Anna Sale

Tim Pawlenty's the most important sleeper in the race. He has good ties to all segments of conservatives and in the Republican party. He's bright, he's articulate, he doesn't have f...

Anna Sale, It's A Free Country political reporter, to offer her quick take on last night's first debate of the 2012 election season. She will be joined by Charles (Chuck) Dunn, professor of government at Regent University and Reihan Salam, National Review Online domestic policy reporter.  

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While only five candidates took the stage last night in Greenville, S.C. for the first Republican debate, we learned plenty of useful things about the field and what's likely to come next.

Four years ago this week, Virginia Tech was still recovering from the shock of a massacre, James Franco was best known for new star turn in Superman 3 (not his multiple grad degre...

During his first visit to Ground Zero as president, Obama walked somberly across the stage, individually greeting members of the NYPD, FDNY and the Port Authority. He spoke out of ea...

President Obama drew a standing ovation when he mentioned the death of Osama bin Laden before a bipartisan dinner in Washington Monday night.

He paused on the meaning of the moment in Washington. “We were reminded again that there is a pride in what this nation stands for, and what we can achieve, that runs far deeper than party, far deeper than politics,” he said.

“It is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face,” Obama said.

It's A Free Country Political Reporter Anna Sale discusses what the death of Osama bin Laden means for the GOP, President Obama, and the 2012 elections.

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By authorizing the mission that killed bin Laden, President Obama has unquestionably burnished his Commander in Chief image, which needed polishing. But the president will have to ans...

As efforts to amass historic advertising warchests for 2012 continue, there are no clear rules on how much the public gets to know about where that money comes from. The Senate tried and failed to pass legislation requiring more disclosure last fall, and now Democrats are split on making calls for more reform – or lining up to work the system as is.

And in the absence of legislation, don’t expect the Federal Election Commission to step in, the chairwoman said.

It was hard to tell who was more lucky last night: President Barack Obama being at a show with The Roots or The Roots being at a show with the president. But it wasn't luck that made it happen; President Obama's attendance at their concert follows a recent talk before Facebook nation at their headquarters in Palo Alto, and a speech on the economy at George Washington University. These appearances, plus the launch of Gen44, is an attempt by the President to reach out to America's youth — a key demographic that helped him secure his victory in 2008. We talk with Anna Sale, reporter for WNYC's politics website, It's a Free Country.

As he launches his re-election campaign, President Barack Obama is looking to get his legions of supporters fired up again – and his pitch includes acknowledging that two years of governing may have snuffed out some of that passion. Here's a look back at the rhetoric then and now - to see what's changed.

 

Obama still has the support of young people — he scored a 55-percent approval rating in a Harvard Institute of Politics poll of young Americans conducted in February and March — bu...

If you want to whip an audience into a frenzy in New Jersey, bring up property taxes.

Within five minutes of greeting the crowd at a town hall last week, Governor Chris Christie landed on the surefire crowd-pleaser, taking credit early for the two-percent property tax cap he signed last July.

“People said it would work. Now the early returns are in,” Christie told a town hall in Jackson, New Jersey last week. Out of 566 towns in New Jersey, just 14 opted to ask voters to approve a higher rate. That’s the rightful place for the decision, he told the friendly audience at a retirement community in Jackson, New Jersey.   

“I want to put the power in your hands to make that decision, take it out of the hands of politicians that have screwed this up so badly over the past thirty years that we’re in the spot we’re in," he said.

Christie speech went on to chastise the "do-nothing" legislature, in contrast to his "reform agenda."

But the story is a little more complicated in Brick Township, along the Jersey Shore. It's one of the 14 towns asking for more than two percent higher taxes. It's asking residents to approve a budget that exceeds it by $8 million, the biggest increase of all the towns.

It’s a big ask, and the town is giving residents a stark choice: pay the higher taxes, or the town will stop collecting your trash.

The question goes right at the heart of the budget fights being fought in towns across the country. Resentful taxpayers feeling exploited and angry after year after year of increases, while the local unions have their backs up after Wisconsin and Governor Christie’s persistent hammering. A referendum vote on Wednesday is forcing residents to pick a side, and some feel boxed in by a cap that was supposed to lighten their load.

Like in business, politics can be a shell game, where bluster and feigned disgust commingle with truth. In the private sector, precisely worded contracts and tinkered corporate stru...

In a political climate with a chorus for cutting, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy is underscoring that he's going a different way.

"We need to argue our case," he told a regional planning gathering in New York City on Friday. "This is not a time to be timid."

The White House might want to position President Obama as "the adult in the room," but that mantle surely goes to Paul Volcker when he darkens any door. 

And on the day after Obama laid out his vision for reducing the national debt, and hours after Congress passed historic cuts in the middle of a fiscal year, Volcker said, "It's all getting in line for the debate we need."

The IRS decision to extend this year's deadline to April 18 is proving a boon for the Tea Party, who now has a long weekend to protest Tax Day. And despite the Tea Party's lagging pu...

President Obama wants to cut $4 trillion from the federal debt in twelve years, with tax increases on the wealthy taxpayers, cuts to some defense, Medicare, Medicaid and discretionary spending, with a mechanism called a "failsafe trigger" to finish the job. Here's what else we learned.

As President Obama launches his campaign for a second term, he’ll be sharpening his talking points about his record. His speech on Wednesday will lay out exactly the way he wants to position the country on fiscal issues.

Leading up to the speech, he’s given mixed messages, depending on the audience. He's been both a big stimulus spender and a shrewd budget cutter. But the lack of a unifying economic philosophy - as well as any unity on the part of Democrats - has given him little room to maneuver when trying to retain his base and avoid scaring off independents. And while some Democrats are criticizing him for lacking political courage, most of them are out of office.

Breaking from the stridency of Rhee or the discomfort of Black, Walcott will test whether better relationships will lead to better politics as he takes on the charge of continuing B...