memeorandum: ‘The Amateur’ author Ed Klein: Hillary dismissed VP possibility two weeks ago (Jeff Poor/The Daily Caller)

12:15 PM 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: National Review, The Hill, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Beast, The Daily Dish, Swampland 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: Daily Kos, Washington Post, First Read, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Tom Morello / Rolling Stone:

‘Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against’ — Rage Against the Machine's guitarist blasts Romney's VP pick and unlikely Rage fan — Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call … Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing …

Discussion: Influence Alley, The Daily Caller, Cognitive Dissidence, The Raw Story, Mediaite and Hit & Run

TMZ.com:

Paul Ryan — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — EXCLUSIVE — Here it is ... the very first photo of Paul Ryan's mysterious athletic physique ... REVEALED!!! — TMZ has (finally) obtained a photo of Mitt Romney's running mate — sans shirt — taken roughly 6 years ago ... right before Ryan got hooked on the P90X workout.

Discussion: The Hill, FishbowlDC, GOP 12 and New York Magazine

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The Morning Plum: Romney and Ryan muddy the Medicare waters — The Romney and Obama camapigns are again trading blows over Medicare this morning. The Obama campaign is up with a new ad that hits back at the Romney campaign attacks, defending Obamacare for protecting Medicare against fraud …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, Washington Wire and Brad DeLong

CNN:
TRENDING: Obama camp: Let's make a deal on tax returns. Romney camp: No.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Outside the Beltway

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:
Obama Campaign Asks Romney for 5 Years of Tax Returns

Discussion: GOP 12

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

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, The PJ Tatler and Riehl World View

Alexander Burns / Politico: Messina writes Rhoades on Romney taxes

David Jackson / USA Today:
Romney declines Obama deal on tax return releases

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and American Spectator

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

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

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

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, The Confluence, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Russian Punk Band Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Anti-Putin Stunt

Discussion: Hit & Run, News Desk, Washington Free Beacon, The Lede and Althouse

CBS News:
Russian female punk band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism over Putin protest at church site

Discussion: CBS Chicago, The Jawa Report, Instapundit and Algemeiner.com

Marcin Sobczyk / Emerging Europe Real Time:
Recap: Russian Punk Band Gets Two Years

Discussion: EconomicPolicyJournal.com

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

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, PinkNews.co.uk, Media Decoder and The Awl

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: The Hill, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Mediaite, Business Insider, Dave Winer and Shakesville

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:
MSNBC's Touré: Romney Engaging In The ‘Niggerization’ Of Obama

Discussion: protein wisdom, 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, First Read and USA Today

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

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney's Whiteboard Blues

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and Politico

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

Discussion: Examiner, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Boston Globe, CBS Boston, The Maddow Blog, New York Magazine, First Read and Daily Kos

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Hateful speech on hate groups — Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group's Annual Conference.” — The “hate group” that the Republicans' vice presidential candidate would be addressing?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Holy Bullies …, Steve Rothaus' Gay …, The Heritage Foundation, Towleroad News #gay, Weasel Zippers and Washington Examiner

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

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

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:
SPLC: Family Research Council License-to-Kill Claim ‘Outrageous’

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

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, The Daily Beast, Politico, The Maddow Blog, AEIdeas, p m carpenter's commentary, Betsy's Page, The Huffington Post and Firedoglake

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

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

Matthew Mosk / ABCNEWS:

Secret ‘Menu’ Details Perks for Big Democratic Donors — Those seeking invites to the most lavish receptions at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, “gold ticket” access to “dialogues,” and private breakfast briefings with party luminaries, can expect a hefty price of admission.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

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

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: Weekly Standard, Business Insider, The Hill, americanthinker.com and 24/7 Wall St.

BBC:

Moscow bans gay pride for century — Nikolay Alexeyev has been campaigning for years for the right to stage gay parades in Russia — Moscow's top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. — Earlier Russia's best-known gay rights campaigner …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and Towleroad News #gay

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:

Finland prepares for break-up of eurozone — Finland is preparing for the break-up of the eurozone, the country's foreign minister warned today. — Erkki Tuomioja, Finland's foreign minister: “We have to face openly the possibility of a euro-break up”.

Discussion: New York Times, Questions and Observations, Via Meadia, Guardian and National Review

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: New York Magazine and Atlas Shrugs