memeorandum: Gingrich won't ‘allow’ moderators to silence crowd at future debates (Jonathan Easley/The Hill)

3:20 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, 2012 Decoded, GOP 12, Don Surber, The Caucus, The Politico, The Mahablog, Political Insider, Stinque, The Daily Caller and Hullabaloo

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 Star-Ledger Editorial Page, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, National Review, Connecting.the.Dots and Campaign 2012

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: JustOneMinute, American Prospect, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, The Mahablog, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Washington Post, Ross Douthat, Althouse, Zandar Versus The Stupid and COURAGE IN AMERICA

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.

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, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Big Journalism, Wake up America, Reuters, americanthinker.com, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Taylor Marsh, Above the Law, The Raw Story, TalkLeft and The Page

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: GOP 12, Campaign 2012, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Reuters, ThinkProgress, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review, Daily Kos and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Brad Plumer / Washington Post:

Tax rates of presidential candidates, in one chart — Late on Monday, Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns, showing that he paid 13.9 percent of his income in federal taxes. (His rate is relatively low because most of his money comes from investment income, which is taxed at a lower rate than wages.)

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Indecision Forever and ThinkProgress

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

Discussion: GOP 12, Campaign 2012, Riehl World View and Daily Kos

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, 2012 Decoded and Ballot Box

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
Gingrich overtakes Romney nationally

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly and The Huffington Post

Matt Rourke / ABCNEWS:
Newt Gingrich Plays Up Mitt Romney-Charlie Crist Parallels in Florida

Discussion: Riptide 2.0

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

Discussion: Hot Air, ThinkProgress and Naked Politics

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Mitt Romney: Obama tells ‘tall tales’

Discussion: CNN

A.Killough / CNN: Dick Armey: Daniels could still run

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Newt up 5 in Florida — PPP's first post-South Carolina poll …

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

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

Discussion: USA Today, News Desk, Campaign 2012, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Althouse, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, David Cay Johnston, Naked Politics, Mediaite, Gawker and DealBook

New York Times:
The Power Broker — After weeks of temporizing, Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog and Prairie Weather

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: neo-neocon, Eunomia, Don Surber, The Enterprise Blog, Ricochet Conversations Feed and ProfessorBainbridge.com

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

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: Michelle Malkin, Washington Wire, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers, CNN, Pundit & Pundette and The PJ Tatler

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

Discussion: The Politico

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

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

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: The Spectacle Blog, PERRspectives, National Review, NewsBusters.org blogs and Washington Post

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
John Kerry, on the right wing, breaks nose

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite and The Hill

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 …

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, Shakesville and Feministing

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 and Joe. My. God.

Adam Serwer / Political Mojo:

“Self Deportation”: It's a Real Thing, and It Isn't Pretty — Mitt Romney unveiled a novel solution for illegal immigration during Tuesday night's GOP debate, saying that he'd rely on “self-deportation” to reduce the number of unauthorized immigrants in the US. — Or at least it sounded novel.

Discussion: NumbersUSA, National Review, Washington Monthly and The Raw Story

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: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and The Politico

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Republicans sport ‘1000 days’ button to highlight Senate's budget failure — Some congressional Republicans today will wear red buttons Tuesday that read “1000 days” in white lettering as a reminder that today marks 1,000 days since the Senate last passed a budget.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Instapundit