memeorandum: Romney: Health care will be one of my ‘best assets’ (A.Killough/CNN)

7:00 PM ET, September 5, 2011

Top Items:

Iowa Caucus: Iowa GOP: Perry 29%, Bachmann 18%, Romney 17%, Paul 14% — Confirming a surge seen in polling across the nation, Texas Governor Rick Perry has moved into first place among Republican voters in Iowa, host state to the first-in-the-nation caucus early next year.

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, LifeNews.com, Scared Monkeys and National Review

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:

Rick Perry fires at Mitt Romney at S.C. town hall — CONWAY, S.C. — Rick Perry cut short a trip to South Carolina on Monday to head home to deal with wildfires in his state but got in a shot at Mitt Romney before he left. — “There is no one who's gonna be sitting on that stage …

Discussion: And So it Goes in Shreveport and Online NewsHour

CBS News:

“Doesn't appear” Palin will run: DeMint — The Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the presidential campaign season, and many of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination have started to take shots at each other, not just at President Obama, reports CBS News political correspondent Jan Crawford.

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook, The TrogloPundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

A.Killough / CNN:

Romney: Health care will be one of my ‘best assets’ — (CNN) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday that the issue of health care will be “one of my best assets” if he goes on to win the Republican nomination and debate President Barack Obama in the general election.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Palin's Attack on ‘Corporate Crony Capitalism’ Spotlights Gap in GOP Field

Discussion: Big Government and Conservatives4Palin

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Perry to skip DeMint's presidential forum, will return to Texas to deal with wildfires

Discussion: CNN and Austin American-Statesman

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Bachmann bunked at S.C. gov's mansion

Discussion: The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Perry to skip DeMint forum

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, TPMDC, The Political Carnival, HotAirPundit and Booman Tribune

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Poll finds Perry and Romney tied for lead with GOP Calif. voters

Discussion: gqrr.com and Los Angeles Times

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Romney kicks off primary high season with pancakes

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill

Michelle Malkin:

Happy Labor Day: Top 10 union thug moments of the year — As the MSM whitewashes Big Labor's ugly threats, Tea Party smears, and history of coerced dues-subsidized racketeering this Labor Day, what better way to mark the holiday than with an illustrated list of top 10 union thug moments of the year.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, theblogprof, Doug Ross, Firedoglake, The TrogloPundit, The Gateway Pundit, PERRspectives, Nice Deb, Althouse, The Daily Caller, alicublog and Wizbang

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

The last Labor Day? — Let's get it over with and rename the holiday “Capital Day.” We may still celebrate Labor Day, but our culture has given up on honoring workers as the real creators of wealth and their honest toil — the phrase itself seems antique — as worthy of genuine respect.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Newshoggers.com, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Reaction and Pirate's Cove

Patricia Bosworth / Daily Mail:

Rebel without a bra: Jane Fonda said her biggest regret was not sleeping with Che Guevara... but that was to please her husband — One day, at the height of her fame in the mid-Seventies, Jane Fonda turned up on the doorstep of her ex-husband, Roger Vadim. She was lugging a bulging sack.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, theblogprof, Weasel Zippers, neo-neocon, ParaPundit and Fausta's Blog

Washington Examiner:

You have a right to record the police — Tiawanda Moore was vindicated after a jury acquitted her of the “crime” of recording the police. (AP photo) — All over America, police have been arresting people for taking video or making sound recordings of them, even though such arrests are pretty clearly illegal.

Discussion: Hot Air, Alas, a Blog, Hit & Run and Don Surber

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:

Obama Signals Next Steps in Jobs Push — President Barack Obama signaled Monday he'll propose a major infrastructure program and an extension of a payroll tax break in the jobs speech he planned to deliver Thursday before a joint session of Congress. — In an animated Labor Day talk …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Calculated Risk

A.Killough / CNN:

Bachmann: Why is there a Department of Education? — (CNN) - Painting herself as a “constitutional conservative” Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told Sen. Jim DeMint's forum Monday that if elected president she would look to get rid of the Department of Education, among other things.

Discussion: National Review

Wolfgang Schäuble / Financial Times:

Why austerity is only cure for the eurozone — In recent weeks, debt markets have undergone wild gyrations, leading some analysts and commentators to question the progress achieved in taming the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone. More recently, economic data and forward-looking indicators …

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE and Paul Krugman

Wolfgang Münchau / Financial Times:
The worst of the euro crisis is yet to come

Discussion: Paul Krugman, FT Alphaville and Washington Monthly

Spiegel Online:
International Monetary Fund

Discussion: Guardian

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Hoffa Threatens GOP At Obama Event: “Take These Son Of Bitches Out” — Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa had some profane, combative words for Republicans while warming up the crowd for President Obama in Detroit, Michigan on Monday. “We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers.

Discussion: Big Government, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Proof Positive, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Associated Press, Pajamas Media, Scared Monkeys, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Sipsey Street Irregulars, The Lonely Conservative and HotAirPundit

Yves Smith / naked capitalism:

The Decline of Manufacturing in America: A Case Study — One frequent and frustrating line that often crops up in the comments section of this blog is that American labor has no hope, it should just accept Chinese wages, since price is all that matters. That line of thinking is wrongheaded on multiple levels.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

NY Daily News:

Bloody weekend: 24 shot in 24 hours prompting Mayor Bloomberg to call for tougher gun laws — Twenty-four New Yorkers were hit by gunfire, one fatally, over 24 hours of violence this weekend, prompting Mayor Bloomberg to call the bloody stretch “unconscionable” and demand action from Washington.

Discussion: Gothamist, LewRockwell.com Blog and JammieWearingFool