memeorandum: Urgent Call for Blood Donations (Adriane Quinlan/City Room)

4:35 PM ET, August 31, 2011

Top Items:

Sarah Palin Appearance at Tea Party Rally in Iowa ‘No Longer Confirmed’ — This post has been corrected. — Sarah Palin's Saturday appearance at a tea party rally in Indianola, Iowa, is on hold, a person close to the former Alaska governor told The Wall Street Journal.

Discussion: Politics, Ben Smith's Blog, Little Green Footballs, TPMDC, The Iowa Republican, The Political Carnival, CNN, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, National Review, New York Magazine, The Powers That Be and Pajamas Media

First Read / msnbc.com:

Tea Party organizer ‘had to cancel’ Christine O'Donnell to get Palin to attend — DES MOINES — Tea Party of America President Ken Crow told NBC News, “I had to cancel Ms. O'Donnell” after a conversation with Sarah Palin aides — and is now hopeful Palin will attend the Saturday rally in Indianola.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics, Outside the Beltway, Iowa Caucuses, The Rantings & Ravings …, Talking Points Memo and Gawker

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Palin appearance at Iowa tea party event now in doubt — (CNN) - Sources close to Sarah Palin told CNN Wednesday that the former Alaska governor is no longer likely to attend a tea party rally in Iowa on Saturday, an event that's been plagued by logistical issues.

Discussion: The Politico, Iowa Caucuses and The American Independent

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

FreedomWorks to protest Romney — A top tea party organizing group, FreedomWorks, is planning to protest Mitt Romney's appearance this weekend at a New Hampshire stop of a bus tour intended to encourage tea party sympathizers to participate in the Republican presidential nominating process.

Discussion: The Caucus, TPMDC and Swampland

Molly Ball / The Politico: Palin still on for Iowa, organizers say

delawareonline:
O'Donnell dropped, re-invited to rally

Discussion: Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Politics, TPMDC and CNN

Scott Conroy / Real Clear Politics:
Palin's Participation in Iowa Rally “On Hold”

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Wonkette and The Iowa Republican

Scott McGrew / NBC Bay Area:

Solyndra Filing a Disaster for Obama — U.S. President Barack Obama heads inside to deliver a speech after meeting with construction workers building a new Solyndra solar panel factory May 26, 2010 in Fremont, California. President Obama toured Solyndra Inc., a growing solar power equipment facility …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Scott McGrew / NBC Bay Area:

Solyndra to Declare Bankruptcy — President Obama touted the facility only a year ago. — Solyndra — recently touted as an innovator by President Obama — is reportedly shutting its doors. Employees are being turned away this morning. … Solyndra, a major manufacturer of solar technology in Fremont …

Discussion: Hot Air, Verum Serum, theblogprof, americanthinker.com, Pajamas Media and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Solar company that received Obama administration backing closes its doors — A California-based solar company that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration announced Wednesday that it will shut down. — The company, Solyndra Inc., said Wednesday it would suspend …

Discussion: Reuters and Michelle Malkin

Energy.gov:
A Competition Worth Winning

Discussion: Bloomberg, Swampland, Patterico's Pontifications and Politics

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Obama schedules jobs address to coincide with GOP 2012 debate — President Obama has requested a joint session of Congress next week to deliver his jobs speech directly to lawmakers. — In a letter to congressional leaders requesting the Sept. 7 slot, the president said he will urge Congress …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Politico, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Obama targets GOP for fall offensive — “Kill the body, and the head will die.” — Joe Frazier — President Obama is preparing to fight a political war this fall on two fronts — the first against Republicans who want his job and the second against Republicans who want to make his job more difficult.

Discussion: The Other McCain, JammieWearingFool, Pirate's Cove, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Prairie Weather

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Obama to go big with jobs agenda — When it comes to President Obama's new economic plan, to be unveiled next week, the three main questions are pretty straightforward: (1) what's in it; (2) how much good will it do; and (3) what will Congress do to it. — But I've been curious about one other thing: where's he going to deliver it?

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, TPMDC, Lemkin, Balloon Juice and Weasel Zippers

Michael Scherer / Swampland:
Team Obama Finds Hope for 2012 in a History Lesson

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Obama requests time for jobs speech

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine and TPMDC

Quinnipiac University:

Perry Jumps To The Top Of GOP Pack, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Perry, Romney Each Run Neck And Neck With Obama — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has zoomed to the front of the line of GOP presidential candidates with a 24 - 18 percent lead over former Massachusetts …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Ballot Box, Politics, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Democracy in America, Swampland, GOP 12, Hot Air, TPMDC, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review and JammieWearingFool

William Galston / The New Republic: Memo to Mitt Romney: You Have to Attack Rick Perry, and Here's How to Do It

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Rick Perry is no libertarian

Discussion: RedState, Hit & Run and NewsBusters.org blogs

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Romney camp not panicking — yet

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, GOP 12, Campaign 2012 and New York Magazine

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Cantor finds himself in a tricky spot on hurricane disaster aid — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's insistence that federal disaster aid be offset elsewhere in the budget runs directly counter to his position in the past when the money went to help his Virginia district.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, Sky Dancing, Paul Krugman, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Republican Revolt: Virgina's GOP Governor Splits With Cantor, Rejects Conditioning Disaster Aid On Budget Cuts — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), along with some of his House GOP colleagues, have been saying that disaster aid for the areas affected by Hurricane Irene must be offset by, in Cantor's words, “savings elsewhere.”

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice, The Rantings & Ravings …, Chicago Tribune and Daily Kos

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Federal Austerity Changes Disaster Relief

Discussion: Firedoglake, NewsBusters.org blogs, Media Research Center, The Confluence and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Andre Carson: Tea party wants blacks ‘hanging on a tree’ — A top lawmaker in the Congressional Black Caucus says tea partiers on Capitol Hill would like to see African Americans hanging from trees and accuses the movement of wishing for a return to the Jim Crow era.

Discussion: RealMReynolds, Outside the Beltway, PoliPundit.com, The Natural Truth, CNN, White House Dossier, Verum Serum, Confederate Yankee, RedState, Datechguy's Blog, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, Philly.com and The Daily Caller

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Rep. Allen West considers quitting CBC

Discussion: Campaign 2012

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Huntsman to unveil sweeping tax reform — Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) will propose sweeping tax reforms Wednesday in a speech outlining his jobs plan. — Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) will propose sweeping tax reforms Wednesday in a speech outlining his plans on job creation.

Discussion: The Politico, TheBlaze.com, Politics, CNN, GOP 12 and New York Magazine

James Pethokoukis:
Huntsman tax plan goes big and bold

Discussion: ThinkProgress, National Review and USA Today

Chris Cillizza / Associated Press:
Jon Huntsman's last, best shot

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog and AmSpecBlog

Tom Schoenberg / Bloomberg:

U.S. Files Antitrust Complaint to Block AT&T, T-Mobile Merger — The U.S. government sued to block AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market. — The Justice Department complaint was filed today in federal court in Washington.

Discussion: The United States Department …, TPM Idea Lab, TechCrunch, CWA Union News, ThinkProgress, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Felix Salmon, GigaOM, Hot Air, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Politics, The Raw Story, Gawker and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »

The Politico:
Conservatives hit DOJ on suit against AT&T/T-Mobile merger

Discussion: The Huffington Post

New York Times:

The New Resentment of the Poor — In a decade of frenzied tax-cutting for the rich, the Republican Party just happened to lower tax rates for the poor, as well. Now several of the party's most prominent presidential candidates and lawmakers want to correct that oversight and raise taxes …

Discussion: The Caucus, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, The Mahablog and Suburban Guerrilla

Mercatus Site Feed:

Did Stimulus Dollars Hire the Unemployed? — Answers to Questions about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — In an effort to boost hiring and job creation and to invest in a variety of domestic infrastructure programs, Congress passed and the president signed the American Recovery …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and National Review

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Why didn't the stimulus create more jobs?

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress and The New Republic

Carol Marin / Chicago Sun Times:

State Rep. Deborah Mell has legal gay marriage in Iowa — Christin Baker and State Rep. Deborah Mell reveal they got married recently in Iowa. Tuesday, August 30, 2011 | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times — State Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) quietly made Illinois history last week. — She got married.

Discussion: The American Independent, Towleroad News #gay and On Top Magazine Headlines

TheUnion.com Online News:

Babysitting bill in Calif. Legislature — Office of Sen. Doug LaMalfa — How will parents react when they find out they will be expected to provide workers' compensation benefits, rest and meal breaks and paid vacation time for...babysitters? Dinner and a movie night may soon become much more complicated.

Discussion: Independed Women's Forum, Maggie's Farm, Pajamas Media, Scared Monkeys, Wizbang and americanthinker.com

Laura Zuckerman / Reuters:

Idaho woman challenges abortion laws after prosecution — (Reuters) - An Idaho woman prosecuted for terminating her own pregnancy with an abortion pill ordered over the Internet has filed suit challenging a decades-old law under which she was charged, as well as a new state ban on abortions after 20 weeks of gestation.

Discussion: LifeNews.com and Shakesville

David Kocieniewski / New York Times:

Where Pay for Chief Executives Tops the Company Tax Burden — At least 25 top United States companies paid more to their chief executives in 2010 than they did to the federal government in taxes, according to a study released on Wednesday. — The companies — which include household names like eBay …

Discussion: Reuters, Felix Salmon, The Politico, Brilliant at Breakfast, Hullabaloo and The BLT

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

GOP governor urges Obama to reject proposed oil pipeline — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) urged President Obama on Wednesday to reject a pending permit application for a controversial pipeline that would carry Canadian oil sands through his state. — In a letter to Obama and Secretary …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake and Daily Kos

Aljazeera:

Secret files: US officials aided Gaddafi — Al Jazeera uncovers evidence that influential Americans tried to help the now-deposed Libyan leader cling to power. … The destruction by NATO airstrikes of Libya's intelligence headquarters at the heart of Tripoli has transformed the once-feared building …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BBC, msnbc.com and Guardian