memeorandum: Fireworks between Perry and Romney erupt early in debate (Michael O'Brien/The Hill)

7:55 AM ET, September 8, 2011

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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Fireworks between Perry and Romney erupt early in debate — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) began sparring over their respective jobs records after no less than 10 minutes into Wednesday's Republican presidential debate.

New York Times:

Romney and Perry Clash, Drawing Lines in G.O.P. Sand — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The fight for the Republican presidential nomination began narrowing into an intense and ideological battle at a debate here Wednesday night, with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Mitt Romney sharply clashing over Social Security …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, The Politico, Bark Bark Woof Woof, 2012 Election Central, The Page and The Caucus

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Romney adviser: Perry ‘has lost’ — Mitt Romney's campaign leapt just now on Rick Perry's restatement of his view that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and that promising to maintain it in its current form is a “monstrous lie.” — “PERRY DOES NOT BELIEVE SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD EXIST,” read the headline of Romney's press release.

Discussion: Politics, The Huffington Post, Pajamas Media, The Politico and ThinkProgress

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

REPUBLICANS CHEER DEATH PENALTY at Reagan Library Debate (Video) — Republicans Cheer Death Penalty- — Republicans cheered the death penalty tonight at the GOP debate at the Reagan Library. They cheered again when Governor Rick Perry defended his state's laws. — Brian Williams: Governor Perry a question about Texas.

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:

Perry Leads — This was a very successful debate debut for Rick Perry. It confirms his position as the leader of the field. As of now, this race is a Perry-Romney duel, but Perry's the one to beat. Romney and Perry were well matched tonight, but Perry's appeal to the base means he's got …

Discussion: Rick Perry for President 2012

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Perry begins to show his hand on Social Security

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Al Gore / Al's Journal:

Confronting Disappointment — On Friday afternoon, as brave and committed activists continued their non-violent civil disobedience outside the White House in protest of the tar sands pipeline that would lead to a massive increase in global warming pollution, President Obama ordered the EPA …

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Speakeasy, Firedoglake, Washington Wire, The Other McCain, Guardian, Politics, ThinkProgress, Pajamas Media, TPMDC and AMERICAblog News

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
The White House's two priorities

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, TPMDC, Bloomberg and New York Times

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Gore rebukes Obama

Dan Berman / The Politico:
Al Gore: Obama bows to polluters

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Weasel Zippers

The Hill:
White House could take bigger role in vetting costly regulations ahead of 2012

Discussion: Facebook and The Politico

David Rogers / The Politico:

Hill moving fast on spending bills — Keeping faith with the August debt accord, House Republicans and Senate Democrats moved dramatically closer on 2012 domestic spending Wednesday even as the GOP leadership signaled greater latitude regarding disaster funding without immediate offsets.

CNN:
Reid pushes emergency FEMA funding while Cantor denies holding disaster aid ‘hostage’

Discussion: The Politico

Healthwatch:
OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Republican presidential debate promises healthcare fireworks

Discussion: CNN

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Reid Seeks To Call GOP Bluff By Pushing Clean Emergency Disaster Relief Bill

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:

The Republican Debate at the Reagan Library — The following is a transcript of the 2012 Republican presidential debate on Sept. 7, 2011, in Simi Valley, Calif., as transcribed by Roll Call. — SPEAKERS: REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE — GOV. RICK PERRY, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:
The real Ronald Reagan may not meet today's GOP standards

Discussion: Guardian, Outside the Beltway, A plain blog about politics, Washington Monthly and Politics

Peter Berkowitz / Wall Street Journal:
The Myth of Conservative Purity

Discussion: Mediaite, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Pajamas Media and American Power

Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org:

Actress Mila Kunis: ‘I Love Barack Obama,’ Adds Young Republicans Are ‘Ill-Informed’ — Actress Mila Kunis granted an interview (and cover photo) to Stylist magazine and proclaimed “I love Barack Obama” and that young Republicans are “ill-informed” in Middle America and can't tell you why they oppose Obama.

Discussion: The Other McCain, TBogg and The Caucus

Conn Carroll / Campaign 2012:

NBC picks Packers over Obama in Milwaukee — He probably didn't know it at the time, but when President Obama greeted Green Bay Packers quarterback (and California Golden Bears alum) Aaron Rodgers at the White House this August, he was shaking hand with the competition. And not because Obama is a Chicago Bears fan.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Fox News, JSOnline, The Daily Caller, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Fox News:
Pelosi Peeved Republicans Opt Out of Rebuttal to Obama Speech

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Wizbang, Hot Air, Power Line, Pajamas Media, The Page, Michelle Malkin and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michael Falcone / Politics:

Dick Cheney to Hillary Clinton: Run! — LOS ANGELES — Hillary Clinton for president? — “So far she hasn't said she would, but I think it's not a bad idea,” former Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC's Jonathan Karl in an interview on Wednesday to promote his new book “In My Time.”

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jonathan Karl / Politics:
Dick Cheney Tells Republican Presidential Candidates To Watch Their Mouths

Discussion: Opinion L.A., nation.foxnews.com and Business Insider

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The secret to the right wing noise machine's success — It's simple: Keep making noise, regardless of the facts, and hopefully with a big assist from the major news orgs, until the other side caves from sheer exhaustion, in order to make the noise go away. — Conservatives and Tea Partyers …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, National Review, The Huffington Post, Teamster Nation, Mediaite and Washington Monthly

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Obama Approval Sinks to New Lows Among Whites, Hispanics — Blacks' support remains high, but at 84% ties record for monthly low — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama earned the lowest monthly job approval rating of his presidency to date in August, with 41% of U.S. adults approving …

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Naked Politics

Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:

One Reason Why Keynesian Stimuli Aren't Working: They Aren't Keynesian — In The Washington Times, businessman Mike Whalen (who's associated the free-market think tank NCPA) writes up an interesting take on why various federal stimulus program have tanked like the Titanic (while causing few ripples on the way down).

Discussion: Chicago Boyz

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The Greater Recession: The Real Reason Americans Feel So Squeezed — The collapse of the middle class is greater than the Great Recession. But what's really behind our 30-year crash? One statistic, often ignored, begins to provide a clearer picture. It's the productivity, stupid. — REUTERS

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

John Cole / Balloon Juice:

Dickensian — I have to laugh at the Mistermix that the media might notice the Republicans are crazy and a pile-on might begin. It just cracks me up. Look where we are now- Paul Ryan, the GOP poster boy who offered up the blueprint for the biggest piece of class warfare ever offered …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Brad Friedman / MoJo Articles:

Audio: Chris Christie Lets Loose at Secret Koch Brothers Confab — In our exclusive recordings, David Koch introduces the New Jersey governor as “my kind of guy” and “a true political hero.” — Post Comment … On the morning of June 26, Chris Christie, New Jersey's flamboyant …

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, PoliticusUSA, Raw Replay, Philly.com, EconomicPolicyJournal.com, The Washington Independent, AlterNet and The Reaction

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

Rocking out with Michele Bachmann Overdrive — Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Republican presidential candidate who won the Iowa straw poll last month, might not know it, but she's even got a band named after her. — Michele Bachmann Overdrive is a four-man rock outfit based in Great Falls …

Discussion: Wonkette

ABCNEWS:

‘Connected’ Energy Firm Got Lowest Interest Rate on Government Loan — A politically connected solar company that pocketed a half billion dollar government loan, only to shut its doors, fire workers and file for bankruptcy, benefited from a series of breaks in securing the federal funds …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, NO QUARTER, Hot Air and The Daily Caller