memeorandum: Latest Stress Tests Are Expected to Show Progress at Most Banks (Nelson D. Schwartz/New York Times)

4:50 PM ET, March 12, 2012

Top Items:

Gas prices sink Obama's ratings on economy, bring parity to race for White House — Disapproval of President Obama's handling of the economy is heading higher — alongside gasoline prices — as a record number of Americans now give the president “strongly” negative reviews …

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Santorum Concedes: He Can't Win The Nomination Outright — Winning by losing? Strategy memo is less a “path to victory” as it is a path to a contested convention. — Santorum talks with supporters during a stop at Sweet Peppers Deli, Sunday, March 11, 2012, in Tupelo, Miss. — (AP / Eric Gay)

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Indecision Forever, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Reuters and The Spectacle Blog

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Obama Still Muslim, Report Southern Republicans — It has been a while since the question of President Obama's religion — his true religion, maybe the religion he or his “church” don't want you to know about — has been on the national agenda. And the upcoming Alabama and Mississippi primaries …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, American Prospect, The New Republic, Connecting.the.Dots, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, The Maddow Blog and ThinkProgress

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Too close to call in Alabama and Mississippi — Tuesday looks like it's going to be a close election night in both Mississippi and Alabama. In Mississippi Newt Gingrich is holding on to a slight lead with 33% to 31% for Mitt Romney, 27% for Rick Santorum, and 7% for Ron Paul.

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Firedoglake, The War Room …, Guardian, Politico, Political Insider, GOP 12, American Prospect, The Political Carnival, Outside the Beltway, americanthinker.com, The Other McCain and Washington Wire

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Mitt Romney wishes Mobile 'good mornin" — MOBILE, Ala. — Mitt Romney spent the last week trying to convince Southern voters that he was one of them ahead of primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. — But at an event at a restaurant the day before Tuesday's primaries, he all but admitted it was an act.

Discussion: CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Ballot Box, Don Surber and Daily Kos

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Michael Steele: “I Wanted a Brokered Convention”

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite and The Impolitic

Carl Cameron / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE: Gingrich-Perry Pre-Convention Ticket in the Works

Discussion: BOR, CBS News, Bloomberg, TheBlaze.com, The Other McCain, Hot Air, CNN, The Hill, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CANNONFIRE and Taegan Goddard's …

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
The Future Is Far from Certain

Discussion: Washington Post, msnbc.com, Guardian and The Daily Dish

Mj Lee / Politico:
Mitt Romney: I'm weak? What about Newt Gingrich?

Discussion: CNN, The Lonely Conservative and The Hill

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Always Thinks He's Going To Win

Discussion: GOP 12

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
WaPo/ABC poll shows Obama hammered by gas prices

Discussion: National Review, American Prospect, The Right Sphere, Washington Post and Pundit & Pundette

CNN:

Romney to forgo Medicare — Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) - Mitt Romney is celebrating his 65th birthday. But unlike many seniors who reach that age, the GOP presidential candidate will forgo the Medicare program, according to a source with the Romney campaign.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Indecision Forever and ABCNEWS

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Mitt Romney Will Not Enroll In Medicare — Turns down entitlement coverage on first day of eligibility. — (Getty Images / Win McNamee) — Mitt Romney will not enroll in Medicare, choosing to maintain his private insurance as his sole coverage, his campaign confirms.

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, TheBlaze.com and The Raw Story

Z. Byron Wolf / ABCNEWS: Mitt Romney Not Enrolling in Medicare on 65th Birthday

Bobby Jindal / CNN:
Jindal won't endorse before Louisiana primary

Discussion: Politico, GOP 12 and The Page

CNN:
Santorum on Afghan shooting: Someone ‘lost it’

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Agence France Presse and The Hill

Associated Press:

Justice Dept opposes Texas voter ID law — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department's civil rights division on Monday objected to a new photo ID requirement for voters in Texas because many Hispanic voters lack state-issued identification. — Texas follows South Carolina as the second state …

Discussion: The Other McCain, The PJ Tatler and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Justice Department rejects Texas voter ID law

Discussion: CNN

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Justice blocks Texas voter ID law

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE: 141 Companies Drop Advertising From Rush Limbaugh — ThinkProgress has obtained an internal memo from Premiere Radio Networks listing 96 national companies that have “specifically asked” their advertisments not be played during the Rush Limbaugh Show. Premiere is the distributor of Limbaugh's program.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Raw Story, ECHIDNE of the snakes and The Mahablog, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:

Santorum Campaign Responds To Dutch Euthanasia Outrage — Rick Santorum has drawn fire for controversial statements about assisted suicide in the Netherlands. In an impromptu interview with Dutch television station RTL4, Santorum press secretary Alice Stewart offered no explanation …

Discussion: FP Passport, The Maddow Blog, Mediaite and A plain blog about politics

E.J. Dionne / Real Clear Politics:

Catholicism Is Not the Tea Party at Prayer — WASHINGTON — The nation's Roman Catholic bishops will make an important decision this week: Do they want to defend the church's legitimate interest in religious autonomy, or do they want to wage an election-year war against President Obama?

Discussion: National Review and Balloon Juice

The New Republic:
The 1990s Roots of the Contraception Battle

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Mother Jones

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Rep. Stearns On Obama Birth's Certificate: ‘The Question Is, Is It Legitimate?’ — New video of a February town hall shows Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) pandering to birthers and raising questions about the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate. — When Stearns met with constituents …

Independent.ie:

Nicky Larkin: Israel is a refuge, but a refuge under siege — Through making a film about the Israeli-Arab conflict, artist Nicky Larkin found his allegiances swaying — I used to hate Israel. I used to think the Left was always right. Not any more. Now I loathe Palestinian terrorists.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Israel Matzav, National Review, Atlas Shrugs, normblog and Cold Fury

Allysia Finley / Wall Street Journal:

Coffee Is an Essential Benefit Too — Here are some other health-care mandates that government should impose on employers. — Dear President Obama, — Can you believe the nerve of employers? Many of them still seem to think that they should be allowed to determine the benefits they offer.

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jackie Borchardt / Dayton Daily News:

Bill introduced to regulate men's reproductive health — Part of a trend, she likens the bill to men legislating 'a woman's womb.' — COLUMBUS - Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Indecision Forever, Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Suburban Guerrilla, Sky Dancing, Addicting Info, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Bradley Manning's treatment was cruel and inhuman, UN torture chief rules — UN special rapporteur on torture's findings likely to reignite criticism of US government's treatment of WikiLeaks suspect — The UN special rapporteur on torture has formally accused the US government of cruel …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, CANNONFIRE and Towleroad News #gay

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

Reid: Republicans clogging judicial confirmation process to embarrass Obama — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) charged Senate Republicans on Monday of gumming up the Senate's judicial confirmation process in order to embarrass President Obama, and said he plans to file cloture …

Discussion: Politico and ThinkProgress

ABCNEWS:

Hoopster-in-Chief Obama Offers NCAA Bracket Challenge — “Think you got game?” That's the question President Obama is posing to sports fans in a new, online interactive contest aimed at expanding his re-election campaign's contact list and collecting some grassroots cash.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Hot Air and TheBlaze.com

Alana Horowitz / The Huffington Post:

Ken Griffin, Billionaire Romney Backer, Says Super Rich Have ‘An Insufficient Influence’ On Politics … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Video, Ken Griffen Romney, Ken Griffin, Ken Griffin Campaign Contributions, Ken Griffin Political Donations, Mitt Romney 2012, Romney, Romney 2012, Politics News

Discussion: Daily Kos, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Mother Jones