memeorandum: Lawmakers Concerned About Ex-IMF Director's ‘Golden Parachute’ (Judson Berger/Fox News)

7:05 PM ET, May 25, 2011

Top Items:

Bill Clinton to Paul Ryan on Medicare Election: ‘Give me a Call’ — ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — The day after the stunning upset in the special congressional election in upstate New York, Rep. Paul Ryan is a man under fire. — But ABC News was behind the scenes …

Discussion: The Caucus, The Hill, Buffalo News, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, National Review, The Lonely Conservative, Mediaite, Gawker, TPMDC, The Right Sphere, Taylor Marsh and Weigel

David Frum / FrumForum:

Paul Ryan: 2012's Goldwater? — I used to worry that Sarah Palin would be the Barry Goldwater of 2012. My bad. Paul Ryan is the Barry Goldwater of 2012. — The Goldwater effect continues on this morning after the NY-26 debacle. Henry Olsen of AEI, as smart a political numbers guy …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Politico, National Review, The Moderate Voice and The Enterprise Blog

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Five GOP senators jump ship in Ryan budget vote — Five Republican senators jumped ship and voted against House Republicans' 2012 budget on Wednesday. — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined four other Republican senators who'd previously announced their opposition to the budget …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Newt Gingrich now defending Paul Ryan — Newt Gingrich is resurfacing in the battle over Medicare, but this time on Rep. Paul Ryan's side. — The former House speaker sent a letter to members of Congress Wednesday morning claiming that “Democrats and their allies in the elite media …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, The Note, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Nice Deb

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Ryan blames NY-26 on Dem ‘scare tactics’ — Tuesday's special election win by Democrat Kathy Hochul was the result of Democratic scare tactics, and not actually a referendum on the reality of his Medicare plan, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said in his first comments after the polls closed in Western New York.

Discussion: The New Republic, Washington Post, FrumForum, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Hotline On Call and Indecision Forever

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

G.O.P. on the Defensive as Voters Resist Medicare Plan — WASHINGTON — When they proposed just last month to overhaul Medicare, House Republicans were confident that the wind of budget politics was at their backs and that the country's looming fiscal problems provided justification …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Note, The Politico, Ross Douthat, CNN, Washington Post, Minnesota Independent, The Caucus, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, Hit & Run and Capital Tonight

Peter Orszag / Bloomberg:

About Peter R Orszag — Peter R. Orszag, vice chairman of global banking at Citigroup and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, was President Obama's director of the Office of Management and Budget. — Sharing Costs Is No Way to Fix Medicare — Chart by Jarrod Barretto.

Discussion: Yglesias, Firedoglake, Mother Jones and Wall Street Journal

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:

Democrat Wins G.O.P. Seat; Rebuke Seen to Medicare Plan — Democrats scored an upset in one of New York's most conservative Congressional districts on Tuesday, dealing a blow to the national Republican Party in a race that largely turned on the party's plan to overhaul Medicare.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Six Months After Midterm Disaster, Hopeful Signs for Democrats

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, Emptywheel, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, Examiner, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Salon

David Rogers / The Politico:
Senate rejects Ryan budget

Discussion: The Note and CNN

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: Voters like their single-payer health care

Discussion: Kaiser Health News, The Politico, New York Times and The Democratic Daily

Henry Olsen / National Review:
A Blue-Collar Warning Sign

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Erick's blog, The New Republic, Buffalo News, JSOnline, The Reality-Based Community and FrumForum

Budget Committee:
The Facts on Medicare and How to Save It

Discussion: The Foundry, RedState and TPMDC

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate to vote on Ryan budget after Dem victory in NY26

Discussion: The Note and Daily Kos

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

CNBC Anchor Mark Haines Dies Unexpectedly at Age 65 — Veteran journalist Mark Haines, a fixture on CNBC for 22 years, died unexpectedly Tuesday evening. He was 65 years old. — Haines, founding anchor of CNBC's morning show “Squawk Box,” was co-anchor of the network's “Squawk on the Street” …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, MarketBeat and DealBook, more at Mediagazer »

Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:

MSNBC's Ed Schultz Calls Radio Host Laura Ingraham A ‘Right Wing Slut’ — MSNBC host Ed Schultz is known for his hyperbolic attacks on Republicans but it looks like he may have crossed the line on his show yesterday by labeling Laura Ingraham a “right wing slut.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, TalkLeft, Little Green Footballs, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller and Gawker

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Libtalker Ed Schultz Uses Vulgarity To Attack Conservative Host — DEPRAV-ED — MSNBC'S Schultz: Laura Ingraham's ‘A Slut’ — *** RIP: CNBC'S MARK HAINES, ONE OF THE LAST HONEST BUSINESS JOURNALISTS *** — Bye-bye, Ed Schultz. — We'll especially miss your gigantic ego, unending rage and all-around delightful personality.

Discussion: REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, The Gateway Pundit, theblogprof, The Other McCain and Mediaite

Laura Ingraham / Facebook:
Response to Ed Schultz

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers

Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org: Will MSNBC Suspend Ed Schultz for Calling Laura Ingraham a ‘Right-wing Slut’ and ‘Talk Slut’?

Michelle Malkin:
More misogyny at MSNBC: Neanderthal host attacks Laura Ingraham as a “slut”

Discussion: Mediaite

Marc Lacey / New York Times:

Suspect in Shooting of Giffords Ruled Unfit for Trial — TUCSON, Ariz. — A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Jared L. Loughner was not mentally competent to stand trial on charges of opening fire at a constituent event for an Arizona congresswoman in January, killing 6 and injuring 13.

Discussion: Law Blog

Tim Gaynor / Reuters:
(Reuters) - Shooting rampage suspect Jared Loughner is not …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Jezebel and Gawker

CNN:
Judge rules Loughner not competent to stand trial

Discussion: USA Today, Arizona Republic, The Moderate Voice, This Just In, Outside the Beltway, In the Arena, The BLT and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

SpyTalk:

Gingrich wife worked for committee heavily lobbied by Tiffany — At the same time Tiffany & Co. was extending Callista (Bisek) Gingrich a virtual interest-free loan of tens of thousands of dollars, the diamond and silverware firm was spending big bucks to influence mining policy in Congress …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Gawker, Roger Ailes and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Felix Salmon:
The Gingriches and Tiffany: When a loan becomes lobbying

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, The Politico and newsfeed.time.com

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg:

About Jeffrey Goldberg — Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the Atlantic, is the author of “Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror.” He was formerly a Washington correspondent and a Middle East correspondent for the New Yorker. — Why Palestinians Have Time on Their Side

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mondoweiss and Unqualified Offerings

Alana Goodman / Commentary Magazine:
Key Jewish Donor Breaks With Obama

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Doug Ross

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems might join rebuff of Obama on Israeli border issue

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, Wake up America, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Prairie Weather and HotAirPundit

James Hill / ABCNEWS:

John Edwards: U.S. Green-Lights Prosecution for Alleged Campaign Law Violations Tied to Affair Cover-Up — Former Sen. John Edwards speaks at a campaign rally Jan. 26, 2008, in Columbia, S.C. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images) — The United States Department of Justice has green-lighted the prosecution …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, The Politico, WRAL-TV, National Review, Los Angeles Times, Patterico's Pontifications, CNN, Mediaite, George's Bottom Line, The Note, USA Today and Salon

Edward Wyatt / New York Times:

Decorum Breaks Down at House Hearing — WASHINGTON — A House committee hearing into the structure of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau disintegrated into heated accusations of lying to Congress on Tuesday, with the panel's chairman accusing Elizabeth Warren of giving misleading testimony …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Swampland, naked capitalism, Raw Replay, The Lonely Conservative, AlterNet and Washington Wire

Michael McAuliff / The Huffington Post:
Elizabeth Warren Called Liar At CFPB Hearing By Republicans Who Botched Facts On Agency (VIDEO)

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, ThinkProgress, Salon, Gawker, Crooks and Liars, The Maddow Blog and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

J. Bradford DeLong / Grasping Reality …:

Time to PANIC!!: Second-Quarter Real GDP Growth Looks Slow Enough to Put No Upward Pressure at All on the Employment-to-Population Ratio — Time to push the panic button. — Macroeconomic Advisers is revising their tracking forecast of real GDP growth in the second quarter.

Discussion: PERRspectives, Paul Krugman and MarketBeat

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Walker's numbers continue to get worse — Scott Walker's popularity has continued to decline over the last three months and Wisconsin voters now say they would vote to recall him if there was an election today. They also say they would pick either Russ Feingold or Tom Barrett over Walker in a head to head match up.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

‘Heckuva Job’ Brownie Criticizes Obama For ‘Toasting The Queen’ During Tornadoes — After violent storms slammed three mid-western states and claimed 14 lives yesterday, President Obama announced he would be returning from his long-planned European trip to visit Missouri on Sunday.

Discussion: News Hounds, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Obama miscues on toast — Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and U.S. President Barack Obama during a state banquet in Buckingham Palace, London, on Tuesday May 24, 2011. — AP Photo — LONDON - It was all going so well. — But when the time came for President Obama to deliver his toast …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, AmSpecBlog, Taylor Marsh and Salon

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

Obama skirts rule of law to reward pals, punish foes — Senior Political Analyst Follow Him @MichaelBarone — Question: What do the following have in common? Eckert Cold Storage Co., Kerly Homes of Yuma, Classic Party Rentals, West Coast Turf Inc., Ellenbecker Investment Group Inc. …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers and AmSpecBlog

Frances Cronin / BBC:

Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images — Two new finds are at Saqqara, an older but lesser known pyramid site than Giza — Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt. — More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements …

Discussion: Guardian, The Mary Sue and msnbc.com

First Read / msnbc.com:

Vitter blocks Salazar's scheduled pay increase — President Obama's Interior secretary is due for a raise, but Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter threatened to block that pay increase unless the Interior Department opens more access to Gulf drilling. Democrats say that Vitter's opposition amounts to coercion.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …