memeorandum: Wonkbook: What the State of the Union won't do (Ezra Klein/Washington Post)

6:05 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: Little Green Footballs, Washington Post, CNSNews, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, The Star-Ledger Editorial Page, Mad Kane's Political Madness, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, Daily Kos, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, 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: Ballot Box, CNN, The Politico, Daily Kos, 2012 Decoded, The PJ Tatler, Stinque, Political Insider, COURAGE IN AMERICA, The Caucus, Don Surber, The Mahablog, GOP 12, The Daily Caller, Hullabaloo and Wake up America

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

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

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: CNN, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, The Mahablog, The Gateway Pundit, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, New York Times, Washington Post, americanthinker.com, Althouse, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Ross Douthat

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 The Maddow Blog

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:

Gingrich overtakes Romney nationally — Newt Gingrich leads Mitt Romney nationally for the first time in a month, according to the latest Gallup daily tracking poll. — Gingrich took 31 percent, followed by Romney at 27 percent, and Ron Paul and Rick Santorum at 12 percent each.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Politico, CNN, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post, Global Public Square and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
Romney's Taxes: $3 Million

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

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

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

Discussion: Riptide 2.0

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

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed

Politics:
Why Romney's Taxes Matter

Discussion: Paul Krugman, The Atlantic Online and Guardian

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

Discussion: Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

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

Discussion: New York Times, USA Today, Firedoglake, Campaign 2012, News Desk, Althouse, Prairie Weather, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside the Beltway, David Cay Johnston, Guardian, Naked Politics, Mediaite, Swampland, Gawker and DealBook

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

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Romney issues preemptive Obama jabs

Discussion: Ballot Box and Shakesville

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

Discussion: CNN

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, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Eunomia, A plain blog about politics and FiveThirtyEight

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: Booman Tribune and The Maddow Blog

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

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: Good As You, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress: New Jersey Senate Committee Advances Marriage Equality

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

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.

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, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and Instapundit

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

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Oil industry group says SEC must pull back transparency rule — A powerful petroleum industry group is demanding that the Securities and Exchange Commission withdraw and revise proposed rules that mandate disclosure of oil and mining companies' payments to governments.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Wonkbook: What the State of the Union won't do — Tonight, President Obama will answer the question that all of America is obsessed with: Is the state of our union strong? Weak? Confused? Lovelorn? Obsessed with vampire novels? All of the above? — Here's my guess …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, New York Times, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Campaign 2012 and Democracy in America

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

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, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Campaign 2012, Pundit & Pundette, CNN and The PJ Tatler

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 and Taegan Goddard's …

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: ThinkProgress

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, The Raw Story, Washington Monthly and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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: LifeNews.com, ThinkProgress, Feministing and Shakesville