memeorandum: ACLU Parts With Obama Administration On DOMA Strategy (BuzzFeed)

2:35 PM ET, July 16, 2012

Top Items:

Romney's Bain Yielded Private Gains, Socialized Losses — By Anthony Luzzatto Gardner 2012-07-15T22:30:01Z — Mitt Romney touts his business acumen and job-creation record as a key qualification for being the next U.S. president. — What's clear from a review of the public record during …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Impolitic, Gawker, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Mediaite

CNN:

Facts don't support Obama's charges against Romney — Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Fortune, Daily Kos, Wake up America, The Caucus, Red Alert Politics, The Daily Dish and Balloon Juice

David Frum / david-frum:

Romney: Too Weak? — This is powerfully said by Josh Marshall on Friday the 13th, a bad day for Mitt Romney: — I'm not sure how many people watching this spectacle even remember that it's nominally about whether Romney is responsible for outsourcing Bain did post-February 1999 or its investment …

Discussion: American Prospect, Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Online, Hullabaloo and Mother Jones

David Frum / CNN:

Mitt Romney's painfully bad week — Editor's note: David Frum is a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast and a CNN contributor. He is the author of seven books, including a new novel, “Patriots.” — (CNN) — By any measure, the Mitt Romney for president campaign has had a painfully bad week.

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Romney's Account of His Departure From Bain Undercut By...Romney Testimony — In a previously unreported remark, Romney indicated he went through a “transition” at Bain after heading to Utah in February 1999. — Mitt Romney, his campaign, and Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, msnbc.com and The Huffington Post

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Romney tries to regain momentum with new focus on Obama's ‘political payoffs’ — Trying to shift the presidential campaign narrative away from his personal finances and tenure at Bain Capital, Republican Mitt Romney will launch a fresh assault this week accusing President Obama of political cronyism …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Maddow Blog, Red Alert Politics, Right Wing News and Politico

John Cassidy / News Desk:
Why Won't Romney Release More Tax Returns?

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, The Maddow Blog, ABCNEWS, The Hinterland Gazette, The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish and Taegan Goddard's …

Peter J. Boyer / The Daily Beast:
Romney's Palin Problem: Where's Her Convention Invite?

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish and Conservatives4Palin

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Policy and the Personal — A lot of people inside the Beltway …

Discussion: Guardian, Newshoggers.com, Prairie Weather and Paul Krugman

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
TPM Editor's Blog

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Dish and Mother Jones

Susan Page / USA Today:
Analysis: Obama, Romney and a turn in the debate on jobs

Discussion: New York Magazine

New York Times:
When Did Romney Step Back From Bain? It's Complicated

Discussion: Marbury, Fox News, Bloomberg, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, The Caucus, The Page, Guardian, American Power and CNN

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

July panic for Obama — for good reason — Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race? Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal? After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland?

Discussion: Wake up America, Questions and Observations, americanthinker.com, The Other McCain, The Daily Dish, Prairie Weather, The Spectacle Blog and Maggie's Farm

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Mitt Romney rips Obama camp's ‘dishonesty’ — Mitt Romney on Monday accused President Barack Obama of running a “campaign based on falsehood and dishonesty,” while brushing aside suggestions from anxious conservatives to alter his campaign strategy. — “A campaign based on falsehood …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Examiner

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
The Bain Quatrain

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, The New Republic and Washington Post

Geneva Sands / The Hill:
Romney campaign accuses Obama of ‘political payoffs’

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Treasury probe cites officials for soliciting prostitutes, accepting industry gifts, FOIA docs reveal — Treasury Department officials have been cited for soliciting prostitutes, breaking conflict-of-interest rules and accepting gifts from corporate executives, according to the findings of official government investigations.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS, RedState and The Raw Story

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Pawlenty Looked at as Romney Running Mate — EAGAN, Minn. — It was four years ago this summer, when Tim Pawlenty ranked high on the list of John McCain's potential running mates, and Mr. Pawlenty and his wife, Mary, were plowing through a voluminous questionnaire probing deep into their finances …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS, Wonkette, Hot Air, Politicker, MarketWatch, Outside the Beltway, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, LifeNews.com, Ricochet Conversations Feed, National Review, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

John Thune rising: GOP senator on Romney's veepstakes and his future — Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has reemerged as a viable vice presidential candidate who would check many of the boxes Mitt Romney is looking for in a running mate. — He's an experienced legislator who has earned respect …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine and Influence Alley

New York Post:

Obama wedding registry fund-raising strategy not a hit with brides — President Obama's bizarre marriage-theme fund-raising scheme — where he asks couples to request campaign donations from their guests in lieu of wedding gifts — has been a total flop. — The desperate initiative …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, protein wisdom, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, UrbanGrounds, Washington Free Beacon and americanthinker.com

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Democrats threaten to go over ‘fiscal cliff’ if GOP fails to raise taxes — Democrats are making increasingly explicit threats about their willingness to let nearly $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts take effect in January unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher taxes for the nation's wealthiest households.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, protein wisdom, The New Republic, Booman Tribune, Shopfloor, Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

Fox News:

Democrats open door to letting taxes rise in 2013 to reset debate with GOP — April 4, 2012: Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speaks at a field hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, which she chairs, in Tacoma, Wash.AP — Senate Democrats appear willing to use your paycheck …

Discussion: protein wisdom and I'm a Man!

Jason Lange / Reuters:

Retail sales fall for third straight month in June — (Reuters) - Retail sales fell in June for the third straight month, the longest run of consecutive drops since 2008 when the country was mired in recession. — Sales slipped .5 percent, with declines across a wide swath of industries …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Calculated Risk and americanthinker.com

Alex Kowalski / Bloomberg: Retail Purchases In U.S. Unexpectedly Decrease 0.5%

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back — The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative. — They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Guardian, BREITBART.COM, Washington Wire, New York Magazine, Jammie Wearing Fools, Wake up America, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Mother Jones and Nick Turse, more at Mediagazer »

WESH-TV:

Deputies shoot, kill man after knocking on wrong door — FDLE looking into deputy-involved shooting — Lake County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed a man they assumed was an attempted murder suspect on Sunday, but they now know they shot the wrong man.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Gawker and The Hinterland Gazette

Nick Wiltgen / National and Local Weather Forecast …:

2012 Drought Rivals Dust Bowl … This year's drought ranks among the 10 largest drought areas of the past century, the National Climatic Data Center is expected to announce today. — Preliminary data computed from the Palmer Drought Severity Index shows that 54.6 percent of the contiguous 48 states …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly

Reuters:

Saudi Arabia considers law against insulting Islam — (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is studying new regulations to criminalise insulting Islam, including in social media, and the law could carry heavy penalties, a Saudi paper said on Sunday. — The potential regulations come five months …

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:

Employees of NY Times, HuffPo, other news outlets dish out money to re-elect Obama — Employees of news outlets including the New York Times and the Huffington Post have donated money to President Obama's re-election campaign, according to records reviewed by The Daily Caller.