memeorandum: How Politics Came to Dominate Payroll Tax Debate (Bruce Bartlett/Economix)

8:10 PM ET, December 27, 2011

Top Items:

‘Mischief’ voters push Paul to front of GOP race — Ron Paul is surging in the Republican presidential race. Just not among Republicans. — The Texas congressman is leading some polls in Iowa and is in a tie for second in New Hampshire. A candidacy once dismissed as sideshow …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Mediaite, Doug Ross, The TrogloPundit, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Swampland, TheGazette, Washington Post, GayPatriot, Nice Deb, The Gateway Pundit, YID With LID and Libertarian Republican

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Gingrich wouldn't vote for Ron Paul — (CNN) - Newt Gingrich said Tuesday he wouldn't vote for Ron Paul if the Texas congressman won the 2012 GOP nomination. — Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Gingrich slammed Paul as out of line with mainstream Republican viewpoints, including his stance on Israel, Iran, and September 11.

Discussion: The Politico

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

FACT CHECK: Ron Paul Personally Defended Racist Newsletters — Recently, Ron Paul has been subject to intense criticism over controversial newsletters written under his name in the 80s and 90s that frequently included racism, bigotry, and conspiracy theories.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Alas, a Blog, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, The Atlantic Online and Hullabaloo

Norman Horn / Washington Post:
Can a Christian be a libertarian? — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul …

Discussion: USCatholic.org

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Iowa Caucus Polls: Ron Paul And Mitt Romney Lead, But Surprises Likely

Discussion: The Other McCain

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Ben Nelson retiring from Senate — Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska will announce today that he is retiring after two terms, a serious blow to Democratic efforts to hold onto their majority in the chamber next November. — Nelson is scheduled to hold a press conference back home …

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Ben Nelson to retire

Discussion: The Politico, The Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Charlie Riedel / ABCNEWS:

Gingrich '06 Memo: “Agree Entirely With Gov. Romney” on Health Care — To conservatives, the biggest strike against Mitt Romney is the health care plan he put in place in Massachusetts, but Newt Gingrich lavished praise on Romney's plan after it was passed in 2006.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org blogs, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice and The PJ Tatler

BuzzFeed:

In 2008 Video, Gingrich Is Passionate About The Mandate — Newt Gingrich has had a hard time attacking Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care plan — which, like “Obamacare” — required all citizens to have health care. What's more — as The Wall Street Journal reports today — Gingrich actively praised Romney's plan.

Discussion: Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Pro-Gingrich group up with first ad in Iowa

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and GOP 12

Wall Street Journal:
Gingrich Applauded Romney's Health Plan

Discussion: Fox News, Ballot Box, Washington Post, The Caucus, San Francisco Chronicle, ABCNEWS, Betsy's Page, Campaign 2012, GOP 12, The Hill, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, New York Times and The Politico

Matthew Putney / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich Campaign Says Romney Is Looking at ‘European Socialist’ Ideas

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, Hot Air and Pundit Press

John Hawkins / Townhall.com:

7 Reasons Why Mitt Romney's Electability Is A Myth — Mitt Romney was a moderate governor in Massachusetts with an unimpressive record of governance, who left office with an approval rating in the thirties, and whose signature achievement was a Hurricane Katrina style disaster for the state.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Patterico's Pontifications

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Romney's ‘carried interest’ problem

Discussion: Daily Kos

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
How Can Romney Lose?

Discussion: Des Moines Register, msnbc.com, Iowa Caucuses, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Booman Tribune, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Althouse, The New Republic and Prairie Weather

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Romney on Newt: ‘Lucille Ball’ — POLITICO's Jake Sherman reports this gem from the trail in Portsmouth, NH:

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Frontloading HQ, Guardian and The Lonely Conservative

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Rick Perry files challenge to Virgina ballot access rules

Discussion: CNN

Nbc'S Jo / msnbc.com:
Romney, citing 1950s TV series ‘I Love Lucy’, compares Gingrich to Lucy in chocolate factory

Discussion: The Hill

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton Again Top Most Admired List — Clinton Most Admired Woman a record 16th time — PRINCETON, NJ — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama continue to be named by Americans as the Most Admired Woman and Most Admired Man living today in any part of the world.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, White House Dossier and Jammie Wearing Fools

Cathy Lynn Grossman / USA Today:
Obama, Clinton top most-admired lists for 2011

Discussion: The Politico and Hot Air

Margaret Chadbourn / Reuters:

Obama to ask for debt limit hike: Treasury official — (Reuters) - The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Slate, The Lonely Conservative, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, GayPatriot and Jammie Wearing Fools

David Wessel / Wall Street Journal:
Obama to Name Two Fed Board Nominees

Discussion: The New Republic, Swampland, The Daily Caller, msnbc.com and The Politico

Daniel Kruger / Bloomberg:
Obama Wins Most Demand for Debt of U.S. Presidents Since Before First Bush

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, The Right Sphere and Washington Post

Tim Mak / Reuters:

SOPA is the end of us, say bloggers — The conservative and liberal blogospheres are unifying behind opposition to Congress's Stop Online Piracy Act, with right-leaning bloggers aruging their very existence could be wiped out if the anti-piracy bill passes.

Discussion: Wonkette, The Lonely Conservative, Boing Boing and Red Mass Group, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Newt's incredible shrinking bus tour — Newt Gingrich has predicted for several weeks that he'd regain momentum in Iowa in the last week before the caucuses, with a bus tour taking him to numerous cities around the state. — The problem is, the bus tour seems to keep losing stops.

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Indecision Forever, CNN and The Caucus

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Santorum says he'll exit presidential race if he does poorly in Iowa caucuses

Discussion: The Politico, Fox News, CNN, USA Today, Hot Air, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12

Jason Clayworth / Iowa Caucuses:
Gingrich will make half of the number of Iowa stops announced last week

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, Michelle Malkin, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Taylor Marsh and The Daily Caller

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

New York Times Staffers Express ‘Profound Dismay’ With Management … New York Times , Newspapers , Video , Arthur Sulzberger , Bill O'Meara , Janet Robinson , Jill Abramson , Jill Abramson New York Times , New York Newspaper Guild , New York Times Buyouts , New York Times Contract …

Discussion: The Politico and Media Decoder, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Krugman:

The Defeatism of Depression — A number of people have asked me to weigh in on David Brooks's piece today. Sorry, not gonna do a tit-for-tat. Let me instead just make a more general point. — All around, right now, there are people declaring that our best days are behind us …

Discussion: The New Republic

Jeffrey Lord / American Spectator:

The Case for a Conservative — Did you hear the news about National Review? — Somebody dug deep into the archives and came up with a couple of the old classics from the days when William F. Buckley Jr. was sailing at the front of the conservative movement.

Discussion: Riehl World View

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Moving melee causes chaos at packed Mall of America — Some stores shut down Monday night as panicked shoppers fled. At least 10 youths were arrested. — A noisy, racing crowd of more than 200 young people created a chaotic scene at the packed Mall of America Monday evening …