memeorandum: Perry endorses Romney after Gingrich signals an exit (Justin Sink/Ballot Box)

11:45 PM ET, April 25, 2012

Top Items:

Mitt Romney's Debt to Newt Gingrich — Given the way Gingrich wore out his welcome, Romney could easily leave him out in the cold. But he owes his rival for one big favor. — Newt Gingrich is preparing to drop out of the presidential race, and not a moment too soon.

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Campaign 2012

CNN:

Republicans request investigation of Obama travel — (CNN) - President Barack Obama isn't just playing politics - he may be committing fraud on the taxpayer's dime, the Republican National Committee charged on Wednesday. — In a letter to the Government Accountability Office …

Discussion: Politico

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:

Perry endorses Romney after Gingrich signals an exit — Texas governor Rick Perry announced Wednesday night that he would endorse Mitt Romney's presidential bid, hours the campaign of Newt Gingrich — Perry's previous choice — announced that the former Speaker would be ending his bid for the White House.

CNN:

Gingrich to end White House bid — Washington (CNN) - Newt Gingrich will officially end his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and formally express his support for Mitt Romney next week, two sources close to Gingrich tell CNN. — While details are still being worked out …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politicker, Wake up America, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, Liberal Values, Weasel Zippers, HotAirPundit, Indecision Forever, Tea Party Tribune, Mediaite, Gallup and Daily Kos

Newt Gingrich / CNN:
Texas governor switches endorsement from Gingrich to Romney

Discussion: Politico and Towleroad News #gay

CNN:
Poll: Dead heat in Arizona

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, GOP 12, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Obama and Romney tied, but majority of voters say neither has plan to fix the economy

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, HotAirPundit, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Olivier Knox / ABCNEWS:
RNC calls for investigation into Obama's travel costs for ambiguously political trips

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Jason Zengerle / GQ:
Mitt Romney's Dark Knight

Discussion: Politico and ThinkProgress

Jake Sherman / Politico:
House GOP to back lower student loan rates

Discussion: Washington Monthly and National Review

The Caucus:
Gingrich Tells Romney He Will Quit Race

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, Gothamist, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and Campaign 2012

BuzzFeed:
Republican National Committee Files Complaint Over Obama Travel

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Mediaite and Washington Post

Carl Cameron / Fox News:
Gingrich to leave presidential race next Tuesday, sources say

Discussion: The Raw Story, GOP 12, Vodkapundit, Guardian, Roll Call, The Gateway Pundit, ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Politico

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Argument recap: A choice between radical and reasonable? — Analysis — With Justice Antonin Scalia pushing the radical idea that the Constitution gives states clear authority to close their borders entirely to immigrants without a legal right to be in the U.S., seven other Justices …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Swampland, Sky Dancing, Lawyers, Guns & Money and New York Times

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

A Bad Day In Court for the Obama Administration — Some years ago, I worked on a big case in Alaska and spent a lot of time there. At that time, the local bar was buzzing about a lawyer who had a really bad day in court: he was kicked to death by a moose in the parking lot of the federal courthouse in Anchorage.

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

Supreme Court seems favorable to Arizona illegal immigration law — Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared highly doubtful of the Obama administration's objections to a controversial immigration law in Arizona. — The ideologically diverse group of justices pummeled Solicitor General Donald Verrilli …

Discussion: Politico, The Moderate Voice, ABC News, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and Wake up America

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Arizona Immigration Law Argued at Supreme Court — WASHINGTON — Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared inclined on Wednesday to uphold a controversial part of Arizona's aggressive 2010 immigration law, based on their questions at a Supreme Court argument.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Sky Dancing, msnbc.com, Fox News, Guardian, Firedoglake, SCOTUSblog, Politico, Washington Wire, ACS Blog, Patterico's Pontifications and Althouse

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Supreme Court casts doubt on Obama's immigration law claim

Discussion: Althouse, Reuters, The Huffington Post, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, msnbc.com and The Spectacle Blog

Chris Francescani / Reuters:

George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting — (Reuters) - A pit bull named Big Boi began menacing George and Shellie Zimmerman in the fall of 2009. — The first time the dog ran free and cornered Shellie in their gated community in Sanford, Florida, George called the owner to complain.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, JustOneMinute, The Other McCain and PoliPundit.com

Washington Free Beacon:

Liberal Media Mock Obama for Faux Campaign — Members of the media are questioning the Obama administration's numerous “official business” trips to swing states, during which he has been giving stump speeches and raising campaign funds. — High-profile Washington reporters engaged in a line …

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
OVERNIGHT TECH: House weighs changes to cybersecurity bill after veto threat

Discussion: Politico

Mary Milliken / Reuters:
Kimmel to “feast on stupid comments” at White House dinner

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, RedState, Mediaite and The Immoral Minority

Ben Shapiro / BREITBART.COM:

OBAMA'S FALLON APPEARANCE VIOLATED CAMPAIGN LAW — Last night, President Obama appeared on Jimmy Fallon's unwatchable show to “slow-jam the news.” By this, Fallon meant that Obama would read a campaign speech about student loans, Fallon would utter a few lines to back him up every so often …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Magazine, The Other McCain and TBogg

Peter Grier / Christian Science Monitor:
Obama slow jams the news with Jimmy Fallon. How does that work? (+video)

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, Newsy and Ezra Klein

Rolling Stone:

Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama — The president discusses his job, the opposition and the coming campaign — We arrived at the White House on Easter Monday, the South Lawn overrun by children and their parents enjoying the annual Easter Egg Roll.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Campaign 2012, Politico, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, Liberal Values, Hit & Run, CNN, Advocate, The Raw Story, Booman Tribune and ThinkProgress

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Barack Obama is cool. Mitt Romney is not. What does it mean for 2012?

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, ABCNEWS and The Enterprise Blog

Noreen O'Donnell / The Daily:

Family misses flight after TSA screeners target disabled 7-year-old — Dina Frank, who is developmentally disabled, wound up on the TSA's radar at John F. Kennedy Airport — Dr. Joshua Frank, a pediatrician, and his 7-year-old daughter Dina, who has cerebral palsy.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, The Consumerist and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Robert Draper Book: GOP's Anti-Obama Campaign Started Night Of Inauguration … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Republican Party, Barack Obama , Obama's Inauguration, Republican Party, Video, Obama Election, Obama Congressional Republicans, Robert Draper, Robert Draper Obama, Politics News

Discussion: Indecision Forever

Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:

Jimmah: Obama Will Win Re-election, But I'd Be “Comfortable” With Romney … How many other Dems will be “comfortable” with Romney? — Sign-Up to receive Updates from TH — Sign Up — Breaking on TOWNHALL — It's probably about time Greg Hengler started getting “comfortable” with Romney too.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Lisa Derrick / Lisa Derrick's myFDL diary:

Fred Karger Campaign Ad Flagged, Pulled by YouTube — Citing their Terms of Service, YouTube yanked GOP presidential candidate's Fred Karger's “Sexy Frisbee” California campaign video after it was flagged by YouTube viewers. The video is now on Vimeo. — Karger, who is openly gay …

Discussion: Advocate

Spencer Ackerman / Wired:

Exclusive: Senior U.S. General Orders Top-to-Bottom Review of Military's Islam Training — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday ordered the entire U.S. military to scour its training material to ensure it doesn't contain anti-Islamic content, Danger Room has learned.

Discussion: New York Times and Weasel Zippers

John M. Becker / Truth Wins Out:

EXCLUSIVE: Dr. Robert Spitzer Apologizes to Gay Community for Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study — Today, in a letter to Dr. Ken Zucker obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out, Dr. Robert Spitzer made an unprecedented apology to the gay community — and victims of reparative therapy in particular …

Discussion: Prop 8 Trial Tracker, American Prospect and Towleroad News #gay

Glenn Hubbard / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Budget Means a Tax Increase on Everyone — Maintaining the president's higher spending levels will require raising taxes for all Americans, including an 11% increase on those earning less than $200,000. — The defeat in the Senate of the so-called “Buffett Rule” …

Discussion: TaxProf Blog, New York Times, The Maddow Blog, Ezra Klein, The Caucus and Instapundit

Wyatt Buchanan / San Francisco Chronicle:

State bill would let non-doctors perform abortions — Sacramento — As states across the country are passing laws to restrict access to abortion, California lawmakers are considering a significant expansion of who would be able to perform the procedure in the state.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Shakesville

Jamie Burch / www2.wkrg.com:

Career Criminal Arrested In Matthew Owens Beating … Terry Rawls did not say a word to News 5 and other media outlets as police took him from police headquarters to a patrol car. — Rawls has an extensive criminal history in Mobile and Baldwin counties including assault, burglary, theft and cocaine possession.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Breaking News …, The Spectacle Blog and The Gateway Pundit

Patrick Richardson / The Daily Caller:

Rural kids, parents angry about Labor Dept. rule banning farm chores — A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district member of Congress. But now it's attracting barbs from farm kids themselves.