memeorandum: Payroll tax fight leaves Hill Republicans divided and angry (Rosalind S. Helderman/Washington Post)

10:55 AM ET, December 24, 2011

Top Items:

Gingrich, Perry disqualified from Va. primary ballot — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary ballot, state GOP officials said Friday evening and early Saturday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, americanthinker.com, CNN, The PJ Tatler, The Lonely Conservative, Booman Tribune, Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway and Richmond Times-Dispatch

Associated Press:

Gingrich fails to qualify for Va. primary ballot — WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has failed to qualify for Virginia's March 6 Republican primary, a development that complicates his bid to win the GOP presidential nomination. — “After verification …

Rockland County Times:

Two's Company, is Three a Crowd? — CORRECTION FROM EARLIER VERSION— Gingrich has not yet been certified as qualifying — The Virginia State Republican Party has indicated that of the seven candidates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the only two GOPers to qualify for their March 6 GOP primary ballot as of mid-Friday evening.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Right Scoop

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Perry ballot petition rejected in Virginia

Discussion: The Politico

Steve Contorno / Campaign 2012:
Gingrich, Perry won't make ballot in Virginia

Discussion: Hot Air and Bob Owens

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Perry knocked off Va. primary ballot

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice and RedState

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
Spotlight on Romney's marriage casts shadow on Gingrich's past

Discussion: Althouse

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Republican lawmakers frustrated with Boehner-Cantor soap opera — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are being prodded by their House GOP colleagues to work through their battle-scarred relationship. — Republican lawmakers said they are frustrated …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, The Hill, Campaign 2012, The Politico and The Caucus

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Dems believe payroll tax victory bolsters chances of taking House — Democrats believe their chances of recapturing the House have improved significantly after what was widely seen as a GOP meltdown in the payroll tax debate. — Democrats believe the messy fight has helped narrow …

Discussion: The Right Sphere

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Payroll tax fight leaves Hill Republicans divided and angry

Discussion: New York Times, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Firedoglake

Scott Whitlock / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Barbara Walters' Slobbering Interview With Obama: What Super Power Do You Want? — Barbara Walters, who famously asked Katherine Hepburn what type of tree she was, may have outdone herself in a slobbering interview with Michelle and Barack Obama. In previews of Friday's “20/20” segment …

Discussion: Doug Ross

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Christmas greetings replace partisanship in weekly addresses — (CNN) - After weeks of squabbling over extending the payroll tax cut, Republicans and President Barack Obama turned their focus on the holidays in their weekly addresses Saturday. — The addresses, which typically ding …

Discussion: The Politico

Holly Bailey / Yahoo! News:
Congressman apologizes for criticizing Michelle Obama's ‘large posterior’

Discussion: The Humble Libertarian, Outside the Beltway and THEROOT.COM

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:

Gingrich Defends South Carolina's Decision To Fly Confederate Flag At Capital — At an event in South Carolina yesterday, Newt Gingrich was asked by a town hall participant to offer his views regarding the state's decision to fly the Confederate flag at the statehouse in Columbia.

Discussion: The Politico and Booman Tribune

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. rejects South Carolina voter ID law, calling it discriminatory — REUTERS/Benjamin Myers (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) — The Justice Department on Friday entered the divisive national debate over new state voting laws, rejecting South Carolina's measure requiring …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Election Law Blog, Althouse, New York Times, Scared Monkeys, Wall Street Journal, Weasel Zippers, Instapundit and The Lonely Conservative

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Justice Department blocks South Carolina's voter identification law

Discussion: The Politico

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Obama says he's not bound by Guantanamo, gun-control provisions — President Obama said Friday he will not be bound by at least 20 policy riders in the 2012 omnibus funding the government, including provisions pertaining to Guantanamo Bay and gun control. — After he signed the omnibus …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh and Weasel Zippers

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

The Big Lie — So this is how the Big Lie works. — You begin with a hypothesis that has a certain surface plausibility. You find an ally whose background suggests that he's an “expert”; out of thin air, he devises “data.” You write articles in sympathetic publications …

Discussion: Paul Krugman and American Prospect

Kevinliptak / CNN:

TRENDING: Trump dumps GOP — (CNN) - Donald Trump continued to tease a potential presidential run by changing his voter registration Thursday from Republican to “unaffiliated” and publicly denouncing the behavior of members of his former party. — Michael Cohen, an aide to Trump …