memeorandum: Trends in the Distribution of Income (Douglas Elmendorf/Director's Blog)

7:20 PM ET, October 25, 2011

Top Items:

CNN:

Romney avoids weighing in on Ohio union fight — Terrace Park, Ohio (CNN) -Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stepped into the middle of the charged battle over organized labor in Ohio on Tuesday, but he avoided weighing in on the contentious legislation that would dramatically limit …

Discussion: Slate, Ballot Box, Ben Smith's Blog, The Columbus Dispatch, Guardian, New York Magazine, The Caucus, The Hill, Daily Kos, The Page and Taegan Goddard's …

Quinnipiac University:

Opposition To Ohio's SB 5 Grows, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Women, Union Members Push Kasich Deeper In Hole — Ohio voters support 57 - 32 percent the repeal of SB 5, the centerpiece of Gov. John Kasich's legislative program, as the margin against the governor's measure has almost doubled …

Discussion: Washington Post, Third Base Politics, msnbc.com, Daily Kos and Hotline On Call

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

“An Incredible Moment in Politics.” Mitt Romney Won't Go There. — Hey Rick Perry, if you weren't trying to have fun with birtherism, this would probably be a much bigger media story today. Peter Hamby over at CNN referred to it as “an incredible moment in politics.”

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Third Base Politics, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler, National Review, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Campaign 2012 and Cincinnati.com

Conn Carroll / Campaign 2012:

Romney refuses to back Kasich against govt unions — Campaigning in Ohio today, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stopped by a Republican Party phone-bank making calls in support of Gov. John Kasich's government union reform referendum, but refused to endorse the actual referendum.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Riehl World View

CNN:
Perry takes sides in Ohio union fight after Romney dodges issue

Discussion: The Politico and Washington Wire

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The most meaningful contest of 2011?

Discussion: Washington Post, Austin American-Statesman, Big Journalism and New York Magazine

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: No Profile in Courage award for you, Mitt

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Romney supported Kasich laws in June

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Hwilkinson / Politics Extra:
Romney visits GOP call center, sidesteps Ohio issues

Discussion: Plunderbund, Daily Kos and The Maddow Blog

John Harwood / The Caucus:

10 Questions for Rick Perry — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is seeking to jump-start his Republican presidential campaign by proposing a new tax system: a 20 percent flat rate on individual and corporate income, down from the current 35 percent top rate, and elimination of existing taxes on estates, capital gains and dividends.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Page, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, Wake up America, Guardian, Political Mojo, The Maddow Blog, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Riehl World View, National Review and msnbc.com

Geneva Sands-Sadowitz / The Hill:

Wasserman Schultz blasts Perry's flat tax plan as ‘definition of insanity’ — Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wassserman Schultz slammed Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's tax plan, saying his flat tax proposal would benefit the wealthiest Americans at the expense …

Discussion: CNN and Weasel Zippers

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Flat Tax Outpaces 9-9-9 in Poll, Notably Among Conservatives

Discussion: Daily Kos

John Harwood / CNBC: Rick Perry: 'I Don't Care' If Tax Plan Helps the Rich

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Perry campaign calls on Romney to release tax returns

Discussion: USA Today, ThinkProgress, GOP 12, Mediaite, Daily Kos and National Review

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

It's on: Republicans slam Elizabeth Warren for embracing Occupy Wall Street — Wow, this is going to be good: Occupy Wall Street is now officially an issue in what may be the highest-profile and most polarizing Senate race in the country. — National Republicans are now attacking Elizabeth Warren …

Discussion: TBogg, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Campaign 2012

The Daily Beast:

Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Warren? — The Harvard professor has spooked the right. As she begins her high-profile Senate campaign against GOP star Scott Brown in Massachusetts, the consumer advocate tells Samuel P. Jacobs how she created ‘much of the intellectual foundation’ for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Smoking Gun, The Atlantic Online, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, techPresident and Pew Research Center …

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
Occupy Wall Street: The Book

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and JammieWearingFool, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Elizabeth Warren takes credit for the Occupy Wall Street protests

Discussion: Washington Post, CANNONFIRE, City Room and Hot Air

CBS News:

Herman Cain tops Mitt Romney in latest CBS/NYT poll — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Businessman Herman Cain is now atop the field of Republican White House hopefuls, squeaking past former Massachusetts …

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, New York Magazine, CNN, The PJ Tatler, ThinkProgress, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, National Review, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, Truthdig, Wall Street Journal, The Other McCain, Business Insider and Runnin' Scared

Allison Kopicki / The Caucus:
Most Republican Primary Voters Remain Uncommitted

Discussion: New York Times, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Questions and Observations, ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Indecision Forever, Daniel W. Drezner, 2012 US Elections, Hotline On Call, GOP 12 and Business Insider

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

EXCLUSIVE: GOP governors blast birther gambit — Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to delve back into birtherism — on CNBC and on the day he is rolling out an economic plan — has struck a nerve with responsible GOP officials and insiders. Two prominent governors have now gone on record with Right Turn to express their displeasure.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider and Los Angeles Times

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
EXCLUSIVE: Jeb Bush denounces birtherism

Discussion: The Hill, Naked Politics and Booman Tribune

CBO's Latest 10 Documents:

TRENDS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLD INCOME BETWEEN 1979 AND 2007 — Text-only. The full version of the summary may include tables, charts, and footnotes. — AFTER-TAX INCOME GREW MORE FOR HIGHEST-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS — After-tax income for the highest-income households grew more than it did for any other group.

Discussion: Reuters, Business Insider and Real Time Economics

Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Trends in the Distribution of Income

Discussion: Business Insider

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Vice President Biden complains after dust-up with conservative reporter — Joe Biden's office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation the vice president had with a conservative journalist last week on Capitol Hill. — Biden aides asked whether Senate rules were broken …

Discussion: CNN, JammieWearingFool, Don Surber, The Daily Caller, Wake up America, RedState, Campaign 2012, The Sundries Shack, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com, Sense of Events, The PJ Tatler and Michelle Malkin, more at Mediagazer »

John Hayward / Human Events:
Thug Administration: White House Wants Jason Mattera Investigated for Biden Question

Discussion: TBogg, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

David Weigel / Slate:

Herman Cain's Amazing Campaign Ad … - Saletan: Bachmann Thinks Our Military Was in Iraq Not To Liberate It but To Own It - The President of ASU on Rick Scott's Stupid Idea To Cut Funding for Liberal Arts Education - My Seven Beliefs About Tim Tebow: 1) He Is Not a Viable NFL Quarterback …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, CBS News, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, GOP 12, THEROOT.COM, The Atlantic Online, Business Insider and Political Mojo

John Berman / ABCNEWS:
'It's a Phenomenon!' Why Herman Cain's Campaign is Smoking

Discussion: Gawker

Josh Hafner / Iowa Caucuses:
Cain's Mark Block says ‘no subliminal message’ in new ad, discourages smoking

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Guardian

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

A 53% Surge in Poverty Rate Is Reshaping Suburbs — PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The poor population in America's suburbs — long a symbol of a stable and prosperous American middle class — rose by more than half after 2000, forcing suburban communities across the country to re-evaluate their identities and how they serve their populations.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Wonkette, Gawker, Balloon Juice, Chicago Sun Times and Prairie Weather

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

John Who? — A bizarre denial from the New York Times. — (Best of the tube tonight: Catch us on “Hannity” discussing Occupy Wall Street, crime and Joe Biden. Fox News Channel, 9 p.m. ET with a repeat showing at midnight ET.) — Kids say the darnedest things. On Twitter, grown-ups do too.

Discussion: Althouse

San Francisco Chronicle:

Cops arrest Occupy Oakland protesters — (10-25) 05:58 PDT OAKLAND — Oakland police arrested dozens of people at a plaza outside City Hall, two weeks after the protesters began building an intricate encampment as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate greed and economic inequality.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mercury News, Right Wing Nut House, Guardian, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, Campaign 2012, L.A. NOW, Verum Serum, ThinkProgress, Big Government, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, JammieWearingFool, Crooks and Liars, NY Daily News, Shakesville, Daily Kos and Portland Press-Herald

Rich Lowry / National Review:

Obama's Latter-Day McGovernism — When Pres. Barack Obama took the podium last Friday to abruptly announce the imminent end of the Iraq War, he ended on a ringing McGovernite note: “After a decade of war, the nation that we need to build — and the nation that we will build — is our own.”

Discussion: Eunomia

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Of Course the Iraq War Would End in Iran's Empowerment

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, Outside the Beltway, New Atlanticist, Washington Post and The Daily Dish

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Televangelist Pat Robertson Calls GOP Field Too ‘Extreme’ To Win General Election — You know you've hit rock bottom when one of the most radical, hate-spewing figures in America calls you “extreme.” That's how televangelist Pat Robertson described the field of GOP candidates, Right Wing Watch reports.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars, Mario Piperni dot Com and Outside the Beltway

Occupy Wall Street:

OccupyWallStreet — The resistance continues at Liberty Square and worldwide! — The occupation of Liberty Square is a symbol of the growing international movement fighting against neoliberal economic practices, the crimes of Wall Street and the resulting income inequality, unemployment …

Discussion: Gothamist