memeorandum: AT&T's lobbying turned back in T-Mobile bid (Tony Romm/The Politico)

4:35 PM ET, December 20, 2011

Top Items:

Lie of the Year 2011: ‘Republicans voted to end Medicare’ — Republicans muscled a budget through the House of Representatives in April that they said would take an important step toward reducing the federal deficit. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan kept Medicare intact …

Paul Krugman:

Politifact, R.I.P. — This is really awful. Politifact, which is supposed to police false claims in politics, has announced its Lie of the Year — and it's a statement that happens to be true, the claim that Republicans have voted to end Medicare. — Steve Benen in the link above explains it, but let me just repeat the basics.

Discussion: Democracy in America, Firedoglake, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Monthly, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Hullabaloo, pandagon.net and Balloon Juice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

PolitiFact ought to be ashamed of itself — The fact-checking website PolitiFact has announced its “Lie of the Year” for 2011. It made a poor, credibility-killing choice. … This is simply indefensible. Claims that are factually true shouldn't be eligible for a Lie of the Year designation.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The New Republic, The Apothecary, AlterNet, PolitiFact, Patterico's Pontifications, US Politics, National Review and Poynter

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Politifact's Bizarre “Lie of the Year” … - Lithwick: Newt Gingrich's Insanely Stupid Attack on the Judicial Branch — What I Learned From Coaching a Women's Basketball Team in Qatar — True Fact: Greeks and Italians Work Way Harder Than Germans Do — Can We Please Start Calling Kesha a Rapper?

Discussion: The New Republic, Political Mojo, National Review and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Sam Baker / The Hill: Attacks on Paul Ryan's Medicare reform proposal named ‘lie of the year’

Jonathan Martinand Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Will Ron Paul kill the caucuses? — SIOUX CITY, IOWA -The alarms are sounding in Iowa. — Conservatives and Republican elites in the state are divided over who to support for the GOP nomination, but they almost uniformly express concern over the prospect that Ron Paul and his army …

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Monthly, Campaign 2012, Iowa Caucuses, Indecision Forever, ABCNEWS, Booman Tribune, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, JustOneMinute, New York Times, The Daily Dish and Vox Popoli

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense — The Times notes that Ron Paul's racism newsletters are, again, becoming an issue. The standard defense has generally been Paul didn't write the newsletters. I think an honest reckoning with that defense would have someone question the faculties of an adult …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs and The Daily Dish

Rich Lowry / National Review:

Paul, the Fringe Frontrunner — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is in a bid to make history in Iowa. Can he become the first marginal, conspiracy-minded congressman with an embarrassing catalog of racist material published under his name to win the caucuses?

Discussion: Washington Post, Eunomia, Campaign 2012, The Daily Dish, Bloomberg and Rush Limbaugh

New York Times:
Bias in Ron Paul's Newsletters Draws New Attention

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Raw Story, Latest Open Salon Blog, Townhall.com, FrumForum, The Politico, Campaign 2012 and The Huffington Post

James Hohmann / The Politico:
Paul's new ad calls him The One …

Discussion: CNN, The Humble Libertarian, American Prospect, Washington Wire and The Gateway Pundit

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Cornered — House Republicans find themselves …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Washington Post and Don Surber

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

House Republicans Find Smarmiest Way Possible to Reject Payroll Tax Deal — Speaker Boehner weeps over payroll tax cut (Image: DonkeyHotey) — The procedural wizards in the House Republican caucus stayed up late last night to concoct this scheme, a way to dispose of the Senate's payroll tax deal by voting affirmatively.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Open Congress and The Hill

Josh Dorner / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: House Republicans Walk Away From Bipartisan Compromise on Payroll Tax Cut, Jobless Benefits

Discussion: American Prospect, The Politico and New York Magazine

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Schumer predicts GOP will fold in payroll fight

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, ABCNEWS and Weasel Zippers

The Politico:
House rejects Senate payroll tax deal

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway and CNN

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Reid Won't Appoint Negotiators To Hammer Out Payroll Tax Cut Deal

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Naked Politics and Daily Kos

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House rebuffs Senate payroll tax cut extension, calls for conference

Discussion: Ballot Box, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
GOP Sen. Brown slams House for ‘playing politics’ with tax vote

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Mr. Speaker, your weakness is showing

Discussion: Washington Post, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

CNN Poll: President's approval nearing 50% — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's approval rating, a crucial indicator of his reelection chances, is on the rise, according to a new national survey. — A CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday also indicates that the partisan battle …

Discussion: American Prospect, Guardian and Balloon Juice

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Congress Ends 2011 With Record-Low 11% Approval — Annual average for 2011, 17%, also lowest in Gallup history — PRINCETON, NJ — A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup's history of asking this question since 1974.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, USA Today, Weasel Zippers, Booman Tribune and Slate

Washington Post:
Obama's job-approval rating is highest since summer, Post-ABC poll finds

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, 2012 Decoded, Hot Air, The Daily Dish and Outside the Beltway

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Is Republican Infighting Helping Obama?

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots and Washington Post

The Caucus:

Vander Plaats Endorses Santorum — Bob Vander Plaats, speaking in Iowa in March, endorsed Rick Santorum on Tuesday. — 12:51 p.m. | Updated CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Two weeks before the Republican nominating contest opens at the Iowa caucuses, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania …

Discussion: American Prospect, Iowa Caucuses, The Politico, NOM Blog, 2012 Decoded, Swampland, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Rick Santorum for President, Towleroad News #gay, Right Wing Watch and The Huffington Post

Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Obama is handling [ITEM]? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat? — NET Strongly Somewhat NET Somewhat Strongly opinion a. The economy 41 17 24 56 13 43 2 b.

Discussion: Pundits Blog, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Clemson University, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, Ballot Box, ABCNEWS, americanthinker.com, Donklephant, Hot Air and CBS News

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich, Romney Go to a Tie; More See Obama as Competitive

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Wonkette, CNN, Trail Blazers Blog, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Public Policy Polling

Max Abelson / Bloomberg:

Bankers Seek to Debunk ‘Imbecile’ Attack on Top 1% — Jamie Dimon, the highest-paid chief executive officer among the heads of the six biggest U.S. banks, turned a question at an investors' conference in New York this month into an occasion to defend wealth.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Felix Salmon, Outside the Beltway, The Future of Capitalism, New York Magazine, Paul Krugman, Gothamist, Corey Robin, Gawker and Shakesville

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Bill Clinton: Newt Gingrich tall tale on the budget — Former President Bill Clinton called out Newt Gingrich on Tuesday for claiming more credit than he deserves, saying the Republican presidential candidate actually led the opposition to efforts in 1993 to balance the nation's budget.

Discussion: CNN

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Romney: ‘Get rid of these super PACs’

Discussion: Political Mojo and CNN

New York Post:

Ugly inside & out — His face horribly charred from his alleged gasoline attack on a beloved Brooklyn mom, Jerome Isaac was jailed without bail yesterday, as the woman's devastated family pressed the DA to lock him up for life. — “I know this is the defendant's first offense …

Discussion: Gothamist and CBS New York

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Blogs bash Obama's historic claim — NewsBusters calls Obama's statements made during his ‘60 Minutes’ interview ‘laughable.’ — Newt Gingrich isn't the only one on the campaign trail who sees himself as a towering historical figure. President Barack Obama has just joined the club.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

New York Times:

In Kim's Death, an Extensive Intelligence Failure — Televisions at an electronics store in Seoul, South Korea, featured reports on Monday about the death of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean Leader. North Korea said Mr. Kim, 69, died on Saturday. More Photos »

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Daniel W. Drezner, ABCNEWS, Guardian, Washington Post, Gothamist, FP Passport, Belmont Club, Michael Totten, NationalJournal.com and Gawker

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Instead Of Extending Tax Cut For 160 Million Americans, House Commissioned Bust Of Winston Churchill — While House Republicans couldn't get their act together to approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits last night, they were able to do something far more frivolousness …

Discussion: The Hill, Gawker, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Politico