memeorandum: Plutocracy, Paralysis, Perplexity (Paul Krugman/New York Times)

10:40 AM ET, May 4, 2012

Top Items:

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:

People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 — it is just getting sad now. In April the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 522,000 from 87,897,000 to — 88,419,000. This is the highest on record.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com, The Lonely Conservative, Via Meadia and The PJ Tatler

Shobhana Chandra / Bloomberg:

Employers in U.S. Added Fewer Jobs Than Forecast in April — Employers in the U.S. added fewer workers than forecast in April and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined as people left the labor force, underscoring concern the world's largest economy may be losing speed.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and The Page

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Economy adds 115,000 jobs; unemployment drops to 8.1 percent — The nation's economy added 115,00 jobs in April while the unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a point to 8.1 percent. — The figures are lower than a month ago and were also below what many analysts had expected.

Discussion: CNN, Reuters, Michelle Malkin and Hot Air

Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:

Economy adds 115,000 jobs in April; unemployment rate drops to 8.1 percent — The unemployment rate dropped a notch to 8.1 percent in April, the Labor Department reported on Friday, but the pace of job growth has fallen off, amid other signs that the economic recovery is losing momentum.

Discussion: CNBC and Ezra Klein

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

U.S. Added Only 115,000 Jobs in April; Rate Is 8.1% — The United States had another month of disappointing job growth in April, the Labor Department said Friday. — The nation's employers added 115,000 positions on net, after adding 154,000 in March. April's job growth was less than what economists had been predicting.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Economix and Gothamist

Investor's Business Daily:

NBC Wags Dog For Bill Clinton, Who Let Osama Escape — Media: NBC's presentation of “Rock Center with Brian Williams” last Wednesday night demonstrated that MSNBC's Chris Matthews isn't the only one who feels tingles up his leg when he talks with or about President Obama.

Chris McGreal / Guardian:
Al-Qaida memo to Bin Laden warns of ‘cunning methods’ of US news networks

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Shot in the Dark

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Romney Speaks Out On Grenell Resignation: We Don't Select People Based On ‘Their Sexual Preference’ — Mitt Romney spoke out about the resignation of ex-foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell during an appearance on Fox News this morning. In doing so, the former Massachusetts governor failed …

Discussion: American Prospect, Firedoglake, Mother Jones, Hot Air and The Huffington Post

Plain Dealer:

Mitt Romney issues Ohio challenge to President Obama — Welcome to Ohio. I have a simple question for you: Where are the jobs? — As we enter the fourth year of your term, unemployment is over 8 percent and has been for your entire term. Nearly 23 million men and women are unemployed …

Discussion: American Prospect, The Hill, Power Line, msnbc.com and Business Insider

Washington Post:

Romney faces a narrow path to 270 electoral votes, but his team remains optimistic — BOSTON — Mitt Romney faces a narrow path to win the presidency, one that requires winning back states that President Obama took from Republicans four years earlier and that has few apparent opportunities …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, New York Magazine and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:

Clinton Cites ‘Progress’ on Chinese Dissident — BEIJING — In her first public comments on the dissident Chen Guangcheng since arriving in China, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Friday that she was encouraged by “progress” in a diplomatic crisis that has deeply embarrassed …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, The Hill, New York Magazine, americanthinker.com, FP Passport, LifeNews.com, The Political Carnival and Patterico's Pontifications

Joe Picard / The Hill:
Obama administration hits back on notion that it abandoned Chen in China

Discussion: Eschaton

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:
Chinese dissident Chen becomes political headache for Obama

Discussion: National Review

Politico:

The dangerous new Obama book — Months before Barack Obama knew Mitt Romney would be his political opponent in 2012, the president knew the identity of his foremost literary challenger: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Maraniss, who had been reaching out to Obama's old friends, classmates and lovers for the past several years.

Discussion: CNN, Media Decoder, Bloomberg, Dispatch Politics, Gallup, National Review and Taylor Marsh

Washington Post:
Post Poll: Obama leads Romney as campaigns converge on Virginia

Discussion: ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Race 4 2012, Campaign 2012, Washington Wire, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather, The Caucus, CNN, Ballot Box, Outside the Beltway, Politico, The Hill and Reuters

Dave Boyer / Washington Times:
RNC campaign parodies Obama '08 sticker

Discussion: CNN, nation.foxnews.com, Associated Press and Weasel Zippers

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Plutocracy, Paralysis, Perplexity — Before the Great Recession, I would sometimes give public lectures in which I would talk about rising inequality, making the point that the concentration of income at the top had reached levels not seen since 1929. Often, someone in the audience …

Discussion: Washington Post, Prairie Weather and LewRockwell.com Blog

Tim Mak / Politico:

Gingrich: Romney said untrue things — Newt Gingrich accused Mitt Romney on Thursday of saying “things that weren't true,"but fell short of reasserting his claim that Romney was a liar. — “I still believe that the Romney campaign said things that weren't true,” said Gingrich on CNN's “Situation Room.”

Discussion: CNN

Washington Examiner:
Klein: Obama is winning the general election

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air and The Jawa Report

Jonathan Easley / The Hill: Perry: ‘God help us’ if Romney loses

BREITBART.COM:

OBAMA PRAISES NAZI SUPPORTER IN JEWISH HERITAGE MONTH PROCLAMATION — President Barack Obama issued a proclamation yesterday in celebration of Jewish Heritage Month that lauded Nazi supporter Gertrude Stein, the Algemeiner reports. — Stein, who was Jewish, supported the puppet Vichy regime …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, The Jawa Report and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Algemeiner.com:
White House Cites Nazi Supporter In Jewish Heritage Month Proclamation (UPDATE)

Discussion: Israel Matzav, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

‘Julia’ — Alas, Team Obama has omitted a few milestones from the life of Julia: — 4 months: Julia's mother decides that giving birth will be hard on her figure. She kills Julia. Under Barack Obama, her right to do so is absolutely nonnegotiable. — 10 years: Trapped in a failing …

Discussion: Politico, BREITBART.COM, Power Line, TheBlaze.com, Naked DC, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, ABCNEWS and Hot Air

David Harsanyi / Human Events:
Who the hell is “Julia” and why am I paying for her whole life?

BBC:

New rape claim in Strauss-Kahn inquiry in France — Mr Strauss-Kahn had to resign as head of the IMF after he was accused of sexual assault — Magistrates in France have asked for a new investigation into alleged rape involving former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan.

Discussion: Telegraph and Reuters

Jonathan H. Adler / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Secondary Boycotts and the Breakdown of Civil Society — Activist groups of various political stripes are increasingly urging boycotts of companies not because of the companies' own behavior, but because of the behavior or speech of those the companies patronize or support.

Discussion: Lean Left and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion