memeorandum: Chris Matthews Accuses Newt Gingrich Of Racially Charged Use Of The Name ‘Juan’ (Jon Bershad/Mediaite)

6:20 PM ET, January 17, 2012

Top Items:

Obama up 5 on Romney nationally — PPP's first national poll of 2012 finds Barack Obama with his best standing against Mitt Romney since last May, right after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Obama leads Romney 49-44. — It's not as if Obama's suddenly become popular.

Discussion: Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian, Ballot Box, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's …, Gothamist, The Caucus and INSTAPUTZ

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Romney says his effective tax rate is 15% — Florence, South Carolina (CNN) - Mitt Romney said Tuesday he pays roughly a 15% effective tax rate on his income - an acknowledgment that the multi-millionaire pays a smaller percentage of taxes on his income than many middle-income Americans.

Discussion: US Politics, iWatch News, The Hill, Don Surber, The Hinterland Gazette, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog and Shakesville

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Romney Admits His Tax Rate Is About 15 Percent, Lower Than Many Middle Class Families — Citizens for Tax Justice a few months ago estimated that Mitt Romney, due to most of his income coming from investments, pays a tax rate of around 14 percent, a far cry from the 35 percent top income tax rate.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Caucus, The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Raw Story, The Hinterland Gazette and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Mitt Romney to release tax returns, estimates rate at about 15 percent — FLORENCE, S.C. — Bowing to pressure from his Republican rivals as well as the Democrats, Mitt Romney told reporters here Tuesday that he plans to release his federal income tax returns this spring and estimated his rate at about 15 percent.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The New Republic, Paul Krugman, Washington Monthly, Campaign 2012 and Political Mojo

New York Times:
Romney Says His Effective Tax Rate Is ‘Probably’ 15%

Discussion: American Prospect, Economix and Balloon Juice

Pat Garofalo / The Atlantic Online:
The Real Scandal in Private Equity? It's the Taxes

Discussion: New York Times and Wonkette

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Mitt says he pays close to 15 percent rate

Discussion: The Hill and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Patrick Marley / JSOnline:

Democrats file 1 million signatures for Walker recall — By Patrick Marley, Jason Stein and Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel — Madison - Democrats and organizers filed petitions Tuesday afternoon with more than a million signatures as they sought to force a recall election against Gov. Scott Walker …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Media Trackers, Marathon Pundit, Colorlines, The Impolitic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Balloon Juice

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Dems gather more than one million signatures to recall Scott Walker — Wisconsin Democrats are telling reporters that they have gathered more than one million signatures to recall Governor Scott Walker — a remarkable number that could have real ramifications for this year's presidential race.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, JSOnline and US Politics

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress: BREAKING: Walker Recall Effort Delivers More Than 1 Million Signatures

Jon Bershad / Mediaite:

Chris Matthews Accuses Newt Gingrich Of Racially Charged Use Of The Name ‘Juan’ — A big moment of last night's debate came when moderator Juan Williams and Newt Gingrich argued over Gingrich's comments that many have seen as condescending towards blacks. However, Williams …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, THEROOT.COM and National Review

Pete Kasperowicz / Ballot Box:
Gingrich doubles down on promise to follow Obama around the country to force debates

Discussion: CNN

Charles M. Blow / Campaign Stops:
Newt Gingrich and the Art of Racial Politics

Discussion: Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Atlantic Online and The Daily Dish

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Gingrich: ‘I Would Be Delighted’ With a Santorum Endorsement

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post and Hot Air

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney, Dewhurst lead in Texas — Rick Perry's Presidential campaign is doing about as bad in Texas now as it is everywhere else in the country. When PPP last polled the state in September he was at 49%, leading Mitt Romney by 39 points. Now Perry's support has declined by 31 points, leaving him in 3rd place at 18%.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Trail Blazers Blog, Ballot Box and Campaign 2012

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Court rejects Perry's Va. ballot appeal

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Outside the Beltway

ABCNEWS:
Va. Appeals Court Rules Against Perry and Gingrich's Attempt to Get on Ballot

Discussion: Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Perry: Santorum a ‘good Catholic’

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Questions and Observations and The Other McCain

Fox News Insider:

TRANSCRIPT: Fox News Channel & Wall Street Journal Debate in South Carolina — Here's a full transcript from tonight's GOP debate in South Carolina: — BAIER: Thanks, Bill, and welcome to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and the Republican presidential debate.

ABCNEWS:
Rick Perry Camp Explains Suggestion That Turkey Is Led By ‘Islamic Terrorists’

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Wonkette, Reuters, ThinkProgress, News Desk, The Hill, The Caucus, Israel Matzav and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Turkey responds angrily to Perry remarks

Discussion: USA Today, Mediaite and Jihad Watch

Jim Watson / ABCNEWS:

New Polls Show Signs Of Serious Vulnerability For President Obama — There are plenty of Democrats and even some Republicans who view the Republican primary as a gift to President Obama. Sixteen debates, web videos and “you can't even make this up” candidate behavior …

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Big Journalism, Taylor Marsh and Gallup

Seung Min Kim / The Politico:
‘Occupy Congress’ protesters arrested

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, nation.foxnews.com and The Gateway Pundit

Seung Min Kim / The Politico:
Nancy Pelosi: GOP knows Mitt Romney can't win

Discussion: Wizbang and Weasel Zippers

David Brooks / New York Times:

South Carolina Diarist — Sumter, S.C. — When I started covering presidential primaries, the best part was getting to know the candidates. We journalists would ride around in vans and buses with them and get an intimate look at what it's like to endure this soul-destroying process.

Discussion: The American Conservative, The State, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather, Poynter and CNN

Washington Examiner:
Will frontrunner Romney keep debating?

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, American Spectator, GOP 12 and The Daily Caller

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

An Economic Recovery Is Not Fated for 2013 — Can this be fixed by 2013? - Calculated Risk job loss chart Click to see enlarged original at CR — I've seen a spate of stories recently suggesting that a economic recovery is fated to happen by 2013, and whoever wins the Presidential election …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Who will get the ‘Recovery Presidency’? — Julie Schmit reports …

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Dish and Political Mojo

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Obama warns left: You won't like budget — Top White House officials are warning liberal and labor leaders to brace themselves for President Obama's budget proposal. — Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, sought in meetings last week to lift the left's gloom …

Discussion: The Politico, Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Pirate's Cove, Liberal Values, Prairie Weather and Shakesville

Jessica Firger / Wall Street Journal:

Protest Sapped of Cash — Occupy Wall Street Freezes Spending on New Projects as Donations Dry Up — Occupy Wall Street—the movement built on protesting corporate greed and income inequality—is running out of money. — After raising more than $700,000 last fall …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, The Politico, ThinkProgress and Gothamist

Shelby Grad / L.A. NOW:

Pinkberry co-founder beat homeless man with tire iron, LAPD says — One of the founders of the popular Pinkberry yogurt chain is accused by police of chasing down a homeless man and beating him with a tire iron. — The incident took place in June 2011 on an off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway …

Discussion: Opinion L.A., BuzzFeed, Gawker and The Raw Story

Thomas Erdbrink / Washington Post:

U.S. drone that crashed in Iran goes miniature — A photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps purports to show the RQ-170 drone that was reported crash in December. (Sepahnews via Associated Press) TEHRAN — For the American government, the crash of the RQ-170 drone in Iran was an embarrassment.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Santorum Staffer Says Women Shouldn't Be President Because It's Against God's Will — In an article about the reasons Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign fizzled, the Des Moines Register points to “sexism among conservatives,” singling out an offensive email written by a staffer to Rick Santorum:

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette

Orlando Sentinel:

Obama: I'm going to Disney World — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will visit Walt Disney World during a planned trip to Orlando on Thursday, according to a White House aide. There, he will “unveil a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel,” the aide added.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Weasel Zippers