memeorandum: Retail Limits in Plan for the Upper West Side (Joseph Berger/New York Times)

2:45 AM ET, February 4, 2012

Top Items:

EXCLUSIVE: Ari Fleischer Secretly Involved In Komen Strategy On Planned Parenthood — Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush and prominent right-wing pundit, was secretly involved in the Komen Foundation's strategy regarding Planned Parenthood.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, TBogg and Roger Ailes

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.

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: Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, Booman Tribune and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Tom Benning / The Scoop:
Komen apologizes for ‘recent decisions,’ pledges to continue funding Planned Parenthood

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Susan G. Komen Foundation Says It Is Not Connected To Pink ‘Hope’ Handgun [UPDATE]

Discussion: Gothamist, CBS Seattle, Opinion L.A., ThinkProgress, Runnin' Scared, Religion Dispatches, Gawker and Daily Kos

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

Discussion: Mediaite, pandagon.net and Hullabaloo

Susan G. Komen for the Cure:
Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker

Daniel Foster / National Review:
You Should Find the Anti-Komen Backlash Disgusting, Even If You're Pro-Choice

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Right Wing Watch, Sister Toldjah, Pressthink, LifeSiteNews.com Latest …, Live Action News & Opinion, Wonkette, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post and Big Think

Reuters:
Komen reverses move to cut Planned Parenthood funding

Discussion: The American Independent, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Fox News, THEROOT.COM, Outside the Beltway and LifeSiteNews.com Latest …

Washington Post:
Susan G. Komen foundation revises policy that barred Planned Parenthood funding

Discussion: The Hill, Hullabaloo, Rod Dreher, Daily Kos, Nation Now, Political Mojo, The Lonely Conservative and Business Insider

Jessica Pieklo / Care2:
Susan G. Komen Foundation Also Stops Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Reid Report, Political Mojo, Washington Post, Jezebel, The Agonist and Balloon Juice

Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge:

Implied Unemployment Rate Rises To 11.5%, Spread To Propaganda Number Surges To 30 Year High — Sick of the BLS propaganda? Then do the following calculation with us: using BLS data, the US civilian non-institutional population was 242,269 in January, an increase of 1.7 million month over month …

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, Doug Ross, ThinkProgress, Don Surber, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Wizbang, Vodkapundit and Reuters

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:

Why the official 8.3 percent unemployment rate is a phony number—and what it means for Obama's reelection — The January jobs report is out and it seems pretty strong, at least superficially. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent, the lowest rate since February 2009.

Discussion: RedState and Weasel Zippers

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: The Big Picture, Rush Limbaugh, FiveThirtyEight, Viking Pundit, Michelle Malkin, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler, Swampland, CNBC, Daily Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Wake up America, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, New York Times, The Right Scoop, The Strata-Sphere and The Lonely Conservative

Lynn Vavreck / Washington Post:
For 2012, the unemployment rate doesn't matter. The change in it does.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Saint Petersblog

Washington Post:
Unemployment report: January job gains have economists rethinking outlooks

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Booman Tribune and Political Mojo

Newt Gingrich / CNN:

Gingrich sharpens attacks against Romney's wealth — Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) - Newt Gingrich, intensifying his efforts to frame the Republican presidential race as a showdown between his populist insurgency and Mitt Romney's establishment-backed campaign, sharpened his criticisms Friday of Romney's wealth and corporate resume.

Discussion: Reuters, Politico, Hot Air and Political Mojo

Ginger Gibson / Reuters:
Newt Gingrich's Nevada campaign unraveling

Discussion: CNN, Campaign 2012 and Politico

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Gingrich's Deep Ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Discussion: Hot Air

Newt Gingrich / CNN: Gingrich: Romney didn't deserve congrats

Politico:

Mitt Romney splits with Brett O'Donnell — A GOP operative who won plaudits for bolstering Mitt Romney's recent debate performances is not being retained by the frontrunner's campaign, an apparent victim of internal tensions over staff receiving too much credit for the candidate's comeback, POLITICO has learned.

Discussion: Naked Politics, Reuters and Taylor Marsh

CNN:

Romney campaign lets go of new debate coach — (CNN) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has parted ways with debate coach Brett O'Donnell, a Romney campaign source confirmed Friday. — O'Donnell, a former Michele Bachmann adviser who also did debate prep sessions with John McCain …

John Cook / Gawker:

Anonymous' Latest Release Includes Private Info About Sexual Assault Victims and Guantanamo Lawyers — Earlier today, Anonymous announced what sounded like an awesome caper: The group had compromised the email of a law firm that represented Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

Anonymous Leaks Huge Cache of Emails From Iraq War Crimes Case — Anonymous is on a rampage today. Just hours after leaking a confidential phone call between the FBI and Scotland yard, members have released a huge archive of emails and documents related to the 2005 Haditha Massacre, which left 24 Iraqi civilians dead.

Discussion: Mashable!, VentureBeat, TalkLeft and New York Magazine

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: Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Business Insider and TalkLeft

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

Discussion: Politics and Suburban Guerrilla

Rosie Gray / Politics:

Santorum Unlikely To Make Indiana Ballot — Santorum fails to pass a low bar, coming some thirty votes short in Marion County. Campaign waiting on a recount. — (AP / Ed Andrieski) — Rick Santorum is on the verge of being left off the ballot in the the Indiana primary, three sources told BuzzFeed Friday.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hot Air, Guardian and GOP 12

Eric Berman / Indy's News Center:
Santorum Fails to Qualify for Indiana Ballot

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Caucus, The Hill and HotAirPundit

Neil Genzlinger / New York Times:

Ben Gazzara, a Risk-Taking Actor of Stage and Screen, Dies at 81 — Ben Gazzara, an intense actor whose long career included playing Brick in the original “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on Broadway, roles in influential films by John Cassavetes and work with several generations of top Hollywood directors …

Discussion: Inside Movies, PopWatch, msnbc.com and Big Hollywood

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Santorum To Gay Man: You Don't Deserve ‘Privilege’ Of Marriage Because Gay Unions Don't ‘Benefit Society’ — Rick Santorum told a gay man in Fulton, Missouri Friday afternoon that he didn't deserve the “privilege” of marriage because his same-sex relationship does not “benefit” society in the same way that opposite-sex marriage does.

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama … Barack Obama , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Barack Obama 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Obama , President Obama , Video , Charles Koch , David Koch , Koch Brothers , Sheldon Adelson , Winning Our Future , Ken Griffin …

Discussion: Republic Report, The Hill, ThinkProgress, Political Mojo, The BRAD BLOG and Politico

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Danger Will Robinson . . . or Ann Coulter — This week is a career milestone for me. I appear in Time magazine writing about the state of the conservative movement. As a kid living overseas, my American history teacher subscribed us all to Time and U.S. News and World Report.

Discussion: Daily Pundit, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View and Conservatives4Palin

Joseph Berger / New York Times:

Retail Limits in Plan for the Upper West Side — Across New York City, the proliferation of chain stores, banks and pharmacies in the past decade or so has robbed many neighborhoods of the quirky one-of-a-kind shops that give those places their distinct personalities and where customers can form a relationship with their shopkeepers.

Discussion: New York Magazine and Runnin' Scared

Alan Colmes' Liberaland:

Anti-Abortion Komen VP Also Anti-Gay — Karen Handel had some choice words for gays when she ran last year for Governor of Georgia, from this interview with the Jim Galloway at the AJC. — KH: I've been very clear. And you know, as a Christian, marriage is between a man and a woman.

Discussion: Gay Politics, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The 2016 Election, Already Upon Us — DISTANT as it may now seem, with the Republican race dominating the news and President Obama sitting in the White House, the Democrats are not all that far from the tumult of another nominating contest themselves. — No matter what happens on Election …

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Reid: This year's budget is done — Senate Democratic leaders said they don't expect a fiscal 2013 budget to reach the floor this year because spending levels were set last summer under the debt-ceiling agreement. — “We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year — it's done …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Campaign 2012, Hot Air, Politico and Daily Pundit