memeorandum: Rick Perry Wrestles With Health Care Stance, Opposition To Obama Health Reform Law (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar/Associated Press)

2:05 PM ET, August 22, 2011

Top Items:

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Just One Week Into His Campaign, Rick Perry Disavows His Nine-Month-Old Book — Last November, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) published Fed Up, a 240-page ode to tentherism, which argues that everything from child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to Medicare violates the Constitution.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and Shakesville

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Perry: Nevermind — Rick Perry wrote in his book, “Fed Up,” that Social Security is unconstitutional. He hadn't really retreated from it as of last week, when he confirmed to me that he'd consider replacing it with a set of state pensions. — But his communications director seems to be in full retreat, in a comment to Neil King:

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, Swampland, Man Are We Screwed, TPMDC and The Daily Dish

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Trial lawyers prep for war on Perry — America's trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. — Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred - and fear - as Perry …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Hot Air, New York Magazine and GOP 12

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Messing With Texas — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas hasn't lost an election in 10 tries. Among his vanquished opponents, this streak has inspired not only the usual mix of resentment and respect, but a touch of supernatural awe. “Running against Perry,” one of them told Texas Monthly, “is like running against God.”

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Daily Kos, The Agonist and Sadly, No!

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
Rick Perry Wrestles With Health Care Stance, Opposition To Obama Health Reform Law

Discussion: Healthwatch and ThinkProgress

Juan / Informed Comment:

Top Ten Myths about the Libya War — The Libyan Revolution has largely succeeded, and this is a moment of celebration, not only for Libyans but for a youth generation in the Arab world that has pursued a political opening across the region. The secret of the uprising's final days of success lay …

Discussion: Guardian, Firedoglake, New York Times, FP Passport, Daniel W. Drezner, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News

Steve Clemons / The Atlantic Online:
Libya: Huge Win for Libyans, A Win for Obama, Challenges Next

Discussion: Guardian, Foreign Policy, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh and iOwnTheWorld.com

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The Libya War argument

Discussion: Hit & Run, Campaign 2012, National Review and alicublog

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:
W Gets A Third Term In The Middle East

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

In the Race to Succeed Weiner, a Surprising Anger at Obama — Of all the places to hear fulminations against President Obama, one of the least expected is the corner of 71st Avenue and Queens Boulevard, in the heart of a Congressional district that propelled Democrats like Geraldine A. Ferraro …

Discussion: New York Post, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Indecision Forever, Prairie Weather, Moe Lane, PolitickerNY, JammieWearingFool, White House Dossier, The Lonely Conservative and National Review

Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:

Attorney General of N.Y. Is Said to Face Pressure on Bank Foreclosure Deal — Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, Felix Salmon, Rortybomb, New Deal 2.0, New York Magazine, The Big Picture, Clusterstock, Gretawire, Man Are We Screwed, Hullabaloo, AMERICAblog News and Suburban Guerrilla

emptywheel:
2 Funny Things about Obama Administration's Effort to Pressure Eric Schneiderman

Discussion: Salon, naked capitalism and The Sideshow

Bloomberg:

Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2T in Loans — Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) were the reigning champions of finance in 2006 as home prices peaked, leading the 10 biggest U.S. banks and brokerage firms to their best year ever with $104 billion of profits.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, emptywheel, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, The Big Picture, New York Magazine, Dependable Renegade, The Heritage Foundation, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Man Are We Screwed, The Talking Dog, The Consumerist, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Power Line

Robert Costa / National Review:

‘She Will Run’ — Ames, Iowa — Political organizer Peter Singleton tells National Review Online that Sarah Palin will likely launch a presidential campaign by the end of September. “I believe that she will run,” he says. “I can't see her sitting this election out.”

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Raw Story, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media, The Note, TheBlaze.com, RedState, msnbc.com, Top of the Ticket, GOP 12, Conservatives4Palin, rubber hose and Althouse

Rasmussen Reports:
Obama 50%, Palin 33%

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Big Government and Conservatives4Palin

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

The ‘thank America last’ crowd — Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a joint statement last night on the developments in Libya. It's worth taking a look at the lede. … Remember hearing about the “blame America first” crowd? Well, say hello to the “thank America last” crowd.

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Wonkette, The Daily Dish, Daily Kos and iOwnTheWorld.com

Meagan Fitzpatrick / CBC News:

Jack Layton dead of cancer at 61 — Beginning of Story Content — NDP Leader Jack Layton, who led Canada's Official Opposition, has died at his Toronto home at age 61 after a battle with cancer. — Layton died peacefully early Monday, surrounded by family and loved ones …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and TPMDC

Toronto Star:
Jack Layton dead at 61

Discussion: Newshoggers.com and Shakesville

Harvey Golub / Wall Street Journal:

My Response To Buffett And Obama — Before you ask for more tax money from me, raise the $2.2 trillion you already collect each year more fairly and spend it more wisely. — Over the years, I have paid a significant portion of my income to the various federal, state and local jurisdictions …

Discussion: The New Republic, Politics, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Lonely Conservative and UrbanGrounds

Laura Italiano / New York Post:

DA filing to reveal new ‘bombshells’ about DSK accuser's credibility — She lied about sex. She lied about money. She even lied about lying. — That's the conclusion of Manhattan prosecutors, who promise they'll drop “bombshells” in detailing new credibility issues for the hotel maid …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Guardian and New York Times

New York Times:
Strauss-Kahn Case Is Said to Be Set for Dismissal

Discussion: Online NewsHour, Gothamist, Associated Press, Reuters, Law Blog, The Politico, The Awl, Felix Salmon and Feministe

BBC:

Libya conflict: Fighting rages near Gaddafi compound — Resident Omar describes rebels celebrating and waving opposition flags on Green Square — Heavy fighting is taking place in Tripoli around the compound of embattled Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi after rebels seized control of much of the city on Sunday.

CNN:
Live blog: Intense fighting near Gadhafi stronghold

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Battleland, The Heritage Foundation and Hot Air

Neil Vigdor / Greenwich Time:

Hearst exclusive: Former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays to enter 2012 Senate race — Former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., is looking to disprove the adage: you can't go home again. — Shays, on sabbatical from Connecticut's political scene since his 2008 election loss …

Discussion: Ballot Box, TPMDC, Talking Points Memo and Hotline On Call

Financial Times:

It is time for an Obama reset — Barack Obama, like the US economy whose fate is bound up with his own, is in a slump. Since the shameful debt-ceiling battle, events have landed one blow after another: the Standard & Poor's downgrade, a run of bad economic figures, crashing markets and growing fears of a second recession.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Darrin / The Obama Report:
Golf: Obama Skips the 8th hole to avoid TV Cameras & photographer

Discussion: Boston Globe, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

There's Room for More G.O.P. Candidates — Rather than douse speculation about which additional Republicans might enter the presidential sweepstakes, Rick Perry's announcement that he would seek the White House seemed only to stoke the fire. At least five prominent Republicans — Sarah Palin …

Discussion: Politics and A plain blog about politics

Joel Bakan / New York Times:

The Kids Are Not All Right — WHEN I sit with my two teenagers, and they are a million miles away, absorbed by the titillating roil of online social life, the addictive pull of video games and virtual worlds, as they stare endlessly at video clips and digital pictures of themselves and their friends, it feels like something is wrong.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers and Romanticpoet's Weblog

Michael S. Malone / Ricochet Conversation Feed:

Mr. President, Don't Get Well Soon — [Ed.'s Note: The former editor of Forbes ASAP and the author of 15 books, including The Big Score and The Virtual Corporation, Mike Malone is now holed up at an undisclosed location in Oregon, where he's supposed to be completing his next book.

Discussion: Sense of Events

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

PARTNERS … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Man Are We Screwed, Prairie Weather, The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Online

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

Climate Science Shouldn't Be Religion For Left or Right — I wish to associate myself with these remarks of Jonathan Adler's, so I hope he will forgive me for the extended excerpt: … I don't think that science denialism is the exclusive province of the GOP, but it's extremely disappointing whenever either side does it.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy