memeorandum: Is Occupy Wall Street overblown? (Chris Cillizza/Washington Post)

9:10 PM ET, October 13, 2011

Top Items:

The Panhandler and the President — I do not recall another president whose negative drumbeat about large segments of the population has been so relentless. — Walking down New York's 55th Street near Park Avenue last Friday evening, our group of seven men in suits and ties was approached by a panhandler asking for money.

Discussion: The New Republic, New York Magazine, The Lonely Conservative and Hullabaloo

Reuters:

Who's behind the Wall St. protests? — (Reuters) - Anti-Wall Street protesters say the rich are getting richer while average Americans suffer, but the group that started it all may have benefited indirectly from the largesse of one of the world's richest men.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Salon.com, Hullabaloo, The Lede, Gothamist, CNN, Pirate's Cove, The Atlantic Wire, Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, US Politics, The Awl, Business Insider and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

An unintentionally amusing take from Wall Street — David Moore is the CEO of Wall Street holdings company, and he has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today reflecting on a recent run-in with a panhandler. As best as I can tell, the op-ed is not a parody.

Discussion: Wonkette

Felix Salmon:

On George Soros, Occupy Wall Street, and Reuters — Wouldn't it be ironic if Occupy Wall Street — the soi-disant “99%” — were being secretly funded by billionaire Davos Man George Soros, exemplar of the 1%? Well, no, it wouldn't, actually. As Noreen Malone points out, lots of the 1% have …

Discussion: Gothamist and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

New York Post:

Wall St. protesters will not be allowed to bring sleeping bags, tents back into park — The party's over! — The city's top cop said today that the Occupy Wall Street protesters who clear out of Zuccotti Park tomorrow so their filthy makeshift campsite can get a much-needed cleaning …

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, The Confluence, Bloomberg, Latest from Crain's …, US Politics, Rebuild the Dream, Guardian, Runnin' Scared, The Politico, Gawker, Gothamist, Towleroad News #gay and New York Magazine

Occupy Wall Street:

OccupyWallStreet — Tell Bloomberg: Don't Foreclose the Occupation. Join us at 6AM FRIDAY for non-violent eviction defense. — Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide. — Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Global Guerrillas, Business Insider, The Crawdad Hole, The Maddow Blog and Wake up America

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

CHART: Americans Support Occupy Wall Street, Oppose Tea Party — The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that Americans support the Occupy Wall Street protests by a two-to-one margin (37 percent in favor, 18 percent opposed) while more Americans view the Tea Party negatively (28 percent in favor, 41 percent opposed).

Discussion: Hot Air, Guardian, The Politico, Pat Dollard, Swampland, Liberal Values, About.com US Liberal Politics, Dependable Renegade and skippy the bush kangaroo

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Is Occupy Wall Street overblown?

Discussion: Via Meadia, DISSENTING JUSTICE, TPMDC, Money & Company and Balloon Juice

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
EXCLUSIVE: The Notice Of Rules That May Be Used To Shut Down Occupy Wall Street

Discussion: CNN and Shakesville

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum — * Americans favor Occupy Wall Street far …

Discussion: Time, Public Policy Polling, Balloon Juice, The Political Carnival, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Political Mojo, Campaign 2012, Mediaite, Business Insider, Indecision Forever, The Politico, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and ABCNEWS

Jesse / CBS New York:
Wall St. Protesters Urge Supporters To ‘Defend The Occupation’ After Distribution Of New Regulations

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Wake up America, Pirate's Cove, Atlas Shrugs and Hot Air

J.J. Gould / The Atlantic Online:
OWS: What the Media Can't See About America's First Web-Era Movement

Discussion: Althouse and The New Republic

Colby Hall / Mediaite: Bill Clinton To David Letterman: Occupy Wall Street Needs To Be For Something

John Rossomando / The Daily Caller:

Paul Ryan ‘loves’ Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan — House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan says he “loves” presidential candidate Herman Cain's signature “9-9-9″ tax plan. — Ryan told The Daily Caller in an exclusive interview that Cain's plan shows the GOP presidential campaign season …

Discussion: GILL REPORT, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, Nice Deb, The Hill, AMERICAN FUTURE, Balloon Juice, National Review, Ricochet Conversation Feed and Business Insider

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

There is no such thing as the 9-9-9 tax — Let's get something straight: There is no 9-9-9 plan. Not, at least, in the sense that most people think there is. — Herman Cain has not proposed three entirely separate taxes — one a 9 percent corporate income tax, another a 9 percent consumption tax …

Discussion: Start Making Sense, Political Mojo, Salon.com, Slate, pandagon.net, msnbc.com, Ben Smith's Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, The Enterprise Blog and Swampland

The Huffington Post:

Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity? … WASHINGTON — In Herman Cain's America, the tax code would be very, very simple: The corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Donklephant, Truthdig, Washington Post, Ricochet Conversation Feed, New York Magazine, FrumForum and The Enterprise Blog

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Norquist: Cain 9-9-9 plan more dangerous than current code

Discussion: streiff's blog

Tony Lee / Human Events:
Godfather of Supply-Side Economics Supports Cain's ‘9-9-9’ Plan

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and The Right Scoop

Scott Galupo / US News:

The Tea Party Was Just a Giant Temper Tantrum — Is former Gov. Mitt Romney a better campaigner than I thought—or are his closest rivals just that pathetic? — As things stand now, the former Massachusetts governor will enjoy an astonishingly painless pivot into the general election.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, neo-neocon, Pundit & Pundette, Rod Dreher, Washington Post and FrumForum

Ross Douthat:

Romney the Inexorable — I spent last night's Republican debate trying to imagine scenarios where Mitt Romney loses the G.O.P. nomination for president. Rick Perry gets bitten by a radioactive Lincoln-Douglas debate champion and develops a sudden facility for public argument?

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, A plain blog about politics and The Daily Dish

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:
Pres. Obama to Ed Henry: 'I didn't know you were the spokesman for Mitt Romney'

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Alex Altman / Time:
TIME Poll: Obama Leads Head-to-Head Match-Ups with Republican Rivals

Discussion: Mediaite, Daily Kos, Swampland, The Raw Story, Prairie Weather, Business Insider, Hot Air, PolitickerNY, Guardian, Taegan Goddard's …, Indecision Forever, The Political Carnival and CNN

Rasmussen Reports:
National Poll: Cain 29% Romney 29% Gingrich 10%

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, TVNewser, Washington Wire, Washington Post, The Other McCain, Datechguy's Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, GOP 12, GILL REPORT and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

First Read / msnbc.com:
Anita Perry reflects on campaign's ‘rough month’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Wonkette, Ballot Box, The Mahablog, Political Insider, The Page, Trail Blazers Blog and THEROOT.COM

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Barbour says wife would vote for Cain if primary was held today

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log and Hot Air

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Dem: House GOP ‘misogynist’ for bringing up abortion bill — Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Thursday charged House Republicans of misogynous motives in bringing up a bill that seeks to limit federal funding for abortion. — “What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are attempting …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers and Little Green Footballs

Seung Min Kim / The Politico:
Pelosi calls abortion bill deadly

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, Pat Dollard and National Review

Nicholas Ballasy / The Daily Caller:

Jackson, Jr: Obama should ‘declare a national emergency,’ add jobs with ‘extra-constitutional’ action — Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that congressional opposition to the American Jobs Act is akin to the Confederate “states in rebellion.”

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Sister Toldjah, Questions and Observations, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, iOwnTheWorld.com, Instapundit, The Right Scoop and The New Editor

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Raising Eyebrows — IT wasn't quite the slip-up (or slip-down, as it were) most people expect during a presidential campaign, but whatever happened to Ron Paul's eyebrows at Tuesday's night debate certainly caught some viewers' attention. — For those of you not yet riveted by the Republican race …

Discussion: Gawker, Rumproast, Ricochet Conversation Feed and New York Magazine

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Obama Calls for Iran Sanctions Following Alleged Plot — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday vowed to push for what he called the “toughest sanctions” to punish Iranian officials whom he accused of complicity in a suspected plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Reps. Conyers, Lewis balk at Obama's position on Iran

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Martin S. Feldstein / New York Times:

How to Stop the Drop in Home Values — HOMES are the primary form of wealth for most Americans. Since the housing bubble burst in 2006, the wealth of American homeowners has fallen by some $9 trillion, or nearly 40 percent. In the 12 months ending in June, house values fell by more than $1 trillion, or 8 percent.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The New Republic, TalkLeft and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

John McCain's ideas will save billions and billions of jobs — The beauty of the conservatives' “uncertainty” argument — that businesses aren't creating jobs because of the uncertainty created by Obama policies — is that you can always raise the bar on it indefinitely.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and US Politics

2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — A Taxing Situation: Why The GOP Is Advocating A Tax Increase On The Middle Class — You can almost always count on Republican presidential candidates to be united in their opposition to more taxes for the rich. But this time around, the 2012 field is standing lockstep behind …

Discussion: Library Grape, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Rush Limbaugh: Romney Is Not A Conservative — The reason is simple: Romney is not a conservative. He's not, folks. You can argue with me all day long on that, but he isn't. What he has going for him is that he's not Obama and that he is doing incredibly well in the debates because he's done it a long time.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Liberal Values, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, GOP 12, Ballot Box, Hot Air and Mediaite

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Gibson Guitar CEO warns that jobs may be sent overseas in aftermath of DOJ raid — In August the Department of Justice raided Gibson Guitar facilities in Memphis and Nashville, alleging a violation of the so-called Lacey Act, a law which bans the importation of certain kinds of wildlife, plants and wood.

Boston Globe:

in study, sweat — Mitt Romney would lead Bain Capital from a staff of seven people managing $37 million to 115 people managing $4 billion. During his tenure, the firm would post an astonishing record, on average doubling its return on realized investments every year.

Discussion: Gawker, The Atlantic Online, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Political Carnival

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

N.H. GOP chair calls for Jan. primary — New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner is imperiling the state's place in the political world by threatening to hold a December primary, New Hampshire GOP chairman Wayne MacDonald charged on Thursday. — “During the course of the debate …

Discussion: uledit.sx.atl.publicus.com, Frontloading HQ and Wonkette