memeorandum: How About a Payroll Tax Stimulus? (Lawrence B. Lindsey/Wall Street Journal)

11:10 AM ET, January 29, 2009

Top Items:

My Bipartisan Stimulus — Let's cut taxes, as I want, and spend more, as Obama would like. — There's a serious debate in this country as to how best to end the recession. The average recession will last five to 11 months; the average recovery will last six years.

Discussion: The Opinionator, Political Machine, The Atlantic Business Channel, Don Surber, Commentary, TIME.com, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, The Note, Balloon Juice, Scared Monkeys, The Washington Independent and American Power

Lawrence B. Lindsey / Wall Street Journal:

How About a Payroll Tax Stimulus? — For a similar amount of money, we could give workers $1,500. — Congress and the Obama administration seem near to deciding the details of an economic stimulus package. Unlike the efforts of President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush …

Discussion: American Enterprise Institute, QandO, Weekly Standard, RedState and Betsy's Page

Martin Feldstein / Washington Post:

An $800 Billion Mistake — As a conservative economist, I might be expected to oppose a stimulus plan. In fact, on this page in October, I declared my support for a stimulus. But the fiscal package now before Congress needs to be thoroughly revised. In its current form …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

The Politico:

GOP defies Obama overtures — House Republicans have proposed an alternative that leaders say would create 6.2 million jobs for only $478 billion. — “What Member can't go back his or her District and explain: Rather than voting for a bloated bill, ... I voted for an alternative …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, TIME.com, The Plum Line, Progress Illinois, MSNBC, Think Progress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Brian Beutler

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

1993 All Over Again? — One of the goals of the unanimous Republican “no” vote on the stimulus package Wednesday was producing news analyses like this one, from The New York Times. … And we all know what happened in 1994. Still, I don't think the analogy holds up. — 1. The Obama stimulus package is popular.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard, FiveThirtyEight.com, Matthew Yglesias, Eunomia and Washington Post

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Dems: GOP will pay political price for stimulus vote — Democrats are blasting House Republican leaders for pressing their conference to vote against the stimulus bill and warn the party that it will face political consequences. — In a memo on the “Republican Problem” to “interested parties” …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Toby Harnden / Toby Harnden's blog listings:
Hollow victory: Republicans deliver slap in the face to Barack Obama

Discussion: Townhall.com, Don Surber, The Politico, Sadly, No!, culturekitchen, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Fox News and Washington Monthly

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
Missing in Stimulus: Bipartisanship

Discussion: CBS News, Power Line, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, The Politico and Washington Post

Americans United / americansunitedforchange.org: NEW ADS TARGET REPUBLICAN SENATORS ON RECOVERY BILL

Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
Bipartisanship And The Stimulus — As Steve noted earlier …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Politico, CBS News, The Caucus and The New Republic

Washington Post:
House Passes $819 Billion Economic Stimulus

Discussion: MSNBC, MiamiHerald.com, Outside The Beltway, NY Daily News, Liberal Values, PoliBlog, TIME.com, USA Today, Sister Toldjah, Democracy in America, TPMDC, Hot Air, marbury, Left in the West, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, The Next Right and The Reaction

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code — WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Swamp, Hot Air, marbury, Wonkette, Argghhh!, Mudville Gazette, The Huffington Post, TIME.com, Gawker, Rising Hegemon, Green Inc., Lost in Transition, The BLT and Althouse

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama White House May Be a Crowded Mess — There will be four people in my old office. — On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being “obsessed with the perpetual campaign.” As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Washington Monthly, Yourish.com and AMERICAblog News

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

With Al Due Respect, We're Doomed — The lawmakers gazed in awe at the figure before them. The Goracle had seen the future, and he had come to tell them about it. — What the Goracle saw in the future was not good: temperature changes that “would bring a screeching halt to human civilization …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Shakesville and Jules Crittenden

Scott / Power Line: MILBANK MOCKS THE GORACLE OF DOOM

Bloomberg:

Obama's Open Records Pledge Tested Over Citigroup Guarantees — Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. government guarantees on securities totaling $419 billion for bank bailouts provide an early test of President Barack Obama's pledge to be open with taxpayers about what they have at risk in the credit crisis.

Discussion: Don Surber, Daily Pundit and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

New York Times:
Geithner Says Plan for Banks Is in the Works

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, LiberalOasis, The Big Picture and Talking Points Memo

Guardian:

Revealed: the letter Barack Obama's team hope will heal Iran rift — Officials of Barack Obama's administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned.

Discussion: Israel Matzav, TIME.com, Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, Reuters, Sister Toldjah, Telegraph, Pajamas Media and Power Line

Chicago Tribune:

The defense doesn't rest — Blagojevich pulls surprise, will go today to deliver closing argument at trial — SPRINGFIELD — His career tattered but his dramatic flair intact, Gov. Rod Blagojevich reversed course Wednesday and accepted the Illinois Senate's challenge to explain in person …

Discussion: Chicago Breaking News, Chicago Sun Times, TIME.com and Wall Street Journal

Marcia Kramer / WCBS-TV:

Mayor Bloomberg Declares War On ... Salt — Hizzoner Calls On U.S. Manufacturers To Reduce Salt Content Until It Results In A 50 Percent Cut In 10 Years — Citizens Revolt, Claim NYC Is Turning Into Nanny State — Singer Jimmy Buffett will never find his “lost shaker of salt” …

Discussion: Don Surber, The Strata-Sphere, Stop The ACLU and Riehl World View

Washington Post:

Iraq to Deny New License To Blackwater Security Firm — U.S. Embassy's Preferred Contractor Accused of Killings — The Iraqi government has informed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that it will not issue a new operating license to Blackwater Worldwide, the embassy's primary security company …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ATTACKERMAN, The Washington Independent, BLACKFIVE and At-Largely

Alex Koppelman / Salon:

Joan Walsh: No plans to marry Dick Armey — Former Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) still needs some lessons in etiquette. — Armey, who once referred to fellow Rep. Barney Frank as “Barney Fag,” lost his temper during an appearance with Salon editor in chief Joan Walsh on MSNBC's Hardball Wednesday, and lashed out, saying:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Politico, Balloon Juice, Feministe, Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
WHAT A GUY — Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) …

Discussion: Salon and Shakesville

Bill Carter / New York Times:

ABC Said to Consider ‘Kimmel’ in ‘Nightline’ Slot — ABC's television entertainment division has held discussions about moving its late-night comedy star Jimmy Kimmel to the 11:35 time period now occupied by the ABC News program “Nightline” to compete directly with Conan O'Brien …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, mediabistro.com, Michael Calderone's Blogs and Gawker

Rasmussen Reports:

Public Support for Economic Recovery Plan Slips to 42% — Public support for the economic recovery plan crafted by President Obama and congressional Democrats has slipped a bit over the past week. At the same time, expectations that the plan will quickly become law have increased.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Putting Torture Behind Us — President Obama is resisting calls for an investigation into torture and other abuses during the Bush years, so the chance to learn from our mistakes is slipping away. — Mr. Obama understandably wants to focus on economic recovery rather than a dissection of the past.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Brian Beutler

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Would I Have Voted No? — That's a good question. It's also a silly one, since the odds of my being a Republican Congressman as a married man are nil (they only want you to have a stable family life if you're straight). I'm not an economist and so it's very hard for me to judge how big …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Katha Pollitt / The Nation:

Birth Control Belongs in the Stimulus Bill — To the outrage of many feminists and family planners, yesterday Democrats heeded President Obama and dropped from the stimulus bill a provision that would have made it easier for states to offer contraception through Medicaid to low-income women not covered by Medicaid now.

Discussion: MoJoBlog and Brian Beutler