memeorandum: Libyan turmoil weighs on stocks as oil surges (Pan Pylas/Associated Press)

2:10 PM ET, February 22, 2011

Top Items:

Union Bonds in Wisconsin Begin to Fray — JANESVILLE, Wis. — Rich Hahan worked at the General Motors plant here until it closed about two years ago. He moved to Detroit to take another G.M. job while his wife and children stayed here, but then the automaker cut more jobs.

Discussion: American Power, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Moe Lane, The Confluence, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wake up America, Unfogged, Balloon Juice, Conservatives4Palin and The Politico

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:

Wisconsin State Senator Smacks Down Chris Matthews: 'You're Completely Uninformed' — MSNBC's Chris Matthews tried Monday to push the liberal media meme that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker exempted police and firefighters from his budget repair plan because their unions endorsed him in last November's election.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Outside the Beltway, Politics Daily, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, UrbanGrounds, Badger Blogger and Verum Serum

David Brooks / New York Times:

Make Everybody Hurt — Over the past few weeks we've begun to see the new contours of American politics. The budget cutters have taken control of the agenda, while government's defenders are waging tactical retreats. Given the scope of the fiscal problems, it could be like this for the next 10 or 20 years.

Discussion: Yglesias, TalkLeft, PostPartisan, DownWithTyranny!, The Plum Line, Right Turn, NewsBusters.org, The Monkey Cage, driftglass and Balloon Juice

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Billionaire Brothers' Money Plays Role in Wisconsin Dispute — WASHINGTON — Among the thousands of demonstrators who jammed the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds this weekend was a well-financed advocate from Washington who was there to voice praise for cutting state spending by slashing union benefits and bargaining rights.

Discussion: Washington Post, AMERICAblog News, The Raw Story, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, New York Magazine and CBS News

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:

AFL-CIO Polls Show Wisconsin Supports Protestors, Opposes Walker … WASHINGTON - New polling conducted for the AFL-CIO and shared with The Huffington Post shows Wisconsin voters siding with the state workers, unions and protestors by large majorities and expressing net disapproval of Republican Governor Scott Walker

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Reuters, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The American Independent, Balloon Juice and Chicago Boyz

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

In Wisconsin, the gap widens between GOP and Dems — “They've painted themselves in a corner,” Wisconsin Republican state senator Randy Hopper says of his Democratic colleagues. “There's no way for them to get out of it.” — Democratic senators last week fled Wisconsin rather than allow …

Discussion: The Plum Line, The Note, Hot Air, Bloomberg, theblogprof and FrumForum

Ezra Klein:
Wonkbook: Are Republicans overreaching? Or just negotiating effectively?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Classical Values, The Caucus and Daily Kos

Josh Dorner / ThinkProgress:
Priorities? GOP Governors Shift Burden To Poor, Middle Class To Pay For Tax Breaks For Rich, Corporations

Discussion: Firedoglake

Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
George Will's Dishonest Assault On Unions

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Rasmussen Poll on Wisconsin Dispute May Be Biased

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Mahablog, Right Wing News, CNN, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, WisPolitics Budget Blog, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Pundit Press, theblogprof, Rasmussen Reports and JSOnline

George F. Will / Washington Post:
Out of Wisconsin, a lesson in leadership for Obama

Discussion: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, GayPatriot, Talking Points Memo, Moonbattery, Don Surber and The Politico

BooMan / Booman Tribune:
Wanker of the Day: Richard Cohen

Discussion: Washington Post, TalkLeft and Eschaton

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
What Did Walker Campaign On? — Last night, I heard on Fox News …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Balloon Juice

Ezra Klein:
Column: Wisconsin is about power, not money

Discussion: Wonk Room, The New Republic and NPR

News Item:

› - Statement from John and Kimberley Thune — For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States.

Discussion: The Politico, GOP 12, Washington Monthly, The Note, Firedoglake, The Hill, Liberty Pundits Blog, Cubachi, Power Line, Politics Daily, The Caucus, New York Magazine, The American Independent, The Right Sphere, Wonkette and FrumForum

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Sen. John Thune won't run for president in 2012

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Gawker

Indianapolis Star:

Democrats trigger Statehouse showdown over anti-union legislation — House Democrats are leaving the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation, The Indianapolis Star has learned. — A source said Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Big Government, theblogprof, iOwnTheWorld.com, protein wisdom, Daily Kos, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Hotline On Call, WisPolitics Budget Blog, Pajamas Media, The Page and Outside the Beltway

Scott Wong / The Politico:
Harry Reid spending bill exposes deep divide with John Boehner

Discussion: The Note

Thomas M. Burton / Wall Street Journal:
Indiana Democrats Stage Walkout

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Al Jazeera Blogs:

Live Blog - Libya Feb 22 — on February 22nd, 2011. — Alleged mercenaries deployed by Gaddafi in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. — As the uprising in Libya enters its ninth day, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Guardian, News Desk, Mish's Global Economic …, Libya February 17th, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway and Foreign Policy, more at Mediagazer »

Sky News Australia:

Cleric orders Gaddafi killed — Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has issued a fatwa that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi should do so ‘to rid Libya of him.’ — 'Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so …

Discussion: Aljazeera, The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, The Investigative Project …, The Gateway Pundit, Questions and Observations, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Weasel Zippers, Babylon & Beyond, PoliPundit.com, The Jawa Report and Pundit Press

Andrew Solomon / News Desk: How Qaddafi Lost Libya

New York Times:
Chaos Grows in Libya as Defiant Qaddafi Vows to Fight

Discussion: Babylon & Beyond, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, FP Passport, The Agonist, The Big Picture, Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, Hot Air and Time

BBC:
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appears on state TV

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, The Foundry, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Michelle Malkin, ABCNEWS, The Other McCain, FrumForum, Guardian and Mediaite

CBS News:

4 Americans on hijacked yacht dead off Somalia — U.S. Navy warship shadowing seized vessel takes action after gunshots are heard; 4 hostages apparently killed by captors, some pirates dead — The four Americans aboard a yacht hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia are dead.

Discussion: Politics Daily, L.A. NOW, Guardian, New York Magazine, USA Today, Human Events, Maggie's Notebook, Confederate Yankee, Mediaite, BLACKFIVE, neo-neocon, Moe Lane, FrumForum, Gawker and The Gateway Pundit

Fox News:
Four Americans Killed on Yacht Hijacked by Somali Pirates

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and The Jawa Report

The Politico:

Ex-aide's book paints harsh portrait of Sarah Palin — A new memoir from an embittered former aide to Sarah Palin includes a trove of emails that vividly illustrate her intense focus on image and depiction in the media. — The emails, apparently from the former Alaska governor …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Salon, Hot Air and New York Magazine

Jack Stuef / Wonkette:

Sarah Palin Has Secret ‘Lou Sarah’ Facebook Account To Praise Other Sarah Palin Facebook Account — Sarah Palin has apparently created a second Facebook account with her Gmail address so that this fake “Lou Sarah” person can praise the other Sarah Palin on Facebook.

Discussion: TPM LiveWire, The Daily Dish, Outside the Beltway and Gawker

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

Two-Thirds of Wisconsin Public-School 8th Graders Can't Read Proficiently—Despite Highest Per Pupil Spending in Midwest — (CNSNews.com) - Two-thirds of the eighth graders in Wisconsin public schools cannot read proficiently according to the U.S. Department of Education …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Confederate Yankee and Weasel Zippers

Daily Mail:

Four men slashed teacher's face and left him with fractured skull ‘for teaching other religions to Muslim girls’ — Four men launched a horrific attack on a teacher in which they slashed his face and left him with a fractured skull because they did not approve of him teaching religion to Muslim girls.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Left Coast Rebel, Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Sen. Scott Brown says, 'I'm not a Tea Party member,' welcomes GOP primary — “You're talking about being an ideologue? If you're looking for one, I'm not it,” said Sen. Scott Brown. — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said he doesn't consider himself a member of the Tea Party movement and would welcome any primary challenger.

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, Hotline On Call, The Impolitic and AMERICAblog News

John Sides / The Monkey Cage:

The Relationship between Union Membership and State Budget Deficits … That is from Joseph McCartin's piece in The New Republic on the current battle in Wisconsin. I wanted to look at the relationship between unions and deficits more systematically. Like McCartin I used the CBPP data …

Discussion: Yglesias, Mother Jones and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Pan Pylas / Associated Press:

Libyan turmoil weighs on stocks as oil surges — Libyan violence weighs on stocks as oil prices spike; New Zealand quake shakes currency — Companies: — Related Quotes — SymbolPriceChange — MCO — 30.33 — LONDON (AP) — Mounting concerns over Libya's violent crisis weighed …

Discussion: YID With LID

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

WI State Rep Busted For Sexual Misconduct - Says Charges Are a Distraction From Larger State Issues — Now we know what they do when they're not at work... Wisconsin State Rep. Gordon Hintz told reporters today that his arrest for sexual misconduct is a distraction from larger issues facing the state.

Discussion: Associated Press, UrbanGrounds, TPMMuckraker, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and The Other McCain

Jennifer Chambers / Detroit News:

Michigan orders DPS to make huge cuts — Bobb told to consolidate services, close half of schools to end deficit — Lansing— Swift and severe changes are coming to Detroit Public Schools. — State education officials have ordered Robert Bobb to immediately implement a financial restructuring plan …

Discussion: AOL News, POWIP, The American Independent and Salon