memeorandum: Gingrich Implodes in Iowa (Barry Ritholtz/The Big Picture)

6:30 PM ET, December 19, 2011

Top Items:

Paul leads in Iowa — Newt Gingrich's campaign is rapidly imploding, and Ron Paul has now taken the lead in Iowa. He's at 23% to 20% for Mitt Romney, 14% for Gingrich, 10% each for Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry, 4% for Jon Huntsman, and 2% for Gary Johnson.

Discussion: Gallup, Washington Examiner, Unlikely Voter, The Politico, Booman Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The BRAD BLOG, USA Today, Bloomberg, Catholic Bandita, Donklephant, Hot Air, New York Magazine, The New Republic, The Caucus, The Other McCain, Firedoglake, The Impolitic, Don Surber, The Daily Dish, Gawker, No More Mister Nice Blog, Iowa Caucuses, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots, Wonkette, News Desk, Swampland, Trail Blazers Blog, Shakesville, The Raw Story, Little Green Footballs, Ballot Box, Right Wing News, US Politics, American Prospect, The PJ Tatler, Caffeinated Thoughts, Patterico's Pontifications, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Campaign 2012, 2012 Decoded, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, americanthinker.com, GOP 12, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Political Mojo and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

CNN Poll: Gingrich lead gone, dead even with Romney — Washington (CNN) - Newt Gingrich's lead in the race for the GOP presidential nomination has evaporated, according to a new national survey. — A CNN/ORC International Poll released Monday indicates that 28% of Republicans and independents …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Clemson University, The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, GOP 12, Hot Air, Swampland, Lynn Sweet, The Politico and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Retirement Deal Keeps Bain Money Flowing to Romney — Almost 13 years ago, Mitt Romney left Bain Capital, the successful private equity firm he had helped start, and moved to Utah to rescue the Salt Lake City Olympic Games and begin a second career in public life.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, DealBook, American Prospect, The New Republic, ThinkProgress, The Impolitic, Crooks and Liars, Business Insider, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Campaign 2012, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, The Maddow Blog, Gothamist and US Politics

Jeb Bush / Wall Street Journal:

Capitalism and the Right to Rise — In freedom lies the risk of failure. But in statism lies the certainty of stagnation. — Congressman Paul Ryan recently coined a smart phrase to describe the core concept of economic freedom: “The right to rise.” — Think about it.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, The Impolitic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page, Questions and Observations, Campaign 2012, Simply Left BehindThe …, CNN, The Hill, The Politico, GOP 12, FrumForum, INSTAPUTZ, BizzyBlog, National Review and The Mahablog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney dominating New Hampshire — Mitt Romney has a significant lead in New Hampshire, getting 35% there to 19% for Ron Paul, 17% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Jon Huntsman, 5% for Michele Bachmann, 3% for Rick Santorum, 2% for Rick Perry, and 1% for Gary Johnson.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box, Daily Kos and Donklephant

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Paul Moves Into Lead in Iowa Forecast — Our Iowa forecasts, which are designed to be quite aggressive, have had a big reaction to the new Public Policy Polling survey published late Sunday evening. The poll showed Newt Gingrich's support slipping badly in Iowa and Ron Paul moving into the lead.

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and The Other McCain

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Super PAC Ad Attacking Gingrich Sticks In The Minds Of Iowa Voters

Discussion: Washington Post and Taylor Marsh

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Two-Month Payroll Tax Holiday Passed By Senate, Pushed By President, Cannot Be Implemented Properly, Experts Say — Officials from the policy-neutral National Payroll Reporting Consortium, Inc. have expressed concern to members of Congress that the two-month payroll tax holiday passed …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Washington Times, Swampland, The Lonely Conservative, National Review, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Campaign 2012 and The Politico

Scott Wong / The Politico:

Brown blasts GOP on payroll tax cut — Fighting for reelection in deep-blue Massachusetts, GOP Sen. Scott Brown ripped into House Republicans on Tuesday after Speaker John Boehner vowed that his caucus would reject the short-term payroll tax cut extension that nearly 90 percent of senators voted for over the weekend.

Discussion: Daily Kos, CNN, RedState and The Hill

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Tea Party lawmaker: Payroll-tax-cut fight our ‘Braveheart moment’

Discussion: Gawker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and The Politico

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Here we go again

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, The Hill, Daily Kos, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Indecision Forever

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Standoff: A Guide To The Ongoing Fight Over The Payroll Tax Cut

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Hullabaloo

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
DCCC unleashing Carville on House GOP

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Reid, for now, won't play Boehner's game

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times and The Hill

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
NY lawmaker: GOP taking ‘principled’ stance on payroll tax bill

Discussion: The Politico, Outside the Beltway and CNN

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Harry Reid: Payroll Tax Cut Bill Must Pass Without Further Negotiations

Discussion: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Brad Plumer / Washington Post:

Kim Jong Il's economic legacy, in one chart — One easy way to evaluate the legacies of North Korean dictators Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il is to compare their country's economic performance with South Korea's over the past four decades. The difference is stunning.

Discussion: Business Insider and Hit & Run

New York Times:
Kim Jong-il, North Korean Dictator, Dies Suddenly

Martin Fackler / New York Times:
Young Heir Faces Uncertain Transition in North Korea

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BBC, Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, FP Passport, News Desk, Political Mojo, Via Meadia, Firedoglake, The New Republic and TalkLeft

Ginger Gibson / The Politico:
Kim Jong Il death: 2012ers cautiously triumphant

Discussion: CNN

Leslie H. Gelb / The Daily Beast:

Joe Biden On Iraq, Iran, China and the Taliban — The United States won't spend a dime to bail out Europe. The Taliban is not our enemy. And nobody's easing up on Iran's nukes. The vice president lets fly. — On Thursday, Dec. 15, Vice President Joe Biden sat down in his sunlit White …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch, The Right Scoop and The Gateway Pundit

Reuters:
Exclusive: Secret U.S., Taliban talks reach turning point

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Michelle Malkin, The Long War Journal, ThinkProgress, americanthinker.com, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

In 2010, Romney Said He Wouldn't Repeal The Individual Health Mandate In Obamacare — During the ABC News GOP presidential debate earlier this month, Mitt Romney promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying, “If I'm President of the United States, we're gonna get rid of ObamaCare and return …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

John C. Goodman / Wall Street Journal:
Why Mandated Health Insurance Is Unfair

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Volokh Conspiracy

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: Affordable Care Act, still working

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

14-Year-Old Challenges Perry's Anti-Gay Views — A 14-year-old bisexual high school student challenged Rick Perry on his support for reinstating Don't Ask, Don't Tell during an event in Decorah, Iowa, asking the Texas governor why he is “so opposed to gays serving openly in the military …

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Towleroad News #gay

Rebecca Kaplan / NationalJournal.com:
Perry's Day Ends in Confrontation Over Fracking, Gays in the Military

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Trail Blazers Blog, The Raw Story and Washington Post

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Pro-Adultery Website Endorses Gingrich — A website that promotes adultery has endorsed Newt Gingrich for president, and even erected a giant billboard in Pennsylvania to announce it. Next to a picture of Gingrich making a “shh” gesture, the billboard reads: “Faithful Republican, Unfaithful Husband.”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Mediaite

Colby Itkowitz / Pennsylvania Ave.:
Adultery club “endorses” Gingrich

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Justice Dept silent as Holder charges critics with racism — Attorney General Eric Holder accused his growing chorus of critics of racist motivations in a Sunday interview published in the New York Times. When reached by The Daily Caller Monday morning, the Department of Justice provided …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Right Scoop, The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative

Mary Chastain / Big Journalism:
The New York Times Paints Holder As A Victim Of Fast And Furious

Discussion: The Daily Caller, NewsBusters.org, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Big Government and Bob Owens

New York Post:

Professor claims NYU fired him after he gave James Franco a ‘D’ — James Franco's tired James Dean act got an NYU professor booted from the school last year — after the teacher dared to give the overhyped Hollywood hunk a “D” for blowing off class, a lawsuit charges.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, Gawker, Washington Post and Shakesville

Katha Pollitt / thenation.com/blogs/164:

Regarding Christopher — Christopher Hitchens, my colleague for twenty years, was clever, hilarious, generous to his friends, combative, prodigiously energetic and fantastically productive. He could write with equal ease about Philip Larkin, capital punishment, Henry Kissinger and having his balls waxed.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Hullabaloo

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

For Election Year, MTV Drops ‘Choose or Lose’ Slogan — After nearly 20 years of “Choose or Lose,” MTV is changing the name of its election season campaign. — The youth cable channel's coverage will be labeled “Power of 12,” a nod to both the election year and the notion that 18 …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Big Hollywood, Michelle Malkin, Gothamist, Hotline On Call, The Right Scoop and The Daily Caller

Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:

Gingrich Implodes in Iowa — I don't know about Conservatives, but Republicans should be relieved. — So much for the Gingrich juggernaut . . . Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge.

Discussion: Boing Boing

Andrew Mytelka / The Ticker:

Appeals Court Rejects Christian Student's Bid for Reversal of Her Expulsion — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling against a graduate student who had sought a court order preventing Augusta State University from expelling her from its school-counseling program.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Truth Wins Out and Joe. My. God.

George Russell / Fox News:

EXCLUSIVE: EPA Ponders Expanded Regulatory Power In Name of ‘Sustainable Development’ — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to change how it analyzes problems and makes decisions, in a way that will give it vastly expanded power to regulate businesses, communities and ecosystems in the name of …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The PJ Tatler, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller