memeorandum: Nuclear chief Jaczko says he's ‘mortified’ by staff allegations of verbal abuse (Andrew Restuccia/The Hill)

2:45 PM ET, December 15, 2011

Top Items:

Iowa: Romney 23%, Gingrich 20%, Paul 18% — For the fifth straight survey, the GOP field has a new frontrunner in Iowa. — On this first release video, Scott Rasmussen reveals Mitt Romney as the new frontrunner in the Iowa Caucus. — Although this video is available to everyone, most of the content on Rasmussen Reports is not.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, The Daily Dish, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, LifeNews.com, Outside the Beltway, The Enterprise Blog, National Review, GOP 12, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, The PJ Tatler and Campaign 2012

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Poll: Dramatic drop in Gingrich support in Iowa — DES MOINES — A new survey from pollster Scott Rasmussen shows support for Newt Gingrich in Iowa has fallen sharply in recent days. The poll shows the former House speaker with the support of 20 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, Rush Limbaugh, Washington Wire, CatholicVote.org, Taylor Marsh, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Gallup, Daily Pundit, Althouse and Pundit & Pundette

National Review:

Winnowing the Field — A hard-fought presidential primary campaign is obscuring the uncharacteristic degree of unity within the Republican party. It has reached a conservative consensus on most of the pressing issues of the day. All of the leading candidates, and almost all of the lagging ones, support the right to life.

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Giuliani slams Romney, likens Newt to Reagan — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani slammed Mitt Romney as an unelectable flip-flopper, and said Newt Gingrich, who he compared to Ronald Reagan, offers Republicans the best shot at unseating President Obama.

Discussion: CNN and nation.foxnews.com

NOM Blog:
Gingrich Signs NOM's Marriage Pledge, Leaving Only Paul Among Major Candidates Not To Have Signed

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and On Top Magazine Headlines

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Pretending That Ron Paul Doesn't Matter Won't Make Him Go Away

Discussion: GOP 12, FrumForum, The Daily Dish, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Hit & Run

Jon Bershad / Mediaite:
Fox's Chris Wallace: If Ron Paul Wins In Iowa, It Will Discredit The Iowa Caucuses

Discussion: The Raw Story, Hit & Run, The Daily Dish, Outside the Beltway, GOP 12 and Business Insider

Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:
2008 Flashback: Michele Bachmann Gushes Over Newt Gingrich

Discussion: The Politico

David Grant / Christian Science Monitor:
Jon Huntsman leapfrogs Ron Paul in New Hampshire, says poll

Discussion: The Other McCain, Shakesville, CNN, Business Insider and The Daily Dish

Tim Mak / The Politico:
Rudy Giuliani: Mitt Romney is world-class flip-flopper

Discussion: CNN

Judson Berger / Fox News:
GOP Candidates Looking to ‘Close the Deal’ in Last-Chance Iowa Debate

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Post, Fox News and ABCNEWS

Wall Street Journal:

A Bipartisan Way Forward on Medicare — Allowing private plans to compete with traditional Medicare will help lower costs and spur innovation. — Few issues draw more heated partisan rhetoric than the future of Medicare. Seniors are a reliable and powerful voting bloc …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hit & Run, The New Republic, The Incidental Economist, Firedoglake, The American Scene, Budget Committee, The Politico, Campaign 2012 and Political Mojo

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Wyden-Ryan Medicare Proposal Has White House ‘Concerned’

Discussion: Washington Post, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Big Government and National Review

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — The Ron Wyden, Paul Ryan Pile On Begins

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, The Politico and Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal:
The Wyden-Ryan Breakthrough — A better, bipartisan Medicare future.

Discussion: Corrente

Bloomberg:
U.S. Lawmakers Offer Bipartisan Proposal for Medicare With Private Option

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress and Patterico's Pontifications

New York Times:

U.S. War in Iraq Declared Officially Over — BAGHDAD — The United States military officially declared an end to its mission in Iraq on Thursday even as violence continues to plague the country and the Muslim world remains distrustful of American power. — In a fortified concrete courtyard …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Impolitic, Simply Left BehindThe …, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, emptywheel, The Mahablog, Towleroad News #gay, ThinkProgress, Blue Mass Group, UN Dispatch and Informed Comment

Washington Post:
Iraq war draws to a quiet close

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Daily What, New York Times, Questions and Observations, Wonkette, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice and BBC

Wall Street Journal:
Battle Flag Comes Down in Baghdad

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and The Other McCain

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Frustration with Congress Could Hurt Republican Incumbents — GOP Base Critical of Party's Washington Leadership — OVERVIEW — Public discontent with Congress has reached record levels, and the implications for incumbents in next year's elections could be stark.

Discussion: The Hill, The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, Hotline On Call, Washington Post and Booman Tribune

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Frustration with Congress Could Hurt Republican Incumbents — GOP Base Critical of Party's Washington Leadership — Nearly three months after protests began in New York and later expanded to cities around the country, 44% support the Occupy Wall Street movement and 35% oppose it.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Pete Souza / People.com:

Obama Family Portrait Revealed — From left: Michelle, Malia, Barack and Sasha Obama — President Obama may be gearing up his campaign for reelection soon, but at home with his wife and daughters, he couldn't be happier. — The White House is releasing this new family portrait of the Obamas …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Laura Meckler / Washington Wire:
Obama Says He Relished Trip to NYC After Bin Laden's Death

Discussion: MyFox Philadelphia, nation.foxnews.com and People.com

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Payroll tax cut and spending bill stall in Senate, raising threat of shutdown — Negotiations over how to extend a payroll tax holiday for 160 million Americans and avoid a government shutdown this weekend ground to a halt Wednesday after a standoff in the Senate over how to proceed.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wonkette, CNN, The Heritage Foundation, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, The Lonely Conservative, ThinkProgress, The Hill and The Politico

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
President Obama to stay in D.C. while Michelle Obama, daughters head to Hawaii

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Chris McGreal / Guardian:

Americans face Guantánamo detention after Obama climbdown — Defence funding bill allows American citizens to be arrested as terrorists on home soil and held indefinitely without trial — Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, GGDrafts, Salon, CBS News, The Daily Dish, Indecision Forever, Moonbattery, Political Mojo, HillBuzz.org, Prairie Weather and The Lonely Conservative

ABCNEWS:

Rudy Giuliani Carves Up Mitt Romney on Morning Show — Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has some thoughts on the GOP field, and he generously shared them with cable news audiences this morning in appearances so sharp they could be used in anti-Romney ads. — “It may be that Newt is appealing …

New York Times:
In a Tactical Shift, Romney Trains Sights on Gingrich

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Caucus, The Politico, NY Daily News, The PJ Tatler, ABCNEWS, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online and American Spectator

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Herman Cain's Cabinet dream: DOD — Herman Cain says that if he could be a Cabinet secretary, he wants to be head of the Department of Defense. — In an interview with Barbara Walters, who chose Cain as one of the “10 Most Fascinating People” of the year, the former presidential hopeful was asked what Cabinet position he would like.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Atlantic Online, Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette and newsfeed.time.com

Associated Press:

‘Dismal’ prospects: 1 in 2 Americans are now poor or low income — Juan Morena sits on a Los Angeles, Calif., sidewalk as he waits for the St. Francis Center soup kitchen to open on Sept. 13. — By Associated Press — WASHINGTON - Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans …

Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes, Reuters, ThinkProgress, Brilliant at Breakfast and Hullabaloo

Elizabethwarren / Blue Mass Group:

Protecting and Promoting Equality — Warren sets the terms of debate. - promoted by Bob_Neer — I've had the chance to say it in living rooms and school auditoriums, but I'm glad to have the chance to say it here: No one - no one - should be discriminated against because of race, color …

Discussion: Ballot Box and Good As You

Paul Bedard / US News:

Harvard Poll: Young Voters Say Obama Will Lose — More bad news for President Obama — More bad news for President Obama, this time from his alma mater, Harvard University. In a new poll, more younger voters, many of whom voted for him in 2008, think he will lose next year.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Weasel Zippers

Jake Silverstein / Texas Monthly:

Why We Chose Rick Perry as Our 2012 Bum Steer of the Year — As most readers know, every January TEXAS MONTHLY picks a Bum Steer of the Year, an honor conferred on whatever individual we feel has been responsible for the biggest screw-up, gaffe, fumble, stumble, train wreck, or humiliation of the past twelve months.

Discussion: The Hill and Trail Blazers Blog