memeorandum: U.S. Economic Confidence Best Since May (The Gallup Organization/Gallup)

8:40 PM ET, January 24, 2012

Top Items:

Jeremy W. Peters / The Caucus:

Gingrich Threatens to Skip Debates if Audiences Can't Participate — Newt Gingrich insists his fans will not be silenced. — Mr. Gingrich, a former House speaker, on Tuesday morning threatened not participate in any future debates with audiences that have been instructed to be silent.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Loyal Opposition, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, CNSNews, The Star-Ledger Editorial Page, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, National Review, Mad Kane's Political Madness, Connecting.the.Dots and Campaign 2012

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Gingrich won't ‘allow’ moderators to silence crowd at future debates — Newt Gingrich says he won't “allow” the moderators of future GOP presidential debates to keep the crowd out of it. — Speaking on Tuesday to Fox News, Gingrich took the opportunity that was denied him at Monday night's debate, and blasted the media.

Discussion: The Politico, 2012 Decoded, CNN, COURAGE IN AMERICA, Daily Kos, Political Insider, Stinque, The PJ Tatler, The Mahablog, Don Surber, Wake up America, The Caucus, GOP 12, The Daily Caller, Hullabaloo and Ballot Box

Jon Cohen / Washington Post:

Public sours on Romney in January — The number of Americans with negative views of Mitt Romney has spiked in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, compounding the former Massachusetts governor's challenges as he tries to rally from Saturday's big loss in South Carolina.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Reuters, Hot Air, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, Washington Monthly, National Review, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and ThinkProgress

David Brody / The Brody File:
Exclusive: Gingrich to Evangelicals: My Past Weaknesses Make Me ‘More Normal’

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and GOP 12

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Newt-Mitt Electability Gap Shrinks

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed

Wallacegw / CNN:
Pro-Romney super PAC makes major ad purchase in Florida

Discussion: Washington Post, Ballot Box, msnbc.com, The Hill and iOwnTheWorld.com

National Review:
Hour of Newt — South Carolina Republicans delivered …

Discussion: M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
What the battle over Romney's wealth is really about, in one poll finding

Discussion: Riehl World View, Campaign 2012, National Review and Daily Kos

Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:

Andrea Mitchell: “Top Romney Advisor” Said “Party Elites” Will Find Alternative If Mitt Loses Florida … Dude!? — ANDREA MITCHELL: “I talked to a top Romney adviser tonight who said, 'Look, if Mitt Romney can not win here in Florida then we're going to have to try to reinvent …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Other McCain, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Eunomia and A plain blog about politics

weaskamerica.com:

Florida Surprise — We have a motto at We Ask America Polls: The Numbers are the Numbers. That means that if the audience we dial meets our standards, we don't second-guess the results-even if the numbers buck conventional wisdom. — That's the situation we face with our first Florida poll …

Discussion: Saint Petersblog

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
Gingrich overtakes Romney nationally

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, FiveThirtyEight, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly and Saint Petersblog

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
SEIU, Obama super-PAC team up to hit Romney in Spanish

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

CHART: What Romney would pay under his own tax plan — Now that Mitt Romney has released his tax returns for 2010, we can have a stab at answering another key question. What would Romney himself pay in taxes if his tax policies become law? — In 2010, Romney enjoyed an income of $21.7 million.

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Maddow Blog

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's tax returns shed some light on his investment wealth

Brad Plumer / Washington Post:
Tax rates of presidential candidates, in one chart

Discussion: Indecision Forever and The Atlantic Online

Nicholas Confessoreand David Kocieniewski / New York …:
Romney's Tax Returns Show $21.6 Million Income in '10

Discussion: The Star-Ledger Editorial Page, DealBook, The Caucus, Philly.com and Hullabaloo, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

In State of the Union, Obama expected to warn that middle class threatened by economic unfairness — President Obama will warn the nation Tuesday evening that the decades-old promise of a secure and rising middle class is threatened by economic unfairness as he delivers an election-year State …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The New Republic and Saint Petersblog

Seung Min Kim / The Politico:
White House SOTU talking points

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air and National Review

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
Obama's State of the Union will include new push for tax reform

Discussion: Firedoglake and Political Mojo

James Joyner / Outside the Beltway: State Of The Union Address Obsolete

Wall Street Journal:

The GOP Deserves to Lose — That's what happens when you run with losers. — Let's just say right now what voters will be saying in November, once Barack Obama has been re-elected: Republicans deserve to lose. — It doesn't matter that Mr. Obama can't get the economy out of second gear.

Discussion: Wizbang, The Other McCain, Don Surber, neo-neocon, The Enterprise Blog, Eunomia, JustOneMinute, The Gateway Pundit, Ricochet Conversations Feed and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Grassley: Author of legal opinion on recess appointments may have seen her last Senate confirmation — Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday evening that he doubts that the Senate will ever confirm again the Obama administration Justice Department official …

Discussion: The Politico and ThinkProgress

Cecilia Kang / Washington Post:

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can't opt out — View Photo Gallery — Google announced a new privacy policy and terms of service on Jan. 24. Here's a look at some of the Google products that will be affected by the policy change.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Epicenter and Prairie Weather, more at Techmeme »

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Hello, I must be going — I have some news to share: after three-and-a-half years at the Washington Monthly, I'm moving on. My last post will be tomorrow and I'll start my new career at MSNBC on Monday morning. — Working for the Monthly has been an amazing experience …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and Booman Tribune

Kevin Paul Dupont / Boston Globe:

On a day for team, Thomas left them shorthanded — Tim Thomas separated himself from his Bruins' teammates yesterday afternoon when he refused to join them at the White House, a day meant to celebrate their 2011 Stanley Cup championship. — The two-time Vezina Trophy winner later …

Discussion: Washington Post, Israel Matzav, Hit & Run, National Review, Stinque, The Spectacle Blog, PERRspectives and NewsBusters.org blogs

Matt Stopera / BuzzFeed:

The Most Badass Excerpt From Barney Frank's Interview With The NY Times — Barney Frank was interviewed about a variety of subjects by the NY Times recently. Here's how he answered a question about his views on marijuana. — Interviewer: You've long argued for the decriminalization of marijuana.

Apple:

Apple Reports First Quarter Results — Highest Quarterly Revenue and Earnings Ever All-Time Record iPhone, iPad and Mac Sales — Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, MacRumors, New York Times, The Verge and Daring Fireball, more at Techmeme »

Nicole Burgin / AM740 and FM102.3:

Food containing fetuses targeted under new Oklahoma bill — You might think this is a story out of ‘The Onion’ but it is a real story. — An Oklahoma lawmaker files a bill to ban the making and selling of food or products that use aborted human fetuses. — State Senator Ralph Shortey …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs, The Raw Story and Shakesville

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Why Democrats Think the GOP Race Might Last Until June — Game it out for a second. Look at the calendar. — This GOP race could go on for a long time, and Democrats profess to be thrilled about that prospect, about Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich continuing to bloody each other up, aided by Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Wallacegw / CNN:

Boehner: Politics President Obama is running on ‘almost un-American’ — Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner Tuesday forcefully denounced the Democrats' campaign theme that they are for the middle class and Republicans are for the wealthy - saying the politics the president is running on are “almost un-American.”

Discussion: The Caucus, The Hill, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos

New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie calls for referendum on issue of legalizing gay marriage — BRIDGEWATER — Gov. Chris Christie called today for the Legislature to put on the fall ballot a voter referendum on whether to legalize gay marriage, which Democratic lawmakers have made a top priority.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay, The Daily Dish, Good As You and Joe. My. God.

The Gallup Organization / Gallup:

U.S. Economic Confidence Best Since May — Current index score is similar to that of one year ago — PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. economic confidence is at -25 in the week ending Jan. 22, improved from -29 the prior week and the best since the week ending May 22, 2011.

Discussion: The New Republic and Washington Post

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Romney adviser Norm Coleman predicts GOP president won't repeal health law — Mitt Romney adviser Norm Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota, predicted the GOP won't repeal the Democrats' healthcare reform law even if a Republican candidate defeats President Obama this November.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed and American Spectator

Popular Mechanics:

Supreme Court Privacy Ruling Is About More Than GPS Tracking: Analysis — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that attaching a GPS tracker to your car amounts to a search, and therefore law-enforcement officers must get a warrant before they can do it. Read deeper, though …

Discussion: ACS Blog

Jim Efstathiou Jr / Bloomberg:

Buffett's Burlington Northern Among Winners From Keystone Denial — Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration's decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)'s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Big Government, UrbanGrounds and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Wall Street Journal:

We Don't Need More Foreign Oil and Gas — America is poised to be the world's clean energy leader. — In the hubbub around the president's decision not to approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline between Canada and the United States, Americans missed the big picture.

Discussion: Doug Ross, Reuters, New York Times, Power Line, ThinkProgress and Washington Post