memeorandum: Disney changes dress code to allow employees to grow beards (Rick Rojas/Los Angeles Times)

12:55 PM ET, January 24, 2012

Top Items:

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: CNN, The Politico, GOP 12, 2012 Decoded, The Caucus, Political Insider, The Daily Caller and Hullabaloo

Wall Street Journal:

Romney's Taxes: $3 Million — Candidate Paid a 14% Effective Tax Rate for 2010 on $21.7 Million in Income — WASHINGTON—GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid a 14% effective income tax rate in 2010 after making $3 million in tax-deductible charitable donations and drawing …

Discussion: The Politico, National Review, news.talkingpointsmemo.com, Wake up America, Above the Law, Bloomberg, Reuters, americanthinker.com, Washington Post, The Raw Story, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft and The Page

Washington Post:

Mitt Romney's tax returns shed some light on his investment wealth — Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Debate Winner: Mitch Daniels — I've got to think Monday night's debate further swelled the groundswell of support for Mitch Daniels. The liveliest part of the debate was at the beginning, when Mitt went after Newt—and Republicans all over America watched with fascinated horror at the thought that these are the two GOP frontrunners.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times

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: Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots and Campaign 2012

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: Washington Monthly, Campaign 2012, ThinkProgress, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review, Daily Kos, Ricochet Conversations Feed and CNN

Reuters:

Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11 — (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released tax records on Tuesday indicating he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on a total of $42.5 million in income over the years 2010 and 2011.

Discussion: American Prospect, ThinkProgress, Guardian, 2012 Decoded, TBogg, NewsBusters.org blogs, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Washington Wire and msnbc.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Newt up 5 in Florida — PPP's first post-South Carolina poll in Florida finds Newt Gingrich with a small lead. He's at 38% to 33% for Mitt Romney, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 10% for Ron Paul. — Gingrich has gained 12 points since a PPP poll conducted in Florida a week ago. Romney has dropped 8 points.

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, Patterico's Pontifications, Ballot Box, Shakesville, Scared Monkeys, American Prospect, americanthinker.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wake up America, Daily Kos, Liberal Values, The Politico, Hot Air, Donklephant, Swampland and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Susan Jones / CNSNews:
Gingrich on Debate's No-Clapping Rule: 'Media Doesn't Control Free Speech'

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, Don Surber and 2012 Decoded

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Gingrich's former firm releases Freddie Mac contract

Discussion: New York Times and Hot Air

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

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Riehl World View and Daily Kos

The Caucus:
Romney Tax Returns Show 2-Year Income of $45 Million

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Althouse, Naked Politics, News Desk, Swampland, David Cay Johnston, The Daily Dish, Mediaite, Prairie Weather, Gawker and DealBook

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Newt Gingrich releases Freddie Mac contracts: Read them here

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Political Mojo and Naked Politics

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
From Gingrich To Palin To Gingrich — Let us now play …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, driftglass, Eunomia, Washington Examiner and A plain blog about politics

Ross Douthat:
Calling Mitch Daniels

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Balloon Juice, Salon.com, FiveThirtyEight, The Atlantic Online, National Review, Zandar Versus The Stupid, A plain blog about politics, COURAGE IN AMERICA, Rod Dreher, Whiskey Fire, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Eunomia and The Daily Caller

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
‘Super PAC’ for Gingrich to Get $5 Million Infusion

Discussion: Vox Popoli, Campaign 2012, Media Decoder, The Other McCain, News Desk and HotAirPundit

Catalina Camia / USA Today:
Mitt Romney to pay $6.2M in taxes for 2010-2011

Discussion: Tax Foundation, The Reaction and The PJ Tatler

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: Don Surber, Eunomia, The Enterprise Blog and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Byron Tau / The Politico:

Buffett's secretary to join Obama — Billionaire Warren Buffett's longtime secretary will be joining first lady Michelle Obama in her box at tonight's State of the Union, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer announced on Twitter. — Debbie Bosanek, who has worked for Buffett …

Discussion: Washington Wire, CNN, Weasel Zippers and Pundit & Pundette

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Buffett's secretary to join first lady at State of the Union address

Discussion: The Politico

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:

Popularity Swings Sharply for GOP Field — Unfavorable views of Mitt Romney have soared, doubts about Newt Gingrich remain widespread and Barack Obama has advanced to his highest personal popularity in more than a year — all in advance of the State of the Union address in which Obama makes his case for a second term.

William Galston / The New Republic:
Five Things To Watch For In the State of the Union

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Simon Tomlinson / Daily Mail:

The classiest telling off in concert hall history? Witty musical response of violinist who was interrupted mid-solo by mobile phone ringtone — It is the most infuriating addition to any performance for artist and audience alike. — While engrossed in a captivating piece of theatre …

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, Big Government, UrbanGrounds and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Genevra Pittman / Reuters:

Abortion safer than giving birth: study — (Reuters Health) - Getting a legal abortion is much safer than giving birth, suggests a new U.S. study published Monday. — Researchers found that women were about 14 times more likely to die during or after giving birth to a live baby than to die from complications of an abortion.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, LifeNews.com and Feministing

Declan McCullagh / CNET:

Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops — American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case.

Discussion: Questions and Observations, The Verge, Gizmodo, Vox Popoli and msnbc.com, more at Techmeme »

Artur Davis / National Review:

Draft Jeb Bush — In the early months of the election year, a polarizing president with a lackluster approval rating bided his time as the opposition party unraveled. Its nominating fight dissolved into chaos as the establishment front-runner collapsed, and an insurgent with a talent …

Discussion: GOP 12, Hot Air, Hotline On Call and COURAGE IN AMERICA

Elizabeth Mendes / Gallup:

More Americans Uninsured in 2011 — However, more adults aged 18 to 26 now covered … WASHINGTON, D.C. — More American adults lacked health insurance coverage last year than in any year since Gallup and Healthways started tracking it in 2008. The uninsured rate has been increasing since 2008, climbing to 17.1% in 2011.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Politico