Getting better? The Washington Post reports that the U.S. economy, once “barely hanging on” is now “starting to look surprisingly robust,” with housing prices rising faster in the past year than they have in the past seven and consumer confidence at its highest in the past five years. “It adds up to this reality: In a year when tax increases and spending cuts by the federal government were expected to bleed life out of the economy, the strengthening housing and financial markets are proving to be more powerful than acts of Congress.”
EXCLUSIVE: NRSC hits Markey on tax votes.The GOP Senate campaign committee is out this morning with a web video in the Massachusetts Senate race hitting Democratic Rep. Ed Markey for 271 votes for higher taxes in Congress, picking up the message GOP nominee Gabriel Gomez has been talking about on the trail this week. Keeping with the GOP’s theme of driving home Markey’s more than three decades in Congress, the retro-style video takes an infomercial approach, asking voters, “Has this ever happened to you? You’re looking at your paycheck, wondering how much more taxes you can pay? Will it ever get easier? Well today’s your lucky day! For an UNLIMITED time, it seems Ed Markey will vote in favor of higher taxes.” The NRSC ad is a smaller, five figure targeted online buy that could be expanded. Markey is also out with his own TV ad against Gomez, hitting him on raising taxes on the top two percent of earners.









