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

9:10 AM ET, August 11, 2011

Top Items:

A.Killough / CNN:

TRENDING: Palin bus tour to roll into Iowa — (CNN) - After a more than two-month hiatus, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is planning to crash the presidential party once again with a heartland-themed re-launch of her “One Nation” bus tour this week in Iowa, according to a Palin fundraising email obtained by CNN.

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Molly Ball / The Politico:

Sarah Palin headed to Iowa — Sarah Palin is making a surprise trip to Iowa this weekend, just in time to catch the political spotlight trained on the Ames straw poll. — In an email to supporters Wednesday, Palin said she's accepted an invitation “to meet folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this week.”

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A.Killough / CNN:
Romney prediction: Obama won't win Iowa in 2012

Discussion: The Politico and The Note

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Taxes key to Mitt Romney's '04 pitch to Standard & Poor's — Gov. Mitt Romney lobbied the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's in 2004 to raise his state's credit rating in part because Massachusetts had raised taxes during an economic downturn two years earlier.

Discussion: Washington Post, Weasel Zippers and New York Magazine

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:

Romney's Pitch to S&P Boasted of Revenue Raisers — Former Gov. Mitt Romney boasted this week that when he led Massachusetts, he presided over an increase in the state's bond rating, a contrast to President Barack Obama, who saw Standard & Poor's downgrade U.S. debt.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Page

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

FLASHBACK: In 1990 Campaign Ad, McConnell Said ‘I Think Everyone Should Pay Their Fair Share, Including The Rich’ — Today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) named three Republicans to the fiscal super committee that was created by the debt ceiling deal.

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Susan Davis / NationalJournal.com:
Boehner, McConnell Name Super Committee Members

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Simpson blasts Baucus, Murray

Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Firedoglake and PERRspectives

Bruce Bartlett / Capital Gains and Games blogs:

23 Polls Say People Support Higher Taxes to Reduce the Deficit — Can/Should the Budget Deficit Be Reduced with Spending Cuts Alone or Should There Be Some Increase in Taxes? — Poll — Date — Some/All Taxes — No Taxes/All Spending — Gallup — 8-10 — 66 — 33 — CNN

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, xpostfactoid and The Daily Dish

The Hill:
Boehner, McConnell announce picks for deficit ‘supercommittee’

Discussion: Americans for Tax Reform RSS, The Hill and Daily Kos

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Want New Debt Supercommittee to Compromise

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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Republicans play hardball. Dems play softball.

Discussion: Ipsos, Crooks and Liars and A plain blog about politics

Max Hastings / Daily Mail:

Years of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youngsters — A few weeks after the U.S. city of Detroit was ravaged by 1967 race riots in which 43 people died, I was shown around the wrecked areas by a black reporter named Joe Strickland.

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Guardian:

UK riots: Cameron statement and Commons debate - live — • David Cameron rejects calls to halt police budget cuts — • PM promises review of instant messaging services — • English cities were quiet overnight as calm descended — • Vigil in Birmingham for three killed in alleged hit-and-run

Discussion: Europe, msnbc.com and Boing Boing

Emily Allen / Daily Mail:
We will use water cannons on them: At last Cameron orders police to come down hard on the looters …

Discussion: Doug Ross, Pundit & Pundette and Europe

Telegraph:

Secret peace talks between US and Taliban collapse over leaks — Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked, Western diplomats have told The Daily Telegraph.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Jihad Watch

Mark Halperin / The Page:

He Speaks — 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 — Halperin: Tell me what being a Texan means to you. — Perry: (Laughs.)

Discussion: The Hill

Geneva Sands-Sadowitz / The Hill:

VIDEO: Colbert launches first super PAC ad — Comedian Stephen Colbert's super PAC released its first ad, “Episode IV: A New Hope” paid for by Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. — The video takes aim at the money being spend to promote candiates before the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa.

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress and Ballot Box

Ruth Padawer / New York Times:

The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy — As Jenny lay on the obstetrician's examination table, she was grateful that the ultrasound tech had turned off the overhead screen. She didn't want to see the two shadows floating inside her. Since making her decision, she had tried hard not to think about them …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Derek Kravitz / Associated Press:

Gov't considers turning foreclosures into rentals … WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration may turn thousands of government-owned foreclosures into rental properties to help boost falling home prices. — The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Wednesday it is seeking input from investors …

Discussion: Clusterstock and Pajamas Media

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
The Obama Administration's Weird Home Rental Plan

Discussion: emptywheel, Jared Bernstein, Calculated Risk, Eschaton, ThinkProgress and Wall Street Journal

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:

Financial Turmoil Evokes Comparison to 2008 Crisis — It feels eerily familiar: Stocks are plummeting. The economy is slowing. Politicians are scrambling to find solutions but are mired in disagreement. — Many Americans are wondering whether they are in for a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008.

Discussion: FP Passport, The Caucus and Prairie Weather

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Wisc. Results Suggest Recall of Governor Would Be Close — Close doesn't count in elections — just ask Al Gore or Norm Coleman. — It appeared as late as midnight on Tuesday that Democrats had a chance to win the three seats necessary to give them control of Wisconsin's State Senate in an unusual and expensive recall election.

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Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Tea Party Made Up of ‘Freaked Out White Men’: Whitney — Tea Party members are primarily “freaked out white men” who pose the greatest political threat to Democrats in 2012, according to banking analyst Meredith Whitney. — Speaking in the broader context of a discussion on CNBC regarding …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, BizzyBlog, YID With LID, Pajamas Media, Clusterstock and JammieWearingFool

David Harsanyi / Real Clear Politics:

Sorry, Guys, There Are No More Kings — The romance is gone. But don't worry. It's not him; it's you. — It turns out we are the ones who failed Him. We weren't prepared for a mega-dosage of awesomeness. We were too dimwitted to grasp the decency of central planning.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Bachmann: Obama Told Me The Affordable Care Act Eliminates Medicare — Demonstrating yet again her ability to fabricate information on a whim, presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly Monday that President Obama personally told her that “Obamacare” …

Discussion: The Note, Hullabaloo, Doug Ross, Wonkette, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

Seumas Milne / Guardian:

These riots reflect a society run on greed and looting — David Cameron has to maintain that the unrest has no cause except criminality - or he and his friends might be held responsible — It is essential for those in power in Britain that the riots now sweeping the country can have no cause beyond feral wickedness.

Discussion: Marbury, normblog, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, American Thinker, The Huffington Post, Opinion L.A. and Reuters

Charlie Butts / OneNewsNow.com:

Coulter — ‘queen of fabulous’ for gay conservatives — A pro-homosexual faction within the Republican Party is touting the appointment of an outspoken conservative writer to its panel of advisors. — Columnist Ann Coulter — GOProud says conservative columnist Ann Coulter will carry the title of …

Discussion: Holy Bullies …

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:

Bruce Schneier's Telepathic Takeover of the TSA — Bruce Schneier is a telepath of unimaginable power. That's the only possible explanation for the stunning reversal at the top of the Transportation Security Administration. — For years, Schneier, the well-known security gadfly …

Daniel Bice / JSOnline:

Winners and losers in Tuesday's election — By Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel — The political candidates weren't the only winners and losers in the six Senate recall contests. — Here is a quick take on how some of the important players fared as a result of Tuesday's election:

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The New Republic, Wonkette and Towleroad News #gay

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Gaffney: Chris Christie May Be Guilty Of “Misprision Of Treason” — After New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vocally rejected claims that by appointing Muslim lawyer Sohail Mohammed to be a judge he was abetting the rise of Sharia law, calling talk of creeping Sharia “crazy,” …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Jihad Watch