Tamara Keith

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

Tamara Keith is NPR's Congressional Reporter on the Washington Desk.

Since joining NPR in 2009, Keith has reported on topics spanning the business world from covering the debt downgrade and debt ceiling crisis to the latest in policy debates, legal issues and technology trends. In early 2010, she was on the ground in Haiti covering the aftermath of the country's disastrous earthquake and later she covered the oil spill in the Gulf.

Keith's contribution to NPR has included conceiving and reporting for the 2011 NPR series The Road Back To Work, a year-long series featuring the audio diaries of six people in St. Louis who began the year unemployed and searching for work.

Keith has deep roots in public radio and got her start in news by writing and voicing essays for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday as a teenager. While in college, she launched her career at NPR Member Station KQED's California Report, covering topics including agriculture and the environment. In 2004, Keith began working at NPR Member Station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, where she reported on politics and the 2004 presidential campaign.

Keith went back to California to open the state capital bureau for NPR Member Station KPCC/Southern California Public Radio. In 2006, Keith returned to KQED, serving as the Sacramento-region reporter for two years.

In 2001, Keith began working on B-Side Radio, an hour-long public radio show and podcast that she co-founded, produced, hosted, edited, and distributed for nine years.

Over the course of her career Keith has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an award for best news writing from the APTRA California/Nevada and a first place trophy from the Society of Environmental Journalists for "Outstanding Story Radio." Keith was a 2010-2011 National Press Foundation Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow.

Keith earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree at the UCB Graduate School of Journalism.

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It's All Politics
7:10 am
Thu November 29, 2012

Why Dividends, Capital Gains Are Big Part Of Fiscal Cliff Talks

Originally published on Thu November 29, 2012 10:58 am

As the White House and Congress debate how to steer clear of the fiscal cliff, one obstacle is the president's insistence that the wealthy should pay more in taxes. And one way that could happen is through changing the rules for dividends and capital gains.

If you own a share of stock in a company today, when the company pays out a dividend, the most you're taxed is 15 percent. And if you decide to sell the stock and cash out, you'd also pay 15 percent on your profits — the capital gains.

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It's All Politics
2:30 am
Tue November 27, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Compromise: Devil Is In The Definition Of Revenue

Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 9:29 am

A grand bargain, a compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, could all come down to one word: revenue. It's now widely agreed that steering away from the cliff — the combination of spending cuts and tax increases set to hit at the start of the year — will require some combination of revenue increases and spending cuts. The central sticking point could well be whether President Obama and Congress can agree on the definition of revenue.

At the moment, the casual observer could easily get the sense that the president and Republicans in Congress are talking past each other.

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It's All Politics
12:31 am
Tue November 13, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Would Only Dent The Deficit

Credit Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
House Speaker John Boehner, seen last week, discusses the looming fiscal cliff.

Originally published on Tue December 4, 2012 4:30 pm

Virtually everyone agrees that allowing the nation to fall off the fiscal cliff would be a bad thing.

Government programs would be cut, taxes would rise significantly on a majority of Americans, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, the economy would fall back into recession.

But get this: Even if all of those things happen, there would still be a budget deficit.

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Economy
9:36 am
Sun November 11, 2012

Congress Barrels Toward Fiscal Cliff

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.

Here's a term you're going to get really tired of in the next several weeks - if you haven't already: The fiscal cliff. It's a combination of automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to hit at the start of the year. That is, if Congress and the president fail to find a way to avoid it.

NPR's Tamara Keith has this primer.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Both House Speaker John Boehner and the president made it clear, they don't want to go off the cliff.

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Election 2012
4:41 pm
Tue November 6, 2012

Voter Turnout Appears To Be High In Ohio

Originally published on Tue November 6, 2012 5:08 pm

Melissa Block talks with Tamara Keith in Ohio.

Presidential Race
2:19 pm
Tue November 6, 2012

Ohio The Swing State To Watch In Presidential Race

Originally published on Tue November 6, 2012 5:08 pm

Transcript

LYNN NEARY, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Lynn Neary, filling in for our regular hosts who are preparing for a long night of election coverage.

At this hour, voting continues in every state, and we're going to hear how things are going in a few of the places that could decide the election. One of them is Ohio, worth 18 electoral votes. Residents there have been inundated with ads and visits from the candidates. Now the voters get their say.

We begin with NPR's Tamara Keith, who is in Columbus. Hi, Tamara.

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It's All Politics
2:47 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Is Romney Son Gunning To Steal Ohio Vote By Rigging Voting Machines?

Originally published on Fri November 2, 2012 3:34 pm

Have you heard the story that's swept the liberal blogosphere in recent days about how Mitt Romney's son Tagg is going to steal the election for his dad?

It's not true, but like all good conspiracy theories, it is based on kernels of truth.

This conspiracy centers on voting machines in Ohio, a key battleground in this election. A couple of Ohio counties use voting machines made by a company called Hart InterCivic. According to the rumor, Tagg Romney owns part of Hart. So, goes the story, Tagg Romney could fix the election.

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Presidential Race
2:40 pm
Fri November 2, 2012

Tagg Romney, Voting Machines And Ohio 'In Context'

Social media and the liberal blogosphere have raised questions about a Texas-based voting system company's connections to several fundraisers for Mitt Romney and Romney's son Tagg. Further stirring concern, the voting systems are used in two counties in Ohio. We look at the issue in the latest installment of our series In Context. Tamara Keith talks to Audie Cornish.

It's All Politics
3:42 pm
Thu November 1, 2012

In Key Senate Races, Outside Groups Outpace Candidates' Ad Spending

Credit Tony Dejak / AP
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (right), D-Ohio, debates his Republican challenger, Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel, at the City Club in Cleveland on Oct. 15.

Originally published on Fri November 2, 2012 4:52 pm

Most of the attention heading into Election Day may be on the presidential race, but the stakes are also high in the battle for the U.S. Senate, where there are close contests in about a dozen states.

According to an NPR analysis of Kantar Media CMAG data, outside groups are spending more than $100 million blanketing the airwaves. This won't come as a surprise if you live in a state with a competitive Senate race.

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Presidential Race
2:30 pm
Wed October 31, 2012

Democrat Critiques A Romney Stump Speech

Originally published on Wed October 31, 2012 3:53 pm

Transcript

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

As part of our ongoing elections coverage, we're talking stump speeches. Today on MORNING EDITION, we had a Republican political consultant listen to President Obama's remarks with a critical ear. Now, it's Mitt Romney's turn. Here's NPR's Tamara Keith with help from a Democratic operative.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Tad Devine is ready. He has a yellow legal pad next to his laptop as he watches Governor Romney's speech in Henderson, Nevada.

TAD DEVINE: OK. Here we go.

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