memeorandum: Budget battle looms for Wall St. law (Silla Brush/The Hill)

7:40 AM ET, October 1, 2010

Top Items:

Seema Mehta / PolitiCal:

Whitman's husband says ‘it is possible’ handwriting on letter is his [Updated] — Dr. Griff Harsh, Meg Whitman's husband, just released a statement saying that it may be his handwriting on a 2003 letter that raised the possibility that their housekeeper was undocumented.

Discussion: TMZ.com, Hot Air, CBS News, Michelle Malkin, Left Coast Rebel and Daily Kos

TMZ.com:

Gloria Allred: Meg Whitman Is a Liar — Gloria Allred just went after Meg Whitman with a vengeance ... waiving a letter from the Social Security Administration sent to Meg back in 2003, putting Meg and her husband on notice there was a problem with their housekeeper's Social Security number — a sign she was here illegally.

Discussion: PolitiCal, American Power, The Political Carnival, Raw Story, RedState, Hot Air, Pajamas Media and The Daily Caller

Illegal Immigration:

ALIPAC Calls for Arrest of Candidate Meg Whitman & Nicky Diaz! — Contact: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) — In response to the explosive revelations that California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman employed illegal alien Nicky Diaz for nine years, ALIPAC is asking Immigration …

Discussion: The Washington Independent, TPMMuckraker, Hit & Run, Opinion L.A. and Joe. My. God.

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

Gloria Allred Says Letter Is Proof Meg Whitman Knew Housekeeper Was Illegal — Meg Whitman Accuses Jerry Brown of Orchestrating ‘Smear’ — Lawyer Gloria Allred released a letter today that she claims proves California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman knowingly employed an undocumented immigrant as her housekeeper.

Discussion: PolitiCal, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Politics Daily, Crooks and Liars, Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, Swampland and CNN

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:
Document shows Meg Whitman lying, attorney says

Discussion: The Huffington Post and New York Magazine

Seema Mehta / PolitiCal:
Whitman says she would take polygraph test to prove she didn't …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Colorlines and Los Angeles Times

The Caucus:

Emanuel's Departure Set; Rouse to Replace Him — Updated President Obama will give his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a send-off Friday as Mr. Emanuel officially announces his departure from the West Wing to run for mayor of Chicago, officials familiar with the decision said.

Discussion: Liberty Pundits Blog, News Desk, The Reaction, Speakeasy, The Nation, BAGnewsNotes, Daily Kos, Pajamas Media, AmSpecBlog, Beltway Confidential, The Page, Mediaite, Firedoglake, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, AMERICAblog News, Gawker and Joe. My. God.

The Politico:

White House scorecard: MSNBC up, bloggers down — At one point not that long ago, Greenwald's critiques were taken as constructive criticism, in much the same way Maddow's are. Marc Ambinder wrote in The Atlantic in May 2009 that “whereas the White House does not give a scintilla of attention …

Discussion: Speakeasy and The Huffington Post

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

Pete Rouse, who will replace Emanuel as chief of staff, is known as ‘fixer’ — Few people outside Washington, and not many inside, have heard the name Pete Rouse. The man President Obama will name as his interim White House chief of staff on Friday is a quiet political player who avoids the spotlight.

Discussion: Swampland, Ezra Klein and The Page

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi: Democrats will hit campaign trail with a ‘spirit of optimism’

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Closing the book on Christine O'Donnell Oxford flap — By now you may have heard that the claim that Christine O'Donnell studied at Oxford has now turned up on a second O'Donnell online resume, this one from ZoomInfo. — I've got some more information on what happened from ZoomInfo …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

The Huffington Post:
O'Donnell's Oxford Education Claim On Second Website Was Authored …

Discussion: TPMDC, Salon, Patterico's Pontifications, New York Magazine, Weigel and Little Green Footballs

Christine O'Donnell / ZoomInfo.com:
Results found for this person at Intelius.com

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Huffington Post and Patterico's Pontifications

Joe / Joe. My. God.:

Sen. Saxby Chambliss Just Called Me To Offer His “Sincerest Apologies” — I just got off the phone with Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who said he was calling to personally apologize for the “All faggots must die” comment left here on JMG last Tuesday. I'll paraphrase what Chambliss said to me …

Discussion: Gawker, TPMMuckraker, Lez Get Real, The Daily Dish, Mediaite, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and Truth Wins Out

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Chambliss fires staffer over posting of anti-gay slur

Discussion: CNN and Politics Daily

Vox Popoli:

Gay rights killed Clementi — The body count of the gay rights movement grows by one. … It was obvious from the start that the orientationally-challenged activists would attempt to blame Clementi's death on his roommate. But the surreptitious filming of sexual activity …

Discussion: Truth Wins Out, Sadly, No!, The Daily Caller, Good As You, alicublog and Associated Press

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Obama 52%, Clinton 37% for 2012 Democratic Nomination — Clinton's support highest among conservative, less well-educated Democrats — PRINCETON, NJ — If Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were to challenge President Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2012 …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Scared Monkeys, Liberal Values, Hot Air, Salon, CNN, Outside the Beltway, AmSpecBlog, Althouse, Weigel, New York Magazine, Half Sigma, National Review and Politics Daily

Silla Brush / The Hill:

Budget battle looms for Wall St. law — Lawmakers decided against boosting short-terms funds for financial agencies this week, a move that may foreshadow a lengthy partisan battle over financing the Wall Street overhaul law. — Congress approved an emergency spending bill on Wednesday …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:

Senate votes to turn down volume on TV commercials — WASHINGTON - Legislation to turn down the volume on those loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for their remote controls looks like it'll soon become law. — The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com and Truthdig

The Huffington Post:

Linda McMahon: ‘We Ought To Review’ The Minimum Wage — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, suggested Thursday that the U.S. ought to take a second look at the federal minimum wage. — “The minimum wage now in our country …

Discussion: Oliver Willis, Jezebel, The Day newspaper and The Moderate Voice

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

A GOP unknown is in striking range of Barney Frank — Sean Bielat, the Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts' 4th District, has had just one conversation with his Democratic opponent, Rep. Barney Frank. — It was in August, at a parade in New Bedford.

Discussion: sisu and Washington Times

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

J Street, Down the Rabbit Hole — Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder and president of J Street, the liberal Jewish group, e-mailed Goldblog last night: “Reports of our demise (including from you) are greatly exaggerated....” He was referring to a question I posted earlier in the day …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, AmSpecBlog, Washington Times, Pajamas Media, Commentary, The Volokh Conspiracy and Washington Post

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Uncanny Accuracy of Polling Averages*, Part 2: What the Numbers Say — This is the second article in a three-part series in which I'm addressing a question from a reader whom I'm calling Skeptical Sam. — Sam wondered why our election forecasts seem so confident.

Chicago Breaking News:

UIC faculty may jump into Ayers fray — University of Illinois at Chicago faculty leaders are weighing whether to ask the board of trustees to reconsider its controversial decision to deny emeritus status to retired professor William Ayers. — It's the latest twist in a showdown 40 years …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Gateway Pundit

CNN:

Kagan's Supreme Court investiture ceremony to be held Friday — Washington (CNN) — A formal investiture ceremony will take place Friday for Elena Kagan during a special sitting of the Supreme Court. — Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice of the court in August.

Discussion: The Page

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Report gives stimulus package high marks — The massive economic stimulus package President Obama pushed through Congress last year is coming in on time and under budget - and with strikingly few claims of fraud or abuse - according to a White House report to be released Friday.

Discussion: The Page

AKMuckraker / The Mudflats:

The Arrogance of Joe Miller (Updated With Blame) — You hear an awful lot from the Joe Miller campaign about Lisa Murkowski being “entitled” and acting like she's owed the senate seat. It seems to bug them. And it bugs a lot of Alaskans. — These Tweets from Joe Miller were captured …

Discussion: Swing State Project, Associated Press, Politics Daily, TPMDC, Daily Kos and FiveThirtyEight

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Craig Newmark: NPR Will Be the Dominant News Force By 2020 — NPR will be one of the dominant forces in media in ten years because their membership-based funding model is finely tuned to the habits of millennial news consumers. That's the prophecy of Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and a new media philosopher.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Romenesko

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

TARP Bailout to Cost Less Than Once Anticipated — WASHINGTON — Even as voters rage and candidates put up ads against government bailouts, the reviled mother of them all — the $700 billion lifeline to banks, insurance and auto companies — will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:

The Twister of 2010 — America's political landscape will never be the same. — On a recent trip to Omaha, Neb., I found a note prominently displayed in my hotel room warning of the possibility of “extreme weather” including “tornadic activity.” The clunky euphemism was no doubt meant …

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

“You Elected Me To Do What Was Right” — Obama's speech to Gen44 tonight knocked my socks off. It's streaming on CSPAN here. If you've forgotten why many of you worked your ass off for this guy, and felt hope for the first time in many years, watch it. He deserves criticism when necessary …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field

Jon Ward / The Daily Caller:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday gave a mixed but decidedly negative review of President Obama's economic policies, saying that the reason for joblessness is uncertainty in the private sector caused by government and that the president is uninterested in business.