Top Items:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
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, No More Mister Nice Blog, Ballot Box, Guardian, The Caucus, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Kos, Gothamist and INSTAPUTZ
RELATED:
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:
The Moderate Voice, FiveThirtyEight, iWatch News, US Politics, The Mahablog, Don Surber, The Hinterland Gazette, ABCNEWS, Shakesville and The Hill
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:
Hot Air, Trail Blazers Blog, Hit & Run, msnbc.com, Ballot Box and Campaign 2012
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.
Wallacegw / CNN:
Gingrich urges Santorum, Perry to drop out — Florence, South Carolina (CNN) - Newt Gingrich is urging competitors Rick Santorum and Rick Perry bow out of the Republican presidential race so conservatives can rally behind one “anti-Mitt Romney” candidate. — A reporter asked …
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Perry: Santorum a ‘good Catholic’
Perry: Santorum a ‘good Catholic’
Discussion:
CNN, GOP 12, Questions and Observations and The Other McCain
Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Court rejects Perry's Va. ballot appeal
Court rejects Perry's Va. ballot appeal
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Outside the Beltway
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 …
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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
Brendan O'Brien / Reuters:
Enough signatures collected to recall Wisconsin governor — (Reuters) - Organizers of the petition drive to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker submitted what appeared to be more than enough signatures on Tuesday to force the first-term Republican to defend his seat in a special election.
Discussion:
Crooked Timber
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
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Pete Kasperowicz / Ballot Box:
Gingrich doubles down on promise to follow Obama around the country to force debates
Gingrich doubles down on promise to follow Obama around the country to force debates
Discussion:
CNN
David Edwards / The Raw Story:
GOP debate audience boos Romney's Mexican heritage
GOP debate audience boos Romney's Mexican heritage
Discussion:
pandagon.net and Booman Tribune
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.
Discussion:
washington.emb.mfa.gov.tr, The Huffington Post, News Desk, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, OpenSecrets.org, Informed Comment, PERRspectives, The New Republic, iWatch News, The Daily Caller, Washington Wire, RedState, Hit & Run, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, 24Ahead, The Enterprise Blog, Hot Air, Law Blog, Politics K-12, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Wake up America, The Stranger … and Michelle Malkin
RELATED:
ABCNEWS:
Rick Perry Camp Explains Suggestion That Turkey Is Led By ‘Islamic Terrorists’
Rick Perry Camp Explains Suggestion That Turkey Is Led By ‘Islamic Terrorists’
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, CNN, The Caucus, Wonkette, News Desk, The Hill, Eunomia and Ricochet Conversations Feed
Emspiff / CNN:
Turkey responds to Perry remarks
Turkey responds to Perry remarks
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Emerging Europe Real Time, The Enterprise Blog, Eunomia, ThinkProgress and Israel Matzav
Kevinliptak / CNN:
Turkey responds angrily to Perry remarks
Turkey responds angrily to Perry remarks
Discussion:
USA Today, Mediaite and Jihad Watch
RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Gingrich On Food Stamp Comment: “Among The Politically Correct, You Are Not Supposed To Use Facts That Are Uncomfortable” — Newt Gingrich: Juan, the fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any President in American history.
Discussion:
RedState and Big Government
RELATED:
Joel Gehrke / Campaign 2012:
WH: Newt's Obama food stamp charge is ‘crazy’
WH: Newt's Obama food stamp charge is ‘crazy’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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, The Raw Story and Gawker
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:
Weasel Zippers, The Politico, Hot Air, The Hill, ThinkProgress and Gothamist
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
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
What Would New York Look Like With a Smaller Financial Sector? — After a disappointing year, the big banks are pulling back on their bonus pools. A lot. This is going to be hard on bankers whose salaries are usually a very small part of their overall compensation—and yes, yes …
Discussion:
TBogg
The New Republic:
TNR Exclusive: More Selections From Ron Paul's Newsletters — Ron Paul has recently suggested there was only a “total of about eight or ten sentences” of “bad stuff” in the newsletters that he regularly used to publish under his name. This assertion was patently false: As TNR has shown …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Wonkette and The Stranger …
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 Post and Washington Monthly
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:
Big Journalism, Investor's Business Daily, Taylor Marsh and Gallup
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
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:
Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, The Politico, Firedoglake, Pirate's Cove, Liberal Values, Prairie Weather and Shakesville