muslims he wished to incite against their government and the West.

• Standing on stage with the Mitt Romney at an event in Portsmouth, Virginia, former presidential contender Michele Bachmann said she was there to “lend my voice and my endorsement to Mitt Romney as our president to take the county back.”

• China said Friday that Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm, has the right to apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

• President Obama and his presumed Republican challenger Mitt Romney are essentially tied in Florida and Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

LiveBlog for Thursday, May 3, 2012

Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Joshua Hersh, foreign policy reporter for The Huffington Post, calls in from Afghanistan at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s surprise trip there

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the 2012 Election and other news of the day

• With millions of dollars in campaign debt and just two Republican primary victories under his belt, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finally called it quits Wednesday, suspending his campaign for the presidency so he could go back to being an “active citizen.”

• Former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-MN) plans to endorse the party’s presumptive nominee Mitt Romney at a campaign event in Portsmouth, Va., today, Romney campaign officials say.

• Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is locked in a dead heat with Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett ahead of the state’s June 5 recall election, according to a new poll from Marquette University Law School.

• Former USC and NFL star Junior Seau was found shot to death at his home Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.

LiveBlog for Wednesday, May 2, 2012

• Former and future Rep. Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Mitt Romney, and the GOP’s response to the Bin Laden killing anniversary

• Comic actress Rachel Dratch calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about her new memoir, “Girl Walks Into A Bar”

Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Obama in Afghanistan, the Occupy movement, and Romney’s 3am call

President Obama arrived in Afghanistan under cover of darkness yesterday for an unannounced visit to meet with U.S. troops and to sign a ten-year agreement with President Hamid Karzai on the role of U.S. forces beyond the end of the war in 2014.

Mitt Romney released a statement on President Obama’s trip to Afghanistan last night. It said, in part, “I am pleased that President Obama has returned to Afghanistan. Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our President about what is at stake in this war.”

Mitt Romney’s spokesman on foreign policy issues abruptly quit Tuesday after anti-gay conservatives made an issue of his outspoken support for gay marriage. Richard Grenell resigned on what was to be his first official day on the job, citing the “hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues.”

Dear Sexy-Liberal-in-Chief: Stay off Stephanie’s turf

By Stephanie Miller / Host of "Talking Liberally"

Dear Mr. President: 

I've got a real problem with you.  Sure you're smart, strong, handsome, a brilliant orator and you can even sing like Al Green (although I'll match you note for note any day on "Leavin' on a Jet Plane"). But who the hell gave you permission to be funny? I'm talking to you, Mr. Leader-of-the-Free World! Give a comic a break! I'm fine with the occasional funny line in a speech, but when you turn into the Sexy-Liberal-in-Chief like you did on Saturday at the White House Correspondents Dinner, that's my turf you're treading on…and you don't want to mess with Mama.

LiveBlog for Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Zach Wahls, author and proud son of two moms, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes A Family”

David Shuster, correspondent for Current TV, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney demonizing the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden

• In hundreds of cities around the world today, protesters are taking to the streets to protest rising economic inequality as part of a “general strike” for which citizens are being encouraged to skip work and school and forgo shopping.

• Asked by a reporter yesterday whether he would have gone after Osama Bin Laden, Mitt Romney responded: “Of course.” He was then asked if he would have given the specific order to kill bin Laden. “Of course,” he said. “Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.”

• President Obama responded on Monday to criticism that he is engaged in a “despicable” “politicization” of the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying “I hardly think you’ve seen any excessive celebration taking place here.”

• Mitt Romney’s short list of vice presidential candidates is expected to include 10 to 15 names. One of those potential candidates, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), joined Romney on the campaign trail yesterday morning.

LiveBlog for Monday, April 30, 2012

The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Arizona and the Supreme Court, the vileness of Mitt Romney, and the good things Norway does

Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

Van Jones, environmental advocate and Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his new book, “Rebuild The Dream”

• At Saturday’s light-hearted White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Obama poked fun Saturday at everything, from the Secret Service scandal to the lavish spending by the Government Services Administration, to the upcoming general election.

• The White House said Friday that President Obama would veto a GOP measure passed by the House to extend lower interest rates on federal student loans because it takes money from a health care fund that benefits women.

• House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday described his amped-up rhetoric toward President Obama in recent days as advice. “The president is getting … some bad advice,” Boehner said on CNN. “Somebody needed to help him out, so I thought I would.”

The wife of a former campaign aide for John Edwards takes the stand today where she is expected to detail her role in helping conceal the one-time Democratic presidential hopeful’s affair with a videographer.