memeorandum: GOP leaders preparing rank-and-file for deal on new tax revenues (Jesse Helfrich/The Hill)

1:45 PM ET, November 16, 2011

Top Items:

Gingrich Said to Be Paid at Least $1.6 Million by Freddie Mac — Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts with mortgage company Freddie Mac, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. — The total amount is significantly larger …

O.Kay Henderson:

Newt responds to $1.6 M Freddie Mac payment (audio) — GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich answered questions about this Bloomberg News story for about three minutes this morning. Gingrich called it a fee for “strategic advice.” Here is the key part of the exchange with reporters:

Discussion: Firedoglake, Ballot Box, CNN, Washington Wire, The Hill, msnbc.com, GOP 12 and The Page

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

Keeps Getting Better — In his unfailing piety, Newt Gingrich in 2008, fresh off his paid gig for Freddie Mac, went on Fox News and counseled John McCain to demand that Obama “give back all the money that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae gave to you.” — Then a week later he urged John McCain to exploit …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Occupy Wall Street Favor Fading — The Occupy Wall Street movement is not wearing well with voters across the country. Only 33% now say that they are supportive of its goals, compared to 45% who say they oppose them. That represents an 11 point shift in the wrong direction …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Verum Serum, Jammie Wearing Fools and Campaign 2012

Eli Saslow / Washington Post:
The Occupy movement: More trouble than change?

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, New York Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, americanthinker.com, The Daily Caller and PolitickerNY

Michael / Occupy Wall Street Library:
State of Seized Library

Discussion: GalleyCat, The Maddow Blog, Boing Boing, The New York Observer and BBC, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Jolted, Wall St. Protesters Face Challenge for Future

Discussion: ThinkProgress, City Room, BBC, naked capitalism, Booman Tribune, News Desk, PolitickerNY, Associated Press, Guardian, Mother Jones and Mashable!

Skschust / CBS New York:
OWS Protesters Calling For ‘Day Of Action’ Following Loss Of Camp In Zuccotti Park

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, The PJ Tatler, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, thenation.com/blogs/122 and PolitickerNY

Harry Siegel / NY Daily News:
How Bloomberg and Kelly's aggressive crackdown at Zuccotti Park will backfire

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Village Voice, Runnin' Scared and Business Insider

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Better Late Than Never

Discussion: National Review, CBS New York, City Room, Jammie Wearing Fools and www.thetakeaway.org

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMDC — Top GOPer On Super Committee Says No New Revenue, Games Out Strategy If Panel Fails — It's hard to see how the Super Committee can possibly reach a consensus by this time next week after Republican co-chair Jeb Hensarling's appearance on CNBC Tuesday night.

Discussion: Washington Post, Firedoglake, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Hill, Brilliant at Breakfast, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Hullabaloo and US Politics

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Harry Reid: Grover Norquist Is Thwarting Super Committee

Discussion: Don Surber, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, Sky Dancing, Suburban Guerrilla and Daily Kos

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Dems gain upper hand in deficit talks

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather

Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:
GOP leaders preparing rank-and-file for deal on new tax revenues

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times and RedState

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Americans Tilt Toward Favoring Repeal of Healthcare Law — Nation is divided on whether ensuring health coverage is the government's responsibility — PRINCETON, NJ — Given a choice, 47% of Americans favor repealing the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while 42% want it kept in place.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Heritage Foundation, Campaign 2012, Hot Air, The Politico and National Review

Wall Street Journal:

Another ObamaCare Glitch — Congress made a legal mistake while rushing through the health law. Now it's come back to haunt the administration. — Even if ObamaCare survives Supreme Court scrutiny next spring, its trials will be far from over. That's because the law has a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Betsy's Page and The Volokh Conspiracy

Investor's Business Daily:
Elena Kagan Must Be Recused In ObamaCare Case

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, The Other McCain and Althouse

Pierre Thomas / Yahoo! News:

DC Shooting Suspect Could Be Threat to Obama, Police Say — ABC News has learned authorities are increasingly concerned that a man sought in connection with a bizarre shooting incident on the Washington Mall last week may pose a threat to President Obama. — The Secret Service now suspects …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Jawa Report, New York Times, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and Jammie Wearing Fools

Thomas Tobin / NBC Washington DC:
Bullet hits White House Window

Discussion: Mediaite, Mikeb302000, Towleroad News #gay and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:
Secret Service says bullet hit White House

Discussion: The Hill, Michelle Malkin, PolitickerNY, The Gateway Pundit, Gizmodo, Business Insider and CNN

New York Times:

Paterno Turns Home Over to Wife for $1 — STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Joe Paterno transferred full ownership of his house to his wife, Sue, for $1 in July, less than four months before a sexual abuse scandal engulfed his Penn State football program and the university.

Discussion: Associated Press, Outside the Beltway and The Quad

Sara Ganim / PennLive.com:

Mike McQueary says he stopped attack on child and told PSU police of Sandusky sex abuse allegations — A new email from Mike McQueary, obtained by The Patriot-News, describes in greater detail what he saw when he allegedly witnessed a boy being assaulted by Jerry Sandusky in 2002.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Crooks and Liars and The Daily Dish

Allentown Morning Call / Morning Call:
McQueary on alleged rape: ‘I did stop it,’ did have discussions with police

Discussion: CBS News, McClatchy Washington Bureau, CNN, Deadspin, News Desk, USA Today, TalkLeft, Hot Air, msnbc.com and New York Post

Craig Gilbert / JSOnline:

Cain took campaign on wild ride through Wisconsin — By Craig Gilbert of the Journal Sentinel — Aboard the Herman Cain Bus - It was a crazy, surreal, potentially disastrous day inside the Cain for President Campaign. — Or maybe it was a perfectly normal one.

Discussion: Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and National Review

First Read / msnbc.com:
Up in smoke? Cain says medical pot's a state issue

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Post and Business Insider

Morgen / Verum Serum:

OWS Protester: In a Few Days You're Going to See What a Molotov Cocktail Can Do to Macy's — Just in time for the Thanksgiving Day parade! The headlined quote comes at about a minute in, but there is plenty more of the sort of “non-violent” talk OWS has become known for leading up to this point.

Discussion: Gothamist, Atlas Shrugs, americanthinker.com and The Lonely Conservative

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Candidates' Gaffes Dismay Some Republicans — The Republican presidential candidates have served comedians a full platter of laughs this year — a steady diet of gaffes, misstatements, puzzled looks and long, awkward pauses. — To a remarkable degree, the candidates have turned …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, Oliver Willis, Daniel W. Drezner, Business Insider, Foreign Policy and The Caucus

Mike Dorning / Bloomberg:

Obama Loses to Romney in New Hampshire Poll — Driven down by economic forces, President Barack Obama is running poorly in New Hampshire, a state he carried in 2008 and one that has been a swing state in recent presidential elections. — Obama trails Republican Mitt Romney among likely …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Hot Air and The Hill

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Poll: Gingrich scores best vs. Obama among voters today

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE, Gallup, Wizbang, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Page, Don Surber, TBogg, Hot Air, newt.org, Taegan Goddard's …, Melanie Phillips, The Other McCain and The Huffington Post

Shiv Malik / Guardian:

Young jobseekers told to work without pay or lose unemployment benefits — People taking up work experience places - providing up to 30 hours a week of unpaid labour - face losing benefits if they quit — Job scheme internships: tell us your story — Britain's young unemployed …

Discussion: Eschaton and Boing Boing

NBC Chicago:

Teacher Masturbated in Class: Police — Investigators said they believe Paul LaDuke may have engaged in activity several times in the last decade — A teacher at a northwest suburban Christian school has been charged with with sexual exploitation of a child for allegedly masturbating during class …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Wynton Hall / Big Government:

Robert Kennedy, Jr.'s ‘Green’ Company Scored $1.4 Billion Taxpayer Bailout — President John F. Kennedy's nephew, Robert Kennedy, Jr., netted a $1.4 billion bailout for his company, BrightSource, through a loan guarantee issued by a former employee-turned Department of Energy official.

Renee Dudley / The Post and Courier, Charleston SC:

Cancer center's Santa gets boot — It's not even December, but Santa has already been fired from Charleston's Hollings Cancer Center. — For each of the past two years, hospital volunteer Frank Cloyes spent one day as St. Nick, spreading good cheer and snacks to patients sitting through chemotherapy treatments.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Oh. Homeland security AND the FBI — “If you build it” update: … Obviously unconfirmed, but in light of what the Oakland mayor said this morning, certainly not unlikely. — I'm not surprised by this, but I am curious as to how they are going to justify the federal government's interest?