memeorandum: Admin. Plans Change in Immigration Rule (Time)

4:55 PM ET, January 6, 2012

Top Items:

South Carolina Primary: Romney 27%, Santorum 24%, Gingrich 18% — What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote.

Adam Sorensen / Swampland:

TIME/CNN/ORC Poll: Romney Storms Ahead in South Carolina — In another sign of the front-runner's growing strength. Mitt Romney has taken the lead in South Carolina, according to a TIME/CNN/ORC poll released Friday. — The poll, which surveyed likely primary voters on Wednesday and Thursday …

Discussion: Guardian, Hot Air, The Politico, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Outside the Beltway

David Brooks / New York Times:

A New Social Agenda — I'm to Rick Santorum's left on most social issues, like same-sex marriage and abortion. I'm also put off by his Manichaean political rhetoric. He seems to imagine America's problems can best be described as the result of a culture war between the God-fearing conservatives and the narcissistic liberals.

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Conservative, Crooks and Liars, ABCNEWS, The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online, The Mahablog, Connecting.the.Dots, driftglass and The Hill

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Gingrich: Romney should drop out if he doesn't win New Hampshire primary — Newt Gingrich said if Mitt Romney doesn't win the New Hampshire primary, he should drop out of the race. — “Look, this is one of his best states other than Utah and Massachusetts.

Discussion: Ballot Box, CNN, The Politico and The Caucus

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

CNN/Time Poll: Romney and Santorum soar in South Carolina — (CNN) - Mitt Romney's numbers in South Carolina are surging, and he now has a solid lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a new survey of likely GOP primary voters in the Palmetto state.

Discussion: The Caucus and Business Insider

KCCI-TV:

Could Typo Rewrite Caucus History? — Caucus Vote Counter Says Romney Mistakenly Given 20 Votes — DES MOINES, Iowa — Caucus night was chaotic in many places, with hundreds of voters, candidates showing up and the throngs of media who followed. The world's eyes were on Iowa.

Dylan Byers / The Politico:

What Newt said about food stamps — Newt Gingrich's comments about African-Americans and food stamps, made at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire yesterday, have made the expected media rounds — from Slate to The Daily Beast to The Associated Press to MSNBC — but the interpretation has changed somewhat along the way.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Caucus, JSOnline and nation.foxnews.com

Rasmussen Reports:
New Hampshire: Romney 42%, Paul 18%, Santorum 13%, Huntsman 12%

Discussion: RedState, Opinion L.A., CBS Boston, The Other McCain, Eunomia, Big Government, Campaign 2012, Hot Air and GOP 12

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Iowan Casts Doubt on Winner of Caucus

Discussion: The Week, Daily Kos, Iowa Caucuses, The Atlantic Online, ABCNEWS, Business Insider and Wake up America

ABCNEWS:
Gingrich on Romney Debating the President: ‘Obama is Going to Laugh at Him’

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Wall Street Journal:
Romney Wins but Takes a Beating

Discussion: Eunomia and GOP 12

Mj Lee / The Politico:
Newt: Obama will ‘laugh’ at Mitt

Discussion: CNN

Elicia Dover / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich's NAACP, Food Stamp Remarks Stir Controversy

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Outside the Beltway and ThinkProgress

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Pro-Santorum SuperPAC Buys Ad Time in South Carolina

Discussion: GOP 12 and The Page

Geneva Sands-Sadowitz / The Hill:
Gingrich turns fire on Santorum

Discussion: The Daily, Washington Post, The Hill, Hot Air, Washington Times and Ballot Box

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
A worthy challenger — After every other conservative alternative …

Discussion: The New Republic, Prairie Weather, New York Times, GOP 12, The Other McCain, The Atlantic Wire, New York Magazine and Associated Press

Brad Cooper / Kansas City Star:

Legislator apologizes for ‘YoMama’ email about first lady — Kansas legislator acknowledges forwarding email note mocking first lady's name, hair style. — Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal on Thursday apologized for an email that made fun of first lady Michelle Obama's hair style and mockingly called her “Mrs. YoMama.”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, THEROOT.COM, Washington Post and The Hinterland Gazette

Scott Rothschild / The Lawrence Journal-World:
Speaker O'Neal apologizes for forwarding email that calls Michelle Obama “Mrs. YoMama”

Discussion: Wonkette, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Mike O'Neal sorry for Michelle ‘YoMama’ email

Discussion: Indecision Forever

Julia Preston / New York Times:

Path to Green Card for Illegal Immigrant Family Members of Americans — Obama administration officials announced on Friday that they will propose a fix to a notorious snag in immigration law that will spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from immigrant spouses and children.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, The PJ Tatler, 24Ahead, The Politico, Law Blog, Daily Kos, Weasel Zippers, Colorlines, Hullabaloo and Feministing

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Obama to make major green-card reform

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Wonkette and Jammie Wearing Fools

Time:
Admin. Plans Change in Immigration Rule

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Heritage Foundation, Right Wing News and The Raw Story

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Santorum Booed Again For Saying Gays Aren't Entitled To Marriage Or Military Service — Rick Santorum received another round of “boos” for his opposition to allowing openly gay people to serve in the military and same-sex marriage, during a town hall in Keene, New Hampshire this morning.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Reaction and American Power

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
Rick Santorum jeered after comparing gay marriage to polygamy

Discussion: Opinion L.A., NewsBusters.org blogs, Taylor Marsh and The New Republic

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Santorum Booed After Gay Marriage Exchange

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, Catholic Bandita, American Power, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Right Scoop and Patterico's Pontifications

Rick Perlstein / Crooks and Liars:

Santorum's ‘Freedom’ is Pretty Much Slavery — Rick Santorum got high marks for his near-victory speech in Iowa. In the Washington Post, E.J. Dionne called it “by far the best speech Tuesday night.” Santorum's address impressed me, too, but for a different reason: his astonishing endorsement …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

ABCNEWS:
Rick Santorum Says by the Time He Had Campaign Cash, All the N.H. TV Time Was Bought Up

Discussion: Ballot Box

David Frum / FrumForum:

All Good Things... FrumForum launched itself almost exactly three years ago, on Inauguration Day 2009. Over the subsequent interval, our hundreds of contributors have reached more than 5 million individual readers. I like to think that together we have helped to move the national debate.

Discussion: driftglass

Shaila Dewan / New York Times:

U.S. Adds 200,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate at 8.5% — The United States added a robust 200,000 new jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday, in a sign that the long-awaited economic recovery has finally built up a head of steam. — The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Calculated Risk, Hot Air, CNBC, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, White House.gov Blog, Reuters, NewsBusters.org blogs, Felix Salmon, Economix, Brookings Institute, Taylor Marsh, Campaign 2012, News Desk and Gothamist

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
A good jobs report — and a good year

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, American Prospect, Calculated Risk and New York Times

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

House Democrats Rush Floor Demanding Republicans Come Back To Work, GOP Cuts Off C-SPAN — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a group of Democratic lawmakers took to an empty House floor today to demonstrate that they were willing to work while Republicans lawmakers are at home.

Discussion: The Raw Story

ABCNEWS: House Democrats Demand GOP ‘Come Back From Vacation’

Carol Felsenthal / Chicago magazine:

Jodi Kantor Goes Inside the Obamas' Marriage in New Book — INSIDE THE EAST WING: A new book pulls back the curtains on the First Couple — This month, Jodi Kantor, 36, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times, delves into the lives of the president and First Lady with The Obamas (Little, Brown and Company, $29.99).

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
White House proposes 0.5 percent pay increase for federal workers

Discussion: Hot Air, The Politico, Cato @ Liberty and The Caucus

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Short NBC gig for Chelsea? — Chelsea Clinton's much-trumpeted deal with NBC seems to be nearly done. Her contract is for only 90 days, and while she'll provide the network with two more stories, sources say it is not certain she'll immediately sign again.

Discussion: The Politico, Jammie Wearing Fools, Business Insider and Althouse

Reuters:

Special report: Romney's steel skeleton in the Bain closet — (Reuters) - It was funny at first. — The young men in business suits, gingerly picking their way among the millwrights, machinists and pipefitters at Kansas City's Worldwide Grinding Systems steel mill.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, rubber hose, ThinkProgress and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama takes victory lap — Two days after defying Republicans and appointing Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama took a little time to gloat. — Making a victory lap of sorts at the independent agency, Obama cracked a joke …

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

Jason Mattera / Human Events:

Rubio in letter to Obama: You are turning America into a ‘deadbeat nation’ — In a scathing letter sent to Barack Obama this morning, Senator Marco Rubio said that under the President's first term in office, “more and more people have come to believe that America is becoming a deadbeat nation.”

Discussion: The Radio Patriot and Campaign 2012