memeorandum: Awlaki video urges U.S. Muslims to join al Qaeda (Firouz Sedarat/Reuters)

4:05 AM ET, December 21, 2011

Top Items:

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

Associated Press:

Obama blames Republicans for upcoming tax increase — WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives Tuesday rejected legislation to extend a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for two months, drawing a swift rebuke from President Barack Obama that Republicans were threatening higher taxes on 160 million American workers on Jan. 1.

Discussion: New York Magazine and Truthdig

Wall Street Journal:
The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Hot Air

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

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

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Prairie Weather

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Open Congress and The Hill

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

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, Philly.com, FrumForum, Erick's blog, Outside the Beltway, American Prospect, Gallup, Guardian, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The Caucus, Balloon Juice, The Raw Story, The Daily Dish, The Politico, Washington Post, Booman Tribune and ABCNEWS

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: National Review, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Campaign 2012, RedState, News Desk and ThinkProgress

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

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress and ABCNEWS

Jonathan Martinand Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Will Ron Paul kill the caucuses?

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

Discussion: National Review, The Caucus, Indecision Forever and Wonkette

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

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, Truthdig, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Firedoglake, pandagon.net, Washington Monthly and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

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 …

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

Discussion: The New Republic, Political Mojo and National Review

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

Discussion: The Impolitic, Hit & Run, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Gawker, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, AlterNet, The Apothecary, PolitiFact, Michelle Malkin, The New Republic, Patterico's Pontifications and US Politics

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: Business Insider, Hot Air, CNN, The Other McCain, Hullabaloo and The Hill

The Caucus:
Vander Plaats Endorses Santorum

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

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

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

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

Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:

Newt Gingrich to gay Iowan: Vote for Obama — Gingrich and his wife Callista at tonight's event in Oskaloosa. (Jason Clayworth/The Register) — Oskaloosa, Ia. - Newt Gingrich told a gay man and longtime resident of Oskaloosa here today that he should vote for President Obama.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and LGBTQ Nation

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, The Daily Dish, Rush Limbaugh and The Daily Caller

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

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Reality-Based Community, CBS News, Hit & Run, Business Insider, Little Green Footballs, The Daily Dish, New York Times, The Raw Story, The Politico and Campaign 2012

Firouz Sedarat / Reuters:

Awlaki video urges U.S. Muslims to join al Qaeda — (Reuters) - U.S.-born al Qaeda militant Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in a CIA drone strike in September, posthumously called on U.S. Muslims to join the group in the Middle East in a video released on Tuesday. — Awlaki, identified …

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