Top Items:
Kevinliptak / CNN:
CNN/Time Poll: Dead heat in Florida ahead of debate — Jacksonville, Florida (CNN) - One day before the final GOP presidential debate in Florida, it's all tied up between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, according to a new survey. — A CNN/Time/ORC International Poll also indicates …
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Wallacegw / CNN:
Speaker tells members what not to wear — Washington (CNN) - Just seconds after an emotional tribute to Arizona Democratic Rep Gabby Giffords in the House of Representatives Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner - who got a little choked up in the moment - suddenly felt the need to remind members …
Discussion:
The Politico and Reuters
Kevinliptak / CNN:
Gingrich on Clinton impeachment, telling the truth — Doral, Florida (CNN) - At a Latino forum Wednesday Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich talked about character and perceived hypocrisy related to his personal history. — Univision anchor Jorge Ramos asked the former House speaker …
Discussion:
The Politico
First Read / msnbc.com:
Santorum hints at leaving FL before Tuesday primary — NAPLES, FL — Failing to show early signs of momentum in the Sunshine State, presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Wednesday signaled he may be cutting out of Florida before the state's Jan. 31 primary.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, GOP 12 and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
A.Killough / CNN:
Romney was ‘distinguished panelist’ at Fannie Mae conference
Romney was ‘distinguished panelist’ at Fannie Mae conference
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Eric Ostermeier / Smart Politics:
“My Message is Simple”: Obama's SOTU Written at 8th Grade Level for Third Straight Year — Obama's SOTU addresses have the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score of any modern president; Obama owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR — For the third consecutive State of the Union Address …
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Byron Tau / The Politico:
State of the Union registers at 8th grade reading level — President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, Washington Wire, NewsBusters.org, ABCNEWS, Reuters, Mail Online and LewRockwell.com Blog
Chris Edwards / Cato @ Liberty:
Fact Checking the SOTU: Corporate Taxes
Fact Checking the SOTU: Corporate Taxes
Discussion:
OpenMarket.org, Hit & Run and Fausta's Blog
Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:
Rubio scolds Gingrich camp, says ad bashing ‘anti-immigrant’ Romney is ‘inaccurate, inflammatory’ — Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant” — “This kind of language is more than just unfortunate.
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ABCNEWS:
Is Florida Still in Play for Republicans?
Is Florida Still in Play for Republicans?
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Political Mojo, The Politico, Washington Post, Ballot Box and Saint Petersblog
Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Fidel Castro: GOP race is ‘idiocy, ignorance’
Fidel Castro: GOP race is ‘idiocy, ignorance’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Marc Caputo / MiamiHerald.com:
Gingrich, Romney continue attacks in Miami
Gingrich, Romney continue attacks in Miami
Discussion:
Naked Politics, Christian Science Monitor, The Moderate Voice, Eunomia, Hot Air and The Caucus
Daniel Strauss / Ballot Box:
Pelosi's office says she has no new dirt on Newt Gingrich — Rep. Nancy Pelosi's office on Wednesday said the minority leader doesn't have any dirt on Newt Gingrich. — Pelosi has suggested in two interviews that she knows something that could prevent Gingrich from becoming president …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, GOP 12, The Gateway Pundit and New York Magazine
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Washington Examiner:
What really happened in the Gingrich ethics case? — The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former Speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty. Before the Iowa caucuses, Romney and his supporting super PAC …
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Watch Mitt Spin: Romney Claims His Real Tax Rate Is ‘Closer To 45 Or 50 Percent’ — During an interview with Univision, Romney was pressed on whether it was fair for him to pay about 13 percent of his income in taxes — as he did in 2010, according to his recently released tax returns — when many middle class families pay far more.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Paul Krugman, Riptide 2.0 and The Daily Dish
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Wall Street Journal:
Romney's Fair Share — The candidate's tax return is an argument for tax reform. — If Mitt Romney's 2010 tax bill were merely his pretax income, he'd still be a member of the 1%—in other words, the government takes more of his wealth every year than 99% of Americans earn.
Discussion:
The Politico and Jared Bernstein
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems make Mitt Romney the poster boy for tax reform
Senate Dems make Mitt Romney the poster boy for tax reform
Discussion:
The Politico
Elliott Abrams / National Review:
Gingrich and Reagan — In the increasingly rough Republican campaign, no candidate has wrapped himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan more often than Newt Gingrich. “I worked with President Reagan to change things in Washington,” “we helped defeat the Soviet empire,” and …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Cato @ Liberty, Washington Post and The Spectacle Blog
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Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Romney blasts Gingrich over attacks on debate moderators, news media
Romney blasts Gingrich over attacks on debate moderators, news media
Discussion:
Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America and National Review
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Reagan Count: Gingrich 55, Romney 6
Reagan Count: Gingrich 55, Romney 6
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Sister Toldjah, Outside the Beltway, Saint Petersblog, GOP 12, HillBuzz.org, Mediaite and Washington Post
Bloomberg:
Geithner: Obama Wouldn't Ask Me to Stay in a Second Term — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said he doesn't expect President Barack Obama to ask him to stay in office if he's re-elected, and dismissed Wall Street's concerns about financial regulations.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Politico, Shakesville, The Daily Caller and Truthdig
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: Five policies to watch from Obama's State of the Union — Last night's State of the Union will not take a place alongside Barack Obama's 2008 speech on race. It won't be mentioned in the same breath as his 2004 speech in Boston. It didn't even have the intellectual scope …
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Tim Mak / The Politico:
Right blogs credit Obama on ‘insider’ bill
Right blogs credit Obama on ‘insider’ bill
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin, RedState and Pirate's Cove
Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:
Gingrich Pledges To Establish Permanent Base On The Moon ‘By The End Of My Second Term’ — In a speech pandering to Florida's aerospace community ahead of the state's primary, GOP contender Newt Gingrich made a bold pledge to establish a permanent U.S. base on the moon “by the end of my second term.”
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Tina Dupuy / Crooks and Liars:
Awkward Family Photos: Mitt Laundry — Mitt Romney's hurdle in winning the love/respect/admiration/fear of his party can be summed up in one photo: It was taken by his son, Tagg (doesn't Sarah Palin have a kid with that name?) and put on Twitter this week. It's of Romney and his wife Ann …
Discussion:
Political Mojo and AlterNet
Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Who Is Sheldon Adelson, the Gingrich Super PAC's Billionaire Backer? — The casino magnate is reshaping the 2012 presidential race, just as he did the landscapes of Las Vegas and Macau. — The shadowy billionaire bankrolling Newt Gingrich's super PAC is a Las Vegas casino magnate who's given tens …
Discussion:
The Politico and Eunomia
Hartford Courant:
East Haven Mayor: ‘I Might Have Tacos’ For Dinner — Malloy Calls Comments ‘Repugnant,’ ‘Unacceptable’ — As criticism of East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo's taco comment mounted Wednesday, Maturo issued another apology Wednesday morning. — “My sincerest apologies go out to the East Haven community …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Gawker and The Raw Story
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James Barron / New York Times:
Connecticut Police Officers Accused of Mistreating Latinos
Connecticut Police Officers Accused of Mistreating Latinos
Discussion:
ACS Blog, New York Magazine, The Atlantic Online, Hullabaloo, The Maddow Blog and ImmigrationProf Blog
Opinionator:
State of the Republicans — Gail Collins: David, I have to apologize. For the last few weeks I was somewhat snarky about my having more faith than you did in the Republican voters being too sane to nominate Newt Gingrich. My confidence in their rationality was, at best, premature.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Obama's Schneiderman Gambit: Financial Fraud Unit Appears Designed to Fail, Grease Skids for Foreclosure Fraud Settlement — I'll pepper in my thoughts on the State of the Union Address throughout the day, but I would be remiss if I didn't start with the announcement of a Unit on Mortgage Origination …
Jared Bernstein / On the Economy:
When Fact Checkers Go Bad...Very Bad — OMG...this is beyond preposterous. — Politifact—the self-anointed fact checkers—grade this statement from the President speech tonight as “half-true:” … This is not half true or two-thirds true. It is just true. — So why, I ask you, why do they go where they go?
Don Surber:
Obama plagiarizes Ford ad — Call it the Joe Biden effect. Backed by a slogan swiped from Ford, the only American-based car company he did not bail out, President Obama tried to salvage his presidency last night. That may be difficult. Fox News illustrated its posting of the transcript …
Discussion:
Fox News and The Gateway Pundit
Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
House Democrats spell Keystone ‘K-O-C-H’ — House Democrats are using the billionaire Koch brothers to score political points in their fight against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. — Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) suggested at a hearing Wednesday that Koch Industries …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Hullabaloo