memeorandum: Bishops Were Prepared for Battle Over Birth Control Coverage (Laurie Goodstein/New York Times)

2:00 PM ET, February 10, 2012

Top Items:

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Obama to Offer ‘Accomodation’ on Contraception Rule — With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, ABC News has learned that later today the White House …

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Both Catholic Health Assn and Planned Parenthood Say They're Pleased With Contraception Rule Announcement — Senior administration officials are pleased with the initial response to President Obama's pending announcement on an “accommodation” for religious organizations regarding …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, National Review and The Reality-Based Community

Planned Parenthood:

Statement by Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on Obama Administration Announcement on Birth Control Coverage Benefit: — “In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women's health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment …

Discussion: Jill Stanek, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Washington Post:

White House to announce adjustment to birth-control rule — Seeking to allay the concerns of Catholic leaders, the White House is planning to announce an adjustment to its health care rule requiring religious employers to provide women access to contraception, a senior administration official said.

Discussion: Ballot Box, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, ACS Blog, TBogg, The College Fix, Big Government, Rod Dreher, The Lonely Conservative, The Atlantic Online, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:

Low Turnout and the Big Tune-Out — Voters aren't bothering with the GOP, but Obama has lost their attention too. — The Romney campaign is better at dismantling than mantling. They're better at taking opponents apart than building a compelling candidate of their own.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Patterico's Pontifications, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider and Hot Air

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Obama retreats on birth control — The White House will announce a retreat from its controversial rule requiring religious organizations like charities and hospitals to include contraception in their healthcare plans. — President Obama has come under heavy criticism from the Catholic Church …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Post and LifeNews.com

Politico:

President Obama boxed in on birth control — It was no secret inside the West Wing that Bill Daley, a Catholic with deep connections to the church hierarchy, vehemently opposed the administration's proposal to require church-run hospitals and universities to give their employees free contraception.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Wire, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Taylor Marsh, Sky Dancing and Weasel Zippers

Los Angeles Times:

Obama to adjust birth control rule for religious groups — President Barack Obama speaks in Washington. — Reporting from Washington — Faced with fierce opposition from religious organizations, the Obama administration will make changes to its new rule requiring employers …

Discussion: American Spectator, Political Mojo, The Political Carnival and ACS Blog

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:
The catch in Obama's contraceptives compromise

Discussion: Associated Press, Business Insider, Swampland and Balloon Juice

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Obama Offers ‘Accommodation’ on Birth Control Rule

Discussion: The New Republic

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute: I Still Want My Free Lunch

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
Bishops Were Prepared for Battle Over Birth Control Coverage

Discussion: American Prospect, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, The Confluence, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice, Campaign 2012, Mother Jones, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Hullabaloo and Opinionator

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Obama Revises Mandate: Free Abortion-Causing Drugs for Women

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Jezebel

Ben Feller / entertainment.verizon.com:
AP sources: Obama revamping birth control policy

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and Washington Times

Nick Baumann / Mother Jones:
Most of Obama's “Controversial” Birth Control Rule Was Law During Bush Years

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, Political Mojo, HorsesAss.Org, Ramona's Voices, Balloon Juice, Feministing, THEROOT.COM, Daily Kos, The Last Tradition and The Maddow Blog

Sam Baker / The Hill:
State AGs threaten to sue over birth-control mandate

Discussion: Associated Press

Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico:
Birth-control compromise to be announced by White House

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Janet Hook / Washington Wire:

Santorum Gets Spirited Reception at CPAC — Rick Santorum got such a positive reception from a meeting of the party's conservative base Friday morning, the former senator almost cut his speech short while he was ahead. Well, almost. … Halfway through a speech to the Conservative Political …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Rick Santorum / CNN:
Santorum blasts Obama for ‘coercion’

Discussion: Politico and The Hinterland Gazette

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney's Struggles Take Republican Angst To New Heights

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Maddow Blog, The Moderate Voice, Politico and New York Magazine

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Rep. King predicts critical day for GOP presidential candidates

Discussion: CNN

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Santorum says ‘other types of emotions’ could preclude women in combat — For a candidate with virtually no staff and who tends to talk off the cuff, Rick Santorum has been nearly gaffe-free. However, this evening might have been his first, and it comes at a time when he is trying …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Shakesville, ThinkProgress, Althouse and msnbc.com

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Santorum: Combat concerns

Discussion: Firedoglake, Jezebel, Feministing, New York Times, Political Mojo and Hullabaloo

Tina Dupuy / Crooks and Liars:
Santorum Steps In It: Women Shouldn't be in Combat Because of ‘Other Types of Emotions’

Discussion: Washington Post

Washington Post:

Rep. Spencer Bachus faces insider-trading investigation — The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.

Discussion: Firedoglake, RedState, Los Angeles Times, The Maddow Blog, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, CBS News, Politico and Big Government

New York Post:

A ‘deadbeat’ bailout — It's hard to imagine a less-deserving group of victims: people who gambled during the housing bubble by purchasing homes with borrowed money that they knew or should have known they couldn't afford, but who are now able to stay in the homes they should have never bought …

Bloomberg:
Foreclosure Deal to Spur U.S. Home Seizures

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Hot Air

Bloomberg:

Paul Krugman vs. the World — The escalating battle of ideas between the Nobel Prize-winning economist and his illustrious peers — What has been getting the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist so riled up lately? In the last few weeks, what began as a semi-civil battle …

Discussion: National Review and TheMoneyIllusion

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Is 2012 Slipping Away From the GOP? — For a long time, I was confident that Republican voters would oust Barack Obama in 2012, hold the House and, in all likelihood, take the Senate. Obama is a weak incumbent, who has been chronically unpopular since early in his term.

Discussion: Daily Pundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Julie Bykowicz / Bloomberg:

Gingrich Seeks to Ease Fundraising Woes as Las Vegas Checks Slowing Down — Newt Gingrich was just days away from the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary when he told reporters that his campaign was down to its last $600,000. — Five losing contests later, Gingrich and Winning Our Future …

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Hot Air, Reuters, GOP 12, msnbc.com and CNN

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Obama's Worst Year — The inside story of his brush with political disaster. — Shortly after four o'clock on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 13, 2011, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner walked down the hallway near his office toward a large conference room facing the building's interior.

Discussion: Politico and Brad DeLong