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SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called Pres. Barack Obama "stupid" Saturday on Twitter in response to comments Obama made last week about the Supreme Court.
"Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law," Grassley tweeted.
The Obama campaign responded to the message with a tweet from senior strategist David Axelrod, who is known for using Twitter to respond to critics of the president.
"Heads up, Sen. Grassley. I think a 6-year-old hijacked your account and is sending out foolish Tweets just to embarrass you!" Axelrod wrote.
Obama had said last Monday that he was confident the Supreme Court would not take the "unprecedented, extraordinary step" of overturning a health care law that had been "passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."
What's Romney hiding?
The Obama campaign started a hashtag war Thursday on Twitter in response to a Washington Post article that had detailed Mitt Romney's use of a loophole that allowed the GOP candidate to keep some of his investments undisclosed per the financial disclosure rules of presidential candidates.
"So what's Romney hiding," Obama staff tweeted from the president's account. "Tweet @MittRomney to demand he release his tax returns. #WhatsRomneyHiding"
Heads up, Sen. Grassley. I think a 6-year- old hijacked your account and is sending out foolish Tweets just to embarrass you!
–David Axelrod
The loophole in question allows candidates to keep information private if disclosing it would violate a previous non-disclosure agreement signed by the candidate. Most of Romney's assets are held by Bain Capital, with whom he has signed such an agreement.
Obama's hashtag — #WhatsRomneyHiding — remained in the top-10 most-used phrases on Twitter for more than a day, first used mainly by the president's supporters, and later taken over by users tweeting random jokes and mocking Obama.
"An explanation of how raising taxes on oil companies will lower gas prices #WhatsRomneyHiding," tweeted Guy Benson.
Others joked that Romney "likes dancing to Footloose" or is hiding the "blueprints to an algae refinery."
The Netflix PAC
Netflix has formed a political action committee called Flixpac, according to records obtained by Politico.
The company reportedly had lobbying costs of $500,000 in 2011, up from $20,000 in 2009.
The company is likely gearing up to join the fight for Net neutrality, an effort to keep Internet service providers or governments from restricting consumer access to Internet content.
Reed Hastings, the company's CEO, has made comments in the past indicating the company's concern with ISPs' abilities to restrict content. In late February, he fought against assumptions that the large amount of people using Netflix on a regular basis was proving to be a financial burden for ISPs.
"There is no financial pressure on ISPs," Hastings said at a tech conference in San Francisco. "They are making a fortune."
After a battle with Comcast over Netflix traffic, though, the company appears to be taking more decisive action by forming a PAC that can contribute up to $5,000 to federal candidates per election.
Trump's discourses
Donald Trump continues to provide commentary on American politics with his webseries, "From the Desk of Donald Trump."
In a series of 58 videos, Trump has commented on everything from Obama's foreign policy decisions to Rick Santorum's failed 2006 Senate campaign.
"How can somebody … run for the Senate as an incumbent and lose by 19 points to somebody else, and then say, ‘Gee, I just lost in Pennsylvania for the Senate by 19 points, and now I'm gonna run for president?'" Trump, who has endorsed Mitt Romney, said in a February post.
In his latest video, posted Thursday, Trump shares a conspiracy theory, but fails to provide evidence for his claims.
"Even though gasoline and oil prices are going right through the roof, I have no doubt in my mind that President Obama made a deal with the Saudis to flood the markets with oil before the election so he can at least keep it down a little bit," he said. "After the election, it's going to be a mess. You're going to see numbers like you've never seen if he wins. Let's hope he doesn't win."
