memeorandum: An Open Letter to President Barack Obama and Members of the U.S … (SEIU)

12:45 PM ET, January 7, 2010

Top Items:

Susan Page / USA Today:

National security adviser: Airline bomber report to ‘shock’ — WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel “a certain shock” when they read an account being released Thursday of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane.

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Commentary, The Strata-Sphere, Mudville Gazette, Top of the Ticket, NPR Blogs, Scared Monkeys, The Washington Independent, Cafe Hayek, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Breitbart.tv, GINA COBB, Raw Story, The Hill, TPM LiveWire and Political Punch

Sebastian Rotella / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. learned intelligence on airline attack suspect while he was en route — U.S. border enforcement officials discovered alleged extremist links in a database while the suspect was headed to Detroit on Christmas Day, new disclosures show. — Reporting from Washington …

Discussion: Laura Rozen's Blog, Politics Daily, msnbc.com, Guardian, Don Surber, The Corner on National …, Talking Points Memo and PoliBlog

Michael B. Mukasey / Wall Street Journal:
What Does the Detroit Bomber Know?

Discussion: Commentary, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Washington Post

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Conservatives Finish 2009 as No. 1 Ideological Group — Uptick owing largely to more independents calling themselves conservative — PRINCETON, NJ — The increased conservatism that Gallup first identified among Americans last June persisted throughout the year, so that the final year-end …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Commentary, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Real Clear Politics, GayPatriot, GINA COBB and Shot in the Dark

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Democratic Support Dips Below Majority Level in 2009 — PRINCETON, NJ — The year 2009 marked the end of a three-year run of majority Democratic support among U.S. adults. Last year, an average of 49.0% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they leaned Democratic, the party's first yearly average below 50% since 2005.

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, Hotline On Call, MyDD and Hot Air

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Democrats lose majority support in Gallup polling

Discussion: msnbc.com, Bluestem Prairie, Federal Eye and Minnesota Independent

Patrik Jonsson / Christian Science Monitor:

Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention — Sarah Palin's appearance is a coup for a movement now getting grudging respect from mainstream commentators. But will the feisty Tea Party movement coalesce with the GOP's old guard? — Atlanta

Discussion: Wonkette, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, The Lonely Conservative, The Political Carnival, The Daily Dish, Commentary, PostPartisan, No More Mister Nice Blog and Riehl World View

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
Tea Partiers Mobilize To Take It ‘To The Next Level’

Discussion: First Draft, Democratic Strategist, Talking Points Memo and TPM LiveWire

Dan / Riehl World View:
Palin $100k To Speak At Tea Party Event?

Discussion: The Washington Independent

S.A. Miller / Washington Times:
‘Tea party’ head warns GOP of Fla. repeat

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, The Buzz and Naked Politics

Chelsea Schilling / WorldNetDaily:
Palin-Farah ticket at 1st national tea-party convention

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Joe. My. God.

The Note:

Steele Lashes Out: Critics Should ‘Get a Life,’ ‘Shut Up,’ ‘Fire Me ... or Get out of the Way’ — ABC News' Aaron Katersky and Rick Klein report: RNC Chairman Michael Steele is lashing out his critics, with a series of blunt messages for prominent Republicans who have blasted him over his leadership for the Republican Party.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, The Page and TPM LiveWire

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Steele's side pursuits drive away big donors

Discussion: The Plum Line and The Hill

James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:

NCTC director Michael Leiter remained on ski slopes after Christmas Day airline bombing attempt — WASHINGTON - The top official in charge of analyzing terror threats did not cut short his ski vacation after the underwear bomber nearly blew up an airliner on Christmas Day, the Daily News has learned.

Discussion: Laura Rozen's Blog, The Atlantic Politics Channel, JammieWearingFool, Another Black Conservative, Hot Air, Media Blog on National …, ThreatsWatch and Gateway Pundit

Hugh Son / Bloomberg:

Geithner's New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure — Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer's payments to banks during the depths …

Discussion: DealBook, The Huffington Post, Felix Salmon, The Business Insider, National Review Online, naked capitalism, Wonk Room, Betsy's Page, The Agonist and The Big Picture

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Oh, Byron, We Hardly Knew Ye — Senator Byron Dorgan is retiring! I know this comes as a shock to you, people. Also Senator Chris Dodd! We are only one week into the new year, and the political world is in turmoil. It's a wonder we can continue on with our regular duties.

Discussion: Washington Post, DailyHowler.com and Prairie Weather

New York Times:
Democrats Wary as Two Senators Decide to Retire

Discussion: Denver Post, The Note, Wall Street Journal, TPMDC, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, The Hill, Washington Post, USA Today, The Reality-Based Community and pa2010.com

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Carlson Launches Right's Answer to HuffPost — The offices of The Daily Caller evoke a long-ago era of journalism, circa 2005 or 2006, before the Los Angeles Times closed its big-city bureaus, The Washington Times fired 60 percent of its staff, and magazines from Gourmet to Portfolio shuttered for lack of revenue.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Wonkette, The Other McCain, The Awl and Mediaite

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn't Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN? — Reminds me of the time Tapper coolly yet cruelly pressed Gibbs to defend Biden's sub-moronic advice to New Yorkers about avoiding city subways during swine-flu season. There is, and can be, no defense here, and everyone in the room knows it.

Discussion: PoliBlog, Breitbart.tv, Stop The ACLU and Pajamas Media

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
White House: We will NOT discuss broken C-Span promise

Charles Lane / PostPartisan:

Dick Morris sees two parties. I see four. — I can't remember a more breathtaking 48 hours in politics since Barack Obama's election in November 2008. Byron Dorgan is out; Chris Dodd is out; Bill Ritter is out. Who would have thought that just one year into Obama's promising presidency …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Swampland, Commentary and Liberal Values

Dick Morris / Real Clear Politics:
The New Two-Party System

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

New York Post:

White House budget director ditched pregnant girlfriend for ABC News gal — President Obama's budget guru has a secret love child — with the woman he jilted for his hot new fiance, The Post has learned. — White House budget director Peter Orszag's ex, shipping heiress Claire Milonas …

Discussion: Reliable Source, The Confluence, NewsBusters.org, Pundit & Pundette, Indecision Forever, AmSpecBlog, Ben Smith's Blog and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Jackie Calmes / The Caucus:
A Third Child for Orszag

Discussion: Politics Daily

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

Democrat Wears Scorn as Medal in Abortion Fight — MENOMINEE, Mich. — Representative Bart Stupak often endures things others find unbearable. He crisscrosses a Congressional district so vast that some constituents live eight hours apart and so cold that the beer at his beloved football games sometimes freezes.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Emptywheel

Bob Barr / The Barr Code:

Critics of Obama way off base on this one — Yes — the not-so-bright, would-be terrorist from Nigeria got though international and domestic security mechanisms supposed to have stopped him long before the jerk lit his underwear afire before landing in Detroit.

Discussion: msnbc.com

SEIU:

An Open Letter to President Barack Obama and Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in Support of Strong Affordability and Coverage Provisions in Final Health Reform Legislation — Dear President Obama and Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives:

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, Wall Street Journal and TPMDC

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ellen Malcolm Flees Emily's List — For a lot of reasons, I believe that electoral support with no lobbying arm is a flawed advocacy model. But there's no denying that Ellen Malcolm was a superb fundraiser who built Emily's List into a powerful support network for pro-choice female candidates.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Anill / Think Progress:

Study predicts $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized. — A new study by University of California at Los Angeles professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda suggests that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Dr. Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda / Center for American Progress:
Raising the Floor for American Workers

Discussion: Wonk Room

PittsburghLIVE.com:

Sestak puts blame on Democratic leaders for slipping support — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — Rep. Joe Sestak blames Democratic leaders for the plunge in public support for overhauling the health care system, saying Wednesday they failed to defend proposals that helped carry the party to victories in 2008.

Discussion: Breitbart.tv

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Clintons, Oval Office: Obama one on one — Bill Clinton will be in the Oval Office today. — So will Hillary Clinton. — But not together. — The former president will meet with President Barack Obama after lunch in the Oval Office. The secretary of state and former first lady …

Discussion: D.C. Now