Romney: I'll get unemployment down to 6%

Mitt Romney told our friends at TIME on Wednesday that he will get the unemployment rate to 6% by the end of his first term. (CNNMoney and TIME are both owned by Time Warner.)

"Over a period of four years, by virtue of the policies that we put in place, we'd get the unemployment rate down to 6%, and perhaps a little lower," Romney said. "It depends in part upon MORE

Private equity: Choose your own adventure

What is the average American to think of private equity?

The industry, which used to never get mentioned in the pages of political rags or on talk shows, is well on its way to becoming a campaign touchstone.

Just this week, President Obama declared private equity a legitimate campaign target. His campaign released a two minute ad focused on Bain Capital's takeover of Kansas City-based GST Steel. Vice President Joe Biden added MORE

Election 2012: Bain is here to stay

President Obama has made one thing very clear: He will be talking about Bain Capital a lot between now and Election Day.

"This is what this campaign is going to be about," Obama said Monday after drawing a distinction between what Mitt Romney did as CEO of Bain Capital and what is expected of a president.

Obama's comments came at an unlikely venue -- a NATO summit, of all things. But they MORE

GOP candidates rack up debt

Newt Gingrich's long-foundering presidential run is finally over, but the former House speaker's efforts to pay off his campaign debt are likely just beginning.

The Gingrich campaign, as of the last reporting period, owes $4.3 million to creditors, including pollsters, staffers, consultants, lawyers and event venues.

The campaign owes Moby Dick Airways, an air charter company, more than $1 million. Another $450,000 is owed to a security firm called Patriot Group. Tech MORE

SEC rule hits Romney fundraising

The Wall Street Journal reports that Mitt Romney's new "Victory Fund"  -- a joint effort between the campaign and the Republican National Committee -- has encountered a minor stumbling block.

Deep pocketed Wall Street donors, many of whom are thought to favor Romney, are being warned by their firms to limit donations. Here's the Journal:

"[The Victory Fund] asks donors to give as much as $75,800, including donations to Mr. Romney's primary MORE

Surprise! Budget mess rolls on

Congress and the White House took another few steps away from conducting a well-reasoned, bipartisan budget process on Wednesday, as Democrats and Republicans let loose another round of ultimatums and rhetorical bombs.

Let's start with the battle between House Republicans and the White House. Last year, with just hours to spare before a voluntary default on the nation's debt, Congress passed a piece of legislation called the Budget Control Act.

Along with MORE

Romney's economic brain trust

The long trek to the White House is never made alone. Instead, candidates pick up all manner of consultants, pollsters, advisers, press officers and wanna-be appointees along the way.

Mitt Romney, now considered his party's presumptive nominee, has his own team of four economic advisers. Harvard economist Greg Mankiw and Columbia Business School's Glenn Hubbard hail from academia.  Former Sen. Jim Talent and Rep. Vin Weber bring knowledge of Washington's hallways MORE

Romney hints at tax changes

One of the biggest knocks on Mitt Romney this election cycle is that his policy proposals have lacked specificity -- especially when it comes to how much the government should tax, and what programs it should spend that revenue on.

But on Sunday, a few new details were revealed as reporters were able to eavesdrop on a closed Romney fundraiser.

We know Romney wants to cut income tax rates MORE

What kind of car is Obama?

If President Obama was a car, what kind of car would he be and why?

That's the question Resurgent Republic, a conservative polling and advocacy group, asked independent voters in Virginia and Colorado recently. The focus group members all voted for Obama in 2008, but are undecided heading into this year's general election.

The answers, to say the least, varied.

One voter said Obama is most like a Yugo. Yes, the subcompact MORE

Obama's army of tax-paying secretaries

A phalanx of administrative assistants and their millionaire bosses joined President Obama onstage Wednesday at the White House as he once again called on Congress to pass his "Buffett Rule."

Why the odd pairing of secretaries and millionaires? The general principle behind the rule is that millionaires and billionaires like investor Warren Buffett shouldn't pay a lower percentage of their income in federal taxes than middle-class households, and specifically their secretaries.

Buffett MORE