memeorandum: No Jobs Bill, and No Ideas (New York Times)

10:25 AM ET, October 13, 2011

Top Items:

Republicans increasingly see Mitt Romney as the ‘inevitable candidate’ — NASHUA, N.H. — Buoyed by a series of strong debate performances, Mitt Romney is suddenly attracting new support from major donors and elected officials, some of whom had resisted his previous entreaties …

Discussion: The Caucus, Daily Kos, ParaPundit, The Hill and Connecting.the.Dots

Wall Street Journal:

Cain Vaults to Lead in Poll — Ex-Businessman Passes Perry, Romney Among GOP Voters — CONCORD, N.H.—Former restaurant-industry executive Herman Cain has catapulted to the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, as GOP voters grow disenchanted with Texas Gov. Rick Perry …

Discussion: The Politico, Online NewsHour, New York Times, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Strata-Sphere, Business Insider, msnbc.com, Washington Wire, Doug Ross and The Lonely Conservative

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

NBC/WSJ poll: Cain now leads GOP pack — The pizza CEO's ascent, and Perry's decline — probably not the last shakeup — Below: — Deputy political director — updated 2011-10-12T22:28:08 — Fueled by Tea Party supporters, conservatives and high-interest GOP primary voters …

Discussion: Time, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's …, Political Insider, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Atlantic Online, The Other McCain, Reuters and The Political Carnival

The Politico:
President Obama's campaign sets sights on Mitt Romney

Discussion: msnbc.com, Ballot Box, CNN, NY Daily News, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Quinnipiac University:
‘Jersey Shore’ Is Bad For Garden State, Voters Say 4-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds …

Discussion: The Politico and Hotline On Call

David Corn / Mother Jones:
VIDEO: Mitt Heaps Praise on Romneycare “Parent” Ted Kennedy

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Oh my: Cain 30, Romney 22, Gingrich 15, Perry 14

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, streiff's blog and Pat Dollard

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Is Romney a sure thing?

Discussion: The Other McCain, FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, A plain blog about politics, Lynn Sweet and Ben Smith's Blog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Cain leads nationally

Discussion: FrumForum, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Liberal Values, Outside the Beltway, Nice Deb, Reuters, The Other McCain, Business Insider, The Maddow Blog, Firedoglake, The Lonely Conservative, Daily Kos, Guardian, GOP 12, New York Magazine, National Review and Indecision Forever

Bloomberg:

Buffett's Son Defends Occupy Wall Street — Howard Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) director and son of Chairman Warren Buffett, said Wall Street protesters were provoked by abuses from corporations amid a widening disparity between rich and poor.

Discussion: Deal Journal

Corky Siemaszko / NY Daily News:

Lech Walesa, former Polish president, to visit New York in support of Occupy Wall Street — Solidarity hero Lech Walesa is flying to New York to show his support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. — “How could I not respond,” Walesa told a Polish newspaper Wednesday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The New Republic and Washington Post

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Occupy Wall Street protester: I want my college tuition paid because that's what I want; Update …

Discussion: Reuters, NY1.com and The Lonely Conservative

Patricia Zengerle / Yahoo! News:
Most Americans aware of Wall Street protests: Reuters/Ipsos

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Taegan Goddard's … and The Politico

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
OWS Protester Wants College Paid for Because That Is What He Wants

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Rasmussen Reports and Weasel Zippers

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

Obama Surges Past Money-Making Goal — The Obama Campaign and Democratic National Committee raised a combined nearly $70 million for the 2012 campaign from July through September, the groups reported today in an email to supporters. — Obama for America brought in $42.8 million …

Discussion: Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Obama campaign reports raising $70 million in third quarter — President Obama's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported Thursday raising $70 million in the third quarter. — The campaign and the DNC reported that, combined, 606,027 people donated to the campaign …

Discussion: CNN, The Crawdad Hole and The 1600 Report

Associated Press:

Obama Raises More Than $70 Million — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's campaign raised more than $70 million combined for his re-election and the Democratic party during the summer, an amount that gives him a clear advantage over his Republican rivals but is less than his initial fundraising effort.

Discussion: Business Insider, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

Paul Krugman:

I Am Not Your Mirror Image — Russ Roberts tries to debunk my explanation of the reasons to believe in a broadly Keynesian view of the world — and reveals more than he intended. — First, a few points. Roberts treats my statement that we have a lot of evidence on the effects of monetary policy …

Discussion: Eschaton, The Enterprise Blog, DownWithTyranny! and Cafe Hayek

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
Keynesianism And Big Government

Discussion: Cafe Hayek and Grasping Reality …

Alex Katz / Boston Globe:

Scott Brown web message mirrors 2002 Elizabeth Dole speech — WASHINGTON - A Democratic group has unearthed a bit of inspirational autobiography on Senator Scott Brown's official website that was lifted verbatim from a 2002 campaign speech by Elizabeth Dole.

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Politico, New York Magazine, Blue Mass Group, The Political Carnival and Gawker

Associated Press:

Nearly 8-in-10 Americans now see country on the wrong track — Somehow, 16% of likely American voters still believe the country is doing swell. — Rescue teams are out looking for them right now. — Sixteen percent is not much of a political base for President Obama to build a 2012 reelection campaign on.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:

Five questions for Rick Perry — Perry spoke to a large crowd at the Des Moines Register Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair last month. (Justin Hayworth/The Des Moines Register) — 1. You've been criticized over the racial slur that a rock once bore outside the hunting camp you leased …

Discussion: Washington Post and GOP 12

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:

Obama gets win as Congress passes free-trade agreements — Congress resoundingly approved long-stalled trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama late Wednesday, authorizing the most significant expansion of trade relations in nearly two decades.

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Indecision Forever

Seung Min Kim / The Politico: Congress OKs 3 trade deals

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Japanese Government Nixed Idea of Obama Visiting, Apologizing for, Hiroshima* — In September 2009, US Ambassador to Japan John Roos reported to the Obama administration that the Japanese government did not think it was a good idea for President Obama to visit Hiroshima to apologize …

Discussion: Power Line, American Thinker, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite, Hot Air, Verum Serum, The Political Carnival, Investor's Business Daily and National Review

Stephen Clark / Fox News:

Solar Firm That Received $1.2 Billion Federal Loan Plagued by Financial Problems — With the Solyndra scandal still swirling, the Obama administration is under pressure to reveal the financial condition of the solar companies that received $4.75 billion in similar federal loan guarantees on the last day of the program.

Discussion: Questions and Observations and Weasel Zippers

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

Ben Nelson's Ads May Break New Ground — WASHINGTON — A new series of political advertisements on behalf of an embattled Nebraska senator could open the door to a flood of similar ads financed by outside groups and even businesses working directly with political candidates — a sharp departure from past practice.

Discussion: Hotline On Call

David Frum / FrumForum:

Conceding One to the Critics — As readers of this site have no doubt noticed, I'm not one who is greatly troubled by hostile criticism. — On the other hand, sometimes the critics make a valid point. When they do, I'm not too obstinate to concede. — For years, I've shared …

Discussion: Right Wing News, NewsBusters.org blogs, Campaign 2012 and The Daily Caller

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:

Air Force Insists: Drone Cockpit Virus Just a ‘Nuisance’ — The U.S. Air Force revealed new details Wednesday about the virus that's been infecting the remote cockpits of its drone fleet — and insisted, despite reports from their own personnel, that the infection was properly and easily contained.

Discussion: Associated Press

Frank Newport / Gallup:

In U.S., Support for Death Penalty Falls to 39-Year Low — Fifty-two percent say the death penalty is applied fairly — PRINCETON, NJ — Sixty-one percent of Americans approve of using the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, down from 64% last year.

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Politico

Robert F. Worth / New York Times:

Odd Turn for Mansour Arbabsiar, Suspect in Iranian Plot — WASHINGTON — His nickname was Scarface, the legacy of a brutal knife attack on a dark Houston street three decades ago that left his left cheek permanently marred. Friends and neighbors in Texas said that he could be gruff and intimidating …

Discussion: gary's choices, The Lede, The Caucus, Rod Dreher and The Agonist

James Dao / New York Times:

Denied Veterans Benefits Over Same-Sex Marriage, Ex-Sailor Challenges Law — In what experts say is the first case of its kind, a disabled Navy veteran from Connecticut is challenging the constitutionality of two federal laws that define marriage as being between opposite-sex partners …

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

DOJ: Feds Can Tell Church Who Its Ministers Will Be — In yet another stunning attack on freedom of religion, President Barack Obama's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court last week to give the federal government the power to tell a church who its ministers will be.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Don Surber

New York Times:

No Jobs Bill, and No Ideas — It was all predicted, but the unanimous decision by Senate Republicans on Tuesday to filibuster and thus kill President Obama's jobs bill was still a breathtaking act of economic vandalism. There are 14 million people out of work, wages are falling …

Discussion: Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Democracy in America, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos