memeorandum: Mitt Romney's immigration dilemma (Ben Smith/Reuters)

1:55 PM ET, January 26, 2012

Top Items:

Donovan Slack / The Politico:

Brewer?s tense exchange with Obama — It was a tense moment on the tarmac. — President Obama, alighting from the stairs of Air Force One in Phoenix this afternoon, was greeted by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who handed him an envelope and the two exchanged what appeared to be some heated sentiments.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Wonkette, Stinque, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Wizbang and CNN

Norah O'Donnell / CBS News:

Obama, Ariz. governor in heated exchange — President Obama got into a verbal dust-up with the governor of Arizona Wednesday. — Republican Jan Brewer and Mr. Obama got into a finger-pointing conversation when the president arrived in Phoenix. — She says he was upset about the description …

Discussion: The Reaction

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:
Thou Shalt Not Write Bad Things About Obama

Discussion: Drudge Report, Wake up America, Arizona Republic, Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, Don Surber, Pirate's Cove, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and The Gateway Pundit

Byron Tau / The Politico:
Jan Brewer: Obama is ‘thin-skinned’

Discussion: Rumproast and Weasel Zippers

Paige Lavender / The Huffington Post:
Jan Brewer, Obama Face Off Over Book, Immigration Issues

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Raw Story

Jim Vandeheiand Mike Allen / The Politico:

The right drops a bomb on Newt — Newt Gingrich better hope voters who lapped up his delicious hits on the “elite media” and liberals don't read the Drudge Report this morning. — Or the National Review. Or the American Spectator. Or Ann Coulter. — If they do, Gingrich comes off looking …

Discussion: American Prospect, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wake up America, Daily Kos and Roger Ailes

National Review:

Dole Goes Nuclear — The Romney campaign sends along a statement by Bob Dole pasted below. Relations between Dole — an establishment figure in the party — and Gingrich were well known to be tense during the 1990s. Here it is: — I have not been critical of Newt Gingrich but it is now time to take a stand before it is too late.

Discussion: Erick's blog and Outside the Beltway

David Adams / Reuters:

Florida's Rubio a star, but an unlikely VP pick — (Reuters) - He could be the Republican vice presidential candidate from central casting: telegenic, Hispanic and a fiscal conservative who has been embraced by the Tea Party. — That is why Florida Senator Marco Rubio …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Campaign 2012, A plain blog about politics, Big Journalism and Hotline On Call

Ben Smith / Reuters:

Mitt Romney's immigration dilemma — For a moment Wednesday afternoon in Miami, Mitt Romney seemed to have a solution to his Hispanic problem: Was he not, Univision's Jorge Ramos asked, Mexican-American himself, as his father had been born south of the border?

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, msnbc.com and The Daily Caller

Stan Honda / ABCNEWS:

Angry Newt Gingrich Attacks Mitt Romney in Florida — Newt Gingrich is hopping mad today on the campaign trail in Florida. At a Tea Party really in Mount Dora in Central Florida, he launched his fiercest verbal assault against Mitt Romney to date. — “There is something so grotesquely hypocritical …

Discussion: GOP 12

ABCNEWS:

Warren Buffett and His Secretary Talk Taxes — ABC News' Seniboye Tienabeso reports: — In a week when taxes and tax returns have dominated the headlines, billionaire investor Warren Buffett jumped back into the political debate and showed his returns exclusively to ABC News' Bianna Golodryga …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Broadside Books and NewsBusters.org blogs

Paul Roderick Gregory / EconWorld:
Warren Buffett's Secretary Likely Makes Between $200,000 And $500,000/Year

Discussion: Power Line, JustOneMinute, American Glob, UrbanGrounds, Hot Air, Fausta's Blog, COURAGE IN AMERICA, Rush Limbaugh, TBogg, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online: How Rich is Warren Buffett's Secretary?

Agoldberg / The Smoking Gun:
Despite Unfair Tax Burden, Warren Buffett's Secretary Was Just Able To Buy A Second Home

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Dylan Byers / The Politico:

Gingrich admits ABC claim was false — After nearly a week on the defensive, CNN's John King reports tonight that Newt Gingrich's claim about offering witnesses to ABC News in his defense — to rebut the network's interview with his second wife, Marianne Gingrich — was not true.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Don Surber, Riptide 2.0, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, Gothamist, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and COURAGE IN AMERICA, more at Mediagazer »

A.Killough / CNN:

TRENDING: Gingrich campaign admits error — (CNN) - Newt Gingrich's campaign admitted Wednesday night the former House speaker was inaccurate when he claimed his team offered several witnesses to ABC News to refute statements made by Gingrich's second wife in a controversial interview aired last week.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Roger Ailes

New York Times:

The iEconomy: Apple's iPad and the Human Costs for Workers in China — A staggering manufacturing system in China has made it possible for Apple and other companies to make devices almost as quickly as they can be dreamed up, but for workers, it can be dangerous.

Discussion: The Lede, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Gizmodo, Balloon Juice and Seeing the Forest, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
Chinese Readers on the ‘iEconomy’

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gizmodo, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Poynter, The Huffington Post, News Desk, Paul Krugman and Lists

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Barack Obama: GOP field ‘wrong for America’ — President Barack Obama won't say whether he thinks Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich would be a tougher challenger, but, either way, he's certain that the difference between him and the Republican at the top of the ticket will be stark.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National:
Barack Obama: “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs.

Discussion: Saint Petersblog, The Maddow Blog, Balloon Juice, Poynter, PolitiFact, A plain blog about politics, The Raw Story and American Prospect

msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: A turning point for Obama? — Are we seeing a turning point on the economy and for President Obama? ... It's a coin flip in Florida ... The candidates debate one last time before voters go to the polls there - what to watch for ... It's Vegas, baby, Vegas for Obama …

Discussion: Associated Press, Saint Petersblog, ABCNEWS and Riptide 2.0

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Polls Suggest Gingrich's Support May Have Peaked

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Wake up America, Washington Post, St. Petersburg Times, The Moderate Voice, The Politico, Naked Politics, Los Angeles Times, Saint Petersblog and MiamiHerald.com

Tennessean.com:

Nashville airport video doesn't show ‘irate’ Sen. Rand Paul — A security video of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul at a Nashville International Airport checkpoint doesn't show him being “irate,” as police asserted. — The Kentucky Republican ran afoul of a millimeter-wave screening machine Monday morning …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Rand Paul calm during TSA patdown, video shows

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and BuzzFeed

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

How the Schneiderman Panel Could Work — Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy — I got a lot of response to my post on the new federal financial fraud unit (not to be confused with the old financial fraud unit) looking into mortgage origination and securitization abuses.

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Progressives United, Reuters, Hullabaloo and US Politics

Alejandro Lazo / Los Angeles Times:
California calls $25-billion mortgage settlement ‘inadequate’

Discussion: naked capitalism, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Hullabaloo, The Political Carnival and The Big Picture

Eric Pfeiffer / Associated Press:

Former President John Tyler's (1790-1862) grandchildren still alive — Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren. The one-term president isn't a well-known historical figure; he's probably best remembered for helping to push through the annexation of Texas in 1845 …

Discussion: National Review

Wall Street Journal:

Economy Gives Obama a Lift — Mitt Romney mounted a fresh attack on President Barack Obama's stewardship of the economy Wednesday, while a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll raised caution signs for Mr. Romney's strategy of putting the economy at the center of his campaign.

Discussion: American Prospect, Campaign 2012, Daily Kos, Saint Petersblog and Taegan Goddard's …

NBC's Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:
Obama benefits from growing economic optimism

Discussion: Salon.com, Reuters, Comments from Left Field and Hot Air

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Barney Frank to marry longtime partner — Retiring congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) will marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready. — Frank and Ready plan to wed in Massachusetts. Frank's home state is one of six states, in addition to the District of Columbia, which permit gay marriage.

Discussion: CNN and Good As You

Christy Hoppe / Dallas Morning News:

Perry's job approval plunges after failed presidential run, News poll shows — Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning last week at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Murrells Inlet, S.C., before he exited the presidential race, has seen his job approval rating plunge in Texas, according to a new poll.

Discussion: Washington Post, Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico and The Political Carnival

Investor's Business Daily:

36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes — Pete Souza / White House (Obama addresses his White House staff, file) — How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their “fair share” of taxes.

Discussion: WTOP.com, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, RedState and Weasel Zippers

content.healthaffairs.org:

Massachusetts Health Reforms: Uninsurance Remains Low, Self-Reported Health Status Improves As State Prepares To Tackle Costs — 1Sharon K. Long (slong{at}umn.edu) is a professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, The Enterprise Blog, Hit & Run, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Marc Lacey / New York Times:

Arizona Candidate's English Under Challenge — Alejandrina Cabrera's political opponents in San Luis, Ariz., say she cannot speak English well enough to serve on the City Council. — In Address, Obama Makes Pitch for Economic Fairness — By HELENE COOPER

Discussion: This Just In, Law Blog and msnbc.com