memeorandum: When Peggy Left Barry (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

1:50 PM ET, September 12, 2010

Top Items:

New chairman: Unemployment ‘going to stay high’ in near term — President Obama's new chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs (CEA) said Sunday that the national unemployment rate will not decrease significantly anytime soon. — Austan Goolsbee, who Obama announced on Friday …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

CNN:

Boehner says he'd vote for Democratic tax proposal — House Minority Leader John Boehner said Sunday that if he had to, he would vote for a Democratic proposal to restore higher tax rates on the richest Americans. — (CNN) - The top Republican in the U.S. House said Sunday he would vote …

David S Morgan / CBS News:

Boehner: I'll Drop Tax Cut for Rich If I Have To — House Minority Leader Disputes Obama's Claim GOP Blocks Tax Cuts for Middle Class; Says Spending Cuts Only Way to Create Jobs — (CBS) The leading Republican in the House, and a vocal proponent of allowing an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts …

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus and Raw Story

Bridget Johnson / The Hill:
Boehner would vote for limited tax cuts if that's ‘the only option’

Discussion: CNN and Washington Monthly

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Gingrich predicts Republican takeover that could trump party's gains in 1994

Discussion: The Politico

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Boehner fights back: NYT story is ‘hatchet job’

Discussion: The Hill, NewsBusters.org, Doug Ross and YID With LID

Eric Lipton / New York Times:
A G.O.P. Leader Tightly Bound to Lobbyists

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, CBS News, The Hill, Mediaite, Washington Wire, Commentary, Mother Jones, NewsBusters.org, The Politico, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, Los Angeles Times, The Reality-Based Community, Power Line, Political Punch, Right Wing News and The Page

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

A Harsh Thing I Should Have Said (Martin Peretz Dept) — Usually you regret the harsh things you say more than the harsh things you decide not to say. At least, that's how it usually turns out for me. — Here's an exception. Earlier this week I wrote an item about an incredible instance …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Is This America? — For a glimpse of how venomous and debased the discourse about Islam has become, consider a blog post in The New Republic this month. Written by Martin Peretz, the magazine's editor in chief, it asserted: “Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims.”

Discussion: TPMMuckraker and Balloon Juice

Agence France Presse:
Six Christians rip pages from Koran in White House stunt

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Left Coast Rebel, Sun Herald, Think Progress, Agence France Presse, TPMMuckraker, The Mahablog, JammieWearingFool and The Hill

Robert Costa / National Review:

Gingrich: Obama's ‘Kenyan, anti-colonial’ worldview — Citing a recent Forbes article by Dinesh D'Souza, former House speaker Newt Gingrich tells National Review Online that President Obama may follow a “Kenyan, anti-colonial” worldview. — Gingrich says that D'Souza has made a …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Politerati, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, alicublog, GOP 12, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and Angry Bear

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

When Peggy Left Barry — How did the first president of color become so colorless? — And how can Obamicans can Obama? — The president is everywhere, trying to get more aggressive and recapture some of his “Yes we can” mojo in an effort to fend off the rebuke that's barreling toward him from voters this fall.

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Commentary and Daily Kos

Frank Rich / New York Times:

Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back — NO, he can't. President Obama can't reverse the unemployment numbers by Election Day. He can't get even a modest new stimulus bill past the Party of No, and even if he could, there would be few jobs to show for it until (maybe) 2011.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Prairie Weather

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Hoyer: Dems won't lose the House — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged Sunday that Democrats will lose seats in the midterm elections but said they will keep their majority. — “We are going to hold the House,” said Hoyer, appearing on CNN's State of the Union.

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

John McCormick / Bloomberg:

Palin Welcomes Murkowski to Alaskan Election Race, Calls Effort ‘Futile’ — Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she would welcome a write-in ballot bid by Senator Lisa Murkowski, while predicting it would be a “futile” effort. — “Joe Miller is going to win the general,” …

Discussion: The Hill and Conservatives4Palin.com

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Citing “Mental Anguish,” Christine O'Donnell Sought $6.9 Million in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Conservative Group — Court documents obtained Saturday by THE WEEKLY STANDARD reveal surprising new details about the gender discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit filed …

Discussion: Riehl World View

Bridget Johnson / The Hill:

Imam: Palin on mosque was ‘disingenuous’; controversy exploited — The imam behind a mosque project near Ground Zero said in an interview that “certain politicians” were exploiting the controversy. — The imam behind a mosque project near Ground Zero said in an interview aired Sunday that …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers