memeorandum: China Catches Linfengkuang (Evan Osnos/News Desk)

10:40 PM ET, February 13, 2012

Top Items:

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Santorum Catches Romney in GOP Race — Obama Leads Both in General Election Matchups — OVERVIEW — Rick Santorum's support among Tea Party Republicans and white evangelicals is surging, and he now has pulled into a virtual tie with Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Santorum moves ahead in Michigan — Rick Santorum's taken a large lead in Michigan's upcoming Republican primary. He's at 39% to 24% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Ron Paul, and 11% for Newt Gingrich. — Santorum's rise is attributable to two major factors: his own personal popularity …

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Santorum Surges to Tie Romney — Race takes another turn as Santorum gains 14 points since winning Feb. 7 GOP contests — PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are now statistically tied for the lead in Republican registered voters' preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination — 32% to 30%, respectively.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post and ABCNEWS

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
GOP Gov. McDonnell warns Santorum not to demean military women

Discussion: Boston Globe, GOP 12, Politico and CNN

Democracy in America:
Romney's Santorum problem

Discussion: Ballot Box, Eunomia, Hot Air, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Hinterland Gazette

National Review:
Santorum's Turn — At the moment Rick Santorum appears …

Discussion: Business Insider, The PJ Tatler, Runnin' Scared, Eunomia, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Dish, americanthinker.com, The Hill, The Caucus, Donklephant, The Maddow Blog, Media Decoder and News Desk

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
ARG poll shows Santorum up 6 over Romney in Michigan

Discussion: The Caucus, FiveThirtyEight, Politico, CNN, The Week, RedState and Outside the Beltway

Bob McDonnell / CNN:
McDonnell hits Santorum over ‘emotions’ remarks

Discussion: The Hill and National Review

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Severe Conservative Syndrome

Discussion: Latest Open Salon Blog, The Mahablog, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Firedoglake, Prairie Weather and Globe and Mail

Susan Cornwell / Reuters:

Obama proposes $800 million in aid for “Arab Spring” — (Reuters) - The White House announced plans on Monday to help “Arab Spring” countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt. — In his annual budget message to Congress …

Discussion: LifeNews.com, The Gateway Pundit, Rush Limbaugh, Weasel Zippers, Mail Online, Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:
Obama's ‘rosy’ budget scenario doubles down on class warfare

Discussion: Bloomberg, Doug Ross, National Review and American Spectator

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Dem lawmaker: Obama budget is a ‘nervous breakdown on paper’

Discussion: Washington Post, Guardian, Politico, Weasel Zippers and Ron Paul 2012 Presidential …

David Rogers / Politico:
Obama budget slated for $3.8 trillion

Discussion: Colorado Peak Politics and CNN

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Republicans See Broken Promises and Gimmicks in Obama Budget

Discussion: Center for American Progress, Politics, ABCNEWS, Reuters, ThinkProgress, PERRspectives, RedState, The Maddow Blog and Hot Air

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Jack Lew's misleading claim about the Senate's failure to pass a budget resolution

Discussion: ABCNEWS, PJ Media, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, Budget Committee, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Heritage Foundation, Fox News, Michelle Malkin, A plain blog about politics, Hot Air, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, Power Line and Campaign 2012

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama makes ‘fair shot’ budget pitch

Discussion: Washington Post and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Lornet Turnbull / Seattle Times:

Gregoire signs gay marriage into law — With Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature on Monday, Washington joins six other states and the District of Columbia in allowing same-sex couples to marry. — OLYMPIA — Surrounded by applauding gay couples and with media from around the country looking on …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway and ACS Blog

Geoff Mulvihill / Associated Press:
NJ Senate OKs gay marriage bill in milestone vote

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politico, Washington Monthly, Business Insider and Truthdig

Edith Honan / Reuters:
New Jersey Senate approves gay marriage; veto looms

Discussion: Prop 8 Trial Tracker and Campaign 2012

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Washington Governor Signs Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Booman Tribune

Rachel La Corte / Associated Press:
Washington gov signs gay marriage bill into law

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, HyperVocal, Daily Kos and Feministing

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

House GOP leaders drop demand that payroll tax cut be offset — House Republicans said Monday that they would offer a measure to extend the current payroll tax cut for the rest of the year, dropping a previous demand that the tax break be offset. — The move marks a sharp turnaround for GOP leaders …

Discussion: Politico, The Maddow Blog, RedState and The PJ Tatler

Jake Shermanand Manu Raju / Politico:

House GOP scrambles payroll tax cut calculus — In a dramatic reversal, House GOP leaders said Monday they'll attempt this week to pass a 10-month extension of the payroll tax holiday without saying how they'd pay for it. — Republicans say it's not their first choice …

Discussion: Swampland, CNN and The New Republic

Speaker:
Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy Statement on Payroll Tax Cut Conference Negotiations

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, New York Times, The Political Carnival, Balloon Juice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Campaign 2012 and ThinkProgress

Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — GOP Drops Demand For Offsetting Payroll Tax Cut

Discussion: Political Mojo, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Tucker Carlson takes on the media — The top editors at the Daily Caller have come out with the first in a series of articles about the liberal media watchdog Media Matters For America, and in doing so they have suggested that MSNBC and reporters from the Washington Post, POLITICO …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Wake up America, Big Journalism and Erick's blog, more at Mediagazer »

Vince Coglianese / The Daily Caller:
Inside Media Matters: David Brock's enemies list

Discussion: Power Line, Mediaite, Big Journalism, Politics, Michelle Malkin, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers and Ed Driscoll

David Frum / The Daily Beast:

Norquist: Romney Will Do As Told — Is Mitt Romney so weak he won't be able to stand up to Congress? — Grover Norquist, head of the Americans for Tax Reform advocacy group, speaks at a session entitled “Scrap the Code: Towards Pro-Growth Tax Reform” at the conservative Americans for Prosperity …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and Eunomia

ABCNEWS:

Political Punch — “Dogs Against Romney”? Democrats Say Unleash the Hound! — Tomorrow outside the Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden at noon the group “Dogs Against Romney” will protest “to ensure pet lovers are aware that Mitt Romney is mean to dogs,” according to the group's press release.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and The Raw Story

Michael Beckel / iWatch News by The Center …:

Four Cabinet members willing to help Democratic super PACs — Fundraising activities are limited, but star power brings in the bucks — 14 minutes, 55 seconds ago Updated: 13 minutes, 38 seconds ago — At least four Cabinet members appear ready and willing to answer President Barack Obama's call …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Weasel Zippers and Politico

Byron Tau / Politico:
W.H. ruling reopens cabinet access

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog and About.com US Politics

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Whitney Houston album price hike sparks controversy — Sony Music under fire after cost of greatest hits set on iTunes rises by more than 60% after singer's death — Sony Music has come under fire after it increased the price of a Whitney Houston album on Apple's iTunes Store hours after the singer was found dead.

Discussion: VentureBeat, ThinkProgress, Truthdig, The Daily Caller, The Hinterland Gazette, Colorlines and Metro.co.uk

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Republican Women Senators Breaking Ranks With Party, Come Out In Favor Of Obama Contraception Rule — While GOP senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pledged to fight the Obama's administration's modified regulation requiring health insurers and busnisses to offer contraception …

Discussion: Washington Post, Firedoglake, The Maddow Blog, The Raw Story, Daily Kos and Pundit & Pundette

Associated Press:

Justice Breyer robbed at West Indies vacation home — WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by a machete-wielding intruder at his vacation home in the West Indies, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said Monday. — The 73-year-old Breyer, wife Joanna and guests were confronted …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, The St. Kitts-Nevis Observer, CNN, Mediaite, The Caucus and The Hill

Richard Florida / The Atlantic Cities:

Why America Keeps Getting More Conservative — Even with the president's approval rating showing signs of life and the Republicans busily bashing themselves over the head — “one is a practicing polygamist and he's not even the Mormon,” retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quipped …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, In America, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Reaction and Althouse

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

‘Former Homosexual’ Calls for Dan Savage's Arrest — DL Foster, an anti-gay activist and professed “former homosexual,” called for the arrest of author Dan Savage for his role in founding the It Gets Better Project, which has consistently been in the crosshairs of Religious Right activists …

Discussion: Gay Christian Movement Watch, Crooks and Liars and Towleroad News #gay