memeorandum: Obama approval rating falls below 50 percent (CBS News)

10:40 AM ET, June 9, 2011

Top Items:

Weiner's Wife Is Pregnant — Their marriage has become the subject of intense speculation and scrutiny amid an embarrassing online sex scandal. — Now, Representative Anthony D. Weiner and Huma Abedin are about to make news of a different kind: they are expecting their first child.

Kirsten Powers / The Daily Beast:

Anthony Weiner's Ex: He Lied to Me — THE DAILY BEAST ON: — Anthony Weiner's former girlfriend, Kirsten Powers, defended him on TV to millions of people after he insisted to her that he didn't send lewd photos on Twitter. Now she takes him to task for his rampant misogyny—and says he must resign immediately.

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, Associated Press, JammieWearingFool, Pundit & Pundette, US News, neo-neocon, National Review, Mediaite, CNN, BizzyBlog, Althouse, Fox Nation and Washington Post

Fox News:

It's Out: Purported X-Rated Weiner Photo on Internet — It only took two days. — After Andrew Breitbart, publisher of the conservative BigGovernment.com and other sites, claimed Monday he had an X-rated photo of Rep. Anthony Weiner, the purported image has surfaced on the Internet.

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, AmSpecBlog, Pajamas Media, Watts Up With That?, Fox Nation, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Atlantic Wire, Little Green Footballs, Althouse, Wake up America and Patterico's Pontifications

Karoun Demirjian / Las Vegas Sun:

Another Rep. Weiner sexting partner emerges, reluctantly — WASHINGTON - The identity of another of Rep. Anthony Weiner's social media sexting partners is emerging, but this time, by accident. — Lisa Weiss, Ginger Lee, and Megan Broussard were all too eager to provide the details …

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine and Patterico's Pontifications

Andrew Breitbart / Big Government:
Statement on Opie & Anthony's Illicit Capture and Release of Photograph

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, Rumproast, Politisite, The Huffington Post, Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog, Doug Ross, Little Green Footballs and American Power

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Dems start bailing on Weiner

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Salon, Washington Post, Arkansas News, Hot Air, Top of the Ticket, Weasel Zippers, Washington Wire, The Raw Story, The Hill, TPMDC, UALR Public Radio, Swampland, Suburban Guerrilla, Pajamas Media, FrumForum and National Review

Dan Gillmor / Guardian:
Andrew Breitbart and the unwilling suspension of disbelief | Dan Gillmor

Discussion: Boing Boing

New York Post:
Weiner on wife support

Discussion: The Other McCain, Fox Nation, Pajamas Media, ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, The Politico and Wall Street Journal

Adrian Chen / Gawker:
Anthony Weiner's Cock Shot Emerges

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
Rep. Weiner's failure to pay party dues may haunt him

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Washington Post, The Hill and TPMDC

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:
Fact Checking Breitbart's Statement on the Leaked Photo

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Balloon Juice and Mediaite

Lisa Lambert / Reuters:

New jobless claims unexpectedly rise — A woman browses job openings at a job fair in Los Angeles, California, October 12, 2010. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week …

Discussion: Fox Nation, americanthinker.com, Scared Monkeys and The Lonely Conservative

Bob Willis / Bloomberg:

Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Climb in the U.S. — U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week, a sign that the labor market is struggling to gain traction. — Jobless claims increased by 1,000 to 427,000 in the week ended June 4, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

Discussion: Pajamas Media and The Page

The U.S. Department of Labor:

Skip to page content — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis — EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION — Program Contact: — TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL — (202) 693-4676 — UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT — SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

Discussion: BizzyBlog and Hot Air

Bloomberg:

Obama Team Eyes Payroll Tax Break for Employers — President Barack Obama's advisers have discussed seeking a temporary cut in the payroll taxes businesses pay on wages as they debate ways to spur hiring amid signs that the recovery is slowing, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, New York Times, msnbc.com, Washington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The New Republic and Money Game

Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:

New Whispers of Perry 2012 Bid — For months, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has told potential donors and Republican higher-ups he has no interest in running for the White House in 2012. — But over the past two weeks, political advisers and friends say, Mr. Perry has changed his tune on a possible presidential campaign.

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Note, Washington Post, BizzyBlog, Texas Politics, Hotline On Call and Hot Air

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

U.S. Is Intensifying a Secret Campaign of Yemen Airstrikes — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Salon, americanthinker.com, The Reaction, Weasel Zippers, PoliPundit.com, Global Public Square, Washington Post and FrumForum

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Jon Huntsman's no-names strategy — Jon Huntsman is trying out a novel strategy: running for president without criticizing the incumbent by name. — Since returning from his post as ambassador to China last month, Huntsman has made scant mention of the man who appointed him in May 2009—President Barack Obama.

Discussion: GOP 12, Ricochet Conversation Feed and Taylor Marsh

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Rudy's Running — I'm told by two reliable sources that Rudy Giuliani intends to run for the GOP nomination for president in 2012. He may throw his hat in the ring soon. — Rudy's theory of the race: In the fall of 2007, he decided he couldn't compete with both Mitt Romney and John McCain …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, AmSpecBlog, Outside the Beltway, GOP 12, ThinkProgress, Pajamas Media and New York Magazine

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

Wisconsin protesters disrupt a Special Olympics ceremony! — In front of the Capitol today, protesters dressed as zombies stood between Governor Scott Walker and the group of Special Olympics participants he was honoring. — Quite aside from the unbelievable rudeness …

Discussion: Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
It's come to this: Wisconsin liberals protest Scott Walker at ... Special Olympics ceremony

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, The Lonely Conservative, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers and New York Times

CBS News:

Obama approval rating falls below 50 percent — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Updated 8 p.m. ET — President Obama's approval ratings fell to below 50 percent for the first time since …

Discussion: Hot Air, CBS News and msnbc.com

Simonhernandezarthur / CNN:

Joe Wilson endorses Pawlenty in South Carolina — Washington (CNN) - Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty secured a major endorsement in the early primary state of South Carolina on Wednesday, picking up the support of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. — Wilson will serve as co-chairman …

Discussion: The Politico, msnbc.com, The Hill, Washington Post, GOP 12, National Review and The Daily Caller

Kevin Sack / New York Times:

Judges Weigh Limits of Health Law's Powers — ATLANTA — In perhaps the weightiest of the dozens of challenges to the Obama health care law, a panel of appellate judges grappled Wednesday with the essential quandary of the case: if the federal government can require Americans to buy medical insurance …

Discussion: Law Blog, Washington Times, ABA Journal Daily News, The New Republic and ABCNEWS

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Judges sharply challenge healthcare law

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Ricochet Conversation Feed, The Politico, Cato @ Liberty, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway and TalkLeft

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Romney draws early fire from conservatives over views on climate change — It seemed like a straightforward question on a second-tier issue: Would Mitt Romney disavow the science behind global warming? — The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides …

Discussion: The Politico, Weigel, EnviroKnow, Conservatives4Palin and Power Line

Richard Vedder / Wall Street Journal:

Time to Make Professors Teach — My new study suggests a simple way to cut college tuition in half. — No sooner do parents proudly watch their children graduate high school than they must begin paying for college. As they write checks for upwards of $40,000 a year …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, TaxProf Blog and The Big Picture

Ta-Nehisi Coates / New York Times:

You Left Out the Part About ... Last weekend, like seemingly half the country, I took my son to see “X-Men: First Class,” the latest, and best, big-screen incarnation of the popular comic book franchise. — My son and I represent two generations of X-fans.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

President Obama's campaign expands its 2012 map — CHICAGO — President Barack Obama's campaign team is gaming out complex state-by-state scenarios for 2012 that anticipate uphill battles in recession-ravaged blue states — and new opportunities in Arizona and Georgia.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and FrumForum

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Americans torn over raising debt limit — A large majority of Americans say the U.S. economy would probably suffer serious harm if Congress fails to give the federal government more borrowing authority. But barely half support raising the government's debt limit …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, americanthinker.com, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and Firedoglake

New York Times:

Citizens United's Outrageous Offspring — Judge James Cacheris gave the impression last week that he was considering putting right what he got wrong when he ruled in May that corporations are free to make direct donations to federal candidates. That first judgment directly contravened …

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:

AFL-CIO urges recess appointment for Warren — The AFL-CIO is calling for a recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren as the head of the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). — In an email sent to the labor federation's activists Thursday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka asked …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Cain doubles down, would require ‘loyalty proof’ from Muslims to serve in his administration — This one won't set well with many of the politically correct crowd, but former Godfathers Pizza CEO and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain has doubled down on his controversial Muslim comments he made earlier this year.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress and Taylor Marsh

Business Wire:

ExxonMobil Announces Three Discoveries in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico — IRVING, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) today announced two major oil discoveries and a gas discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico after drilling the company's first post-moratorium deepwater exploration well.

Discussion: The Foundry