memeorandum: In health debate, those numbers are just numbers (Lori Montgomery/Washington Post)

6:45 PM ET, October 19, 2009

Top Items:

CNBC, Reuters fall for climate hoax — In a dramatic shift, the Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that it is throwing its support behind climate change legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate. — Only it didn't. — An e-mail press release announcing the change is a hoax, say Chamber officials.

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle, JammieWearingFool, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Politics Daily, The Jawa Report, Democracy in America, Money & Politics, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal and Riehl World View

chamber-of-commerce.us:

A Survival Strategy for Free Enterprise Over the Long Term — Address by Thomas J. Donohue — President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce — U.S. Chamber of Commerce — Washington, D.C. — As Prepared for Delivery — Thank you very much, Sheila, and good day to everyone.

Discussion: Get Energy Smart!, Guardian, Wonk Room, MoJo Blog Posts, Boing Boing, The Corner on National … and TPMMuckraker

Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
White House plan: Neuter the Chamber

Discussion: Politics Daily, The Huffington Post, The Note, AmSpecBlog, Raw Story, Get Energy Smart!, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, Walker Report and Under The Influence

Kate Sheppard / MoJo Blog Posts:
The Yes Men Punk the Chamber

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMMuckraker, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Ezra Klein, The Hill, Raw Story, The Plum Line, Gawker, Talking Points Memo and The Washington Independent

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Fake “Chamber” Press Release Dupes Reuters

Discussion: EnviroKnow

David M. Drucker / Roll Call:

GOP Launches Strategy to Trip Up Health Bill — Senate Republicans, acknowledging they lack the votes to block a health care reform bill outright, have implemented a comprehensive political strategy to delay, define and derail. — With Democratic leaders and White House officials holed …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg, The Politico, WhiteHouse.gov Blog, Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAblog News, Wake up America, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, msnbc.com and The Political Carnival

Washington Post:
Doctor pay, and its cost, are part of health reform

Discussion: CNN, The New Republic, Liberal Values, RedState, Open Congress, Politics Daily, The Glittering Eye, The Washington Independent, The Hill and AmSpecBlog

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Pelosi Aims to Squeeze Skeptics on Public Option With Cheaper Bill Than Senate

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Emily Cadei / Eye on 2010:
Ensign's Parents Among Reid's Campaign Donors

Discussion: The Hill

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Lobbyists' $100K haul for Reid

Discussion: The Note

TheTandD.com:

DeMint watches out for all of us — Recently your newspaper published a letter from state Rep. Bakari Sellers attacking U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and his opposition to congressional earmarks. — There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars …

Discussion: The Palmetto Scoop, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Think Progress, Real Clear Politics, Newsweek Blogs and Salon

Rachel Weiner / The Huffington Post:

GOPers: DeMint Like A Jew “Watching Our Nation's Pennies” — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Two South Carolina County Republican Party chairmen stepped up to rebut criticism of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) in a newspaper editorial Sunday. But their defense of the senator might be overshadowed …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Wonkette, MyDD and TPM LiveWire

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:

AP Newsbreak: New medical marijuana policy issued — AP Newsbreak: New medical marijuana policy issued by Obama administration — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, The Daily Dish, New York Times, Left Coast Rebel, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Impolitic, Donklephant, Althouse and QandO

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama's commendable change in federal drug enforcement policy

Discussion: New York Times, Gallup, Hit & Run, American Prospect, Real Clear Politics, Gawker, Washington Monthly, AmSpecBlog, The Corner on National …, Political Byline, The Caucus, The Atlantic Politics Channel, ACS Blog and Cato @ Liberty

Club for Growth:

New TV Ad in NY-23 — Club and Club PAC Launch TV Ad in NY-23 — Washington - Club for Growth and Club for Growth PAC will launch a $300,000 television ad campaign tomorrow in the special election for New York's 23rd Congressional District. The campaign follows the Club …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, The Other McCain and TPMDC

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

Dick Armey Heads to NY-23 for Hoffman — It has been much rumored, but not fully confirmed until now. Dick Armey, the House Majority Leader after the 1994 Conservative Revolution will go to New York to campaign for Doug Hoffman. — In an exclusive conversation with RedState, Armey explains his reasons.

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, TPMDC, Big Government and The Washington Independent

Aaron Blake / The Hill: Club for Growth plugs another $300k into special

Tony Romm / The Hill:

Thomas to White House: Stay out of Fox News fight — Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid further fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. — In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist — who is promoting …

Discussion: The Opinionator, Commentary, The New Republic and Hot Air

Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:

Losing: Helen Thomas, NYT, and The Nation Object to White House Fight With Fox News — Well, it's not the first time the Grande Liberal Dame of the press corps has had words for the Obama White House, but today Helen Thomas is voicing more unlikely sentiments by telling the White House attack dogs to heel in the Fox News fight.

Discussion: Commentary, Fox News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Richard Perez-Pena / Media Decoder:

Times Says It Will Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs — The New York Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs - about 8 percent of the total - by year's end, offering buyouts to union and non-union employees, and resorting to layoffs if it cannot get enough people to leave voluntarily, the paper announced on Monday.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Silicon Alley Insider, Gothamist, News Desk, TechCrunch, Michelle Malkin, The TrogloPundit and Riehl World View

John Koblin / New York Observer:
New York Times Cutting 100 Newsroom Jobs

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, DailyFinance, Silicon Alley Insider and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Poll: majority now supports public health insurance option — As Democratic congressional leaders and White House officials work to shape health care bills that will go to the House and Senate floors, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health plan …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Behind the Numbers and The Plum Line

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Romney on Iran: “Unalloyed Evil”

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel and ABCNEWS

Jon Cohen / Behind the Numbers:
Post-ABC poll: few partisan fissures on Iran nukes

Discussion: Salon, The Daily Dish and Democratic Strategist

CNN:

CNN Poll: Will Afghanistan turn into another Vietnam? — WASHINGTON (CNN) - A slight majority of Americans think that the war in Afghanistan is turning into another Vietnam, according to a new national poll which also indicates that nearly six in 10 oppose sending more U.S. troops to the conflict.

Discussion: The Fix, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Swamp, Politics Daily, The Plum Line, ATTACKERMAN, NY Daily News and The Washington Independent

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Reading Material — I find the idea that senior military …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: Illinois Senate Election — Illinois 2010 Senate Race Still Neck-and-Neck — The 2010 U.S. Senate race in Illinois is now a dead heat between the top Democratic and Republican contenders. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Republican hopeful Mark Kirk tied …

Discussion: Swing State Project, Politics Daily, Taegan Goddard's …, Real Clear Politics and Politics Nation

Rasmussen Reports:

Palin Is Distant Second in GOP Match-Ups with Huckabee, Romney — Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's forthcoming autobiography has been at the top of the Amazon book charts for weeks, and it hasn't even been released yet. At least in the eyes of the political Left, she is now perhaps America's most visible national Republican.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Newsweek Blogs, Politics Daily, The Hill and TPMDC

Jamie Fly / Weekly Standard:

Sen. Kerry's Colossal Error of Judgment — Over the weekend, Sen. John Kerry provided some covering fire for President Obama's dithering about his strategy for Afghanistan, telling CBS News that: — “I don't see how President Obama can make a decision about the committing of our additional forces …

Discussion: New York Times, The Moderate Voice and CBS News

American Strategy / The New America Foundation:
Revenge of the Drones — An Analysis of Drone Strikes in Pakistan

Discussion: Danger Room and The Washington Independent

Peter Bergen / The New Republic:
The Front — The Taliban-Al Qaeda merger. — On July 25 …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Marisa Treviño / Latina Lista:

Special Sunday Post: RNC Chairman Michael Steele's bizarre interview with Univision's Jorge Ramos — For months now, I've resisted trying to equate Michael Steele with Sarah Palin — a Republican Party choice (a.k.a. token) to appease a certain demographic. Palin was to appeal to women voters.

Discussion: TPM LiveWire, Think Progress, The Washington Independent, Wonkette, Washington Monthly and Political Byline

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Banks Are Not All Right — It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. O.K., maybe not literally the worst, but definitely bad. And the contrast between the immense good fortune of a few and the continuing suffering of all too many boded ill for the future.

Discussion: naked capitalism, Free exchange, Washington Post, The Big Picture, The Glittering Eye, Language Log, SEIU, The Atlantic Business Channel, Prairie Weather, Crooks and Liars, American Street, Paul Krugman and Shakesville

David Sharrock / Times of London:

Hillary Clinton suffers ‘mis-speaking’ relapse with Belfast bomb claims — Hillary Clinton has been caught out “mis-speaking” again in a manner that suggests that she hasn't learnt from past experiences of her globe-trotting, “lily-gilding” speeches. — The US Secretary of State …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Say Anything, Hot Air, Neptunus Lex, Townhall.com and Riehl World View