memeorandum: Sen. John Thune: Tax pledges can be broken (Tim Mak/The Politico)

1:45 PM ET, October 5, 2011

Top Items:

Russ Feingold endorses Occupy Wall Street: “This will make the Tea Party look like ... a tea party.” — “I'm really encouraged by what I'm seeing. People around the country are finally organizing to stand up to the huge influence of corporations on government and our lives.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers and The Raw Story

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Dems rally behind ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest movement — Democrats are rallying behind the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, with several lawmakers endorsing the protests in New York City that have begun to spread to other cities. — Several liberal House lawmakers endorsed the protests Wednesday …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Herman Cain On Occupy Wall Street: 'If You Don't Have A Job And You're Not Rich, Blame Yourself!' — Asked about the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that posted today, GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain said he suspected that they were “orchestrated” to help President Obama.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, The Huffington Post, Towleroad News #gay and rt.com

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Cain to protesters: 'If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself'

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Washington Wire:
Herman Cain: I'm More Than the ‘Anti-Romney’

Discussion: Gallup, Political Mojo, Business Insider and nation.foxnews.com

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress: Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke On Occupy Wall Street: 'I Can't Blame Them'

Sarah B. Boxer / NationalJournal.com:
Romney: Wall Street Protests ‘Class Warfare’

Discussion: MoJo Articles, TalkLeft, Guardian and The Raw Story

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:
“Occupy Wall Street” protesters sue New York City

Discussion: Gawker, CNN and Runnin' Scared

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
99% what? ‘Occupy Wall Street’ organizers look for minorities

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Maggie's Farm, The Crawdad Hole, Weasel Zippers, Questions and Observations, The Daily Californian, Hot Air, National Review, Michelle Malkin and americanthinker.com

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Who are the 99 percent?

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, Don Surber, American Power, The Talking Dog, normblog, Balloon Juice, Political Mojo, Wonkette, Democracy in America, ThinkProgress, Alas, a Blog and DealBook

Quote and Comment:
A CNN Business reporter, Alison Kosik, summarizes what she thinks …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wonkette and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

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

The Hill:

Dem unity, minus Obama — After months of squabbling, Democrats on Capitol Hill have united in recent weeks. And in an unusual twist, they have done it in spite of President Obama. — House Democrats, who have helped the GOP pass controversial bills this year, drew the line on a stopgap spending bill last month.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate Democrats buck Obama on jobs proposal 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 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and TPMDC

Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
Push for President Obama's jobs bill illustrates the art of beating a dead horse

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

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

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: Hot Air, Washington Post, Wake up America, The Other McCain, CNN, Rick Perry for President 2012, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and New York Magazine

Quinnipiac University:

With Christie Out, Romney Is Back On Top Of Gop Pack, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Perry Fades As Cain Surges — With New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie out of the Republican presidential race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney jumps to a 22 percent lead …

Discussion: msnbc.com, GOP 12, Hot Air, Guardian, The Volokh Conspiracy, Outside the Beltway, New York Times and National Review

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Herman Cain rises, Rick Perry slides in new CBS News poll

Frazier Moore / Associated Press:

Roger Ailes looks back on 15 years of Fox News — NEW YORK - As the most powerful man in the universe, or one of them anyway, Roger Ailes can look back on the first 15 years of his crowning achievement, Fox News Channel, with satisfaction. And he does. — It was way back in February 1996 that …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gawker, Mediaite and The Atlantic Online, more at Mediagazer »

Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:

Why Palin could run as an independent — There's been some chatter this week about the possibility that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) might run for president next year — as an independent. — The consequences for both her and the presidential race couldn't be more profound …

Discussion: Hot Air

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
GOP looks past Palin for 2012

Discussion: Washington Wire, Liberal Values and GOP 12

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, Marginal Revolution and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Rep. Louie Gohmert Warns Supreme Court Justices: ‘Any President’ Could Access Your Health Records Under Reform — A group of Republican senators and representatives convened on the Senate Swamp this morning to present 1.6 million petition signatures “from American citizens who are urging Congress to immediately repeal Obamacare.”

Discussion: Daily Kos

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: Pajamas Media, National Review and LewRockwell.com Blog

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: Washington Wire, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Pajamas Media, The Daily Dish, Politics and JammieWearingFool

Justin Sink / The Hill:
New poll shows Obama approval continuing to sour

Discussion: The Crawdad Hole

Gary Langer / Politics:

Obama Gains vs. GOP on Jobs as Congress Hits a New Low — Barack Obama has jumped to a 15-point lead over the Republicans in Congress in trust to handle job creation, a sign the beleaguered president's $450 billion jobs package has hit its mark in public opinion.

Discussion: Daily Kos, TalkLeft and US Politics

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Poll sees a new low in Americans' approval of Congress

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Business Insider and Prairie Weather

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: Big Government, Ricochet Conversation Feed and National Review

Reuters:

Hungry Muppet to appear on “Sesame Street” — (Reuters) - A new poverty-stricken Muppet will highlight the issue of hunger struggles on an episode of “Sesame Street”, the show said in a statement on Tuesday. — Pink-faced Muppet Lily, whose family deals with food insecurity, will join Big Bird …

Discussion: FP Passport, Wonkette and US Politics

James Hibberd / EW.com:
‘Sesame Street’ unveils muppet to teach kids about hunger — PHOTO

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Online and ANIMAL

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Sen. John Thune: Tax pledges can be broken — Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday that members of Congress shouldn't be “bound by” taxpayer pledges, and suggested that such vows would need to be broken in order to achieve broad-based tax reform. — Thune told MSNBC's Chuck Todd that pledges stood in the way of tax reform.

Discussion: PR Newswire, Little Green Footballs and Outside the Beltway

Emily Schultheis / Ben Smith's Blog:

O'Reilly: Romney as Eisenhower — Many people on the right have been giving Mitt Romney a new look lately, especially in the wake of Christie's decision not to run. — Count Fox host Bill O'Reilly among those warming to Romney, as told last night to an incredulous Glenn Beck:

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Booman Tribune

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

ASSAD REGIME — President Barack Obama has decided to waive almost all the legally mandated penalties for countries that use child soldiers and provide those countries U.S. military assistance, just like he did last year. — The White House is expected to soon announce its decision to issue …

Discussion: Political Mojo, The Raw Story and Betsy's Page