memeorandum: Strong take-up of ECB loans expected (Financial Times)

1:55 AM ET, December 21, 2011

Top Items:

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, National Review, Campaign 2012, Mediaite, 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

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 …

Rich Lowry / National Review:
Paul, the Fringe Frontrunner

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

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS and The Politico

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

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

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

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

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’ — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democratic leaders on Tuesday denied that they share any blame for the stalemate over extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits that has ensued in Congress.

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

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

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

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

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

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

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

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Open Congress and The Hill

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

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

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
PolitiFact ought to be ashamed of itself

Discussion: The Impolitic, PolitiFact, The Reaction, Hit & Run, Daily Kos, Gawker, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Apothecary, 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

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, Hit & Run, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Booman Tribune, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Iowa Caucuses

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

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

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

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

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: FrumForum, FiveThirtyEight, Erick's blog, Outside the Beltway, American Prospect, Hot Air, Guardian, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, The Politico, The Daily Dish, Business Insider, The Raw Story, Booman Tribune, ABCNEWS and Weasel Zippers

Financial Times:

Strong take-up of ECB loans expected — By Tracy Alloway in London and Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt — The European Central Bank is expected to report strong demand for an offer of unlimited three-year loans after banks were urged to take the funds as part of concerted efforts …

Discussion: Marginal Revolution, AMERICAN FUTURE and FT Alphaville

Patrick Goodenough / CNSNews:

U.N. Adopts ‘Religious Intolerance’ Resolution Championed by Obama Administration — (CNSNews.com) - The U.N. General Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution condemning the stereotyping, negative profiling and stigmatization of people based on their religion, and urging countries to take effective steps …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

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.