memeorandum: Source: Bob Vander Plaats asked Michele Bachmann to quit (Reid J. Epstein/The Politico)

12:15 AM ET, December 21, 2011

Top Items:

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 …

Scott Clement / Washington Post:

Poll: Paul as third party candidate could doom GOP in 2012 — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-Texas) is gaining steam in his race for the GOP nomination, up to his highest level yet — 15 percent — in the new Washington Post-ABC News national poll.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite, Campaign 2012, National Review, News Desk, ThinkProgress, Pundits Blog and Firedoglake

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney leads Obama — For the first time in PPP's monthly national polling since July 2010 Mitt Romney's taken a lead, albeit a small one, over Barack Obama. He's up 47-45. — Romney has two main things going for him. He leads the President 45-36 with independents.

Discussion: Ballot Box and The Politico

A.Killough / CNN:

CNN Poll: Obama gains strength in 2012 matchups — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's numbers are on the rise in two important indicators of his reelection chances, according to a new national survey. — A CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday indicates the president's margins …

Discussion: 2012 Decoded and Taylor Marsh

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: Eunomia, Hit & Run, Campaign 2012, Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Dish and The Daily Caller

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense

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

A.Killough / CNN:
Perry presses ‘outsider’ message as closing Iowa argument

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS and The Politico

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

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Slate, RedState, Hit & Run, Ron Radosh, Latest Open Salon Blog, msnbc.com, Business Insider, Townhall.com, The Raw Story, FrumForum, The Politico, Campaign 2012, The Daily Dish and Wonkette

PolitiFact:

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: Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Democracy in America, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Firedoglake, Truthdig, pandagon.net, Washington Monthly 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: The Reaction, PolitiFact, The Impolitic, Hit & Run, Gawker, The Apothecary, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, AlterNet, Michelle Malkin, The New Republic, Patterico's Pontifications and US Politics

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Politifact's Bizarre “Lie of the Year”

Discussion: The New Republic, Political Mojo and National Review, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: Daily Kos and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

McCain: Payroll-tax fight ‘harming the Republican Party’ — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the failure of the House to approve the bipartisan Senate bill to extend the payroll-tax cut is “harming the Republican Party.” — Speaking Tuesday on CNN's “Situation Room,” McCain …

Discussion: New York Times

Erik Wasson / The Hill: Rep. Pelosi on Speaker Boehner: ‘He is not Lucy and we are not Charlie Brown’

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Instead Of Extending Tax Cut For 160 Million Americans, House Commissioned Bust Of Winston Churchill

Discussion: Gawker, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Hill

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Rep. Jackson Lee: Obama should use executive power to extend payroll tax cut

Discussion: The Hill, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, Ballot Box and Michelle Malkin

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
House Republicans Find Smarmiest Way Possible to Reject Payroll Tax Deal

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Open Congress and The Hill

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post and Balloon Juice

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

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

Source: Bob Vander Plaats asked Michele Bachmann to quit — DES MOINES - Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats called Michele Bachmann and urged her to drop out of the race and endorse Rick Santorum, a source with knowledge of the conversation told POLITICO Tuesday.

Discussion: CNN, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Trail Blazers Blog and The Hill

The Caucus:
Vander Plaats Endorses Santorum

Discussion: New York Times, Iowa Caucuses, 2012 Decoded, NOM Blog, CBS News, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Rick Santorum for President, Swampland, Towleroad News #gay, The Politico, Right Wing Watch, American Prospect, Little Green Footballs, Indecision Forever and The Huffington Post

Elizabeth Hartfield / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich Campaign Steps Up Efforts to Qualify For Virginia Primary

Discussion: National Review, The Caucus, Indecision Forever and Trail Blazers Blog

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

Gary Johnson to drop out of GOP primary to run as Libertarian — Gary Johnson will quit the Republican primaries and seek the Libertarian Party nomination instead, POLITICO has learned. — The former two-term New Mexico governor, whose campaign for the GOP nomination never caught fire …

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Booman Tribune, Business Insider, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Daily Caller and Iowa Caucuses

Jordan Weissmann / The Atlantic Online:

How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea — What kind of disastrous economic policy results in the death by starvation of up to 3 million people in a nation with the population of Texas? — Reuters — When North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il died of a coronary this weekend after 17 years in power …

Discussion: Hit & Run

New York Times:
In Kim's Death, an Extensive Intelligence Failure

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

Stephen Gutowski / MRCTV:

Liberals Cry About New Tom Clancy Game — The next iteration of Tom Clancy's blockbuster Rainbow Six series has been announced. The series goes back over a decade and has produced some of the best shooters ever made. However, this release, Rainbow Six: The Patriots …

Discussion: Hot Air and RedState

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: FiveThirtyEight, American Prospect, Hot Air, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post, Guardian, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice, The Politico, ABCNEWS, The Daily Dish, Business Insider, The Raw Story, Booman Tribune and Weasel Zippers

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: Power Line, JustOneMinute, Indecision Forever, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

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

Bloomberg:

BofA Shares Fall Below $5; First Time Since 2009 — Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the second- biggest U.S. lender, fell below $5 in New York trading for the first time since March 2009 amid concern that Europe's debt crisis will be a drag on the world's financial system.