According to an aide at the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, the committee will proceed with a motion on June 20 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in relation to the investigation into the so-called "Fast and Furious" gun-running operation.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 7, 2012, before the House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Justice Department.

The motion will have to pass through committee before it sees a full vote in the House.

The AP reports that House Republicans are pursuing this motion against Holder "for failing to produce some documents the panel is seeking.... To date, the the Justice Department has produced 7,600 pages of documents to the committee."

More from the AP:

Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says Congress needs to examine records regarding the Justice Department's conduct following public disclosures in early 2011 that hundreds of guns illicitly purchased at gun shops on the U.S. side of the border wound up in Mexico, many of them at crime scenes.

The Justice Department says many of the documents deal with open criminal investigations and prosecutions -- matters relating to sensitive law enforcement activities that cannot be disclosed.

Contempt of Congress is used when the House or Senate wants to punish a recalcitrant witness for not complying with an investigation and, by doing so, is done to deter others from similar conduct.

If found in contempt of Congress, punishments can range from jail time, to fines, to probation, but it typically does not get that far.

If the committee passes this motion to proceed June 20, it is then sent to the full House of Representatives for a vote. If it passes through the full House, it then is referred to the U.S. Attorney. 

Two recent contempt of Congress considerations:
2008: Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee found White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Josh Bolton in contempt for not cooperating with an investigation into possible political motivation in the handling of federal prosecutors by the Bush adminstration. The full House passed the measure, but most Republicans (including Boehner and Issa) boycotted the vote.

1998: Janet Reno was found in contempt of Congress by Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee for not complying with a subpoena regarding possible campaign-finance law violations. The full House never voted on the measure after the documents they had requested were turned over.

President Obama isn't running only against Mitt Romney; his campaign also wants to run against the Republican Congress.

And so Obama campaign is up with a new TV ad that touts Obama's jobs plan and notes that Congress refuses to act to pay for it.

It will air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Script:
The President: "We're still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Our businesses have created almost 4.3 million new jobs over the last 27 months, but…we're still not creating them as fast as we want."
Narrator: "The President's jobs plan would put teachers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers back to work. Right now. And it's paid for by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more But Congress refuses to act. Tell Congress we can't wait."

Just hours after the Obama campaign announced that it, the Democratic National Committee, and other Obama-related committees had raked in $60 million in May, Team Romney said they one-upped them.

Their Romney campaign/Republican National Committee haul: $76.8 million. They also reported having a combined $107 million in the bank for all of their committees.

“We are encouraged by the financial support from a broad range of voters," Romney Victory National Finance Chairman Spencer Zwick said in a statement. "Voters are making an investment because they believe that it will benefit the country.”

But if the financial reports from April are any indication, much of that nearly $77 million is coming in the form of big five-figure checks from large donors.

Around this same time last month, the Romney camp and RNC reported raising a combined $40 million. But when we saw the actual Federal Election Committee filings, it was $11.7 million for the campaign, $11.4 million for the RNC, and the rest -- $17 million -- for the Romney Victory Fund.

The Romney Victory Fund -- which also includes coordination with the state GOPs of ID, MA, OK, and VT -- is the mechanism that allows donors to contribute up to $75,000 each. In mid-May, both Mitt Romney and his wife each contributed $75,000 to the Victory Fund.

There is also an Obama Victory Fund, which allows large donors to cut equally big checks. But when Team Obama announced raising $43.6 in April, the FEC filings later showed that the campaign raised $25.7 million, the DNC raised $14.3 million, although nearly half of that DNC money came from a transfer from the Obama Victory Fund.

(When Team Obama collects large checks, the first $5,000 go to the campaign, which is the individual maximum; $30,800 go to the DNC, which is the max; and the rest go to the other committees.)

We will not be able to get a campaign vs. campaign or party vs. party comparison on these numbers until June 20, when FEC reports for May are due.

How polarized is the Wisconsin electorate in this recall contest?

According to the early exit polls, 51% of voters said they approve of the way Gov. Scott Walker (R) handled the issue of collective bargaining in the state -- the very issue that ignited this political battle in Wisconsin. By comparison, 48% disapprove of that job. 

Additionally, 50% say they approve of the legislation limiting government workers from collectively bargain, while 48% disapprove. 

What's more, voters have identical impressions of the two political parties -- 47% view the Democratic Party and GOP favorably, and 50% have a negative view. 

And minds in this recall were made up long ago: Just 11% said they decided their vote in the Walker vs. Tom Barrett contest since May 1. But a whopping 88% said they made up their minds before that. 

Where voters weren't necessarily divided: A majority -- 54% -- said the government is doing too many things, versus not doing enough to solve problems. And 52% say they have a favorable view of unions for government workers, while 43% have an unfavorable view. 

Cory Booker and Bill Clinton praising private equity or Mitt Romney's business record at Bain Capital launched numerous stories, because it appeared to contradict the Obama campaign's attacks on Bain.

So will a GOP senator praising loan guarantee programs for federal energy programs do the same for the Romney camp and Republicans on Solyndra? 

Here's Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, per The Hill:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is breaking with Mitt Romney and some Capitol Hill Republicans by expressing support for federal green-energy programs, including the one that provided loan help to the now-bankrupt Solyndra.

Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she supports continuation of the Energy’s Department loan-guarantee program for green energy, and more broadly backs a federal role in boosting market deployment of alternative energy.

“I do believe there is a role, and perhaps that sets me apart from some of my other colleagues on Capitol Hill,” said Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

[snip]

“I think we need to do a critical, hard assessment and make sure it is doing that which we had intended,” she said.

But the senator warned against a “knee-jerk” response to Solyndra of seeking to torpedo the entire program.

“I think we need to get through this period and be able to reflect on what it is that actually comes out of these loan guarantee programs. We are focusing right now on the failures instead of also recognizing that we have done good things for the loan guarantee program,” Murkowski said. “We need to make sure it does what it is supposed to be doing."

Of course, Murkowski is now one of the most independent GOP voices in the Senate, after losing her Republican primary in 2010 but then winning her race as a write-in candidate.

On that same note, however, it shouldn't have been surprising that Booker and Clinton -- who reside in New Jersey and New York, respectively -- would praise private equity and Wall Street.

The political playbook isn't a new one for an incumbent, especially one who's facing a difficult contest.

Turn the race into a choice, not a referendum; argue that progress has been made, no matter how slowly or controversially; and link your opponent to your even more unpopular predecessor.

Of course, we're talking about President Obama's campaign playbook against Mitt Romney.

But we also could be talking about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) -- who has followed this exact same script in his recall battle against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) that takes place on Tuesday.

While Walker couldn't be more different ideologically and stylistically from Obama, he and his allies in this recall have:
-- tried to disqualify Barrett as a suitable replacement (just like the Obama campaign has tried to do to Romney);
-- made the case that the economy has improved, even if it's been incremental (ditto Team Obama);
-- and argued that replacing Barrett with Walker would take voters back to the days of the unpopular Gov. Jim Doyle (D) administration (hello, George W. Bush).

"There's a polarized electorate for both, with the majority of people locked in. And the swing voters need to see a choice -- that benefits the incumbent," says one Democratic official who is watching both races.

"If they only see it as a referendum on performance, then the failure to change mood alone could be devastating. If they can make it about the other guy, they're OK."

Is that playbook working for Walker? A recent Marquette Law School poll finds Walker leading Barrett by seven percentage points among likely voters, 52%-45%. But Democrats point to their own internal polls showing a much closer race.

Three big differences between Walker and Obama
To be sure, there are some importance differences between Wisconsin's gubernatorial recall and November's presidential contest.

For one thing, the nature of a recall is much different than a presidential election. (That could very well explain why Obama leads Romney, 51%-43%, in that same Marquette poll -- some Democrats and pro-Obama voters, even if they don't approve of Walker's job, might not think he should be recalled from an office he won less than two years ago.)

In addition, Barrett has had very little time between winning his primary (on May 8) and this general election (June 5). By comparison, Romney has been the presumptive GOP nominee since April, giving him seven months to run a general-election race after his primary battle.

And then there's money. Walker and his allies have a sizable ad-spending advantage over Barrett and his allies, $23 million to $8.5 million, according to NBC/SMG Delta ad-buying numbers. While the Obama campaign has more money than the Romney camp, outside conservative groups will more than make up the difference.

Mike Schrimpf, communications director at the Republican Governors Association, points to another difference. "In the Walker scenarios, his advantages on the dominate issues -- taxes, spending, role of government -- all of those issues favor Gov. Walker's policies. He has taken an approach that's clearly different than President Obama."

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski doesn't see a comparison between the Obama and Walker playbooks. "Walker is running a campaign based on his accomplishments and reforms, talking about the economy and jobs he's created, businesses that have moved into the state. Obama doesn't have a record to run on."

Choice vs. referendum
Despite the differences, the similarities in campaign strategy are striking.

Just look at the pro-Walker TV ad campaign, which has tried to paint Barrett as an unacceptable alternative. One Walker ad portrays Barrett for being soft on crime:

This two year old spent six days in intensive care after being severely beaten, but Tom Barrett’s police department didn’t consider it a violent crime. Tom Barrett claims, “Violent crime is down 15.5 percent.” But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found that hundreds of beatings, stabbings, and child abuse cases were never even counted. Violent crime in Milwaukee is up, and Tom Barrett isn’t telling the truth.

Another one hits him for being a big spender:

Tom Barrett wants to spend more than 100 million dollars on a trolley for Milwaukee.  Now that’s the kind of reckless spending that left Wisconsin with more than a 3 billion dollar deficit. 

"Things are getting better"
Walker and his allies also have pointed to signs of an improving economy -- just like Obama and his supporters have.

Consider this Walker ad, in which he looks to the camera:

I've got some bad news for Tom Barrett, but good news for Wisconsin. The government just released the new jobs numbers. And as it turns out, Wisconsin actually gained -- yes, gained -- more than 20,000 new jobs during my first year in office. Add the jobs created this office, the total goes to over 30,000.

The Republican Governors Association has aired this ad:

Since Scott Walker became governor, Wisconsin has gained over 30,000 jobs. Fact.  

But Democrats have disputed those figures. And Politifact Wisconsin says, "To reach the number, he combined two data sets - one that involves unofficial (but generally more accurate) numbers that could change in the weeks after the election; the other is volatile, but still official monthly numbers. From an accounting standpoint this would be flagged as a mistake. From a political standpoint, he is mixing and matching to present the best possible view."

Tying your opponent to the old regime
And Walker and his supporters have tried to link Barrett to the previous governor, Jim Doyle (D) -- just like the Obama campaign has stressed that Romney's policies are no different than George W. Bush's.

Take this RGA ad, for example:

Where would you go if you could travel in a time machine? How about back to 2010 to Gov. Doyle’s administration? I didn’t think so. Under Jim Doyle, unemployment in Wisconsin went up 37%. Taxes went up $1.6 billion. That’s exactly what would happen if we made Tom Barrett governor.

There are additional similarities, too: Both Walker and Obama have passionate bases, and they have well-financed campaign machines.

If Walker prevails on Tuesday -- and Democrats are quick to point out  that this race is far from over -- then he'll have this playbook to thank.

But then the question becomes: Will it work for Obama in November? And who is paying more attention to it? The Obama campaign or the Romney campaign?

NBC's Katherine Faulders contributed to this story.

Less than six months before November’s presidential election, President Obama enjoys a sizable lead over Mitt Romney among Latino voters, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo poll of Latino respondents.

The challenge for the Obama campaign, however, will be turning out these voters, who aren’t as interested in the election as all other Americans are.

Larry Downing / Reuters

President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference after the 2012 NATO Summit May 21 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

In this survey, Obama holds a 34-point lead over Romney among registered Latino voters, 61 to 27 percent. In 2008, according to the exit polls, Obama defeated McCain among this key voting bloc, 67 to 31 percent.

In addition, Obama’s approval rating among all Latino adults stands at 61 percent (compared with 48 percent of all Americans in the new NBC/WSJ poll), and approval of his handling of the economy is at 54 percent (versus 43 percent overall).

Meanwhile, Romney is struggling with Latinos, the poll shows. Just 26 percent view him positively, while 35 percent see him in a negative light. By comparison, Obama’s positive/negative score among Latinos is 58/23 percent.

(Click here for a PDF of this NBC/WSJ/Telemundo poll.)

What’s more, this demographic group is more optimistic about the economy and the nation’s direction than the general population. Forty percent of Latinos believe the country is headed in the right direction (versus 33 percent of all Americans in the NBC/WSJ poll), and 46 percent of them say what they’ve read and heard recently makes them feel more optimistic about the economy (versus 42 percent).

But here’s a troubling sign for the Obama campaign: Latinos aren’t as excited about the upcoming election. A combined 68 percent of Latino voters say they are highly interested in the upcoming election (registering an “8”,”9”, or “10” on a 10-point scale). That’s compared with 81 percent of all voters who express high interest.

This NBC/WSJ/Telemundo survey -- an oversample from the just-released NBC/WSJ poll -- was conducted May 16-21 of 300 adults who identified themselves as coming from a Latino or Spanish-speaking background. That sample includes 119 interviews that were conducted in Spanish.

The overall margin of error for this survey is plus-minus 5.7 percentage points. The margin of error for the 188 registered Latino voters survey is plus-minus 7.2 percentage points.

President Obama and his allies continue to hold a sizable fundraising advantage over Mitt Romney and his allies, including a 2-to-1 edge in available cash, according to the latest totals filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The numbers show that Team Obama (the campaign, the DNC, and the major pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA Action) had a combined $144 million cash on hand as of April 30, and it raised $41.7 million last month.

That's compared with the $77.5 million in the bank that Team Romney (the campaign, the RNC, the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future, and the anti-Obama Super PAC American Crossroads) has reported, and it raised a total of $29.5 million in April.

But these fundraising figures tell only part of the story.

Last week, the Romney campaign announced raising a combined $40 million with the RNC and other committees -- essentially equaling the Obama-DNC haul -- which spurred stories about how Team Romney was catching up to Team Obama. The Romney camp also said it had $60 million in bank.

But the fundraising totals the Romney camp filed with the FEC are short of those numbers.

So how did it come up with $40 million raised in April and $60 million in the bank?

The Romney campaign tells First Read that its Victory Fund brought in $17 million, but those numbers won’t be filed to the FEC until July. That $17 million -- added to the campaign's $11.7 million and RNC's 11.4 million -- gets you to $40 million.

And the Romney camp gets to $60 million in the bank when adding up the campaign's cash on hand ($9 million), the RNC's ($34.8 million), and that Victory Fund ($17 million).

Overall, when you add up the totals for the campaigns, political parties, and top Super PACS, here’s where we stand:
Team Obama raised in April: $41.7 million
Team Romney raised: $29.5 million (they are also counting that extra $17 million from the Victory Fund)

Team Obama cash on hand: $144 million
Team Romney cash on hand: $77.5 million cash on hand

The components:
Obama: $25.7 million raised, $115 million cash on hand
DNC: $14.4 million raised, $24.3M cash on hand
Priorities USA Action $1.6 million raisd, $4.7 cash on hand

Romney: $11.7 million raised, $9 million cash on hand
RNC: $11.4 million raised, $34.8 million cash on hand
Restore Our Future: $4.6 million raised, $8.2 million cash on hand
American Crossroads $1.8 million raised, $25.5 million cash on hand

First Read confirms with the campaign that Mitt and Ann Romney contributed $75,000 each to the Romney Victory Fund – money going to the campaign, the RNC, and various other state committees.

That $75,000 is the maximum an individual can contribute to these entities.

Those contributions – first reported by CNN – will show up in the May FEC report (which doesn’t have to be filed until June 20).

While $150,000 is a significant amount of money, it pales in comparison to the millions Romney contributed to his 2008 campaign.

The Super PAC funded by Joe Ricketts has released a statement from the founder of TD Ameritrade that essentially says he won't use Jeremiah Wright as an attack against President Obama.

Joe Ricketts is a registered independent, a fiscal conservative, and an outspoken critic of the Obama Administration, but he is neither the author nor the funder of the so-called “Ricketts Plan” to defeat Mr. Obama that The New York Times wrote about this morning. Not only was this plan merely a proposal - one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors - but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take. Mr. Ricketts intends to work hard to help elect a President this fall who shares his commitment to economic responsibility, but his efforts are and will continue to be focused entirely on questions of fiscal policy, not attacks that seek to divide us socially or culturally.

Although this statement suggests that using Wright "reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects," it's worth noting that the actual proposal contains this line: "Joe Ricketts said it himself: 'If the nation had seen that [Jeremiah Wright] ad, they'd never have elected Barack Obama.'"

Earlier this morning, we wrote that President Obama has a 10-to-1 advantage over Mitt Romney when it comes to cash on hand (but it's less than 2-to-1 when you add many of the outside groups).

But how do the political parties stack up? Democrats have raised more money during the 2012 cycle, yet Republicans have more in the bank.

The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have raised almost $300 million, and they have more than $70 million in the bank. (The DNC holds $5 million in debt.)

This includes what the DSCC says was it's best first fundraising quarter ever (January through March). 

Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee have raised more than $250 million and have nearly $80 million in the bank. (The RNC holds $9.9 million in debt.)

Total raised:
RNC: $123.7 million
NRCC: $73.8 million
NRSC: $55.7

DNC: $154.8 million
DCCC: $83.6 million
DSCC: $59 million

Cash on hand:
RNC: $32.7 million
NRCC: $27.1 million
NRSC: $19.6 million

DNC: $24.4 million
DCCC: $22.8 million
DSCC: $24 million