memeorandum: Attorneys General, Frustrated With National Foreclosure Settlement, Consider Alternate Course (Loren Berlin/The Huffington Post)

11:25 AM ET, January 13, 2012

Top Items:

Four Pinocchios for ‘King of Bain’ — Your Browser DoesNot Support IFrames. … — Voice-over from “King of Bain” video promoted by a pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, “Winning Our Future.” — Newt Gingrich, meet Michael Moore! — The 29-minute video “King of Bain” is such an over-the-top assault …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, We Party Patriots, Taylor Marsh, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Fortune, FiveThirtyEight, 2012 Decoded and Iowa Caucuses

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

What Really Happened In Gaffney? — The Left is carrying out a coordinated attack on Mitt Romney's business career. One sees exactly the same allegations, often phrased identically, whether you look at the Daily Kos, the Associated Press, Slate or Think Progress, or listen to Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry.

Discussion: Don Surber, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, TBogg and PolitiFact

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Best of times (and worst of times) for Romney — NBC's David Gregory talks to TODAY's Matt Lauer about whether fierce attacks on Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney will backfire against his rivals or stop what seems to be Romney's inevitable march to the nomination.

Discussion: Faith in Public Life, Politics, Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette, The Hinterland Gazette, Saint Petersblog, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Toni Sandys / ABCNEWS:

Rick Perry Lists 3 Departments He'd Cut, But Adds One, Misses Another — BLUFFTON, S.C. - Oops he did it again. When asked to name and provide the number of federal departments he'd eliminate as president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry managed to list three, but they weren't the three agencies …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and The Political Carnival

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

New Romney Ad Defends Candidate's Record at Bain — GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mitt Romney's campaign plans to release its latest television ad in South Carolina Friday, geared to combat the growing attacks — from both Republicans and Democrats — on Mr. Romney's career at Bain Capital as a corporate buyout specialist.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, News Desk, GOP 12, New York Times, Freedom Line Blog, Connecting.the.Dots and Wonkette

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:

Mitt Romney no stranger to tax breaks, subsidies — Bain Capital profited from a steel company that got them, and he used them to attract business when he governed Massachusetts — A Steel Dynamics plant in Butler, Ind. Bain Capital, the former private equity firm of Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Oops, He Did It Again: Perry Forgets The Three Federal Agencies He Wants To Abolish — During a November debate, Rick Perry inexplicably forgot the name of the third federal agency he wants to eliminate. He struggled for cringe-inducing 53 seconds, before acknowledging that he couldn't remember with an infamous “oops.”

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Yes, Romney Could Lose — [Reposted from earlier yesterday.] — I just watched the Bain documentary featured below and being broadcast throughout South Carolina by Newt Gingrich's SuperPac in full. It's loaded with out-of-context quotes and heavily biased; it focuses on the specific human suffering …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Strata-Sphere, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values and Saint Petersblog

Eamon Javers / CNBC:
Romney's Former Firm Bain Advised Obama on Auto Bailout

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Riehl World View and The Politico

Anjeanette Damon / Las Vegas Sun:
Sheldon Adelson distancing himself from documentary attacking Mitt Romney

Discussion: PJ Media, ThinkProgress and CNN

William Galston / The New Republic:
Why Romney's Bain Problem Could Kill His Candidacy

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Feministing and Opinion L.A.

ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney and Bain: How to Unite the Conservative Base with One Easy Attack

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Hot Air

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter — WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers. — The officials laughed about the cars that builders …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Awl, Wall Street Journal, THE CUNNING REALIST, Paul Krugman, Real Time Economics, Firedoglake and Eschaton

Steve Liesman / CNBC:
Fed to Weigh Further Easing Amid Doubts About Recovery

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Fed's image tarnished by newly released documents

Discussion: Hot Air and Economist's View

Eric Platt / Business Insider:
BUSTED: Fed President Made An Unbelievably Dismissive Joke About The Housing Bubble In 2006

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Crossing Wall Street, Free exchange, New York Times, Brad DeLong and FT Alphaville

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Colbert for president (again) — (CNN) - Faux-news host and comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday night he was launching his second run for president in South Carolina. — “I'm proud to announce I plan to form an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my candidacy …

Discussion: The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Election Law Blog, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette, Saint Petersblog, The Political Carnival and Indecision Forever

Peter Wehner / Commentary Magazine:
The E.J. Dionne Vote in South Carolina

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Power Line, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air and Washington Post

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Colbert for President: A Run or a Comedy Riff?

Discussion: Media Decoder, Tales from the Trail, PopWatch, The Moderate Voice, The Stir By CafeMom and Univision News Tumblr, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
PACs' Aid Allows Romney's Rivals to Extend Race

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Caucus, Balloon Juice, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Ballot Box and Daily Kos

Mike Allen / Reuters:
Stephen Colbert to explore run for president in South Carolina

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Wire, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Media Decoder, Indecision Forever and Ballot Box

Arthur S. Brisbane / The Public Editor's Journal:

Update to my Previous Post on Truth Vigilantes — I have appended a note statement from Jill Abramson, the executive editor, responding to this post. — First, though, I must lament that “truth vigilante” generated way more heat than light. A large majority of respondents weighed in with …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, RedState, ThinkProgress, The Reaction, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Boing Boing, Unfogged, Shakesville, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Discourse.net, Sky Dancing and The Raw Story

Charles P. Pierce / New York Times:
The End Of Truth

Discussion: The Mahablog, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, The Awl and Viking Pundit

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Arthur Brisbane and selective stenography

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, LewRockwell.com Blog, Washington Post, Poynter, National Review and The Public Editor's Journal, more at Mediagazer »

Jim Romenesko:
NYT public editor on reaction to Truth Vigilante post

New York Times:

U.S. Warns Top Iran Leader Not to Shut Strait of Hormuz — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is relying on a secret channel of communication to warn Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that closing the Strait of Hormuz is a “red line” that would provoke an American response …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Questions and Observations, Tikun Olam, Outside the Beltway, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Battleland

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

Obama opposes laws ‘designed to take rights away’ — The White House, in response to a Blade inquiry about the possible vote to repeal same-sex marriage rights in New Hampshire, said Thursday night that President Obama “believes strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Good As You, Towleroad News #gay and Boy in Bushwick

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Obama to propose combining agencies to shrink federal government

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Hill

Buzzfeed Politics / Politics:

Book Depicts Cranky Obama On Baghdad Visit — The then-candidate “didn't want to take pictures with any more soldiers. — President Obama at a recent Pentagon briefing. — (Getty Images / SAUL LOEB) — Michael Hastings' new book, The Operators, jabs at what could be a vulnerable spot …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and The Moderate Voice

Chris Rawson / TUAW:

Most of Apple's $82 billion cash stockpile is ‘trapped’ overseas — Apple may have enough cash on hand to make Scrooge McDuck's money vault look like a kiddie pool by comparison, but according to SeekingAlpha, most of that cash is effectively trapped overseas.

Mark Meckler / Across The Fence With Mark Meckler:

NYC Gun Charges Dropped. Now I Can Speak Out. — On December 15, 2011 at approximately 5:15 a.m., I was at LaGuardia International airport preparing to check in for a flight out of the city. During a routine check-in, I requested a firearms declaration form from the ticket agent.

Discussion: New York Post, Samizdata.net, The Politico and The Daily Caller

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

America Isn't a Corporation — “And greed — you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” — That's how the fictional Gordon Gekko finished his famous “Greed is good” speech in the 1987 film “Wall Street.”

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Prairie Weather