memeorandum: Exclusive: Republican Camp won't rule out tax increases (Donna Smith/Reuters)

4:25 PM ET, August 11, 2011

Top Items:

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Romney gets in heated exchange with hecklers at Iowa State Fair — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) exchange with a few hecklers turned into somewhat of a shouting match while he was stumping Thursday in Iowa. — Romney faced aggressive inquiries with a liberal bent at the top …

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hullabaloo

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

VIDEO: Romney Angrily Confronted Over His Desire To Cut Entitlements While Protecting The Rich — GOP 2012 presidential contender Mitt Romney today spoke at the Iowa state fair, before a key Republican debate tonight and an upcoming Iowa straw poll. At the end of his speech, a Q&A session quickly devolved into a shouting match.

Discussion: Reuters, Pajamas Media and Rebuild the Dream

Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:

Romney: ‘Corporations Are People, My Friend’ [VIDEO] — Mitt Romney told an Iowa crowd on Thursday that the country should not raise taxes to shore up Medicare and Social Security because “corporations are people” too. — TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet the 2012 GOPers: Mitt Romney

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Sky Dancing and Towleroad News #gay

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Corporations and context — After an uncomfortable shouting match with hecklers in Iowa this morning, Mitt Romney explained why he's unwilling to raise taxes on corporations to protect entitlements: “Corporations are people, my friend.” It's a line that's starting to generate some attention (and mockery).

Discussion: New York Magazine

The Note:

Mitt Romney At Iowa State Fair: ‘Corporations Are People, My Friend’ — ABC News' Michael P. Falcone (@michaelpfalcone) and Z. Byron Wolf (@zbyronwolf) report: — DES MOINES — A feisty Mitt Romney faced down unfriendly fairgoers at the Iowa State Fair Thursday, and he also issued …

Discussion: blogs.abcnews.com

C-SPAN:
Romney Questioned on Social Security and Medicare

Discussion: Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, Swampland, Washington Monthly, The Caucus and AmSpecBlog

A.Killough / CNN: Romney says ‘corporations are people,’ heckled at Iowa event

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney: ‘Corporations are people’

Discussion: Gawker, Booman Tribune, The New Republic and Balloon Juice

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Romney dodges S&P question

Discussion: msnbc.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and AmSpecBlog

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Romney's Pitch to S&P Boasted of Revenue Raisers

Discussion: Washington Post, The New Republic, The Politico, Washington Monthly, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Taegan Goddard's …, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Page

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Rick Perry Wants to Be President — Highlights here. Subscribers can read Halperin's story on Perry in the latest issue of TIME. — Video highlight: Perry says he has decided he wants to be president. — Video highlight: Perry on 43's advice to him. Transcript of Mark Halperin's Interview with Rick Perry

A.Killough / CNN:

New CNN Poll: Perry near top of pack in GOP nomination battle — Washington (CNN) - As Rick Perry moves closer and closer to a run for the White House, a new national survey indicates that the longtime Texas governor is close to the top of the pack in the hunt for the Republican presidential nomination.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Wake up America, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, McClatchy Washington Bureau and Joe. My. God.

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Rick Perry, the “hawk internationalist” — If and when Texas Governor Rick Perry declares his candidacy for president, he will stake out a position on foreign policy and national security issues that one foreign policy hand familiar with his thinking described as a “hawk internationalist” profile.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Salon, Eunomia and The Daily Dish

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:
Another Texan for President?

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Adam Sorensen / Swampland:
Q&A: Rick Perry Is Ready to Run

Discussion: The Note, CNN, Pajamas Media and PoliTex

Donna Smith / Reuters:

Exclusive: Republican Camp won't rule out tax increases — (Reuters) - A leading Republican lawmaker would not rule out tax increases on Thursday if they could boost economic growth, adding that “everything is on the table” for a congressional panel charged with forging a deal to cut the deficit.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and Daily Kos

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Pelosi names three House Democrats to complete debt panel selection — Washington (CNN) - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday appointed Reps. James Clyburn, Xavier Becerra and Chris Van Hollen to the special congressional committee on deficit reduction, completing selection …

Discussion: The Politico and The Political Carnival

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi names her picks to ‘supercommittee,’ completing 12-member debt panel

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway and The Huffington Post

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Attorney for Graves, Rogers: Bank is at fault — CALHOUN — While U.S. Rep. Tom Graves was calling for fiscal responsibility in Washington his attorney was arguing in a lawsuit that a North Georgia bank is at fault for issuing Graves a $2.2 million loan the bank knew he could not repay.

Discussion: tpmmuckraker …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Unqualified Offerings

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: House GOPer accepted bank loan he couldn't repay

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

DeMint: Obama Administration The Most “Anti-American Administration In My Lifetime” — Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show yesterday to discuss his new book and his goals to elect more like-minded conservatives to the Senate. DeMint told Mefferd that President Obama is promoting …

Discussion: TPMDC, nation.foxnews.com, Janet Mefferd Show and Daily Kos

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: DeMint calls administration ‘anti-American’

Frank Miniter / National Review:

England Used to Be a Country of Men — With London succumbing to looters and muggers, it's time to ask what happened to the once-manly English people. The August 9 issue of the Daily Mail, for example, includes a photo of a young man taking off his pants on the street as an impatient looter waits …

Discussion: Shakesville

Number 10:
PM statement on disorder in England

Discussion: Hit & Run, msnbc.com, The Lede, Guardian and Spiked, more at Techmeme »

Emily Smith / New York Post:

George Soros sued by ex-girlfriend for reneging on real estate promise — A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise …

Discussion: Clusterstock, EconomicPolicyJournal.com, Mediaite and The Raw Story

Mike Jaccarino / NY Daily News:
Billionaire George Soros sued by former flame Adriana Ferreyr, who claims he reneged on luxe digs

Discussion: New York Magazine and Gothamist

Douglas Stanglin / USA Today:

Extremist T-shirt offers different message after the first wash — When the 250 T-shirts were donated to a right-wing concert in Germany, they looked perfect: A skull and crossbones, nationalist flags and the slogan “Hardcore rebels.” — But when the T-shirts were washed for the first time, the message changed.

Discussion: Guardian, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Shakesville

Jeff Merkley:

Senators Call on McConnell to Put Jobs First in “Super Committee” — Merkley, 22 others urge Minority Leader to support job creating policies on Joint Select Committee — WASHINGTON - One day after Republicans in the House and Senate announced their picks for the Joint Select Committee …

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and emptywheel

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
A modest proposal: Super-committee should focus on jobs

Discussion: The Hill, Open Congress, Angry Bear, Washington Monthly and Eschaton

Jim Efstathiou Jr / Bloomberg:

Gas Fracking Poses Serious Environmental Risks, U.S. Panel Finds — Natural-gas companies risk causing serious environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing unless they commit to the best engineering practices, a task force named by Energy Secretary Steven Chu concluded.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla

Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
Panel Calls for More ‘Fracking’ Rules

Discussion: Grist and New York Times

Michael Rubinkam / Associated Press:

Pa. judge gets 28 years in ‘kids for cash’ case — SCRANTON, Pa. — A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge was ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money

New York Times:

Wisconsin's Warning to Union-Busters — Five months after Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin pushed through a law stripping public unions of their bargaining rights, the Republican Party has paid a price. Two of the state senators who backed the law were thrown out of office by voters on Tuesday and replaced with Democrats.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, Via Meadia, Campaign 2012, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Maddow Blog and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Fortune:

Buffett: The lower stocks go, the more I buy — Warren Buffett discusses the lowered outlook for Berkshire Hathaway debt, why some of his businesses aren't hiring, and why U.S. debt remains triple-A rated in his mind. — By Andy Serwer, managing editor — Warren Buffett sees buying opportunities

Discussion: Clusterstock, Money & Company and EconomicPolicyJournal.com

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

D.C., Hawaii Most Democratic, Utah Most Republican State in '11 — North Dakota and Louisiana tilt more Republican than they did in 2010 — PRINCETON, NJ — Hawaii shows the largest advantage for the Democratic Party over the Republican Party among U.S. states, along with the District of Columbia, in the first half of 2011.

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Politico and The Political Carnival

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

John Podhoretz Is Not A Very Intelligent Person — I don't normally read books that seem like they'd be terrible, but once upon a time I had a work-related assignment to read John Podhoretz's Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century—While Driving Liberals Insane.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money