memeorandum: Issa expands Fast and Furious probe to include alleged money laundering (Jordy Yager/The Hill)

10:35 PM ET, December 5, 2011

Top Items:

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The 2012 GOPers — Newt Gingrich — Pelosi knows more about Gingrich than perhaps any other major national political figure. She was a senior Democrat when Gingrich was House Speaker, served on the ethics committee that investigated Gingrich for tax cheating …

John Parkinson / ABCNEWS:

Pelosi Not Sitting on Trove of Gingrich Secrets — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi now says she is not sitting on a trove of opposition research on former House Speaker-turned-GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. — In an interview conducted Friday and published Monday …

Discussion: HotAirPundit

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Pelosi: I'll reveal information on Gingrich ‘when the time is right’ — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is holding back some information on Republican Newt Gingrich that could detract from his presidential campaign, according to a report published Monday.

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, The Politico, The PJ Tatler, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Indecision Forever, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Michelle Malkin and Mediaite

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich fires back at Pelosi over threat

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, Weasel Zippers and National Review

The Politico:
Telling: Newt's critics shut up

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, A plain blog about politics, Little Green Footballs, Rod Dreher, Washington Examiner, Betsy's Page and Connecting.the.Dots

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
GOP Is Now a Three-Man Race: Romney vs. Gingrich vs. Gingrich

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Business Insider, US Politics and The Raw Story

Maggie Haberman / The Politico: Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi comments on ethics are ‘early Christmas gift’

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Biden jokes Gingrich inflates his importance

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Republicans See Gingrich, Romney as “Acceptable” Nominees — All other candidates seen as unacceptable by half or more of Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — Newt Gingrich (62%) and Mitt Romney (54%) are the only two candidates Republicans say would be acceptable presidential nominees from their party …

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Washington Post, Washington Wire, Hot Air, A plain blog about politics, NewsBusters.org, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Firedoglake, National Review, Guardian and HotAirPundit

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Newt Gingrich defends Donald Trump from Ron Paul — After a nearly hour-long meeting at Trump Tower, Donald Trump and Newt Gingrich emerged for a joint press conference, where the former House Speaker defended The Donald from slams from Ron Paul that him moderating a debate would create a “circus” atmosphere.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, American Times, Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Loyal Opposition, Indecision Forever, ABCNEWS, The Political Carnival, Mediaite, The Spectacle Blog, Swampland, The Page, Daily Kos and Portland Mercury

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Send in the Clueless — There are two crucial things you need to understand about the current state of American politics. First, given the still dire economic situation, 2012 should be a year of Republican triumph. Second, the G.O.P. may nonetheless snatch defeat from the jaws of victory — because Herman Cain was not an accident.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, The Moderate Voice, Ed Driscoll, US Politics, Truthdig, Washington Post, Prairie Weather and The Mahablog

The Politico:

Parties roll out dueling payroll tax proposals — House Republicans and Senate Democrats are on a collision course over extending a payroll tax break as the two sides intensify their legislative gamesmanship ahead of a crucial year-end deadline. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Wire, The New Republic, Opinion L.A. and The Spectacle Blog

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Democrats shrink payroll tax cut to lure GOP support

Discussion: CNN, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Romney Comes Out In Favor Of Payroll Tax Holiday Extension, After Dismissing It As A ‘Band-Aid’

Discussion: msnbc.com and Booman Tribune

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

Fox News Business: The Muppets Are ‘Brainwashing’ Young People To Hate The Oil Industry — Life's a happy song, but not when Fox Business is singing along. The network is upset that the new Muppets movie, The Muppets, features an oil tycoon as a villain, with various contributors complaining …

Discussion: The Reaction, Harry's Place and Media Matters for America

Jordan Zakarin / The Huffington Post:

The Muppets Are Communist, Fox Business Network Says … Muppets , Fox Business , Fox Business Network , Kermit The Frog , Kermit The Frog Miss Piggy , Muppets Communists , Fox News Muppets , Muppet Movie , The Muppets , The Muppets Are Communist , Entertainment News

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post and Indecision Forever

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The Morning Plum — * Top Romney operative admits ad attacking Obama was “propaganda”: This one should be seen as a defining moment for Campaign 2012. Check out the new defense of that dishonest ad attacking Obama that a top anomymous Romney campaign operative has now given to the New York Times' Tom Edsall:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Campaign Stops, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and The Impolitic

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Reporter's Notebook: Behind the Scenes at the Fox News Forum

Discussion: New York Magazine, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Business Insider, Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, TVNewser, National Review, Media Decoder, Poynter and msnbc.com, more at Mediagazer »

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Bob Vander Plaats Whips Up Support For Gingrich In Iowa: 'He's Had A Life Transformation'

Discussion: Swampland

Eason Jordan / Poll Position:
Post-Cain, Gingrich edge 14%

Discussion: Ballot Box, CNN and Wake up America

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

CHART OF THE DAY: Something Has Really Shifted In Europe This Time — It's tempting and easy to just say that whatever European leaders are cooking up right now is bound to fail, like every other past attempt at ending the crisis. — But here's a noteworthy market fact: Italian yields are collapsing today.

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:
Italian Yields Are Collapsing

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Questions and Observations and Economist's View

Leslie Bennetts / The Daily Beast:

Ginger White on Herman Cain's Exit, His Arrogance—and Her Sex Claims — Ginger White, who dealt the death blow to Herman Cain's campaign by alleging a 13-year relationship, talks to Leslie Bennetts about: — A few hours after Herman Cain announced the end of his presidential campaign …

Discussion: Guardian, PolitickerNY, neo-neocon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker and Business Insider

myfoxatlanta.com:
Source: Herman Cain to Endorse Newt Gingrich Monday

The Playlist / Indiewire Blogs, Film News and Reviews:

Exclusive: ‘Dragon Tattoo’ Producer Scott Rudin Replies To David Denby's Upcoming New Yorker Review Embargo Break — “They reviewed what?” — If you follow movie insider baseball news you may have heard the embargo on Sony's “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is about to break tomorrow …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Poynter and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

David Denby / New Yorker:
DOUBLE DARE … - BOOKS - MOVIES - ART - MUSIC …

Discussion: Guardian, Gawker, AllThingsD and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

George Orwell on the Evil Iranian Menace — “Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them” — The U.S. has long had Iran virtually encircled as a result of the American occupation of Afghanistan on Iran's Eastern border …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Danger Room, The Long War Journal, Unqualified Offerings and Israel Matzav

ABCNEWS:
U.S. Continues Radio Silence on Drone Held by Iran

Discussion: Washington Post and The Raw Story

CBS News:

NASA finding feeds talk of a new Earth — Artist's conception illustrates Kepler-22b (NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech) — NASA has found a new planet outside Earth's solar system that is eerily similar to Earth in important aspects. — Scientists say the temperature on the surface of the planet is about a comfy 72 degrees (22 Celsius).

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Balloon Juice and Shakesville

oecd.org:

Society: Governments must tackle record gap between rich and poor, says OECD — The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to tackle inequality, according to a new OECD report.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Guardian, The Politico, Real Time Economics and ThinkProgress

Radley Balko / The Huffington Post:

SWAT Raids, Stun Guns, And Pepper Spray: Why The Government Is Ramping Up The Use Of Force — In February of last year, video surfaced of a marijuana raid in Columbia, Mo. During the raid on Jonathan Whitworth and his family, police took down the door with a battering ram …

Discussion: Hit & Run

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

Romney staff spent nearly $100,000 to hide records — (Reuters) - Mitt Romney spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to replace computers in his office at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2007 as part of an unprecedented effort to keep his records secret, Reuters has learned.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hot Air

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Rove says RNC should ‘discourage’ Trump-moderated debate — GOP veteran strategist Karl Rove said Monday the head of the Republican National Committee should step in to “discourage” presidential candidates from attending the upcoming debate moderated by Donald Trump.

Discussion: Rumproast, Sky Dancing and Business Insider

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
Trump: Huntsman Has To Tell The Truth 'Because He's A Mormon' (Updated)

Discussion: GOP 12, Washington Wire and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

Occupy D.C. protesters arrested in standoff over makeshift shelter at McPherson Sq. — View Photo Gallery — Two groups of demonstrators have entrenched themselves in Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square downtown. Another group of Occupy protesters from New York walked to the District to join them.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette, americanthinker.com and Verum Serum