memeorandum: Crisis Past, Obama May Have Missed a Chance (Matt Bai/New York Times)

6:30 PM ET, September 8, 2010

Top Items:

“Middle Class” Tax Cuts — I know I saw this on some of the other wonky progressive blogs last week (or maybe the week before) but it didn't really hit home until I saw it again. The point is that when we talk about a distinction between the “Bush tax cuts for the rich” and the …

Discussion: Guardian

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Obama Lays Out Economic Proposals and Assails G.O.P. — CLEVELAND — President Obama called on Wednesday for an end to the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, saying the country can not afford the $700 billion price tag for tax breaks that would benefit “millionaires and billionaires.”

Discussion: Washington Wire, New York Times, Gawker, Wonkette and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Obama Is Against a Compromise on Bush Tax Cuts — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package …

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Peter Orszag clarifies “rift” with Obama admin over Bush tax cuts

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, National Review, The Monkey Cage, msnbc.com, NewsReal Blog and Balloon Juice

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
Obama Writes His Thesis Statement

Discussion: Grasping Reality …

Kendra Marr / The Politico:
Obama: Boehner has ‘no new ideas’

Discussion: CNN

Ezra Klein:
John Boehner's stale ‘two-step job creation plan’

Discussion: George's Bottom Line, Washington Monthly, Facebook, ABCNEWS and Economist's View

Mitch Daniels / Wall Street Journal:

Time for Emergency Economic Reform — How about a payroll tax holiday, funded by a federal spending, hiring and pay freeze? — Ronald Reagan enjoyed telling of the elderly Blitz victim rescued from her demolished London flat in World War II. A fireman found a bottle of brandy under …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Weekly Standard, AmSpecBlog and GOP 12

Ezra Klein:

Mitch Daniels has a plan — I'm impressed by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels's op-ed laying out his proposal for “a time-limited, emergency growth program.” It's a real plan, with concrete policy ideas that might actually make a difference. It's mercifully free from vague hand-waving about business uncertainty and government spending.

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, The New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Mitch Daniels Wins The Fiscal Special Olympics

Discussion: National Review and Ezra Klein

CNN:

CNN/Time Poll: Heated battle for Florida Senate — Charlie Crist and Kendrick Meek are part of a close three way race for Senate in Florida. — (CNN) - A new poll indicates that the three way-battle for Florida's open Senate seat, arguably the most fascinating Senate contest this year, is deadlocked at the top.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Washington Independent, Hot Air and Post on Politics

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Palin and Beck to mark 9/11 in Alaska — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will welcome Fox News personality Glenn Beck to her home state to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. — Palin and Beck will reunite in Anchorage on Saturday, two weeks after the “Restoring Honor” …

Discussion: Facebook, The Politico, Politics Daily, PalinTV, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12

Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Right Wing Leaders Plan To Use September 11th Anniversary To Make Money

Discussion: Human Events, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck Exploit 9/11 for Profit

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

The Politico:

Obama may look inside for Rahm job — Amid mounting signs that Rahm Emanuel will leave the White House to run for mayor in Chicago, Democratic insiders say President Barack Obama is likely to choose a new chief of staff who's already in his orbit but has experience with previous administrations.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Political Punch, Salon, Hot Air, Beltway Confidential, Sunlight Foundation and The Fix

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill: White House visitor logs offer clues into sources for Bob Woodward's new book

CNN:
Opinion: Obama wrong for '10 campaign

Discussion: The Atlanta Post

Janet Adamy / Wall Street Journal:

Health Insurers Plan Hikes — Rate Increases Are Blamed on Health-Care Overhaul; White House Questions Logic — Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet …

National Review:

This Is Where We Begin to Say No — On the Ground Zero mosque, Americans reject the opinion elites that empower the Islamists. — A tectonic shift is in motion: How fitting that its focal point is Ground Zero, the inevitable fault line between Islam and the West.

Discussion: New York Times, Power Line and INSTAPUTZ

Bob Connors / NBC Connecticut:
City Council Meetings to Begin with Muslim Prayers

Discussion: theblogprof, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, The Mahablog and The Two Malcontents

Spiegel Online:

Terry Jones Accused of ‘Spiritual Abuse’ at Cologne Church — US fundamentalist pastor Terry Jones, who wants to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11, ran a church in the western German city of Cologne until last year when members of the congregation expelled him.

Discussion: Think Progress, Little Green Footballs, The Lede, CBS News, Raw Story, ABCNEWS, The Political Carnival, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post and Prairie Weather

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:

Andy Griffith throws away 50 years of good faith in 30 seconds — Recently, HHS recruited none other than Andy Griffith to shill for Obamacare: — That's right, folks, just forget everything you know and trust ol' Sheriff Andy. Would Opie's pa lie to ya? 'Course he wouldn't.

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival and Weasel Zippers

Benjamin Niolet / The Charlotte Observer:
It's lucky that Sheriff Andy isn't facing voters

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Riehl World View and RedState

Scott Keyes / Think Progress:

GOP House Candidate On Civil Rights: ‘We Need To Get Our Federal Government Out Of The Way’ — Fireworks occurred during a town hall in Canton, OH, last night when Rep. John Boccieri (D-OH) unexpectedly showed up at his Republican opponent's public event. Challenger Jim Renacci …

Discussion: Repository, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs and Oliver Willis

CNN:

CNN/Time Poll: All tied up in California races — It's neck and neck in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll. — (CNN) - It's too close to call in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll. — A CNN/Time/Opinion Research …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, Associated Press and Doug Ross

Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:

Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas — WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Althouse, New York Times, Fausta's Blog, iOwnTheWorld.com, Sweetness & Light, All American Blogger, Right Wing News, National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

CBS New York:

Long Island Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47 — Says Many Gang Members Were Coming After His Family — UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family. — But it's how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line.

Discussion: theblogprof, All American Blogger, Left Coast Rebel, Campaign For Liberty Blog, Creative Minority Report, National Review, Wake up America, LewRockwell.com Blog and Neptunus Lex

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:

RGA Chairman Signals Republicans Giving Up On Maes In Colorado — Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, had no kind words for his party's nominee for governor in Colorado Dan Maes. TPM has been chronicling Maes' problems over the last few weeks following his false claims he was a spy.

Discussion: The Spot, ColoradoPols.com, National Review, The Politico and Daily Kos

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Haley Barbour: RNC woes costly

Discussion: Ballot Box, CNN and msnbc.com

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Fidel: 'Cuban Model Doesn't Even Work For Us Anymore' — There were many odd things about my recent Havana stopover (apart from the dolphin show, which I'll get to shortly), but one of the most unusual was Fidel Castro's level of self-reflection. I only have limited experience with Communist autocrats …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Harry's Place, The Blaze, TalkLeft, The Daily Dish and Pajamas Media, more at Mediagazer »

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Court Sides With C.I.A. on Seizure of Terror Suspects — WASHINGTON - A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agency's practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to other countries for imprisonment and interrogation.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Paul campaign: Online impersonator was impersonated — I posted yesterday that DailyKos appeared to have caught a Rand Paul staffer pretending, in the comments, to be a progressive with doubts about Jack Conway. Paul aide Gary Howard, however, tells me — and has evidence to back it up …

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, The Atlantic Online and Daily Kos

Erika Lovley / The Politico:

Barbara Boxer aide charged with possession of pot — A senior aide for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was arrested Tuesday for attempting to bring marijuana into the Hart Senate Office Building, according to U.S. Capitol Police reports. — Marcus Stanley, who served as a senior economic adviser …

Discussion: PolitiCal, Wonkette and Washington Post

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

Obama vs. the Republicans (With Full Speech Text) — I think it's safe to say that President Obama has given up on bipartisanship, at least for the foreseeable future. — The White House just released prepared text of his economic speech to the City Club of Cleveland.

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Reihan Salam / The Daily Beast:

Obama For Mayor! — He knows Chicago's neighborhoods. He built a diverse coalition in a city sorely in need of new leadership. Maybe Barack Obama is in the wrong job. — Richard Daley's decision to retire as mayor of Chicago at the end of his term has thrown the city into a minor panic.

Discussion: Don Surber, Democracy in America and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Boehner: Roll back spending to 2008 levels, extend all tax cuts — With everyone focused on Barack Obama's hard pivot to the economy — which has taken him nine months to accomplish — John Boehner appeared on ABC's Good Morning America and stole a march on the President.

Discussion: msnbc.com and Gateway Pundit

Michael Cieply / New York Times:

Politics on Film, but This Time Leaning Right — LOS ANGELES — After Michael Moore screened his anti-Bush documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11” for Hollywood's assembled royalty at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences six years ago, the crowd broke out in a noisy ovation that it did not want to stop.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Beltway Confidential, Weekly Standard, alicublog, Liberty Pundits Blog and Neptunus Lex

Dallas Morning News:

Letters bearing Eddie Bernice Johnson's signature ask that scholarship money be sent directly to her grandsons — Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson apparently asked the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to send scholarship checks directly to her two grandsons and two great-nephews, rather than to their colleges.

Discussion: Hot Air and Pajamas Media

Karen Farkas / Plain Dealer:

Tri-C students recruited to fill the seats for Obama's appearance — PARMA, Ohio - With less than an hour before President Obama's scheduled speech, 75 seats remained empty in the recreation center at Cuyahoga Community College's Western Campus. — So organizers went around campus and recruited more students to fill the seats.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog