memeorandum: Dems' payroll tax cut extension goes down again in Senate (Josiah Ryan/The Hill)

8:35 PM ET, December 8, 2011

Top Items:

2012 Republican Race: The Field May Not Be Closed — Conventional wisdom is that the Republican presidential field is set, and that it is much too late for a new candidate to enter the race. — In years past, that would be absolutely correct. Over the last few decades …

Discussion: Wizbang, Indecision Forever, Frontloading HQ and Washington Monthly

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Priebus: ‘Malpractice’ for me to back Trump debate — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spoke out Thursday against an upcoming GOP presidential debate to be moderated by Donald Trump, saying it would be “malpractice” for him as the leader of the party not to think the debate was problematic.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Don Surber, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, National Review and INSTAPUTZ

Richard A. Oppel Jr / The Caucus:

Perry and Bachmann Also Pass on Trump Debate — 6:51 p.m. | Updated MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. - Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Michele Bachmann have joined other candidates, including Mitt Romney, in passing on Donald Trump's Dec. 27 debate in Iowa. Mr. Perry's campaign issued this statement on Thursday:

Discussion: New York Times and GOP 12

A.Killough / CNN:
Santorum on Trump debate no-shows: They're hypocrites

Discussion: The Politico and HotAirPundit

ABCNEWS:
Michele Bachmann Becomes Fifth GOP Candidate To Reject Donald Trump Debate

Discussion: The Daily Caller, HotAirPundit and Washington Post

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box: Bachmann opts out of Trump debate

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Perry Goes After Gingrich, Romney; Declines Trump

Discussion: Ballot Box

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Rick Perry's Anti-Gay Iowa Ad Divides His Top Staff … 2012 Election , Log Cabin Republicans , Elections 2012 , Rick Perry , Video , Iowa Caucuses , Fabrizio Perry , Iowa Caucus 2012 , Perry Ad , Perry Dadt , Rick Perry 2012 , Rick Perry Ad Campaign , Rick Perry Don't Ask Don't Tell …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Daily Dish, Towleroad News #gay, Ballot Box, Joe. My. God., GOP 12, The Political Carnival, ThinkProgress and Portland Mercury

Matt Ortega / 2012 US Elections:

Perry's jacket in anti-gay ad? Heath Ledger wore it in “Brokeback Mountain” — Rick Perry launched an anti-gay ad called, “Strong.” In the ad, he attacks gays openly serving in the armed forces. — As it turns out, the gays get their revenge... the jacket Rick Perry wore in the ad?

Discussion: Political Theater, Taylor Marsh and Towleroad News #gay

Mason City / ABCNEWS:
Rick Perry to Roll Through 42 Cities in Iowa on December Bus Tour

Discussion: The Politico, American Prospect, Indecision Forever and Swampland

Jennifer Jacobs / Iowa Caucuses:
BIG BARNSTORM: Rick Perry to hit 44 Iowa cities on two-week bus tour

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and GOP 12

NW Daily Marker:

Tweets from Congressional Staffers Describe On-Job Drinking in Office of Congressman Larsen — For young men and women with ambitions toward a career in politics, working in a Congressional office can be a heady, almost dreamlike experience. Left unsupervised, the combination of youth indiscretion …

Discussion: The Hill, FishbowlDC, Wonkette, Hotline On Call and The PJ Tatler

The Politico:

Hill staffers fired for off-color tweets — They called it a “December to Remember”: a mission to spend the final month of the legislative session partying under the patronage of Rep. Rick Larsen. — Eight days into it, and a series of ill-advised tweets later, three staffers …

Discussion: Hot Air

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

Dems' payroll tax cut extension goes down again in Senate — Senate Republicans blocked the latest installment of President Obama's jobs plan — a bill to extend the payroll tax cut — for the second week in a row on Thursday. — The bill, titled the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, was shot down 50-48.

Discussion: The Politico, Firedoglake and The Page

New York Times:
Republicans Unveil Plan for Payroll Tax

Discussion: The Caucus and Reuters

Joel Gehrke / Campaign 2012:
Obama: More jobs in jobless benefits than Keystone

Discussion: The Hill, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, Michelle Malkin and The PJ Tatler

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Dems warn: McConnell will regret these filibusters

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, The American Prospect, The Atlantic Online and ACS Blog

Scott Wong / The Politico:
GOP blocks Cordray for CFPB

Discussion: CNN and americanthinker.com

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Winning the argument — Just one more quick point about that new poll casting doubt on whether efforts to tar Elizabeth Warren with Occupy Wall Street are working. — A few weeks ago, the Rove-founded Crossroads GPS spent six figures on an ad that was all about Occupy Wall Street …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman, The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Hayley Peterson / Campaign 2012:
Christie heckles ‘Occupy’ protesters in Iowa

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report, The Impolitic, The Lonely Conservative and Los Angeles Times

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum — National Republicans and conservatives …

Discussion: Swampland, Politics Extra, GOP 12, Ben Smith's Blog and Hullabaloo

David S. Hilzenrath / Washington Post:

Corzine says he could have been misunderstood on transfer of MF Global accounts — Jon S. Corzine, the former U.S. senator and governor who presided over the collapse of the commodities brokerage MF Global, told lawmakers Thursday that he never intended to authorize a transfer of customer funds …

Discussion: National Review, Hit & Run, Belmont Club, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, New York Post and The Lonely Conservative

Wall Street Journal:
Corzine: ‘I Simply Do Not Know Where The Money Is’

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Law Blog, Hot Air and americanthinker.com

Christopher Elias / Thomson Reuters News …:
MF Global and the great Wall St re-hypothecation scandal

Discussion: FT Alphaville, Felix Salmon and Belmont Club

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Sensenbrenner floats impeachment of Obama admin. officials as ‘Fast and Furious’ response — Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee where Attorney General Eric Holder testified on Thursday, suggested that impeachment …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Other McCain

Fox News:
Holder Suggests ‘Fast and Furious’ Guns Will Be Used in Crimes for ‘Years to Come’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, Weekly Standard and The Spectacle Blog

Josh Glasstetter / Right Wing Watch:

VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly Hits Community Organizer with Umbrella, Tries to Get Him Arrested — Anyone who has watched the footage of Bill O'Reilly's infamous meltdown on the set of Inside Edition knows that the Fox News personality has a hot temper. But you would expect the Fox News personality …

Discussion: Mediaite, FishbowlDC, Gawker, US Politics, The Political Carnival and Towleroad News #gay

Ann Coulter / Townhall.com:

Ann Coulter Newt Presents a Fresh New Virtual Face — Before you newly active Republicans commit to Newt Gingrich as your presidential nominee on the basis of the recent debates, here's a bit of Newt history you ought to know. I promise you, it's going to come up if he's the candidate.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Outside the Beltway, Wall Street Journal, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Other McCain, The Politico, American Spectator and Erick's blog

New York Times:
Democrats See 2-Horse Race, Adding Whip

Discussion: Political Mojo, The Caucus, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, NewsBusters.org, neo-neocon, Law Blog, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Page, UrbanGrounds, Boston Globe, Prairie Weather, Campaign 2012 and The Smoking Gun

BBC:

Iran shows film of captured US drone — The BBC's James Reynolds says the video appears to support Iran's claims — Iranian TV has shown the first video footage of an advanced US drone aircraft that Tehran says it downed near the Afghan border. — Images show Iranian military officials inspecting …

Discussion: New York Times, Belmont Club, Conservative Daily News, Truthdig and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Rick Gladstone / New York Times:
Iran Shows U.S. Drone on TV, and Lodges a Protest

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post and Danger Room

Journalism.org:

TWITTER AND THE CAMPAIGN — HOW THE DISCUSSION ON TWITTER VARIES FROM BLOGS AND NEWS COVERAGE AND RON PAUL'S TWITTER TRIUMPH — A detailed examination of more than 20 million Tweets about the race for president finds that the political discussion on Twitter is measurably different …

Discussion: Washington Post, Poynter and Campaign 2012

Mj Lee / The Politico:
Study: Ron Paul is winning on Twitter

Discussion: Indecision Forever and Hit & Run

David Frum / FrumForum:

The Coming GOP Gingrich Freakout — Today's question is: will the Gingrich balloon deflate like all the previous Not Mitt balloons? — The answer is: yes of course-but given that these balloons take typically 6-8 weeks to shrivel, the impending Gingrich bust may not arrive soon enough to save Romney.

Discussion: Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and ABCNEWS

Daniel deVise / Washington Post:

Virginia Tech Police officer, one other, killed on campus — A Virginia Tech police officer was fatally shot Thursday during a routine traffic stop on the Blacksburg campus and a second person was found slain in a nearby parking lot after the gunman fled, the university reports.

Discussion: WDBJ-TV, msnbc.com, Michelle Malkin, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Runnin' Scared, CBS New York, Guardian, Booman Tribune, KNXV, ABCNEWS, Scared Monkeys, New York Times, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Republicans Less Enthusiastic About Voting in 2012 — Republicans' enthusiasm gap over Democrats narrows — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans' enthusiasm about voting in the election for president next year has decreased, with 49% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican now saying …

Discussion: Salon.com, Ballot Box, ABCNEWS, Hotline On Call, IntoxiNation, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, Campaign 2012, Questions and Observations, The Politico, Business Insider, Washington Post and Shakesville

Jon Brooks / KQED News Fix:

Prop 8 Hearing on Trial Video, Judge Vaughn Walker's Same-Sex Relationship — The court has adjourned for the day. Scott Shafer will file a report later this evening. Check back later tonight for a blog post and tune in to tomorrow's California Report to hear his report on the proceedings.

Discussion: Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Firedoglake, Capitol Alert and Joe. My. God.