memeorandum: Gal lashes out at spanking by the AG (New York Post)

3:55 PM ET, October 18, 2011

Top Items:

Polling the Occupy Wall Street Crowd — In interviews, protesters show that they are leftists out of step with most American voters. Yet Democrats are embracing them anyway. — President Obama and the Democratic leadership are making a critical error in embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement …

The Politico:

Wall Street to Dems: you can't have it both ways — After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a recent email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests, phones at the party committee started ringing.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

New York Post:

Thieves preying on fellow protesters — It's a den of thieves! — Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops — and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, National Review, iOwnTheWorld.com, UrbanGrounds, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page, Pajamas Media, The Jawa Report, MyFox Boston, New York Times and americanthinker.com

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Wall Street lobbyists rage at Dems for supporting Occupy Wall Street — Politico channels the angst of Wall Streeters who are furious with Democrats for daring to whisper a word of support for the Occupy Wall Street protests: … Wow. In embracing Occupy Wall Street …

Discussion: Gawker and Balloon Juice

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

Obama: Occupy Wall Street ‘Not That Different’ From Tea Party Protests — President Obama, who has become a target of the Occupy Wall Street protests sweeping the country, today embraced the economic frustration voiced on the streets and said in an exclusive interview with ABC News that his vision …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Business Insider, JammieWearingFool and ABCNEWS

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Celebrated redistributionists discover healthy respect for private property

Discussion: The Right Sphere and Pajamas Media

David Brooks / New York Times:
The Great Restoration

Discussion: New Deal 2.0, driftglass and Balloon Juice

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
Occupy Wall Street Is Not Anti-Semitic

Discussion: Vox Tablet

Bloomberg:

Cain Used Campaign Funds to Buy Autobiography — Republican presidential contender Herman Cain used campaign funds to buy his own books from his motivational speaking company, Federal Election Commission records show. — Although his autobiography was published by a division of Simon & Schuster Inc. …

Discussion: The Politico, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Business Insider, NY Daily News, National Review, msnbc.com and Balloon Juice

James King / Valley Fever:

Herman Cain Was Joking About Electrified Border Fence...Err, He Might Be Serious...Err, He Doesn't Want to Offend Anyone — Presidential candidate Herman Cain met with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio this afternoon, but he was late to the meeting because of an unknown security threat.

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Tucson Citizen and Rumproast

Sarah Huisenga / CBS News:

Herman Cain acknowledges his electric border fence idea isn't a joke after all — PHOENIX - After first apologizing for suggesting an electric fence along the border, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told reporters here Monday that he still thinks it's a good idea for controlling illegal immigration.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Political Mojo, Mediaite and Pajamas Media

2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Herman Cain Spends $100K In Campaign Cash On Herman Cain Inc.

Discussion: Wonkette and TBogg

Laura Geller / WWBT-TV:

Thieves steal truck with President's equipment — HENRICO, VA (WWBT) - NBC12 has uncovered one of those stories that makes you think: “How in the world does that happen?!” A truck filled with President Obama's podiums and audio equipment was stolen in Henrico just days before his visit to Chesterfield.

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Report: Obama teleprompter stolen — A truck carrying President Obama's podium, teleprompter and audio equipment was stolen in Richmond, Va., a local news outlet reports. — Sources tell WWBT/NBC12 that around $200,000 of presidential equipment was stolen from a Richmond Marriott hotel location …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, americanthinker.com and Indecision Forever

Keach Hagey / The Politico:

Huntsman called Cooper ahead of debate — Anderson Cooper is in Las Vegas at the moment, getting ready for moderating tonight's CNN and Western Republican Leadership Conference debate. Last night, his publicist managed to pull him away from a pack of screaming fans - it sounded like Beatlemania …

Discussion: TVNewser and NewsBusters.org blogs

unionleader.com:
Nevada Mitt: Romney and the primary

Discussion: CNN, msnbc.com, Washington Post, Des Moines Register, The New Republic, Hot Air, The Page and GOP 12

Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Five questions with Mitt Romney

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog and The Page

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

What the CLASS Act says about health-care reform — Back in January, I published an “omnibus” look at the various criticisms conservatives were lobbing at the Congressional Budget Office's score of the health-reform law. Only one, I concluded, had real merit: the case against the CLASS Act.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, JustOneMinute, Questions and Observations, Newshoggers.com, The Atlantic Online, The New Republic and The Hill

Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
Republicans lay groundwork for healthcare repeal

Discussion: Political Mojo

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
New healthcare fight is joined as administration's 2010 law implodes

Discussion: ThinkProgress, nation.foxnews.com, ABCNEWS and The Politico

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:

An architect of Cain's 9-9-9 plan says he should drop sales tax — Superstar WaPo blogger Jen Rubin is not a fan of Herman Cain's tax plan and its VATastic aspect: … A few thoughts here: a) I come down on the side that the Europe has embraced value-added taxes to fund its love of big government …

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Architect of Cain's 9-9-9 plan says he should drop the sales tax

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

A.Killough / CNN:
Rep. Paul: Cain's ‘9-9-9’ plan is ‘dangerous’

Discussion: The Politico

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:

Gilad Shalit reunited with family in Israel; Palestinian prisoners freed — TEL NOF AIR FORCE BASE, Israel — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned to Israel Tuesday morning after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip, gaunt and frail-looking but apparently healthy.

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Tia Goldenberg / Associated Press:
Israel ‘shocked’ at Egypt TV Schalit interview

Discussion: The Politico and New York Magazine

New York Times:
Hamas Frees Israeli Soldier as Prisoner Swap Begins

Discussion: BBC, Guardian, Time, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway, The Lede, The Atlantic Online, The BLT and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Wall Street Journal:

New Mortgage Plan Floated — Underwater Borrowers Current on Payments Would Get Help — State and federal officials are pushing a plan that could help some “underwater” borrowers get refinancing assistance in the latest government bid to break a legal impasse with big banks …

Discussion: The Page and Calculated Risk

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Newest Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Idea? Same As Fannie/Freddie Refi Plan

Discussion: Forbes.com and The Volokh Conspiracy

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

On GOP jobs plan, an epic media fail — Look, I know this sounds terribly earnest. And I know I'm repeating myself. But still: Many major news organizations and neutral commentators are simply not engaging on one of the central questions at the heart of our politics right now …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Political Mojo and The New Republic

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

It's Not How Many Followers You Have, It's Who Follows You — Felix Salmon adds to the growing legend of the world's least-likely protest sign: … But herein lies one of the secrets of the faux-meritocracy of the internet. Furnas may appear to be a mild-mannered law student with only 325 Twitter followers.

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Grasping Reality … and The Atlantic Online

Bucky Turco / ANIMAL:

Jesse Jackson Occupies OWS Medical Tent, Saves it from Being Evicted by NYPD — A little after 11:25PM, there was a big commotion on the south side of Zuccotti Park as someone mic checked that the NYPD was moving into to remove the “medical tent” (tents are a violation of the park's rules.).

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gothamist, Rumproast, Crooks and Liars, New York Magazine, Shakesville, ThinkProgress, Gawker and Associated Press

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Administration Seeks to Roll Back Hospital Rules — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved Tuesday to roll back a number of rules governing hospitals and other health care providers after concluding that the standards were obsolete or overly burdensome to the industry.

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Senate GOP takes Geithner to task on jobs: ‘Rome is burning’ — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to sell the president's $447 billion jobs plan to skeptical lawmakers Tuesday, even as he had to defend underwhelming previous efforts to boost employment.

Discussion: The Politico and Washington Monthly

New York Post:

Gal lashes out at spanking by the AG — She'll beat you. She'll bite you. And she can get you locked up for 15 to life. — Former state prosecutor Alisha Smith, a k a the feared dominatrix Alisha Spark, looked ultra-demure in a black pants suit accented by a coquettish pink blouse yesterday …

Discussion: Gothamist, Mediaite, New York Magazine and CBS New York

Paul Krugman:

Our Blogs, Ourselves — Ryan Avent and I have been corresponding about the role of the economics blogosphere, for the Christmas issue of The Economist. I don't know what parts of our conversation will actually show up there, but having assembled my thoughts I might as well put some of them up here.

Discussion: EconLog