Sex-Selection Abortions Bill Pits Democrats Against Republicans in House

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Wednesday afternoon, the House debated a bill that would ban sex-selection abortions in the United States, pitting Republicans and Democrats in a showdown over a woman’s right to choose, which opponents contend is “intended to chip away at a woman’s right to obtain safe, legal medical care.”

The measure, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), was perceived by Democrats as a dimwitted ploy to coax liberal lawmakers to support the bill or be faced with the prospect of an onslaught of campaign advertisements this fall highlighting a lawmaker’s vote to essentially support sex-selection abortions.

“Somebody decided politically that it was a difficult place to put people in,” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Wednesday afternoon at his pen-and-pad briefing. “It’s a political effort, not a substantive effort.”

But after the plight of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, who spoke out against forced abortions in his native China, captured international headlines this month, GOP aides said the leadership hoped to capitalize on the momentum of that awareness to ensure that sex-selection abortions are not legal in the U.S.

“For most of us, Mr. Speaker, ‘It’s a girl’ is cause for enormous joy, happiness and celebration,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said on the House floor. “But in many countries including our own, it could be a death sentence. Today the three most dangerous words in China and India are, ‘It’s a girl.’ We can’t let that happen here.”

Earlier this week, a pro-life group released an undercover video purportedly showing a Planned Parenthood counselor in Texas assisting a woman seeking a sex-selection abortion.

Many nations with staunchly pro-choice/pro-abortion rights laws and protections nevertheless ban sex-selection abortions. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands all have laws banning sex-selection abortions.

A vote on the measure was postponed until Thursday. Approval of the measure is subject to a two-thirds majority, which may be difficult to attain given the Democrats’ general opposition to what they perceive as another Republican attempt to engage Democrats in the so-called War on Women. The House Democratic leadership does not whip the Democratic caucus on votes dealing with choice or war.

“The Republican majority continues its War on Women in a new and creative way: by attempting to couch legislation that would destroy women’s fundamental constitutional rights as a woman’s rights law. It is cynical, but creative,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said. “The preference for male children is a real, if limited, phenomenon in the United States. Some women face familial and community preference to have male children, and that pressure can increase with each subsequent birth. But this does nothing to help those women.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Obama Celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month

Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, President Obama Wednesday recalled the struggle against anti-Semitism in the U.S.

The president told how, 150 years ago, General Ulysses Grant issued an order that would have expelled Jews “as a class” from what was then known as the military department of Tennessee.

“It was wrong. Even if it was 1862, even if official acts of anti-Semitism were all too common around the world, it was wrong and indicative of an ugly strain of thought,” the president said at a White House reception.

What happened next, Obama said, “could have only taken place in America.”

American Jews protested Grant’s decision, taking the issue all the way to the top, to President Lincoln himself, who later revoked the order.

“Like so many groups, Jews have had to fight for their piece of the American dream. But this country holds a special promise: that if we stand up for the traditions we believe in and in the values we share, then our wrongs can be made right; our union can be made more perfect and our world can be repaired,” Obama said.

In a year when the Jewish vote takes on a new importance, Obama said it’s his generation’s turn to “stand up for our shared values.”

“Beyond our borders, we have to stand alongside our friends who share our commitment to freedom and democracy and universal rights; and that includes, of course, our unwavering commitment to the State of Israel and its security and the pursuit of a just and lasting peace,” he said.

“It’s no secret that we’ve got a lot of work to do. But as your traditions teach us, while we are not obligated to finish the work, neither are we free to desist from that work,” the president concluded.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Ann Romney: ‘I Completely Support 90 Percent of Where Mitt Is’

ABC/ Ida Mae Astute(NEW YORK) -- Despite their famously close relationship, Ann Romney doesn’t agree with her husband on all of his policy stances all of the time.

“I don’t think we’re ever exactly on the same page one hundred percent,” Ann Romney told Fox News in an interview that will air Thursday.

Mrs. Romney wouldn’t name a policy or issue the two disagree on, saying, “I’m not going to name one because I don’t think that’s important.  I’m not the one running for president, this guy is.  And I completely support 90 percent of where Mitt is.”

The interview comes as signs point to the 63-year-old mother of five and grandmother of 18 ramping up her campaign schedule. Wednesday, the Romney campaigned announced they hired Sarah Haley, the former Santorum campaign national coalitions director, as her new press secretary.

Ann Romney famously told the Boston Globe during her husband’s unsuccessful Senate run in 1994 they had never had a disagreement, but in the Fox News interview she said “there are places where we disagree,” but pointed out “we don’t yell and slam doors.” Mrs. Romney was teased at the time for the somewhat surprising statement.

The woman who wants to be the next first lady said the country is in “a real fork in the road as to which direction this country is going to go in.”

“I believe if Mitt wins, the country wins.  If Mitt loses, the country loses,” Mrs. Romney said in the interview. “And I really believe that there is a sense in the country that we are in danger and that we have got to turn this country around.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Illinois State Rep. Goes Berserk in Epic Rant

Photodisc/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) -- Lawmakers around the country have gone on some impressive rants in recent years -- Rep. Anthony Weiner’s outrage over the 9/11 first responders’ bill and Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s fury over the war in Afghanistan spring to mind -- but perhaps none can match Illinois State Rep. Mike Bost’s tirade this week.

Irate over a quick vote on a pension bill, Bost exploded on the floor of the Illinois House Tuesday.

Bost, a Republican, unloaded on Democrats led by House Speaker Mike Madigan for setting votes on pension reform bills without providing enough time for lawmakers to assess the measures after they emerged from committee.

“Total power in one person’s hands, not the American way!” Bost screamed, tossing the bill up in the air and then taking an errant swing at the papers as they fluttered down around him. He then took the papers that settled near him and threw them at his colleagues.

“These damn bills that come out here all the damn time, come out here at the last second, and I’ve got to try to figure out how to vote for my people? You should be ashamed of yourselves! I’m sick of it! Every year we give power to one person! It was not made that way in the Constitution!”

“Enough!” he yelled, his arms flailing. “I feel like somebody trying to be released from Egypt. Let my people go! My God, they sent me here to vote for them! To argue for them! But I’m trapped. I’m trapped by the rules that have been forced down our throats.”

“Folks,” he pleaded, dropping his voice almost to a whisper, “we live in a democracy, but not here. But not here.”

Bost later said in an interview that after his rant some of his Democratic colleagues approached him and told him they had the same complaints, but could not express them.

“When I left the floor,” Bost told ABC News affiliate WLS, “many Democrats from around the state -- even Chicago Democrats -- came in and said, ‘We want to say this but we can’t.’”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Poll: Romney Rebounds Among Women, Obama’s Favorability Slips

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Alex Wong/Getty ImagesPOLL ANALYSIS
By GARY LANGER, Langer Research Associates for ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- A sharp advance among women has boosted Mitt Romney to his highest favorability rating of the presidential campaign – albeit still an unusually weak one – while Barack Obama’s personal popularity has slipped in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Obama still beats Romney in favorable ratings overall, by an 11-point margin, 52 vs. 41 percent. But that’s down from 21 points last month, giving Romney the better trajectory. And both get only even divisions among registered voters, marking the closeness of the race between them.

See PDF with full results, charts and tables here.

This survey comes after a period in which Romney’s chief GOP competitors withdrew from the Republican race and lined up behind his candidacy. Romney clinched his party’s nomination in Texas on Tuesday night.

All Romney’s gains have come among women – up by 13 percentage points in personal popularity from last month, while Obama’s lost 7 points among women. (Views among men have been more stable.) Obama’s rating among women, 51 percent favorable, still beats Romney’s 40 percent – but again that margin is far smaller than what it was six weeks ago.

An ABC/Post poll last week found improvement for Romney in vote preferences among married women. This survey finds that his gains in personal favorability, instead, come predominantly among unmarried women, who saw him uncommonly negatively earlier this spring.

This poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that Obama’s ratings among all adults are slightly positive, 52-45 percent favorable-unfavorable, vs. 56-40 percent last month. Romney is numerically underwater (albeit not by a significant margin), 41-45 percent – but up from his 35-47 percent score last month. Forty-one percent favorable is a new high for him, by a scant 2 points from January. It’s his first foray above the 40 percent line.

Romney’s 35 percent favorability in April was the weakest on record for a presumptive presidential nominee in ABC/Post polls in primary seasons since 1984. While he’s since gained 6 points overall, he’s still less popular than most previous eventual nominees at this stage in the presidential campaign. Only one candidate has been this low in comparable data – Bill Clinton in 1992, who went on to win.

Obama’s popularity, meanwhile is the same as George H.W. Bush’s in June 1992, the year Bush lost re-election. On the other hand Obama’s rating is 2 points from Ronald Reagan’s in early 1984 and George W. Bush’s in 2004, both re-election winners.

GROUPS – In addition to women, Romney’s gained 9 points among moderates from a month ago (albeit just to 39 percent favorable, vs. Obama’s 58 percent in this group) and 9 points among Republicans (to 78 percent favorable).

In addition to losing ground among women, Obama’s popularity has dropped by a slight 8 points, to 45 percent, among independents, classically the swing voters in presidential elections. Fifty-two percent of independents see him unfavorably, putting him numerically underwater in this group for the first time since December. Romney is at 40-46 percent favorable-unfavorable among independents, also numerically in negative territory.

Neither candidate manages majority popularity among registered voters. Obama’s slipped to a 49-48 percent favorable-unfavorable rating in this group, after achieving majority favorability among registered voters in three of the past four months. Romney’s at 44-44 percent, up 8 percentage points in favorable ratings among registered voters since March, albeit not quite at a new high; he hit 45 percent, his best to date, in January.

Differences between registered voters and the general public reflect slightly higher voter registration among Republicans.

Finally, while Obama’s clearly had a tougher month than his GOP opponent, he retains bragging rights in one area beyond overall favorability – strength of sentiment. His strong critics and his strong fans are roughly evenly divided, at 31 and 29 percent, respectively. Romney, for his part, is seen more strongly negatively than strongly positively by a 9-point margin, 24 vs. 15 percent. But again, that’s eased from a 17-point gap in March.

METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cell phone from May 23-27, 2012, among a random national sample of 1,021 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points. The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y., with sampling, data collection and tabulation by SSRS/Social Science Research Solutions of Media, Pa.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Republican Super PACs Spending Big In 2012

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The Republican affiliated Super PACs and other outside conservative groups have big spending plans this election cycle. And Democrat aligned outside groups may have a hard time keeping up.

Outside groups like GOP aligned Crossroads GPS, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Americans For Prosperity, the group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers, are planning to spend roughly $1 billion this election cycle, according to a report from Politico.

That almost certainly means these outside groups will spend more than the combined total of the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee.

Not all of the money will be spent on the presidential race. American Crossroads, the Super Pac affiliated with Crossroads GPS, has focused the majority of their spending so far on Congressional races.

The Democratic groups will spend big too, but nowhere near as much.  Priorities USA — the pro-Obama Super Pac — hopes to raise $100 million, though they appear to be having a difficult time reaching that goal.  Labor unions could spend up to $400 million.

Democrat affiliated Super PACs have trailed Republican Super PACs in spending so far this cycle, but some of that imbalance was inevitable since Republicans had an open presidential primary and Democrats did not.

More telling are the fundraising figures for groups affiliated with both parties. Democrat super PACs have had a tough time staying on par with Republican Super PACs, who are outraising Democrats by huge margins.

According to figures from the Sunlight Foundation, the top three Super PAC fundraisers this cycle are all Republican affiliated. The pro-Romney “Restore Our Future” group reports raising $56.5 million. American Crossroads, the Super PAC arm of the Karl Rove group Crossroads GPS, has raised $29.9 million. The pro-Gingrich “Winning Our Future” group has raised $23.9 million.

The fourth largest Super PAC fundraiser is a Democrat group. The pro-Obama Priorities USA reports raising $10.6 million so far this cycle.

Several other Democratically affiliated Super PACs have raised significant mounts. The AFL-CIO Workers’ Voices PAC reports raising $5.9 million, and another group, American Bridge 21st Century, has raised $5.8 million. Still, the figures trail behind their GOP counterparts.

Liberal donors, including George Soros, plan to donate up to $100 million to outside groups heading into November, according to a report from the New York Times. Even so, Democrats have a lot of ground to gain in order to close the fundraising gap with Republican groups in this area.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Obama Congratulates Romney in Rare Personal Call

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama on Wednesday offered personal congratulations to GOP rival Mitt Romney for formally clinching the Republican Party presidential nomination in Tuesday’s primary.

Obama spoke with Romney by phone around 11:30 am ET, aides on both sides said. The president placed the call from the White House, reaching Romney in Las Vegas, where he was preparing to depart to California for a day of fundraisers.

A Romney campaign aide described the exchange as “brief and cordial,” adding that the governor “thanked the president for his congratulations and wished him and his family well.”

The call is the first time the two men have spoken since the start of the GOP primary race and one of the few times they have ever personally connected.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Obama Camp Mounts New Assault on Romney’s Record as Governor

Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- The Obama campaign is opening a new front in its war against GOP rival Mitt Romney, ABC News has learned, with planned attacks to begin this week on Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts.

Team Obama will point to Romney’s campaign promises namely his rhetoric on job creation, size of government, education, deficits and taxes during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign and draw parallels with his presidential stump speeches of 2012.  The goal is to illustrate that Romney has made the same promises before with unimpressive results, officials say.

The approach is a part of an effort to keep the focus off of President Obama, who has an underwater approval rating and has struggled to bring down unemployment -- currently above 8 percent nationally.  He and his campaign are aggressively trying to make Romney an unacceptable alternative on the November ballot.

Obama campaign officials say the latest line of attack will be a major focus from now through the election.

A 14-page research document compiled by the campaign and obtained by ABC News reveals the breadth of material Democrats plan to deploy, listing dozens of examples of Romney rhetoric and corresponding video clips from 2002, 2012, and the comparative “results in Massachusetts.”

On jobs, for example, Romney pitched himself in 2002 as a conservative businessman who could right the economic ship after the tech bubble burst led to layoffs across the Bay State.  During a Boston debate, Romney said, “I have experience in the private sector building and creating thousands of good jobs, and I want to bring that skill for you here in Massachusetts” -- a theme he regularly reprises today.

But the Obama campaign notes, citing a report from the independent fact-checker Politifact, Massachusetts was 47th out of 50 states in job creation under Romney.  In manufacturing jobs, Democrats point out, Romney presided over a net loss of 40,000 jobs, a drop of 12 percent according to Labor Department data.

The president’s campaign will use a number of former Massachusetts state officials who served with Romney between 2003 and 2007 to make their case, attacking him for, among other things, vetoing a bill against outsourcing.  They also plan to release successive web videos to illustrate their points in what will be overall a national and state-level campaign.

The approach is a shifting of gears for Team Obama, which had spent the past few weeks hammering Romney for his business record at Bain Capital.  The attacks had come under fire from some Democrats as being possibly too negative, too soon, while Republicans decried what they called a double standard for Obama’s treatment of private equity executives.

Obama strategists say they are not abandoning the assault on Romney’s record at Bain, but broadening their case by turning to an array of issues the Republican dealt with during his time in political office.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Mitt Romney Releases Birth Certificate

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Mitt Romney has added another element to the “birther” storyline by releasing a copy of his own birth certificate -- or, as the document states, a “Certificate of Live Birth” from Michigan.

Romney released the document Wednesday, just a day after Donald Trump repeated his own claim that President Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore not allowed to occupy the White House.

Before releasing his long-form birth certificate last year in response to Trump’s demands, Obama had made public his own “Certificate of Live Birth,” which some claimed wasn’t a real birth certificate.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Orly Taitz, an early leader of the movement to delegitimize Obama’s candidacy for the presidency, maintained that Obama’s long-form document is fraudulent — but she also said Romney should “absolutely” make his long-form certificate available, too.

When he was running for president, Obama signed on to a bill in the Senate that would make it clear that John McCain is eligible to be commander-in-chief — he was born outside the United States, in the Panama Canal Zone, when his father was in the Navy there.

Romney and Trump raised money together Tuesday night in Las Vegas, and the Obama campaign has hounded Romney for tying himself to the billionaire real estate mogul.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Romney Campaign Misspells 'America'

Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- A glaring error from the Romney campaign has led to some online ribbing.

A new photo-sharing iPhone app unveiled by the campaign misspells the most important word for any American presidential campaign: America

The homepage on the app invites users to envision “A Better Amercia.” The campaign has already commissioned a correction.

But “Amercia” has taken off on the Internet, where mistakes seem to live forever.

User reviews on Apple’s site were not kind. “It’s a DIY political satire kit! Download version 1.0 fast before they correct the misspellings!,” according to  the top listed review by Paul Schleuse.

And it should be no surprise that there is a TUMBLR site – “Amercia is With Mitt!” –  that makes fun of the Romney campaign iPhone app.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio