memeorandum: Colleagues see Nickolaus as insular, hardworking (JSOnline)

11:00 AM ET, May 16, 2011

Top Items:

As Debt Limit Reached, Agreement Still Far Off — The U.S. government is expected to hit the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling Monday, setting in motion an uncertain, 11-week political scramble to avoid a default. — The Treasury Department plans to announce Monday it will stop issuing …

Discussion: Yglesias, ThinkProgress, TPMDC, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Free exchange, The Lonely Conservative and Taegan Goddard's …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

America Held Hostage — Six months ago President Obama faced a hostage situation. Republicans threatened to block an extension of middle-class tax cuts unless Mr. Obama gave in and extended tax cuts for the rich too. And the president essentially folded, giving the G.O.P. everything it wanted.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org, Simply Left BehindThe …, Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Peter Schroeder / The Hill: Geithner tells Congress the US has reached $14.3T debt limit

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: Happy debt-ceiling day!

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Hot Air and Daily Kos

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Boehner To Obama: Let's Make A Deal On Debt Limit

Discussion: Firedoglake

Kim Willsher / Guardian:

Dominique Strauss-Kahn faces further claim of sexual assault — Socialist party official says her daughter was left traumatised after alleged attack by Strauss-Kahn in 2002 — By this time next year, Dominique Strauss-Kahn might well have been president of France.

Discussion: New York Magazine, EconomicPolicyJournal.com, AMERICAblog News, Pajamas Media, Harry's Place and Scared Monkeys

Kim Willsher / Guardian:

Dominique Strauss-Kahn to face fresh sex assault complaint — French writer Tristane Banon claims the IMF chief acted like a ‘rutting chimpanzee’ in an attack on her nine years ago — A French writer who claims Dominique Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her nine years ago is to file an official complaint, her lawyer has announced.

Discussion: Economist, Runnin' Scared, Patterico's Pontifications, FrumForum and New York Times

Wall Street Journal:
The Strauss-Kahn Charges — The stunning sexual assault case …

Discussion: Global Public Square, New York Times, Betsy's Page and Pajamas Media

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:

Gingrich Blasts House GOP's Medicare Plan — Presidential Candidate Calls It ‘Right-Wing Social Engineering,’ Agrees With Obama About Need for Insurance Mandate — White House hopeful Newt Gingrich called the House Republican plan for Medicare “right-wing social engineering,” …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Betsy's Page, Left Coast Rebel, Washington Examiner, msnbc.com, TPMDC, Questions and Observations, AmSpecBlog, Washington Post, American Spectator and Daily Kos

Jay Newton-Small / Swampland:

Gingrich Was for Ryan's Budget Before He Was Against It — A couple of weeks ago, I spent a day following Newt Gingrich around New Hampshire. After a radio interview in Concord, Gingrich had a lunchtime Guinness at the Barley House in Concord with Thomas Wilhelmsen, the CEO of a local hospital who first met Gingrich in the mid-1990s.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, American Spectator, Hot Air, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, National Review and Pundit & Pundette

Healthwatch:
GOP's big Medicare gamble

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus and msnbc.com

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Gingrich Spokesman: ‘There Is Little Daylight Between Ryan and Gingrich’ on Medicare Reform

Discussion: TPMDC, msnbc.com and National Review

Andrew Stiles / National Review:
Newt Tacks Left, Slams Ryan's Medicare Plan

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Sky Dancing, Runnin' Scared, The Reaction, The Daily Dish, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Michelle Malkin, Liberal Values, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and TPMDC

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Gay CNN Anchor Sees Risk in Book — Don Lemon, the weekend prime-time anchor for CNN, was on the air on Sunday night this month when the news broke that President Obama would address the nation at the unusual hour of 10:30 p.m. — By the time the news network was confirming the reports …

Discussion: News Desk, Mediaite, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay, iOwnTheWorld.com, Gawker, Poynter and JammieWearingFool, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Iowa gov says on your marks ... Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will call on the Republican presidential candidates to pick up the pace of their campaigns in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, using his weekly news conference on Monday to fire a starter's pistol on the 2012 race.

Discussion: USA Today and National Review

Des Moines Register:
Open GOP field raises profile of straw poll

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

David Carr / New York Times:

How Drudge Has Stayed on Top — For most big news Web sites, about 60 percent of the traffic is homegrown, people who come directly to the site by dint of a bookmark or typing in www.latimes.com or www.huffingtonpost.com. The other critical 40 percent comes by referrals …

Discussion: Don Surber, UrbanGrounds and Pajamas Media, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Caller:

When it comes to Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Tea Party rhetoric doesn't always match the record. Should she launch a serious bid for president, Bachmann would likely find herself defending a slew of questionable votes and decisions, including on earmarks, pardons and farm subsidies.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Ben Smith's Blog

Andy Barr / The Politico:

President Obama polls well despite jobs fears — Despite widespread disapproval of Barack Obama's handling of the economy, more than half of Americans approve of the president and are open to reelecting him. — The economy and government spending stand as the dominant issues on the minds …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CNN, Don Surber, The Page and Taegan Goddard's …

Paul Krugman:

What's In A Name? — Urk. Politico: … It's not misleading! I know that serious people are supposed to be shocked, shocked at the Democrats calling the Ryan plan a plan to dismantle Medicare — but that's just what it is. If you replace a system that actually pays seniors' medical bills …

Discussion: The Politico

John / Power Line:

A Verdict on Obama's “Stimulus” Plan — Economists Timothy Conley and Bill Dupor have studied the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the purported stimulus bill) with great rigor. Earlier this week, they reported their findings in a paper titled “The American Recovery …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Herman Cain sounds off on race, a debate win, and the need to simplify government — Chief Political Correspondent Follow Him @ByronYork — STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. - Herman Cain's handsome glass-walled office overlooks the first fairway of the Eagle's Landing Country Club in this exurb of Atlanta …

Discussion: FrumForum

Paul Ryan / Chicago Tribune:

The budget debate we all deserve — Despite Washington coming to grips with the fact that the debt threat is real, policymakers still are not having the debate Americans deserve. — The talk is too often restricted to “shared sacrifice.” This sets up a debate where we are really just arguing …

Sean Daly / New York Post:

Big Trump news due today — Donald Trump plans to announce today whether he'll fire himself from “Celebrity Apprentice,” a source told The Post last night. — The billionaire businessman, who has been mulling a run for the White House, has been trying to decide whether to trade his TV show for politics.

Discussion: The Page

Ethan Bronner / New York Times:

Israeli Troops Fire as Marchers Breach Borders — JERUSALEM — Israel's borders erupted in deadly clashes on Sunday as thousands of Palestinians — marching from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank — confronted Israeli troops to mark the anniversary of Israel's creation.