memeorandum: Steve Beshear widens lead in governor's poll: Other Democrats may ride coattails (Joseph Gerth/Courier-Journal)

9:15 AM ET, October 3, 2011

Top Items:

Koch Brothers Flout Law Getting Richer With Secret Iran Sales — In May 2008, a unit of Koch Industries Inc., one of the world's largest privately held companies, sent Ludmila Egorova-Farines, its newly hired compliance officer and ethics manager, to investigate the management of a subsidiary in Arles in southern France.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Prairie Weather, The Huffington Post, Big Journalism, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Teamster Nation, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Agonist

Patrick / Politicalgates:

In new bombshell story, “Bloomberg Markets” reveals that Koch Industries sold petrochemical equipment to Iran and paid bribes in six countries — Thanks to our excellent contacts, we got hold of a copy of the still unpublished November issue of “Bloomberg Markets” magazine, because the cover story sounds more than just promising:

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Teamster Nation and Booman Tribune

Washington Post:

At Rick Perry's Texas hunting spot, camp's old racially charged name lingered — “Ever since, any time I ever saw the rock it was painted over,” Perry said. — Perry's version of events differs in many respects from the recollections of seven people, interviewed by The Washington Post …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Crawdad Hole, Crooks and Liars, Runnin' Scared, Jesus' General, ThinkProgress and Rumproast

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
Perry's Link to N-Word Place Name Puts Campaign on Defensive

Discussion: The Caucus, Gawker and Daily Kos

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:
Rick Perry works in New Hampshire to regain ground

Discussion: The Page and Gawker

Fox News:
Cain: Name of Perry's Hunting Camp ‘Insulting’ to Blacks

Discussion: The Politico, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Caucus, Washington Post, RedState and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Washington Examiner:
Barone: Time to raise Cain to contender status

Discussion: Washington Post, The Other McCain, Campaign 2012, American Power and Chicago Boyz

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Holding China to Account — The dire state of the world economy reflects destructive actions on the part of many players. Still, the fact that so many have behaved badly shouldn't stop us from holding individual bad actors to account. — And that's what Senate leaders will be doing this week …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog, Washington Post and Paul Krugman

Fran Tarkenton / Wall Street Journal:

What if the NFL Played by Teachers' Rules? — Imagine a league where players who make it through three seasons could never be cut from the roster. — Imagine the National Football League in an alternate reality. Each player's salary is based on how long he's been in the league.

Discussion: The Politico, Betsy's Page and The Lonely Conservative

Michael Cooper / New York Times:

New State Laws Are Limiting Access for Voters — Since Republicans won control of many statehouses last November, more than a dozen states have passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification at polls, cutting back early voting periods or imposing new restrictions on voter registration drives.

Discussion: Brennan Center for Justice

Mort Zuckerman / Financial Times:

Why business despairs of Obama — Take a deep breath. The industrialised world, America included, seems stuck in one of those horror movies, where the monster, thought to be slain, morphs into something even more scary. The fear is that a double-dip, or worse, is now upon us.

Discussion: The Politico

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

STATE FOR SALE … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - TABLE OF CONTENTS - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Prairie Weather and The Progressive Pulse

Joseph Gerth / Courier-Journal:

Steve Beshear widens lead in governor's poll: Other Democrats may ride coattails — ABOUT THE POLL — THE COURIER-JOURNAL/WHAS11 BLUEGRASS POLL® is based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 22-27 with 569 likely Kentucky voters by SurveyUSA. Twenty-five percent of the adult respondents …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:

Michele Bachmann's campaign is sputtering in Iowa — Representatives say her campaign is unfolding as planned. But Bachmann has dropped in the polls and asked supporters for ‘emergency’ funding. Some top Republicans say she's squandered opportunities. — Reporting from Des Moines …

Discussion: The Politico and GOP 12

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:

Hill Poll delivers mixed message for Obama — A plurality of likely voters think President Obama and congressional Democrats will be more effective in reducing unemployment than congressional Republicans. — But this week's The Hill Poll also has bad news for the president.

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Prairie Weather

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

Warren, Brown in dead heat: UMass Lowell/Herald poll — Joe K, Deval would do better — Democrat Elizabeth Warren's meteoric ascent in Massachusetts politics has landed her in a virtual dead heat with Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, while two Democrats who passed on the race …

Discussion: The Politico and The Page

Nick Greene / Runnin' Scared:

Why Did the New York Times Change Their Brooklyn Bridge Arrests Story? — The above photo of juxtaposed screenshots from the New York Times website has been making the rounds on Facebook, and it shows two very different takes for the same story on yesterday's Brooklyn Bridge arrests.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Citizens for Legitimate …, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, The Agonist, Gothamist and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »

Thereisnospoon / Hullabaloo:

An excellent beginning by David Atkins — An excellent beginning — The official list of grievances of the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street: … There are those who will argue that this list is far too broad and inclusive for a specifically anti-Wall Street protest.

Discussion: American Power, Runnin' Scared, ABCNEWS, Wonkette, Firedoglake and Corrente