memeorandum: Alexander Steps Down; Thune Steps Up (David M. Drucker/Roll Call)

9:05 PM ET, September 20, 2011

Top Items:

Peter Wallsten / Washington Post:

In early Obama White House, female staffers felt frozen out — Friction about the roles of women in the Obama White House grew so intense during the first two years of the president's tenure that he was forced to take steps to reassure senior women on his staff that he valued their presence and their input.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gawker, National Review, Business Insider, iOwnTheWorld.com, NO QUARTER, New York Magazine, Michelle Malkin, Mediaite, TalkLeft, The Crawdad Hole, Mother Jones, The Hill, Big Government and Shakesville

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Alter vs. Suskind: Not longing for Clinton — On MSNBC, Jonathan Alter — the author of a more sympathetic book on Obama's first year than Ron Suskind's — offers a different theory of the White House: — ANCHOR: What about the claim he makes about Peter Orzag and Larry Summers saying they were “home alone” in the White House.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Edward Morrissey / The Week Magazine:
Has Obama quit already?

Discussion: Salon, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, Daily Kos and Power Line

Kevinliptak / CNN: Longtime Obama aide to depart White House

Susan Crabtree / TPMDC:
Centrist Dems Already Trying To Put The Brakes On Obama's Tax Increases

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Politico, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Suburban Guerrilla, Pajamas Media and Balloon Juice

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Yup, moderates and independents support taxing the rich

Discussion: New York Magazine, Salon, About.com US Liberal Politics, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, Gothamist, Pajamas Media, TaxProf Blog, The Hill and JustOneMinute

David Brooks / New York Times:
Obama Rejects Obamaism

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Budget analysts say Obama deficit plan is likely to miss its targets

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air, National Review and American Power

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Is Obama Becoming the President He Has to Be, Not the One He Wanted?

Discussion: Washington Post and The Hill

Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:

FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries? — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries. — “Middle-class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires,” Obama said Monday.

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

On Average, The AP Is Useless — Much as it grieves me to rally to the defense of Barack Obama, the latest AP Fact Check on his proposed Buffet Rule tax on millionaires seems to deliberately miss the point of Obama's pronouncements. From the AP: — WASHINGTON (AP) …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Daniel Indiviglio / The Atlantic Online:

Chart of the Day: ‘Buffett Rule’ Wouldn't Bring In Much Revenue — This week, President Obama announced a new way for the government to make more money: put a floor on the tax rates that millionaires face. He coined the idea the “Buffett Rule,” after billionaire investor Warren Buffett …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and National Review

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill: DeMint: 'I'd love to see Buffett's tax returns'

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Perry Looks Better Against Romney Than Against Obama — Leads Romney by 10 points in “narrow down” but trails Obama — PRINCETON, NJ — Rick Perry leads Mitt Romney by 31% to 24% in a new USA Today/Gallup poll of Republican presidential nomination preferences.

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Indecision Forever, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Politico, Campaign 2012, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Hotline On Call and RedState

Washington Examiner:
York: Perry locked, loaded for Thursday's debate

Discussion: Washington Post, msnbc.com, Ben Smith's Blog and Hot Air

Dan Hirschhorn / The Politico:
Santorum: Perry ‘ignores reality’

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Associated Press, Guardian, CNN, Little Green Footballs, National Review and Politics

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Perry in Texas — Rick Perry has an under water approval rating …

Discussion: Greg's Opinion, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign … and Daily Kos

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Perry narrowly leads Romney in SC poll

Discussion: The Politico

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Rick Santorum contacted Google, says company spreads ‘filth’ — A Google search for Santorum has generated some inappropriate results since gay columnist Dan Savage organized an online campaign to link graphic sexual terms to the socially conservative senator's name.

Discussion: Wonkette, Salon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Indecision Forever, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, TBogg and Taegan Goddard's …

Seth Stern / Bloomberg:

$16 Muffins Found at U.S. Meetings — U.S. Justice Department agencies spent too much for food at conferences, in one case serving $16 muffins and in another dishing out beef Wellington appetizers that cost $7.32 per serving, an audit found. — “Some conferences featured costly meals …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Business Insider and The Other McCain

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Bill Clinton scorches GOP field on climate change — Bill Clinton turned up the heat on the leading Republican presidential contenders Tuesday, saying their opposition to acknowledging climate change makes the country “look like a joke.” — “If you're an American, the best thing …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, CNN, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and TPMDC

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Warren takes lead on Brown — Elizabeth Warren has had an incredibly successful launch to her Senate campaign and actually leads Scott Brown now by a 46-44 margin, erasing what was a 15 point deficit the last time we polled the state in early June. — Warren's gone from 38% name recognition …

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Business Insider, DownWithTyranny!, Mother Jones, Swampland, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, New York Magazine and Daily Kos

Alexandra Berzon / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Alleges Full Tilt Poker Was Ponzi Scheme — The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday accused poker celebrities Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson among other executives of a major poker website of defrauding poker players out of more than $300 million.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Money & Company, Felix Salmon, The Agitator, ABA Journal Daily News and Hit & Run

Julian Pecquet / Healthwatch:

HHS spending bill stuck in impasse — Two conservative Republicans are holding up the Health and Human Services spending bill. — Two conservative Republicans are holding up the Health and Human Services spending bill. — The two lawmakers, Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Cynthia Lummis …

Discussion: Left in the West

Julian Pecquet / Healthwatch:
Health spending bill clears Senate panel over GOP's opposition to health law

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

Katie Pavlich Attorney General in Mexico: 200 Murders Result of Operation Fast and Furious — In a conference call this morning with Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, reporters were told the Attorney General in Mexico has confirmed at least 200 murders south …

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air and Sister Toldjah

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
Defending Decision Not To Investigate News Corp., Issa Contradicts Own Claim That He Knows Rupert Murdoch

Discussion: The Crawdad Hole and The Raw Story

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Reid warns shutdown is possible — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday there is a chance that the government could shutter at the end of this month. — Criticizing House Republicans for the disaster relief provisions in their budget bill, Reid told reporters, “We're not going to cave on this.”

Discussion: The Politico, Don Surber and CNN

The Daily Beast:

Gary Johnson's Big Breakthrough — The former New Mexico governor has just landed a spot in the next presidential debate Thursday night. Howard Kurtz on why that could take the heat off Perry and Romney.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Naked Politics, New York Magazine and National Review

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

Perry's Theocratic Foreign Policy: ‘As A Christian I Have A Clear Directive To Support Israel’ — Today, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) held a news conference in New York City where he attacked President Obama's Middle East policies and called upon the United States to be more stridently supportive of the actions of the Israeli government.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and Little Green Footballs

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Chalk up Tennessee Republican Rep. Phil Roe's Tuesday morning actions to heroism: Roe saved a man's life with CPR after he flatlined in the Charlotte, North Carolina airport. — Roe, an obstetrician before he first ran for public office, was walking through the Charlotte terminal …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, The Politico, JammieWearingFool, Indecision Forever and msnbc.com

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Texas GOP Rep On Cuts To Family Planning: ‘Of Course This Is A War On Birth Control’ — The GOP's concerted campaign against women's health has resulted in about 1,000 anti-abortion bills in state legislatures across the country and numerous federal attempts to eradicate a woman's right to choose.

Discussion: NPR and The Raw Story

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Americans Favor Jobs Plan Proposals, Including Taxing Rich — Majority say Obama's jobs plan will help economy at least “a little” — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans generally favor raising taxes on higher-income Americans and eliminating tax deductions for some corporations as ways of paying for President Obama's proposed jobs plan.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post and Business Insider

Reuters:

Solyndra execs will decline to testify at hearing — Solyndra LLC's chief executive and chief financial officer will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions put to them at a Congressional hearing on Friday, according to letters from their attorneys obtained by Reuters.

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, National Review, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers and The Crawdad Hole

Michael Graczyk / The Huffington Post:

Cleve Foster Case: U.S. Supreme Court Halts Texas Execution … HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A former Army recruiter who for the third time this year was hours away from his scheduled execution for the rape-slaying of a woman in Fort Worth nearly 10 years ago was granted yet another reprieve by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Diane Cardwell / New York Times:

The Appraisal: A Glimpse at Bloomberg's Lavish Tastes at Home — He has been known to serve tuna on crackers during cocktail hour. He prefers diners to power-breakfast spots like the Regency. His sartorial style remains buttoned down, with a salmon-color crew neck and matching socks about as gaudy as it gets.

Discussion: Salon, Gothamist, The Atlantic Online, Runnin' Scared, Business Insider, Gawker, Vos Iz Neias, New York Magazine and Curbed National

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Rep. Ryan: Rick Perry is right on Social Security — The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee on Tuesday drew fire from Democrats for backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry's description of Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme.” — Social Security fits the technical definition of a Ponzi scheme …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Conn Carroll / Campaign 2012:

Dean: Employers will drop coverage under Obamacare — Former Democratic National Committee Chairman, and doctor, Howard Dean backed a McKinsey & Co. survey today that found that almost a third of private-sector employers will drop their employee health insurance coverage …

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Marist Poll:

9/20: 39% Approval Rating for Obama, Lowest of Presidency — President Barack Obama faces a litany of bad news. The president's job approval rating, his favorability, and his rating on the economy have hit all-time lows. To compound matters, three in four Americans still believe the nation …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, CANNONFIRE and Pajamas Media