memeorandum: Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure (Charles Babington/Associated Press)

10:30 AM ET, August 17, 2012

Top Items:

Matt Rhoades / Barack Obama:

Letter from Jim Messina to Matt Rhoades — Dear Matt: — I am writing to ask again that the Governor release multiple years of tax returns, but also to make an offer that should address his concerns about the additional disclosures. Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Beast, The Page and Washington Wire

Politico:

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan pursue united front strategy — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan to campaign together again sooner than aides had originally planned, likely twice next week, as part of a new offensive to take on the touchy issue of Medicare, campaign officials tell POLITICO.

Discussion: First Read, CNN, Washington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, Wall Street Journal and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Romney's present, Ryan's future — Vice-presidential picks are always judged by their effect on the coming election. They rarely have any. — They haven't had a decisive influence since Lyndon Johnson carried Texas for John Kennedy in 1960. (That and Illinois put Kennedy over the top.)

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Daily Beast, AEIdeas, The Huffington Post and Firedoglake

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:

Obama Campaign Asks Romney for 5 Years of Tax Returns — The Obama campaign, determined to renew the focus of the presidential race on questions about Mitt Romney's taxes, is trying to pressure the Republican candidate to release five years of his returns. — Obama campaign manager Jim Messina sent …

Discussion: GOP 12

Charles Babington / Associated Press:

Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure — GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Barack Obama's re-election campaign kept up pressure against Republican rival Mitt Romney on two fronts Friday, launching a new ad defending the president's record on Medicare while challenging Romney to release at least five years of tax returns.

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, The PJ Tatler and Riehl World View

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Messina writes Rhoades on Romney taxes — Seeking to make the most out of the renewed public attention on Mitt Romney's personal tax returns, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina has penned a public letter to Romney manager Matt Rhoades, pledging not to pressure Romney to release more than five years …

Paul Ryan / CNN:
CNN Electoral Map: Wisconsin moves to true “toss up”

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, americanthinker.com, Business Insider, Donklephant, Politico, Hot Air, ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, USA Today, Riehl World View, National Review and ABCNEWS

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill: Romney raises $10M in week since Ryan selected as VP

Carl Hulse / The Caucus:
And Playing the Role of Paul Ryan ...

Discussion: The Fix, Washington Post, Influence Alley, First Read and New York Times

Lean Forward / msnbc.com: Sandra Fluke: Paul Ryan on women's issues — so bad it's unbelievable ... but true

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:
For my birthday, Paul Ryan gave me a chili dog, I gave him a Medicare question

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The New Republic

David Simon:

Mitt Romney paid taxes at a rate of at least 13 percent. And he's proud to say so. — Can we stand back and pause a short minute to take in the spectacle of a man who wants to be President of The United States, who wants us to seriously regard him as a paragon of the American civic ideal …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Business Insider, Dave Winer and Shakesville

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

MSNBC's Touré: Romney Engaging In The ‘Niggerization’ Of Obama — On Thursday's edition of MSNBC's The Cycle the group discussed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's assertion that President Obama should “take [his] campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago.”

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Hot Air

Jonathan Lemire / NY Daily News:
Mitt Romney insists that he's always paid his taxes and never less than 13 percent

Discussion: Boston Globe and USA Today

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Romney Says He Paid at Least 13% in Income Taxes

Discussion: The Caucus

Ben Shapiro / BREITBART.COM:
MSNBC'S TOURÉ: ROMNEY ENGAGED IN ‘NIGGERIZATION’ OF OBAMA

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Power Line, NewsBusters.org blogs and Riehl World View

BuzzFeed:
Reid Dismisses Romney Tax Claim

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, The Maddow Blog and Shakesville

Gregory J. Krieg / ABCNEWS:

Presented With Letters, Ryan Admits Requesting Stimulus Cash — After repeated denials, Paul Ryan has admitted he requested stimulus cash even after sharply criticizing the program. — Ryan had denied doing so as recently as Wednesday, when he spoke to ABC's Cincinnati affiliate, WCPO, in Ohio.

Discussion: p m carpenter's commentary, PoliticusUSA and The Hinterland Gazette

Trip Gabriel / The Caucus:
Ryan Says Requesting Stimulus Funds Was a Mistake

Discussion: New York Magazine, First Read and Daily Kos

WCPO-TV:
9 News sits down with VP candidate Paul Ryan

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Washington Wire, CBS DC, ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post and Business Insider

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:
In 2010, Paul Ryan denied making appeals for stimulus funds

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, First Read, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Wonkette

Stevesaleeba / CBS Boston:
Paul Ryan In 2010 Dan Rea Interview: ‘I Did Not Request Any Stimulus Money’

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

BBC:

Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism — Judge Marina Syrova: “These three plus others... plotted together to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred” — Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story

CBS News:

Russian female punk band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism over Putin protest at church site — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — (CBS/AP) MOSCOW - A judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Instapundit and Algemeiner.com

Shiv Malik / Guardian:
Pussy Riot found guilty - live blog

Discussion: PinkNews.co.uk, Media Decoder and New York Times

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:

SPLC: Family Research Council License-to-Kill Claim ‘Outrageous’ — Editor's Note: The following statement may be attributed to Mark Potok, Senior Fellow of the Southern Poverty Law Center and editor of its Intelligence Report and Hatewatch blog. — Yesterday's attack on the Family Research Council …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, afa.net, CNN, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Towleroad News #gay, Gay Politics and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Family Research Council head puts blame on Law Center

Discussion: GLAA Forum, BuzzFeed, Associated Press and The Daily Caller

Jeff Mason / Reuters:

Exclusive: White House studying potential oil reserve release — (Reuters) - The White House is “dusting off old plans” for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.

Discussion: The Hill, americanthinker.com and 24/7 Wall St.

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Obama's betrayal — In the innocent, bygone days of February, President Obama told NBC News that the campaign would get negative against him, but provided this assurance: “I think that you will be able to see how we conduct ourselves in the campaign. I think it will be consistent …

Discussion: Cafe Hayek and p m carpenter's commentary

Christopher Bedford / The Daily Caller:

Biden's ‘good friend,’ donor receives $20M federal loan to open foreign luxury car dealership in Ukraine — In late July, John Hynansky — a longtime friend of Vice President Joe Biden, and a major donor to Biden's campaigns as well as President Barack Obama's — was awarded a $20 million taxpayer loan …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Gateway Pundit and Cold Fury

Jen Chung / Gothamist:

Islamophobic Billboard At Metro-North Station Encourages Hatred, Says Local Pol — On the heels of a pro-Palestine ad at Metro-North stations and a judge ruling that the MTA shouldn't have rejected Islamophobic pro-Israel ads is a new poster controversy: At the Hartsdale Metro-North station …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs