“I have decided to add a caveat to my offer. Obama can’t decide to send my $5M to Rev. Wright if he releases his records,” the business magnate wrote. In May 2008, the president and his wife, Michelle, withdrew their membership in Trinity United Church of Christ where Rev. Jeremiah Wright had previously served as senior pastor after he made a series of controversial sermons.

Mr. Obama first reminded his New Hampshire audience that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had favored the wealthy during his stint as Massachusetts governor between 2002 and 2006.

“Once he took office, he pushed through a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited 278 of the wealthiest families in the state. And then, he raised taxes and fees on middle-class families to the tune of 750 million dollars,” Mr. Obama said. He also pointed out that the former governor had introduced “fees to be a barber, higher fees to become a nurse, […] higher fees for gas, higher fees for milk, [and] fees to get a birth certificate which would have been expensive for me,” the president joked.

A number of Republicans insist that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya and is therefore ineligible to be president. Whether or not Mr. Obama was born overseas, he is still an American citizen given the fact that his mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas. The president made a certification of live birth public during the 2008 presidential campaign and later published his long-form birth certificate.

President Obama released his live birth certificate during the 2008 presidential campaign.

The Romney campaign dismissed Mr. Obama‘s comments about the former governor’s actions while at the helm of the Bay State.

“Today’s desperate attacks are laughable coming from a President whose only plan for a second term is to recycle the failed policies of the last four years while raising taxes by $2 trillion. As governor, Mitt Romney worked with Democrats to close a $3 billion deficit, balance four budgets while cutting taxes 19 times, create tens of thousands of new jobs, and lower the Massachusetts unemployment rate to 4.7%,” Mr. Romney’s campaign spokesman said in a statement.

New Hampshire is one of several “toss-up” states where both candidates are currently in a virtual tie.

Iran and the U.S. both denied they had agreed to hold talks on the Islamic republic's nuclear program.

The Romney campaign pointed out on Monday that the former Massachusetts governor might not comment on rumors that Iran and the U.S. were getting ready to hold talks over Tehran’s nuclear program. The New York Times reported on Saturday that both countries had agreed to meet to discuss the issue although a face-to-face meeting was unlikely to occur ahead of the Nov. 6 presidential election. However, both Tehran and Washington later denied that such an agreement had been reached.

“The Iranian government and the [Obama] administration both said this New York Times story is not accurate, so I’m not sure he has to respond to a story that both governments involved have said is not true,” Mr. Romney‘s senior foreign policy adviser Dan Senor told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday. “That said, if you listen to what he said, and he’ll say it again tonight, we need a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. It’s gotten really bad,” Mr. Senor added.

Mr. Romney has repeatedly accused Mr. Obama, who favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear deadlock, of being too weak with Iran over its nuclear program. Tehran maintains that the work it is carrying out in the nuclear field is purely peaceful and uniquely for domestic purposes. Iran claims that it needs its controversial program for the generation of electricity but also for medical purposes.

Still, Mr. Obama, like Mr. Romney, has made clear that he would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and that time for diplomacy was fast running out.

“Let me be clear: America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so,” Mr. Obama stated although he stressed that time was “not unlimited” when he addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York four weeks ago.

Iran is bound to be discussed later on tonight when Messrs. Obama and Romney take part in the third and final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. The 90-minute exchange will be moderated by CBS’ Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigned in Lebanon, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 2012.
Photo: Charles Dharapak / Associated Press.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney reiterated his attack against President Barack Obama who he accuses of being too weak on China and of failing to intervene after his administration announced that action on the Middle Kingdom’s trade practices would be postponed until after the presidential election.

Mr. Romney criticized Mr. Obama for “passing the buck” after the Department of the Treasury revealed on Friday that the results of a study investigating international trade and exchange rates would not be published ahead of the Nov. 6 contest. The report is expected to indicate whether China should be branded a currency manipulator. If this is the case, the Obama administration could impose a series of sanctions on the country.

“We’re going to make sure that when people cheat – and China’s been cheating – we’re not going to let it go on,” Mr. Romney emphasized when he addressed some 10,000 supporters in Lebanon, Ohio, on Saturday. The former Massachusetts governor also denounced Beijing for keeping its currency artificially low and, as a result, keeping the goods it produces artificially competitive in order to boost its exports.

“I’m not going to just pass on that. On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator. We’re going to get serious about making sure people don’t cheat when it comes to trade,” he added.

The Obama administration dismissed the Republican nominee’s attacks and accused him of having double standards.

“Mitt Romney‘s talking tough, but his record and his policies show he’s anything but when it comes to China. As a corporate buyout specialist, he invested in companies that were pioneers in outsourcing to low-wage countries like China,” Mr. Obama‘s spokesman, Danny Kanner, pointed out. He also stated that the president was the only candidate who had a credible plan for the nation’s future.

“And now, while President Obama would close tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping American jobs overseas, Mitt Romney’s tax plan could create 800,000 jobs outside of America. That’s not a candidate who would be tough on China as president. That’s a candidate who thinks sounding tough will win him votes,” Mr. Kanner said.

Back in May, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the Republican nominee’s policy experts all disagreed about his harder line against China, warning that labeling the country a currency manipulator could result in a trade war.

Mitt Romney emphasized the role of the coal industry in West Virginia on Friday.
Photo: Reuters / Brian Snyde.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney addressed a crowd of supporters in Abingdon, Virginia, on Friday and emphasized the importance of energy independence and the role coal can play in achieving such a goal. According to the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA), the coal industry provides 63,000 jobs in West Virginia and contributes $26 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) every year.

Mr. Romney, who met coal workers who had recently lost their jobs before addressing a 3,000-strong crowd, said that protecting the coal industry would be one of his priorities if he was elected president on Nov. 6.

“I want to make sure your jobs stay here, grow here and provide a bright future for your family,” he told his supporters. During Wednesday’s debate, the former Massachusetts governor criticized President Barack Obama for placing too much emphasis on renewable energies to the detriment of proven energy sources. He also reiterated his long-held belief that the coal industry had a major role to play in reaching energy independence.

“If I’m President, I’ll double them [the number of permits and licenses] and also get the oil from offshore in Alaska. And I’ll bring that pipeline in from Canada. And by the way, I like coal. I’m going to make sure we can continue to burn clean coal. People in the coal industry feel like it’s getting crushed by your policies. I want to get America and North America energy independent so we can create those jobs,” he told Mr. Obama.

Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, dismissed Mr. Romney‘s economic policies and warned that these would, in fact, cost jobs.

“Independent economists say his plans would not create jobs, could slow the recovery, and could actually cost us two million jobs over the next two years. The American people want to move forward, not back,” she stated.

Mr. Romney pledged to create some 12 million jobs if he wins the presidential election next month.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Politico reported on Thursday that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had sent a personal thank-you note to five Democratic House representatives after they attempted to convince lawmakers to vote against Texas Congressman Ron Paul‘s proposal to audit the U.S. central bank. Dr. Paul‘s bill, which would allow the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, was passed in a 327-98 vote back in July.

Although the five Democratic legislators – Barney Frank, Elijah Cummings, Melvin Watt, Carolyn Maloney and Steny Hoyer – failed to persuade their colleagues to reject Dr. Paul‘s bill, Mr. Bernanke still wished to thank them for their efforts.

“While the outcome of the vote was not in doubt, your willingness to stand up for the independence of the Federal Reserve is greatly appreciated,” the central bank’s chairman wrote. He also emphasized the importance of keeping the U.S. central bank free from interference by lawmakers.

“Independence in monetary policy operations is now the norm for central banks around the world – and it would be a grave mistake were Congress to reverse the protection it provided to the Federal Reserve more than 30 years ago,” Mr. Bernanke also wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already warned that Senators would not be looking at Dr. Paul‘s bill this year. In any case, the Texas congressman’s proposal is widely expected to be defeated in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Congressman Frank pointed out that the central bank was already transparent enough and that Dr. Paul‘s efforts represented “an ideological agenda by a group of people who didn’t like what the Federal Reserve was doing.”

“[…] the Federal Reserve is now subject to a complete openness about all of its transactions with private companies. We did that last year, the gentleman from Texas had a major role in that. When the Federal Reserve deals with any other institution, we know what it does; we don’t know it necessarily the same-day,” he pointed out ahead of the vote.

Politico discovered the notes Mr. Bernanke had sent to the five legislators when it lodged a freedom of information request.

Federal Reserve spokesman David Skidmore defended Mr. Bernanke’s action, pointing out that the central bank’s chairman had acted within his remit.

“It’s not unusual for the chairman to write thank you notes to members of Congress,” he pointed out.

Eric Philips, a student at Auburn University, was asked to take down this Ron Paul poster because
it represented a safety concern. Photo: Fox Business / Stossel.

Greg Lukianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and the author of Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship in the End of American Debate, published an editorial on Thursday criticizing Auburn University in Alabama for asking one of its students to take down a poster of Texas Congressman Ron Paul because it caused a safety concern.

As the Republican primary season was under way, Eric Philips decided to hang a poster of Dr. Paul in his window. However, he was promptly told – within hours to be precise – to take his poster down as it represented a safety issue.

Speaking on Stossel back in April, Philips recounted what happened after he placed the Ron Paul poster in his window.

“Six months ago I put up a Ron Paul banner and within three hours I was told that I had to take it down. However, at the last election, somebody had an Obama Hope banner in their window throughout the whole year. And he wasn’t told to take his down. So, this is selected censorship right here,” he stated on the program.

“Maybe they changed the policy since then?” Stossel asked Philips.

“They did. They did indeed. But throughout my whole dorm building that I was in, people left their Auburn banners in their window for four months afterwards,” he told Stossel.

“But they told us all materials regardless of contents are prohibited from being posted in residence hall windows,” Stossel remarked after his production team spoke to the university.

“Well, I seem to be the only exception for that. They enforced their policy only on me, not the sororities or the football players in my dorm,” Philips insisted.

As Lukianoff points out, this example shows that this particular student was not allowed to support the candidate that best represented his political views. He ends his editorial with a warning from Alan Charles Kors, the co-founder of FIRE.

“A nation that does not educate in liberty will not long endure liberty and will not even know when it is lost.”

Source: Gallup Sept. 14, 2012.

The incumbent president admitted that the state of the nation’s economy remained a major issue in this election cycle – it is indeed the major concern of around two thirds of the electorate – but that, if re-elected, he would continue to work “as hard as [he] can on behalf of the American people.”

“[...] this is going to be a close race. And I’m running in an environment where the economy isn’t where it needs to be. I take nothing for granted,” Mr. Obama told Scott Pelley.

When asked by the program’s host how he would ensure that Congress was more productive than it had been of late if the Republicans remained in control of the House of Representatives and if Mr. Romney‘s running mate, Paul Ryan, was still the chair of the Budget Committee, Mr. Obama pointed out that it was too early to speculate on the outcome of the election. However, he noted that his administration had been able to achieve a great deal in spite of the Republicans seizing control of the House back in 2010.

“I think it’s important to point out that, even with all the back-and-forth that’s taken place this year, we’ve got a lot of stuff done. We have cut a trillion dollars from our deficit because of an agreement that I made with Speaker Boehner that got passed and got signed,” Mr. Obama said. He also stressed that voters would be sending a clear message to both parties if they ask him to serve a second term, and that he remained confident that a great deal could be achieved over the next four years.

“My sense is that the message that will be sent by voters this time out – if I’m re-elected – will be: ‘We’re not satisfied with the pace of progress, but we do think that the ideas the president has presented are the right ones. And we’d like to see greater cooperation.’ I don’t expect that I will get 100 percent cooperation. But 50 percent, 60 percent wouldn’t be bad,” Mr. Obama admitted.

President Obama told CBS's Scott Pelley that he may lose the November election
because of the state of the U.S. economy. Photo: CBS.

The president was also asked whether – and to what extent – he would be willing to compromise with his opponents in order to reach a bipartisan agreement on the federal budget. Mr. Obama first reiterated that he was aware that some programs did not represent value for money, before re-asserting his belief that reductions to the budget deficit should be achieved by the combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

“There are some programs that are worthy, but we just can’t afford right now. And there’s still waste. There’s still programs that don’t work. There are still ways that we can make it leaner and more efficient. So I’m, you know, more than happy to work with the Republicans. And what I’ve said is in reducing our deficits, we can make sure that we cut two-and-a-half dollars for ever dollar of increased revenue,” he stated.

The interview was conducted during Mr. Obama’s bus tour in Florida earlier on this week.

The poll reveals that 51 percent of the participants would cast a ballot for Mr. Obama were the presidential election held today. His Republican opponent would garner 44 percent of the votes. Once again, the incumbent president does particularly well among women, the majority of whom (57 percent) favor Mr. Obama, and black voters, who overwhelmingly (92 percent) support him. In contrast, Mr. Romney has the backing of 51 percent of male voters and 54 percent of white voters. Among independent voters, Mr. Romney only benefits from a slight advantage (48 percent vs. 44 percent) over the president.

Source: Quinnipiac University, September 2012.

“Gov. Mitt Romney trails President Barack Obama by 7 points in blue, blue New Jersey. Is it a post-convention bounce for Romney and will the president get his own bounce this week?” wonders the director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, Maurice Carroll. He also notes that only a small proportion of voters in the Garden State remain undecided. Nationwide, some 25 percent of voters have yet to decide who they will be voting for.

“The votes look to be locked in. Almost 90 percent of Obama‘s New Jersey voters and more than 90 percent of Romney backers say they’ll stand by their man,” he said.

The survey also found that a slight majority of voters (48 percent vs. 45 percent) believe Mr. Romney would do a better job with the economy – incidentally, the survey showed that 67 percent of those questioned cited the economy as an “extremely important” factor this election cycle. However, Mr. Obama retains a slight advantage when it comes to health care (52 vs. 43 percent) and Medicare, the government-administered social insurance program for senior citizens (51 vs. 41 percent).

Just over half (51 percent) of respondents told the pollsters they felt the federal government was too involved in their lives, whereas 43 percent said they believed it should do more.

Source: Quinnipiac University, September 2012.

“The big party split is on government’s role: half of all voters, including 83 percent of Republicans, say government is doing too much; a bit less than half, including 70 percent of Democrats, say government should solve problems,” Mr. Carroll said.

Quinnipiac University interviewed a total of 1,471 like voters over the phone.