memeorandum: An ideology without promise (Michael Gerson/Washington Post)

7:30 PM ET, September 21, 2012

Top Items:

Brad Malt / Mitt Romney for President …:

NOTE FROM TRUSTEE BRAD MALT — This morning, Gov. and Mrs. Romney filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS. At 3:00pm today, the Romney for President campaign will be posting the 2011 return online. — The complete 2011 tax return, with full schedules, statements, and attachments …

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

By Romney's Own Standard, His Tax Returns Would Disqualify Him From The Presidency — Mitt Romney will disclose his 2011 tax on Friday, along with a summary going back 20 years. The campaign has published the following summary: … Romney has previously defended his low tax rate …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Agonist, Daily Kos and Shakesville

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Castellanos on tax summary: Is this a joke? — Alex Castellanos, the former Mitt Romney strategist from 2008 who has alternately been critical and praising of the current campaign, left no doubt where he stands on the decision to release a summary of the candidate's tax rates over 20 years.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Talking Points Memo:

Harry Reid Condemns Mitt Romney's ‘Creative Accounting’ — Harry Reid's famously unsubsantiated theory that Mitt Romney paid no taxes for a decade seems to be contradicted by Mitt Romney's latest disclosure, but he said Romney's decision to artificially inflate his tax rate in his 2011 returns …

Discussion: Mediaite

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

Democrats, Media Get Punk'd: Romney Releases Tax Returns — It's official: The Romney campaign possesses a wicked sense of humor and an enviable degree of patience. After months of caterwauling, breathless innuendo and baseless slander, the Democrats and their media allies are being treated to a Friday feast of piping hot crow.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Weasel Zippers, The Caucus, The New Republic, AEIdeas and Sister Toldjah

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:

What Romney's Taxes Reveal — And What They Don't — Mitt Romney released his 2011 tax returns Friday, along with a brief summary of his 1990-2009 tax returns. — The Romney campaign is asking voters to take its word on the details of his previous returns, but the new information helps address …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Forbes, Guardian, Swampland, The Daily Dish, Capital New York and Brad DeLong

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Expert: Romney may have paid less in taxes over 20 years than it appears — So Mitt Romney is releasing his 2011 tax returns. The top line is that the Romneys' effective tax rate last year was 14.1 percent. — The Romney campaign also released new info on how much he paid from the years 1990-2009 …

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Business Insider and New York Magazine

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Romney 2011 taxes: Mitt gives more to charity than President Obama, Joe Biden — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was far more generous to charities than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden last year, both in dollar terms and as a percentage of income …

Discussion: Wake up America and Washington Free Beacon

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:

Mitt Romney's Real Effective Tax Rate — Mitt Romney's 14.1 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011 would've been lower if he'd deducted all of his charitable contributions from his nearly $13.7 million in income. But after estimating that he paid at least 13 percent of his income …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Wonkette

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Romney to release 20-year tax rate ‘summary,’ 2011 taxes today

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, Reuters and Forbes

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Why Mitt Romney's Effective Tax Rate Is So Low And Why It Probably Should Be

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Daily Beast

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Reid To Romney On Tax Returns: Not Good Enough

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ann Romney / CNN:
BREAKING: Ann Romney plane makes emergency landing

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS and The Right Scoop

Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog:
Mitt Romney Releases 2011 Tax Return

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Associated Press, Althouse and Instapundit

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney Releases 2011 Tax Returns

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Fix, Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Week, Prairie Weather and Joe. My. God.

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Romney Campaign Says He Paid More Taxes Than He Had To

Discussion: The Caucus, Gawker and The Daily Beast

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Ryan Gets Booed At The AARP — On Friday afternoon, Paul Ryan addressed the AARP's National Annual Conference in New Orleans. The GOP vice presidential candidate attacked Obamacare for taking $716 billion out of Medicare — the very same cuts he included in his budget …

Discussion: Politico, The New Civil Rights Movement, Firedoglake and Towleroad News #gay

Paul Ryan / CNN:
Paul Ryan Obamacare criticisms booed at AARP

Discussion: Politico

Scott Warras / 620 WTMJ:
WALKER'S ADVICE ON HOW BEST TO UTILIZE RYAN

Discussion: ABCNEWS, First Read and Election 2012

Politico:
Paul Ryan campaigning as Mini-Mitt

Discussion: CNN

Ginger Gibson / Reuters:
Mitt Romney releases 2011 tax returns

Discussion: Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and American Prospect

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Paul Ryan Booed Throughout AARP Speech (VIDEO)

Discussion: Hit & Run

Emily Ekins / Reason:

Obama Leads Romney 52-45 In New Reason-Rupe Poll; In Three-Way Race Obama Leads Romney 49-42, Johnson Gets 6 Percent — A new national Reason-Rupe poll of likely voters finds President Barack Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney 48 percent to 43 percent in the presidential race.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, National Review and American Power

Ronald Brownstein / NationalJournal.com:
Heartland Monitor Poll: Obama Leads 50 Percent to 43 Percent

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Daily Beast, The Daily Dish, The Fix and Connecting.the.Dots

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Sept. 20: Obama's Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, The Week, The Democratic Daily, The Reaction, Booman Tribune, The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online and GayPatriot

Paul Sakuma / ABCNEWS:

President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program “Begun Under the Previous Administration” — Asked about the Fast and Furious program at the Univision forum on Thursday, President Obama falsely claimed that the program began under President George W. Bush.

Discussion: “The Lid”, Wake up America, Power Line, Riehl World News, National Review, Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

U.S. Distrust in Media Hits New High — Fewer Americans closely following political news now than in previous election years — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.

Politico:

Chris Wallace doubts Noonan's conservatism — In an interview with POLITICO today, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace questioned Peggy Noonan's “conservative bona fides,” following her recent editorials criticizing of Mitt Romney's campaign. — “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn't crazy about McCain.

Discussion: Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, American Power, Outside the Beltway, Brad DeLong, Wonkette and Taylor Marsh

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Romney: What About Your Gaffes? — Mitt Romney's campaign has been notable for its reliance on President Obama's gaffes. It built its entire convention theme around Obama's slightly disjointed disquisition about infrastructure ("You didn't build that") and has, at other points …

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and Washington Post

David Weigel / Slate:
Toward an Iron Law of Gaffes

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh and Mediaite

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Why America Can't Have Nice Things — WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 07: Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), questions Attorney General Eric Holder, during a hearing at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, June 7, 2012 in Washington, DC. — Perhaps the least-controversial issue …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Firedoglake

Julia Preston / New York Times:
Bill to Keep Graduates in U.S. Fails in the House

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Future of Capitalism and National Review

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Until Republicans Fix This Problem, They Can't Fix Any Problems — The inability to judge arguments on their merits and separate fact from fantasy is what ails the conservative movement. — Reuters — After years spent reporting on the Bush Administration, Ron Suskind began to understand …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly and Middle Earth Journal

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Cash Low, Romney Striving to Find New Large Donors — Mitt Romney entered the final months of the presidential campaign with a cash balance of just $35 million, racing to find new large donors and rally low-dollar contributors in August even while he raised tens of millions of dollars for the Republican Party.

Discussion: Politico, Los Angeles Times, Capital New York, Prairie Weather, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Althouse

Tarini Parti / Politico:
RNC has big cash advantage over DNC

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Moe Lane, nation.foxnews.com, National Review and Jammie Wearing Fools

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Gary Johnson Files Anti-Trust Lawsuit To Get Into Presidential Debates — Both parties and the debate commission are trying to “hoodwink” the American people. — Image by Joe Burbank, Pool, File / AP — Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson filed an anti-trust lawsuit …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Herman Cain: I'd be beating President Obama — Herman Cain says that if he were the Republican nominee, he would have a “substantial lead” over President Barack Obama right now. — “The reason is quite simple,” Cain told reporters on Thursday, according to the Gainesville Sun.

Discussion: CNN, The Rightnewz, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos