memeorandum: As Obama's Poll Numbers Fall, Criticism of Multitasking Rises (John Harwood/New York Times)

1:35 PM ET, December 7, 2009

Top Items:

An Affordable Truth — Maybe I'm naïve, but I'm feeling optimistic about the climate talks starting in Copenhagen on Monday. President Obama now plans to address the conference on its last day, which suggests that the White House expects real progress.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Switchboard, Agence France Presse, The Glittering Eye, Daily Kos, Climate Progress, Beat the Press, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Financial Times

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Obama administration will formally declare danger of carbon emissions — The Obama administration will formally declare Monday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a move that lays the groundwork for an economy-wide carbon cap …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill, Associated Press, The Hill, Matthew Yglesias, Michelle Malkin, The Corner on National …, American Power, AmSpecBlog and Blue Virginia

Guardian:

'14 days to seal history's verdict' — This editorial calling for action from world leaders on climate change is published today by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages — Copenhagen climate change summit - opening day liveblog — Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries …

Discussion: Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report, RaceWire, Grist, Environmental Capital, MyDD, QandO, Switchboard, Biased BBC, TigerHawk, The Impolitic, AMERICAblog News, Pundit & Pundette, The Strata-Sphere, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

In Face of Skeptics, Experts Affirm Climate Peril — Just two years ago, a United Nations panel that synthesizes the work of hundreds of climatologists around the world called the evidence for global warming “unequivocal.” — But as representatives of about 200 nations converge in Copenhagen …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Politico, Coal Tattoo, EconLog, Climate Progress, Pajamas Media and Dot Earth

The Independent:

Home > News > World > Europe — The news that a leaked set of emails appeared to show senior climate scientists had manipulated data was shocking enough. Now the story has become more remarkable still. — The computer hack, said a senior member of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change …

Discussion: Times of London, Guardian, Robert Amsterdam, Informed Comment and Little Green Footballs

Richard Harris / NPR:

For Public, Climate Change Not A Priority Issue … text sizeAAA — Nearly 100 world leaders are expected to appear at the global warming talks that open Monday in Copenhagen. This is an unprecedented showing of leadership for the issue. Yet at the same time, public opinion of climate change …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Gallup, The Corner on National …, American Power, Guardian, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and Hit & Run

Wall Street Journal:
Business Fumes Over EPA Rule

Discussion: Green Inc., Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Grist, Environmental Capital and The New Republic

Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
U.N. leaders: Clock has ticked to zero

Discussion: The Swamp

David Derbyshire / Daily Mail:
Copenhagen climate change summit to produce as much CO2 as an African country

Discussion: The Politico, Riehl World View, DaTechguy's Blog, Gateway Pundit and JammieWearingFool

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

NPR reporter pressured over Fox role — Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network's top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network's political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Think Progress, NewsBusters.org, Power Line, Politics Daily, The Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, Jules Crittenden, Villainous Company, Pundit & Pundette, Confederate Yankee, TPM LiveWire, Dependable Renegade and Weasel Zippers

Rasmussen Reports:

Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot — Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican. — In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote.

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Mouth of the Potomac, FrumForum, The Other McCain, Tax Day Tea Party, The Plum Line, Raw Story, Townhall.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TPMDC and The Strata-Sphere

Ezra Klein:

Exclusive: Medicare buy-in attracting interest in the public option negotiations — Sources who have been briefed on the negotiations say that Medicare buy-in is attracting the most interest. Expanding Medicaid is running into more problems, though there's some appeal because …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Ezra Klein:
The not-a-public-option compromise, and beyond

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Democratic Strategist

David Herszenhorn / Prescriptions:
Team of Ten's Goal: A Not-Quite-Public Plan

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jackie Calmes / Boston Globe:

US may recover most TARP loans — WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department expects to recover all but $42 billion of the $370 billion it loaned to ailing companies during the financial crisis last year, with the portion loaned to banks showing a slight profit, according to a Treasury report.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Financial Times and Plunderbund

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
U.S. Forecasts Smaller Loss From Bailout of Banks

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Caucus, Gothamist and The Page

Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Strange coalition targets Bernanke

Discussion: The New Ledger, The Big Picture, Big Government and LewRockwell.com Blog

Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
Estimated TARP Cost Is Cut by $200 Billion

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, Associated Press, CBS News, The Huffington Post, The Corner on National …, Bloomberg, RealtyTrac, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Financial Times, Deal Journal and Washington Post

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

No Firm Plans for a U.S. Exit in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration sent a forceful public message Sunday that American military forces could remain in Afghanistan for a long time, seeking to blunt criticism that President Obama had sent the wrong signal in his war-strategy speech …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, DownWithTyranny!, Fox News, The Nation, About.com US Politics, Washington Times, The Moderate Voice, Commentary, Politics Daily, AMERICAblog News, marbury and George's Bottom Line

Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
General McChrystal scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this week

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel and msnbc.com

Washington Post:
McChrystal's plan for Afghanistan war remains largely intact

Discussion: Mudville Gazette, democracyarsenal.org, Jules Crittenden, Hotline On Call, Connecting.the.Dots, New York Times and CBS News

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

In Polls, Much Opposition to Health Care Plan Is From Left — Don't know why I didn't catch this earlier, but it strikes me as fairly important. — Ipsos/McClatchy put out a health care poll two weeks ago. The topline results were nothing special: 34 percent favored …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's … and The Political Carnival

Ezra Klein:
Two-thirds of Americans don't understand the public option

Discussion: TalkLeft and Matthew Yglesias

Wall Street Journal:

Girlfriends and Double Standards — Before Max Baucus there was Paul Wolfowitz. Will the ethical uproar be the same? — Printer — Friendly — Here's a poser: Suppose a public official is accused of recommending his girlfriend for a promotion, though he was the one who first flagged …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

The Huffington Post:

Palin's Father: She Left Hawaii Because Asians Made Her Uncomfortable — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Did Sarah Palin leave Hawaii because there were too many Asians? In the New Yorker review of “Going Rogue,” Sam Tanenhaus writes that Palin's father suggested as much to the reporters who wrote “Sarah From Alaska.”

Discussion: The Other McCain, Firedoglake, Confederate Yankee and The Political Carnival

Sebastian Rotella / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. sees homegrown Muslim extremism as rising threat — This may have been the most dangerous year since 9/11, anti-terrorism experts say. — Reporting from Washington - The Obama administration, grappling with a spate of recent Islamic terrorism cases on U.S. soil …

Discussion: YID With LID and Commentary

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to take up corruption law — ‘Honest services’ called too vague; prosecutors call provision vital — The Supreme Court this week will consider whether to apply the brakes to what critics have called a vague and limitless law that has proved essential to federal prosecutors …

Discussion: New York Times, Law Blog, The Washington Independent and SCOTUSblog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Race and politics in Alabama — Artur Davis's quest to become the first black Governor of Alabama has brought out — because of the state, because of the way state politics work — a different racial dynamic than even the presidential contest. And the latest episode is a column by Joe Reed …

Discussion: Eduwonk

Thomas H. Maugh II / Los Angeles Times:

Pearl Harbor mini-submarine mystery solved? — Researchers think they have found the remains of a Japanese mini-submarine that probably fired on U.S. battleships on Dec. 7, 1941. — Japanese warplanes hit, from left, the USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee and USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

Discussion: The Confluence, Hot Air and Jules Crittenden