memeorandum: Senator Brown sought to loosen bank rules (The Boston Globe)

8:35 PM ET, June 4, 2012

Top Items:

Who Survives? — Our final poll in the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election comes after an impressive debate performance by Democrat Tom Barrett — who may have saved his best for last. The highlight for many viewers was when Barrett took beleaguered Republican Gov. Scott Walker …

Discussion: National Review, Addicting Info, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Weekly Standard and The Daily Beast

Josh Eidelson / Salon:

Wisconsin's resentment factor — Anger toward labor will be a big factor in Tuesday's recall. But unions haven't grown too big; they're too small — MADISON — If Scott Walker survives tomorrow's election, there will be plenty of reasons. Many people will point to his huge cash advantage, for good reason.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Daily Dish

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Walker leads by 3 points — PPP's final poll on the Wisconsin recall finds Scott Walker ahead, but also a race that's tightening. Walker leads Tom Barrett 50-47. That's down from 50-45 on a PPP poll conducted three weeks ago and it's also down from a 52-45 lead that Walker posted in a Marquette Law poll released last week.

Discussion: Ballot Box, Firedoglake, Weekly Standard, Wall Street Journal, Washington Free Beacon, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mother Jones, National Review, Campaign 2012, americanthinker.com and Balloon Juice

Will Oremus / Slate:
What the Wisconsin Recall Tells Us About November: Nothing

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The New Republic and The Hill

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gov. Walker knocks Obama for shying away from Wisconsin recall

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Guardian

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
PPP's Final Wisconsin Poll Shows Scott Walker Edging Tom Barrett

Discussion: Associated Press, Reuters, Guardian, The Raw Story, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Recall Elections Blog and Weekly Standard

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Recall Battle in Wisconsin May Snarl Obama Camp

Discussion: Washington Post, The New Republic, Via Meadia, The Caucus, Politico, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org, The Gateway Pundit and JSOnline

Brendan O'Brien / Reuters:
Two new polls show tight race in Wisconsin recall

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, The Page and News Desk, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:

Bill Clinton: Romney Presidency Would Be Calamitous For The World — Last week he complimented Romney, today he doesn't pull any punches. — (AP / Ronald Zak) — Former President Bill Clinton warned of global danger in the event Mitt Romney wins in the fall — a shift in tone …

CNN:
Poll: Romney's favorable rating jumps, but Obama still more popular

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog, US Politics, Questions and Observations, Politico, GOP 12 and The Page

Bill Clinton / CNN:
Clinton and Obama hit up the Big Apple

Discussion: Politico and Weekly Standard

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Romney-backed solar firm flops, Dems pounce — A Massachusetts solar company to which Mitt Romney personally delivered a $1.5 million loan when he was governor has gone belly up, leaving him vulnerable to the same “picking winners and losers” charges that he's been lobbing at President Barack Obama over Solyndra.

Discussion: Hit & Run, RedState, Daily Kos and CNN

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
5 Facts About The Massachusetts Economy Under Mitt Romney

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Rumproast and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Callum Borchers / Boston Globe:
President Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns battle over Mass. job growth numbers

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, theGrio and The Raw Story

New York Post:

Timothy Cardinal Dolan blasts NYT over report he authorized payments to pedophile priests — Timothy Cardinal Dolan yesterday blasted a report that he authorized payments to pedophile priests — and said no such payments are being made to New York clerics. — Dolan, while serving …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish and Joe. My. God.

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Have We Reached an Economic Tipping Point for the President? - Today's Q's for O's WH - 6/4/2012 — TAPPER: Who specifically is “rooting for failure”? — CARNEY: I think that when you have a situation where action is not being taken on Capitol Hill where it is obvious …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

BuzzFeed:

Obama's 2008 Donors Don't Give In 2012 — Nearly 90% of the Americans who gave $200 to Obama's 2008 campaign haven't re-upped this year. Disillusionment, and hard times: “I wish he was the socialist they accused him of being,” says one. — Donors who gave $200 to Barack Obama in 2008 but have not yet in 2012, by location.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Moe_Lane's blog, Taylor Marsh, Politico, American Prospect, The Confluence, Scared Monkeys, The Moderate Voice, Power Line, National Review, GOP 12, americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, hogewash and GayPatriot

Ezra Klein:

The Keynesian case for Romney — Even if you disagree with every one of Mitt Romney's policies, there's a chance he's still the best candidate to lift the economy in 2013. — That's not because he has business experience. For all his bluster about the lessons taught by the private sector …

Discussion: Business Insider, Hot Air and Talking Points Memo

Billy House / NationalJournal.com:

Erupting Urinal Soaks House Press Gallery — A big splash occurred on Monday morning at the House Press Gallery in the U.S. Capitol. — No, this wasn't one of those unexpected guest appearances for celebrities to talk to reporters about some favorite cause. — This splash came from an exploding urinal.

Discussion: Wonkette, Indecision Forever and New York Magazine

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:

Cuomo Seeks Cut in Frisk Arrests — Wading into the debate over stop-and-frisk police tactics, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo plans to ask legislators on Monday for a change in New York State law that would drastically reduce the number of people who could be arrested for marijuana possession as a result of police stops.

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, Outside the Beltway, The Stranger …, Gothamist, theGrio, Hit & Run, The Reaction, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Guardian, The Raw Story, Brennan Center for Justice, Boing Boing and Joe. My. God.

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
Bloomberg Backs Plan to Limit Arrests for Marijuana

Discussion: City Room, The Daily Caller, Gothamist, New York Magazine, nyc.gov and Washington Free Beacon

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

This Republican Economy — What should be done about the economy? Republicans claim to have the answer: slash spending and cut taxes. What they hope voters won't notice is that that's precisely the policy we've been following the past couple of years. Never mind the Democrat in the White House …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Washington Free Beacon, Rational Irrationality, The Enterprise Blog, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, National Review, Weasel Zippers, The Maddow Blog, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Paul Krugman and Eclectablog

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years — Trends in American Values: 1987-2012 — OVERVIEW — As Americans head to the polls this November, their values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, 2012 Decoded, Washington Post and Politico

BuzzFeed:

Meet The Romney Birthers — “I find it unacceptable that we cannot find a qualified American.” Chester Arthur's legitimacy also in question. — A popular meme among Romney birthers, who believe the Republican's Mexican roots make him ineligible for the presidency.

Discussion: rense.com and US Politics

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

North Carolina GOP Platform Says Government Should Be Able To Discriminate Against Gays — Emboldened by a recently enacted constitutional amendment prohibiting civil unions and same-sex marriage, North Carolina's Republican party adopted a platform yesterday that condones discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation.”

Discussion: The Raw Story

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Messina: We're Doing Great! Oh, and We May Lose Wisconsin. — The Obama campaign releases a video with campaign manager Jim Messina, discussing the state of the race. — “We're actually ahead of where we were at this point last time around. Remember summer of 2008?

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and Mediaite

ABCNEWS:

RNC Web Video Lampoons Obama's Anna Wintour Fundraising Effort — The Republican National Committee released a new web video Monday lampooning the Obama campaign's latest fundraising effort, a web ad with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour that came out Friday, the same day as the dismal jobs report.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Power Line, Political Economy, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and CNN

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Louisiana GOP spirals into chaos as Ron Paul delegates injured, arrested — Several supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sustained injuries while being arrested during the Louisiana Republican Party's state convention over the weekend, in a conflict that engulfed the meeting …

Discussion: Ron Paul 2012 Presidential …, Hit & Run, Political Vel Craft, Wonkette, KTBS.com and LewRockwell.com Blog

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Sarah Palin to rally conservative online army — The conservative blogosphere has yet to move past the death of patron saint Andrew Breitbart, but it will get a major jolt this month from an equally provocative hero: Sarah Palin. — The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Conservatives4Palin

Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE - THE VETTING - SENATOR BARACK OBAMA ATTENDED BILL AYERS BARBECUE, JULY 4, 2005 — As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama disavowed any connection with former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground radical who was one of Obama's early backers and his colleague …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Nice Deb and iOwnTheWorld.com

The Boston Globe:

Senator Brown sought to loosen bank rules — OK'd overhaul, then called for leeway, e-mails show — Senator Scott Brown has trumpeted his role in casting the deciding vote in favor of the 2010 Wall Street overhaul, but records show that after he voted for the law, he worked to shield banks …

Discussion: Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Swampland

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Easy Monday: Paycheck fairness, judicial vote in the Senate — The Senate returns from its weeklong break at 2 p.m., and will start with some debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act before moving to a judicial nominee vote at 5:30 p.m. — While debate on the paycheck bill could hit …

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Feministing and Daily Kos

Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:

Big Changes in College Health Plans — Schools Are Raising Premiums Sharply or Dropping Offerings Altogether as Low-Benefit Options Are Disallowed — Some colleges are dropping student health-insurance plans for the coming academic year and others are telling students to expect sharp premium increases …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Via Meadia, The Lonely Conservative and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:

Rep. Hayworth adviser who suggested hurling acid at Dems resigns — The campaign adviser who suggested that opponents “hurl some acid at those female Democratic senators” has resigned from the congressional campaign of Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.). — “Jay Townsend has offered …

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Wonkette and The Raw Story

Susanne Craig / DealBook:

Goldman Sachs Cuts a Little Deeper — It isn't getting better out there. — Wall Street, which has been paring its ranks over the last year as it struggles with lackluster markets and new regulations, is cutting deeper as it heads into what is expected to be a rough summer.

Discussion: Felix Salmon