memeorandum: Fraud in Corps of Engineers contracting charged (Del Quentin Wilber/Washington Post)

10:15 AM ET, October 5, 2011

Top Items:

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Perry raises $17 million — Siren, as they say: … The $17 million figure, which a Perry spokesman confirms to me, is almost as much as Mitt Romney raised in his first quarter as a declared presidential candidate this year. — It's also more than Rudy Giuliani and John McCain raised …

Discussion: CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Outside the Beltway, Taegan Goddard's … and New York Magazine

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

Herman Cain rises, Rick Perry slides in new CBS News poll — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Herman Cain has moved into a tie with Mitt Romney atop the field of Republican presidential candidates …

Discussion: GOP 12, Mediaite, The Caucus, Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice, The 1600 Report, Hotline On Call, Don Surber, Quinnipiac University, Ricochet Conversation Feed, New York Times and The Page

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Hot Air exclusive: Perry raises $17.1 million in Q3

Discussion: GOP 12, Washington Post and Campaign 2012

Quinnipiac University:
With Christie Out, Romney Is Back On Top Of Gop Pack, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and National Review

The Politico:
Mitt Romney's moment

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Capital New York, Marbury, Gothamist and Conservatives4Palin

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Perry Plummets, Cain Surges in Positive Intensity

Discussion: Washington Wire, Business Insider, The Politico and Swampland

Wall Street Journal:
Christie Exit Shifts Focus to Romney

Discussion: driftglass and Hot Air

Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:
Herman, Cain, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney to boycott Univision debate over Rubio report

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, NewsBusters.org blogs and Ballot Box

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
With Christie Out, Republican Race Begins for Real

Discussion: The Caucus, The New Republic, Iowa Caucuses, msnbc.com, Ballot Box and LAist

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Cainmentum — Is the new Republican frontrunner Herman Cain?

Discussion: Daily Kos, BAGnewsNotes, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Post, The Other McCain, ThinkProgress, The New Republic, GOP 12 and The Lonely Conservative

Erica Werner / Associated Press:

Senate Democrats rewrite Obama's jobs bill — WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are scrambling to rewrite portions of President Barack Obama's jobs bill, even as Obama tries to blame Republicans for Congress' failure to act. — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell moved to call …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, The Reaction, msnbc.com and Associated Press

Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:

Push for President Obama's jobs bill illustrates the art of beating a dead horse — “Why don't we just pretend he didn't die? Just for a bit!” — Larry Wilson in “Weekend at Bernie's” — It might help to think of the American Jobs Act as Elvis. — The King made $60 million last year even though he died in 1977.

Discussion: The Politico, Taegan Goddard's … and Booman Tribune

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate Democrats buck Obama on jobs by changing ‘pay-fors’ — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) on Tuesday further distanced his Democratic Conference from President Obama by nixing a major component of the White House's jobs plan. — Reid said he would revise parts of the proposal …

Matt DoBias / The Politico:
Reid considers surtax on millionaires

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Reuters, Yahoo! News and Michelle Malkin

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Senate Democrats forced to block Obama's jobs bill

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Strata-Sphere, Weekly Standard and The Hill

The Hill: GOP worries they'll have to accept massive spending measure

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Who are the 99 percent? — “I did everything I was supposed to and I have nothing to show for it.” — It's not the arrests that convinced me that “Occupy Wall Street” was worth covering seriously. Nor was it their press strategy, which largely consisted of tweeting journalists to cover …

Discussion: Don Surber, Quote and Comment, normblog, The Talking Dog, Balloon Juice, Political Mojo, Wonkette, ThinkProgress, Democracy in America, Alas, a Blog and DealBook

Alicia Ciccone / The Huffington Post:
Occupy Wall Street Causing Problems On Main Street

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Crawdad Hole, National Review and Pajamas Media

David Weigel / Slate:
House Progressives Embrace #occupywallstreet

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, Washington Post, Pajamas Media, Viking Pundit and Campaign 2012

Michelle Malkin:
Progressive of Pallor on pointless parade

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Crawdad Hole, The Daily Californian and americanthinker.com

Justin Sink / The Hill:

New poll shows Obama approval continuing to sour — Disapproval of President Obama is hardening at new highs according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Wednesday, providing troubling signs for the president as he pushes his jobs program and ramps up for a hard-fought reelection battle.

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Opposition to Obama grows — strongly — Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling job as president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hotline On Call, JammieWearingFool and Politics

Pete Kennedy / Food Freedom:

Wisconsin Judge Rules No Right to Own a Cow or Drink Its Milk — WI Judge to Zinniker, FTCLDF: No “Fundamental Right to Own a Cow, or Consume Its Milk... Am I Making Myself Clear?” — ~ David Gumpert — FTCLDF — In a decision denying basic property rights and even exceeding …

Discussion: Rod Dreher and Marginal Revolution

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Sarah Palin-affiliated law firm made early-state deadline inquiries — Ken Vogel and I both have sources telling us that calls were made on behalf of a mystery candidate to various early states to determine presidential filing deadlines. — The calls were made by representatives …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Riehl World View, Business Insider, The Page, Politics, Hot Air, Big Government, Atlas Shrugs, Conservatives4Palin and Citizens for Legitimate …

Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:
Why Palin could run as an independent

Discussion: GOP 12 and Hot Air

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Poll sees a new low in Americans' approval of Congress — View Photo Gallery — New polling shows congressional popularity is at an all-time low of 14 percent. You'd be surprised at some of the things in history that have been more popular than the current Congress.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

David Nakamura / Washington Post: President Obama goes on the attack, to Democrats' delight

Michael W. McConnell / Wall Street Journal:

Washington Wants a Say Over Your Minister — The Supreme Court weighs whether the feds can decide which church employees are clergy and which aren't. — Today, the Obama administration will invite the Supreme Court to open a new front in the culture wars.

Discussion: National Review and LewRockwell.com Blog

William Creeley / FIRE:

Getting It Right: Dean of George Mason Law Sets Excellent Example — All too often here at FIRE, we find ourselves up to our necks in campus censorship. For example, in just the last few weeks, we've seen a professor threatened by campus police for posting a sci-fi quote and a coalition …

Discussion: Ricochet Conversation Feed and National Review

Lisa Pollack / FT Alphaville:

Quantum leap: EuroTARP — The FT's report yesterday that policy makers may finally be getting around to throwing a TARP over European banks has sure got people talking. Will Dexia go down as the unwitting catalyst to addressing the lingering questions around bank solvency?

Discussion: Grasping Reality … and MarketBeat

Jason Noble / Iowa Caucuses:

College students change Michele Bachmann's plans for event in Grinnell — Grinnell, Ia. - Michele Bachmann's appearance at a fundraiser on a pumpkin farm here this evening was delayed and then curtailed after several dozen Grinnell College students showed up.

Discussion: The Politico and New York Magazine

PewResearch.org:

War and Sacrifice in the Post-9/11 Era — 5 October 11 As the United States marks the 10th anniversary of the longest period of sustained warfare in its history, the overwhelming majority of veterans of the post-9/11 era are proud of their military service.

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and The Politico