memeorandum: State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor (Brad Johnson/ThinkProgress)

8:50 PM ET, September 28, 2011

Top Items:

Rick Perry to Newsmax: I Regret ‘Heartless’ Comment on Immigration — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — Presidential candidate Rick Perry on Wednesday apologized for saying …

Discussion: Washington Wire, CNN, Trail Blazers Blog, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Swampland, The Caucus, msnbc.com, Naked Politics and Wall Street Journal

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: GOP Race Top Tier Now Romney, Perry and Cain — Three September debates have shaken-up the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Herman Cain has jumped into the top tier. Rick Perry's stumbled. Mitt Romney's holding steady. — And Michele Bachmann is hitting bottom.

Discussion: Don Surber, Politics, RedState, Pajamas Media, Ben Smith's Blog, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Business Insider, National Review and Trail Blazers Blog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney up in Florida — Rick Perry's led the Republican field in every Southern state that we've polled since he entered the Presidential race...until now. Mitt Romney continues to lead the way in Florida with 30% to 24% for Perry, 10% for Gingrich, 8% for Ron Paul, 7% for Herman Cain …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, LifeNews.com, GOP 12 and nation.foxnews.com

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Defiant Team Perry's plan: Hit harder — Rick Perry's widely panned debate performances? Just a hiccup. Any major changes in debate prep? None planned. His unexpected and deflating Florida straw poll loss last weekend? Not a big deal. — Even as some of his supporters grow anxious …

Discussion: Smart Politics, CNN, The Hill, The TrogloPundit, Pirate's Cove, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, Prairie Weather and Washington Post

Matt Lewis / The Daily Caller:
Jonathan Martin's post today on how Rick Perry's campaign has …

Discussion: Salon, The Politico, CNN, Daily Kos and Hit & Run

Robert Costa / National Review:

Christie's Father: ‘I Think He Would Beat Obama’ — Trenton, N.J. — Bill Christie, Gov. Chris Christie's father, tells National Review Online that his son will make the final decision about a presidential bid. But as the governor mulls, he can count his father as one of many Republicans …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds

Kevinliptak / CNN:
TRENDING: Cain: Black community ‘brainwashed’ into voting for Dems

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
The Heresies of Chris Christie

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller and The Other McCain

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Waiting on Christie — Jonathan Martin writes that Rick Perry's …

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

Man arrested in ‘step-by-step’ plot to blow up Capitol, Pentagon — The FBI arrested and charged a man Wednesday for allegedly plotting to blow up the Capitol and the Pentagon. — The 26-year-old Massachusetts man, Rezwan Ferdaus, was arrested as part of an FBI sting operation …

Discussion: The Politico, National Review and Business Insider

Ryan J. Reilly / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

FBI Arrests Man For Plotting To Attack Capitol, Pentagon With C-4 Loaded Remote Controlled Planes — Rezwan Ferdaus, a 26-year-old Massachusetts resident was arrested in an FBI sting on Wednesday after allegedly plotting to use large remote controlled model airplanes packed with C-4 plastic explosives …

Discussion: Boston Herald, Hot Air, The Jawa Report and The Political Carnival

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Energy Department approves $1 billion in solar loan guarantees — The Energy Department announced Wednesday that is has finalized more than $1 billion in loan guarantees for two separate solar projects. — The decision comes several weeks after Solyndra, a California-based solar manufacturer …

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Big Government, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run, The Powers That Be, Pajamas Media, HotAirPundit and Los Angeles Times

Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:

Solyndra Said to Have Violated Terms of Its U.S. Loan — Solyndra LLC had such steep financial problems in late 2010 that the company violated terms of its loan-guarantee agreement with the Department of Energy and technically defaulted on its $535 million loan, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Wire, UrbanGrounds, NewsBusters.org, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Michelle Malkin, Marginal Revolution, americanthinker.com and A Chequer-Board of Nights …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Justice Dept. Asks Supreme Court for Health Care Ruling — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear a case concerning the 2010 health care overhaul law. The development came unexpectedly fast and makes it all but certain that the court will soon agree …

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, TalkLeft, Law Blog, Business Insider, ACS Blog and New York Magazine

Stephanie Cutter / White House.gov Blog:
Obama Administration Asks Supreme Court to Hear Health Care Lawsuit

Discussion: Justice Blog, CNN, Daily Kos, The 1600 Report and msnbc.com

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate Magazine:
The Supreme Court is less interested in ruling on Obama's health care law than you think.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Peter Hamby / CNN:

First on CNN: Florida will likely hold Jan. primary, threatening presidential calendar — Washington (CNN) — Florida is now expected to hold its presidential primary on the last day in January 2012, a move likely to throw the carefully arranged Republican nominating calendar into disarray …

John Whitesides / Reuters:
Bachmann says she is “comeback kid”

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Guardian, Business Insider, HotAirPundit and The Politico

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

What's behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests? — It's unsurprising that establishment media outlets have been condescending, dismissive and scornful of the ongoing protests on Wall Street. Any entity that declares itself an adversary of prevailing institutional power is going to be viewed …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wonkette, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog, US Politics, Mother Jones, Corrente, Firedoglake and Bloomberg

Cindy Adams / New York Post:
Obama's top ‘fat cat’ strays

Discussion: New York Magazine, Salon, Campaign 2012, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Betsy's Page, National Review and DealBook

Joseph Goldstein / City Room:

Police Dept. to Examine Pepper-Spray Episode — Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Wednesday that the Internal Affairs Bureau “will look” into the decision of a high-ranking officer to use pepper spray on a number of female protesters at an Occupy Wall Street demonstration on Saturday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, New York Times, The Raw Story, Guardian, Runnin' Scared, Blue Mass Group, Gawker, Balloon Juice and Gothamist

Charlie GrapskiFollow / Daily Kos:
Bologna's Second Attack with Pepper Spray

Discussion: New York Magazine, emptywheel, Gothamist and Runnin' Scared

Ali A. Akbar / Tea Party Brew:

A Tea Party Invitation to Morgan Freeman — My name is Ali Akbar. I'm a 26 year-old African-American small business owner and a tea party activist. I'm not writing to rake you over the coals in the way that many conservatives have done in the last 48 hours.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air, The Spectacle Blog, The Moderate Voice and Pajamas Media

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:
Obama's Racial Crisis

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette, Pajamas Media and Sadly, No!

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:

Al-Qaida calls on Ahmadinejad to end 9/11 conspiracy theories — Terrorist organisation's magazine reportedly says it is ‘ridiculous’ for Iran's president to blame the attacks on the US government — Al-Qaida has sent a message to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Lee Ferran / ABCNEWS:
Al Qaeda to Iran: Stop Spreading 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, ThinkProgress and Pirate's Cove

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:

Setti Warren said to be quitting US Senate race — Newton mayor Setti Warren, whose US Senate campaign has been short on cash and eclipsed by the emergence of Elizabeth Warren, plans to announce tomorrow that he is dropping out, according to an early supporter who received a phone call this afternoon.

Discussion: Ballot Box, Politics and Hotline On Call

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:

The Permanent Candidate — What's Driving Rick Perry? — The Tea Party movement had not yet fully impinged on the nation's consciousness when Rick Perry stepped to the podium outside Austin City Hall on April 15, 2009, to speak at a tax-day protest. Wearing a big “DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS” …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Jennifer Jacobs / Iowa Caucuses:
Rick Perry's wife says scrutiny faced during presidential campaign has been ‘intense’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, USA Today and Washington Wire

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:

Palin sends more mixed signals — Sarah Palin, as often, sent ambivalent signals in her interview on Fox News last night. — The clip that everyone is buzzing about last night and this morning as a sign that she's leaning against a run: … I say “ambivalent signals” because …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Weasel Zippers

Sheila Marikar / Politics:
Sarah Palin: ‘Is a Title and Campaign Too Shackle-y?’

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN, Outside the Beltway, The Crawdad Hole, Daily Kos and The Daily Dish

Timothy R. Homan / Bloomberg:

Obama Jobs Plan May Prevent 2012 Recession — President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. — The legislation …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Liberal Values, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, National Review, Gothamist, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, The Politico, Business Insider, Washington Wire and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Stan Collender / Capital Gains and Games:

Tea Partiers Want A New Dollar Coin And Refuse To Listen To The Free Market In The Process — Over at TPM, Ryan Reilly has an intriguing post about the interest of some tea partiers for a new circulating dollar coin because it supposedly will save the federal government money.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Hill

Alexander Bolton / Healthwatch:

Sens. Lieberman, Coburn press for big supercommittee cuts to Medicare — Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) are pressing the deficit-reduction supercommittee to consider their proposal to cut more than $500 billion in Medicare spending over 10 years.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:

Rights Collide as Town Clerk Sidesteps Role in Gay Marriages — LEDYARD, N.Y. — Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian. She believes that God has condemned homosexuality …