memeorandum: Mitt Romney: We Are The Only People Who Put Their Hand Over Our Hearts During The National Anthem … (Andrew Kaczynski/BuzzFeed)

4:35 PM ET, February 3, 2012

Top Items:

Tom Benning / The Scoop:

Komen apologizes for ‘recent decisions,’ pledges to continue funding Planned Parenthood — UPDATE, 12:32 p.m.Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, said during a Friday conference call that her understanding of Komen's announcement is that it's a complete reversal of the decision to bar funding to her group.

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Komen caved. Or did it? — As you may have heard, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation just announced that it was reversing its decision to ban Planned Parenthood from applying for grants to cover breast cancer screenings — after a massive outcry that spread from women's groups to social media to Capitol Hill.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker — We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives. The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters …

Discussion: Associated Press, Nation Now, Washington Post, Epicenter, Guardian, New York Times, The New Republic, Rod Dreher, CBS Philly, Big Government, The Mahablog, National Review, TBogg, LifeSiteNews.com Latest … and Pundit & Pundette

Daniel Foster / National Review:

You Should Find the Anti-Komen Backlash Disgusting, Even If You're Pro-Choice — It's official. The Komen Foundation has “apologized” for its Planned Parenthood decision and appears set to reinstate the funding, thus making our editorial this morning both premature and, in a more profound sense, too late.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Big Think, LifeSiteNews.com Latest …, Live Action News & Opinion, Right Wing Watch, The Huffington Post and The Maddow Blog

Simon Maloy / Media Matters for America:

National Review Sees “Gangsterism” Behind Komen's Planned Parenthood Shift — Earlier today the Susan G. Komen Foundation released a statement “apologizing” for their decision earlier this week to cease grants to Planned Parenthood to pay for breast cancer screenings.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Is the Susan G. Komen Foundation backing down?

Discussion: Datechguy's Blog, Runnin' Scared, The Daily Dish, The American Independent, National Review, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wizbang, Political Mojo and Hot Air

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
Komen drops decision to cut Planned Parenthood funding

Discussion: LifeSiteNews.com Latest …

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Komen Board Member: Haven't Caved on Planned Parenthood Funding

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:
Victory! Komen Apologizes And Reverses Decision To Cut Planned Parenthood Funding

Discussion: Washington Post, LifeSiteNews.com Latest … and US Politics

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
Susan G. Komen Reverses Course, Will Allow Planned Parenthood Funding

Discussion: Washington Post, Gothamist, blogs.wsj.com, TIME Ideas and Colorlines

Angus Johnston / Student Activism:
Komen Statement on Planned Parenthood is a PR Move, Not A Policy Reversal

Discussion: Firedoglake, Associated Press, LifeNews.com, The Scoop and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jennifer Haberkorn / Reuters:
The Komen decision: Cut your losses, move on

Discussion: Politico, CBS Los Angeles, The Reid Report and CNN

Jill Lepore / New Yorker:
DAILY COMMENT — [Update: On Friday, Susan G. Komen …

Discussion: Mediaite and Hullabaloo

Washington Post:
Komen Foundation revises funding policy

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Political Mojo

New York Times:
A Painful Betrayal — With its roster of corporate sponsors …

Discussion: Business Insider, JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, TBogg, NewsBusters.org blogs, Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, The Maddow Blog, NewsBusters.org, Crooks and Liars, AUL.org, Feministing, Daily Kos, Bloomberg and The Loyal Opposition

Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge:

Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month, Labor Force Participation Rate Tumbles To Fresh 30 Year Low — A month ago, we joked when we said that for Obama to get the unemployment rate to negative by election time, all he has to do is to crush the labor force participation rate to about 55%.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Big Picture, Swampland, FreeEnterprise.com, Vodkapundit, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Pundit, Wake up America, The Right Scoop and The Strata-Sphere

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Employment Jumps; Rate 8.3%, 243,000 New Jobs Created — The pace of job creation surged in January, with the US economy generating 243,000 new positions while the unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent, according to government data released Friday. — Both numbers were far better than consensus …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations and The Lonely Conservative

Bob Willis / Bloomberg:
Unemployment Drops to 8.3%; Payrolls in U.S. Jump 243,000

Discussion: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Impolitic, ThinkProgress and The Page

Motoko Rich / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Added 243,000 Jobs in January; Unemployment Rate Is 8.3%

Discussion: The Caucus, Economix, Gothamist, TalkLeft and Prairie Weather

Ginger Gibson / Reuters:

Newt Gingrich's Nevada campaign unraveling — LAS VEGAS — Newt Gingrich is not on TV here. His daily events have slowed to a trickle. He's got a barebones staff working in a tiny space rented just 2 weeks ago. — The most attention he's received since arriving in Nevada came with his snub of the state's popular governor.

Discussion: CNN, The New Republic and Politico

Byron Tau / Politico:
Obama campaign plays Trump card against Romney

Discussion: Guardian

Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:
Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Ron Paul and the ‘Hope America Fails’ Republicans have a problem: Jobs

Discussion: Politico, PERRspectives and Daily Kos

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney up big in Nevada

Discussion: American Prospect, The Hill, Shakesville, New York Times, Firedoglake, Politico, Campaign 2012, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, GOP 12, Ballot Box and Saint Petersblog

msnbc.com:
2012: Rolling the dice — GINGRICH: “The Newt Gingrich campaign …

Discussion: Guardian

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
Gingrich, Romney, Trump Monopolize Media; Santorum Keeps Campaigning

Discussion: Washington Wire and Washington Post

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Faced with good news about economy, Romney dissolves into incoherence — Since Mitt Romney announced his candidacy last June, he has continually made two core claims about Obama's economic record, each of which contradicts the other. Depending on the moment, Romney has said either:

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Hill, A plain blog about politics, The Maddow Blog and Political Mojo

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
After strong jobs report, Obama tells Congress 'don't muck it up'

Discussion: Politico and GOP 12

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine: Economic Pessimism Is Still Romney's Best Bet

OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL:

A.G. SCHNEIDERMAN ANNOUNCES MAJOR LAWSUIT AGAINST NATION'S LARGEST BANKS FOR DECEPTIVE & FRAUDULENT USE OF ELECTRONIC MORTGAGE REGISTRY — Complaint Charges Use Of MERS By Bank Of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, And Wells Fargo Resulted In Fraudulent Foreclosure Filings

Discussion: Daily Kos, TalkLeft and Business Insider

David Dayen / Firedoglake: Schneiderman Sues Three Big Banks, MERS for Deceptive Practices, Illegal Foreclosures

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP lawmaker walked out on Obama's speech at National Prayer Breakfast — Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey (Ga.) walked out of President Obama's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, his spokesman confirmed to The Hill. — Jen Talaber said the five-term lawmaker “left quietly” in the middle of the president's remarks.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Weasel Zippers and Randy's Roundtable

Dave Levinthal / Politico:

What super PAC filings left out — About the only thing more notable than the donor information super PACs this week revealed is the information they didn't. — Super PACs filed reports with the Federal Election Commission that outlined what they raised — and from whom — in the last six months of 2011.

Discussion: CNN and United Republic

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Colbert v. the Court

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and CNN

Politics:

Mitt Romney Was A Democrat — It may only have been for a few minutes in 1992. But this is a little-known, true fact: The likely GOP nominee is a former Democrat. — Mitt Romney's 1992 Democratic Primary vote for Paul Tsongas — a technocratic modernizer and reformer, but very much a Democrat …

Discussion: Mediaite, RedState and Saint Petersblog

Wall Street Journal:

Reimagining Speaker Pelosi — John Boehner realizes, if many Republicans don't, that retaining the House is no sure thing. — Conservatives are by nature optimists. They are intensely focused on retaking the White House and the Senate. But what if, in that optimism, they are missing a growing threat?

Discussion: TheBlaze.com

Andy Pierrotti / WBBH-TV:

NBC2 Investigates: Voter fraud — Two elections supervisors are taking action after an NBC2 investigation uncovers flawed record keeping and human error allowing people who are not citizens of the United States to vote. — No one knows how widespread this problem is …

Discussion: Pat Dollard and UrbanGrounds

Shelby Steele / Time:

Q: What does a conservative believe? — I believe that freedom of the individual — as opposed to good works or “social justice” — is by far the highest goal any society can strive for. I became a conservative precisely to deal with my fate as a black American born into a segregated society.

Discussion: National Review, Hit & Run and The Daily Caller

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Obama's Magic Number? 150,000 Jobs Per Month — The unemployment report on Friday will give us the most tangible read to date on how the economy is performing in 2012. It might also represent the most important number yet for President Obama's prospects of winning re-election.

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Monthly, A plain blog about politics, Washington Post, Political Mojo and Jay Bookman