memeorandum: Senate Bill Restores Abstinence-Only Funding (Sarah Kliff/Newsweek Blogs)

5:25 PM ET, November 19, 2009

Top Items:

Rudy Giuliani to run for U.S. Senate; If elected may aim for White House in 2012 — Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has decided not to run for governor next year - but will run for U.S. Senate instead, sources told the Daily News. — A source familiar with Giuliani's thinking …

Discussion: NPR Blogs, TPMDC, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Fix, New York Post, Scorecard's Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette, AmSpecBlog, Liberal Values, MyDD, The Political Carnival, Big Brass Blog, The Page, Real Clear Politics and Hotline On Call

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

Giuliani Is Said to Have Decided Not to Run for Governor — Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has decided not to run for governor of New York next year after months of mulling a candidacy, according to people who have been told of the decision. — His decision is a blow to many Republican leaders …

Discussion: The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weekly Standard, Washington Wire, Hotline On Call, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Politics Daily, Gawker, George's Bottom Line, Ben Smith's Blog, Swing State Project, GOP 12, JammieWearingFool and The New Republic

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Giuliani camp denies Senate report

Discussion: Marist Poll, Taegan Goddard's … and GOP 12

Joseph Curl / Washington Times:

Health bill could get 34-hour reading in Senate — The 2,074-page Senate health care bill would take 34 hours to read cover to cover — and that's just what Sen. Tom Coburn wants done on the Senate floor. — The Oklahoma Republican has threatened to invoke parliamentary rules to force the Senate clerk …

Discussion: Townhall.com

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

FDL Statement on Senate Combined Health Care Bill — The Senate Health Care Reform Bill (photo by roemerman) — It is encouraging that Senator Reid respected the will of the American people and included a public option in the merged Senate bill. However, the addition of a state opt …

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus, The Huffington Post, The Politico, TalkLeft, Feministe, Blog entry and Raw Story

Jeffrey Young / The Hill: Reid uncertain of tally as healthcare bill heads for rare Saturday vote

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Reid announces Saturday test vote

Discussion: SEIU, The Swamp and Washington Monthly

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: Lieberman: More Dems could join public option filibuster

Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Ben Nelson: Senate bill's abortion provisions not good enough

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jeffrey H. Anderson / New York Post:
Reid's fuzzy math

Discussion: American Spectator, Weekly Standard and YID With LID

Los Angeles Times:
Reid rolls out Senate healthcare bill

Discussion: Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and PERRspectives

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:

Poll: Majority Of Republicans Think Obama Didn't Actually Win 2008 Election — ACORN Stole It! — The new national poll from Public Policy Polling (D) has an astonishing number about paranoia among the GOP base: Republicans do not think President Obama actually won the 2008 election — instead, ACORN stole it.

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Ben Smith's Blog, Matthew Yglesias, MoJo Blog Posts, No More Mister Nice Blog, Comments from Left Field and Indecision Forever

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

ACORN — Losing NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman became the latest in an increasingly long line of conservative politicians to blame his problems on ACORN yesterday despite the complete lack of evidence the organization played any role in his defeat. — The Republican base is with him though.

Discussion: The Hill, Firedoglake, The Washington Independent, Salon, Raw Story, The Gaggle, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Taegan Goddard's …, Left in the West and MyDD

Jude Seymour / Watertown Daily Times:

Hoffman: ACORN, unions, Dems tampered with NY-23 election — With his prospect of winning the 23rd Congressional District race now almost zero, Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman suggested Wednesday in a letter that “ACORN, the unions and the Democratic Party” “tampered” with results to deny him victory.

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Scorecard's Blog, Washington Monthly, Capitol Briefing, Swing State Project, The Hill, The Caucus, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Townhall.com, AmSpecBlog, Syracuse Post-Standard, Little Green Footballs, TPMDC, Left in the West, Gawker, Politics Daily, MyDD and The Mahablog

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Leahy: No need to interrogate bin Laden — If the U.S. captures Osama bin Laden, there's no need to interrogate him, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday. — Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the chairman of that committee, said that arguments raised by Republican senators …

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Power Line, YID With LID, Weekly Standard and Jules Crittenden

Kpicket / The washington times Blogs:
Schumer in '01: Those who attack the U.S. don't deserve same due …

Discussion: Moe_Lane's blog and Hotline On Call

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
NPR Shocker: Attorney General Holder Stumped By Lindsey Graham

Discussion: Althouse, NPR Blogs, RedState, TigerHawk, theblogprof, Fausta's Blog, The Other McCain, Wizbang, Riehl World View, The Strata-Sphere and Power Line

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Schumer, 2001: 9/11 terrorists won't get courtroom trials

Discussion: Ross Douthat

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

FOX rolls wrong video, heads may roll — by Mark Silva and updated with FOX apology — FOX has done it again, and this time, once again, FOX says its misplay of the wrong crowd video was another regrettable mistake. — Today, FOX News host Gregg Jarrett was talking …

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
The “Going Rogue” tour — by the numbers

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics and The Caucus

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
Chris Matthews: Palin Supporters Racist — ‘White vs. Other People’

Discussion: Raw Story

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Fox issues on-air apology for misleading footage of Palin crowds.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, TPM LiveWire and The Political Carnival

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: California Governor Election — 2010 California Governor: Brown 41%, Whitman 41% — State Attorney General Jerry Brown is the only major Democrat still running for governor of California next year, and now he's tied with Republican hopeful Meg Whitman at 41% each …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Swing State Project

Rasmussen Reports:
To Create Jobs, Voters Say Cut Taxes and Stop Spending

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, YID With LID and Power Line

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

White House aides: No Afghan decision before Thanksgiving — SEOUL — President Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said Thursday. — The news came as the president greeted 1,500 troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Mudville Gazette, RedState, Michelle Malkin and Weekly Standard

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Obama Tells Troops: “You Guys Make a Pretty Good Photo-Op”

Discussion: theblogprof

Daniel Zwerdling / NPR:

Hasan's Supervisor Warned Army In '07 … text sizeAAA — Two years ago, a top psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was so concerned about what he saw as Nidal Hasan's incompetence and reckless behavior that he put those concerns in writing. NPR has obtained a copy of the memo …

Discussion: Capitol Briefing, The Purple Center, PostPartisan, Mudville Gazette, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, The Jawa Report and YID With LID

David Johnston / New York Times:
Lawmakers Call Ft. Hood Shootings ‘Terrorism’

Discussion: Washington Post and The New Republic

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

House Dem: ‘Growing’ liberal consensus to dump Geithner — A Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) member said there's “growing consensus” among liberals that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should step down. — {mosads}Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said Wednesday that he and other liberal House members …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Hotline On Call and MyDD

Matthew Jaffe / ABCNEWS:
2 More: GOP Lawmakers Want Geithner's Head

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Gateway Pundit, The Hill and Riehl World View

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Fred Thompson: Afghan war ‘has been lost’ — Former Sen. Fred Thompson today intensified his party's criticism of President Obama's long deliberation over policy in Afghanistan, announcing that Obama's delay signals that “the war has been lost” and that nothing the president now does will “make any difference.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress, The Corner on National …, Hot Air and Say Anything

Quinnipiac University:

American Voters Like Obama, But Not His Policies, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For Public Option, But Not Overall Health Plan — Three-quarters of American voters - 74 percent - like President Barack Obama as a person, but only 47 percent like most of his policies …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Townhall.com, The Hill and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Lieberman slams public option, brushes off critics

Discussion: The New Republic, Ezra Klein and Commentary

Kbh / KeithHennessey.com:

Major tax increases in the Reid health care bill — The following is from the Joint Tax Committee estimate of the revenue effects of the Reid bill. I have listed provisions with major revenue effects (+$20 B / 10 years) and a few others that have significant policy or political impacts.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Ruby Slippers, Prescriptions, TigerHawk, New York Times, Weekly Standard, YID With LID, Cato @ Liberty, Hot Air, The New Ledger, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Conservatives, Betsy's Page and TaxProf Blog

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Conyers: 'I'm getting tired of saving Obama's can' — President Barack Obama is “bowing down” to Republicans and corporate interests on health reform, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) said Thursday. — Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a longtime advocate of single-payer healthcare …

Discussion: Breitbart.tv

Matt Corley / Think Progress:

Foxx: Republicans ‘Passed Civil Rights Bills Back In The 60s Without Very Much Help’ From Democrats — During a debate on the House floor today over designating 21 miles of the Molalla River as “wild and scenic,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who opposes the legislation, tried to claim a progressive environmental record for her party.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Wonkette

Ezra Klein:

What happens before 2014? — A lot of people have been asking what the Senate bill does immediately. To put it another way, in 2010 and 2012, when Republicans are saying that reform has done nothing despite the fact that it hasn't yet gone into effect, what will Democrats be able to brag about?