memeorandum: Rick Santorum Faces a Grilling at CNN Debate (Howard Kurtz/The Daily Beast)

8:10 PM ET, February 22, 2012

Top Items:

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Team Santorum: U.S. is with Rick on devil belief — MESA, Ariz. — Some of Rick Santorum's advisers are frustrated and angry that reporters are focusing more on their candidate's statements about Satan than on his positions on the issues. Here in Arizona Tuesday, Santorum faced repeated questioning …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Campaign Stops, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, RedState, Mediaite, Pundit & Pundette, National Review and The Daily Caller

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Rick Santorum Faces a Grilling at CNN Debate — The GOP's new frontrunner will be under a harsh spotlight in Wednesday's CNN debate after widely covered remarks on explosive social issues like Obama's theology, prenatal care, and home schooling. — It doesn't take a crystal ball to predict …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Week, Politico, Big Journalism, The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online, American Power, Daily Kos, Blue Mass Group, The Agonist, Connecting.the.Dots and The Caucus

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama ties Romney with Arizona — Arizona is a great microcosm of how Barack Obama's reelection prospects have improved over the last 3 months. When we polled there in November his approval numbers were atrocious and his prospects for winning the state in the general election didn't look very good.

Discussion: CNN, Quinnipiac University, msnbc.com, Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, Guardian and Ballot Box, more at Mediagazer »

ABCNEWS:

Chris Christie: Rick Santorum's Satan Comments Are Relevant — Rick Santorum says his 2008 comments that “Satan has set his sights on the United States of America” are “not relevant” to the 2012 presidential race, but Chris Christie told me on “GMA” that Santorum is wrong.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Arizona Republic, The Moderate Voice, The Week, CNN, his vorpal sword, Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, The Maddow Blog, Opinion L.A., No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, The Other McCain, Washington Post, Drudge Report and The Huffington Post

Mollie Reilly / The Huffington Post:

Alan Simpson: Rick Santorum Is ‘Rigid And A Homophobic’ … 2012 Elections , Rick Santorum , Video , Alan Simpson , Politics News , Election 2012 , Rick Santorum 2012 , Santorum , Politics News — Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wy.) weighed in on the Republican presidential primary on Wednesday …

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Human Rights Campaign

CNN:
Polls indicate Romney on the rise in Arizona

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hill and Hot Air

detroitnews.com:
Detroit News endorsement: Mitt Romney for Michigan GOP primary

Discussion: Guardian, Ballot Box, The Caucus, New York Times, The Impolitic, American Prospect, msnbc.com, Politico, Online NewsHour and Washington Post

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Bush Appointee Finds DOMA Unconstitutional — Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution's equal protection clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski.

Discussion: San Diego Gay and Lesbian, Gay Politics and Human Rights Campaign

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:

BREAKING: DOMA's Federal Definition of Marriage Unconstitutional, Judge Rules in Golinski Case — Today, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued its order finding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act — the federal definition of marriage …

Discussion: The Raw Story, The New Civil Rights Movement, Wilshire & Washington and Shakesville

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Another court finds Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional — Another federal judge has found unconstitutional a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law which forbids providing federal government benefits to same-sex spouses. — U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Anita Kumar / Washington Post:

Virginia governor no longer fully supports ultrasounds before abortions — RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is backing off his unconditional support for a bill requiring women to have an ultrasound before an abortion, focusing new attention on one of the most controversial pieces …

Alexander Burns / Politico:
McDonnell comes out against invasive ultrasound mandate (UPDATED)

Discussion: Feministing

Sam Baker / The Hill:
Virginia House passes controversial anti-abortion bill

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Sky Dancing and Daily Kos

Anita Kumar / Washington Post:
Virginia Republicans look to amend ultrasound bill

Discussion: The New Republic, Politico, Mediaite, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

RESTORE AMERICA'S PROMISE: MORE JOBS, LESS DEBT, SMALLER GOVERNMENT — Increasing economic growth, employment, and incomes is a cornerstone of Mitt Romney's policy agenda. Faster growth creates the jobs and generates the incomes to fund the aspirations of American families …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Barrometer, Political Mojo, ThinkProgress, Swampland, Talking Points Memo, The Maddow Blog, The Lonely Conservative, msnbc.com, Guardian and ABCNEWS

Wall Street Journal:
Romney Pushes Across-the-Board Tax Cuts

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, The Caucus, The Daily Dish and Truthdig

New York Times:
Obama Unveils Plan to Cut Corporate Tax Rate to 28 Percent

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Maddow Blog, The Caucus, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Outside the Beltway

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:
Why Obama's corporate tax plan is a total bust

Discussion: Political Mojo, National Review, Politico, Hot Air and The Hill

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama proposes lowering corporate tax rate to 28 percent

Discussion: New York Times, Jared Bernstein, Pirate's Cove, Business Insider, neo-neocon, Daily Kos, US Politics, The New Republic, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative and Shakesville

Robert Winnett / Telegraph:

50p tax rate ‘failing to boost revenues’ — The amount of income tax paid fell sharply last month in the first formal indication that the new 50p higher rate is not raising the expected amount of revenue. — A Treasury source said the relatively poor revenues from self-assessment returns …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wake up America, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Heritage Foundation, Big Government, RedState, Don Surber, CARPE DIEM, The Lonely Conservative, Pirate's Cove and TigerHawk

Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Dividend Assault — A plan to triple the tax rate would hurt all shareholders. — President Obama's 2013 budget is the gift that keeps on giving—to government. One buried surprise is his proposal to triple the tax rate on corporate dividends, which believe it or not is higher than in his previous budgets.

Discussion: Vodkapundit, RedState, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Townhall.com and Betsy's Page

Joshua Green / Business Week:

Dow 13,000? Thank Democrats — Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly peaked above 13,000 before dipping at the close. Like all Dow milestones, this one touched off the usual celebration. It may be no coincidence that the market is rising under a Democratic president.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online and US Politics

Bob Drummond / Bloomberg:
Stocks Return More With Dem in White House

Discussion: Liberal Values

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez Loses Her Hair Stylist Over Gay Marriage Opposition — An openly-gay hair stylist in New Mexico is protesting Gov. Susana Martinez's (R) opposition to same-sex marriage by refusing to style her hair unless she changes her position on the issue.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

KOB.com:
Hair stylist refuses to cut Gov. Martinez' hair

Discussion: Wizbang and The Raw Story

William Saletan / Slate:

The Conversion — How, when, and why Mitt Romney changed his mind on abortion. — To understand Mitt Romney, you have to understand the most difficult passage of his political life: how he changed his position on abortion. Not the story he tells about it, but the real story.

Discussion: American Prospect, The New Republic, Washington Monthly and The Atlantic Online

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

Some More Thoughts on Heartland — I know that many of you are probably sick of this story, for which I apologize. I'm crunching on a column after a weekend family emergency, so the other blogging which would normally be interspersed with the Heartland stuff is going to be very light through at least tomorrow.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Global Warming Alarmists Resort to Hoax

Discussion: Via Meadia, Maggie's Farm, JunkScience.com, Wall Street Journal, Tom Nelson, Quark Soup and The Volokh Conspiracy

Tina Korbe / Hot Air:

What I'd love to see at tonight's debate: Ashes — It is Ash Wednesday, after all, and, if Joe Biden is willing to sport soot in public, then surely Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum will be, too. — Why do I want to see smudged crosses on their foreheads?

Discussion: Townhall.com

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Before Critical Debate, Gingrich Is Urged to Be Himself

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Caucus, Daily Kos and Political Insider

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

EXCLUSIVE: The Memo that Larry Summers Didn't Want Obama to See — For the past three years, Washington journalists and politicos have obsessed over a 57-page memo that Barack Obama's incoming economic team prepared for him in late 2008. The document has achieved such totemic status for good reason …

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, Questions and Observations, Economist's View and Business Insider

Tim Mak / Politico:

Chris Christie tells Warren Buffett: ‘Shut up’ — Chris Christie has heard enough about Warren Buffett, and in typical fashion, the New Jersey governor had a certain blunt way of putting it. — “He should just write a check and shut up,” Christie said Tuesday on CNN's “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

Discussion: Business Insider, Wake up America, Wonkette and The Lonely Conservative

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
A simple solution to inequality: Stop talking about it

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and The New Civil Rights Movement

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:

Planned Parenthood Rape Myth Debunked, 99% Do Ultrasounds — Abortion advocates in Virginia have come under heavy criticism for equating the ultrasound legislation there would allow women to see before an abortion to rape. Yet, while abortion backers say having an ultrasound is like getting raped …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, RedState, NO QUARTER, Verum Serum, streiff's blog and Commentary Magazine

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Someone forgot to obtain a waiver — Multiple metaphors in this photo. — From reader Eric: … Metaphor Alert:

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

Mystification and Triumphalism — Why the left can't handle the truth about social conservatism. — Social liberals have two basic approaches to social conservatism: mystification and triumphalism. Both reflect a failure of understanding—but more than that, an incapacity to understand …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Democracy in America, Althouse, American Power and Instapundit

KHOU-TV:

1 passenger detained after disturbance on Continental flight headed to Houston — HOUSTON—Charges may be filed against a man accused of causing a disturbance on a Continental Airlines flight bound for Houston on Tuesday. — Passengers said the man was a hassle from the beginning and once …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs

Nick Bilton / Bits:

Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year's End — People who constantly reach into a pocket to check a smartphone for bits of information will soon have another option: a pair of Google-made glasses that will be able to stream information to the wearer's eyeballs in real time.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Poynter, The Mary Sue and The TechBlock

Megan Reust / WANE-TV:

Local lawmaker won't honor Girl Scouts — FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne lawmaker's refusing to sign a resolution to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts. — He says he chose not to because of things he uncovered about the organization while surfing the web.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Outside the Beltway and The Snitch