memeorandum: Report: Welfare government's single largest budget item in FY 2011 at approx. $1.03 trillion (Caroline May/The Daily Caller)

2:45 PM ET, October 18, 2012

Top Items:

A TURN OF THE PAGE FOR NEWSWEEK — After 80 years in print, the newsmagazine adopts an all-digital format. — We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013.

David Carr / Media Decoder:
Newsweek to Cease Print Publication at End of Year

Discussion: Corporate Intelligence, The Daily Caller, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Gawker and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:

Federal Appeals Court: Federal Marriage Recognition Ban Is Unconstitutional — “[W]e conclude that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates equal protection and is therefore unconstitutional.” The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, out of New York, is the second federal court to hold …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Freedom to Marry Blog, msnbc.com and Towleroad News #gay

Larry Neumeister / bigstory.ap.org:

NY APPEALS COURT NIXES DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT — You are here — Home » United States » NY appeals court nixes Defense of Marriage Act — NEW YORK (AP) — A divided federal appeals court in Manhattan struck down the Defense of Marriage Act Thursday as unconstitutional …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, The Raw Story, U.S. and LGBT News

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down DOMA In Opinion By Republican-Appointed Judge

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Daily Dish

David Ariosto / CNN:
New York appeals court strikes down Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and This Just In

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
NY appeals court rules DOMA unconstitutional

Discussion: CNN

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Tagg Romney jokes about ‘swing’ at Obama — Mitt Romney's eldest son joked in a radio interview that he wanted to “take a swing” at President Barack Obama after Obama called his father a liar. — “Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the stage and take a swing at him,” Tagg said, laughing.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, MoveOn.Org, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's …, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN, Sister Toldjah, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, Newsy, The Political Carnival and Althouse

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Ann Romney: Mitt “absolutely” done with politics if he loses election on Nov. 6

Discussion: CNN and The Right Scoop

Associated Press: Ann Romney: No more campaigns if they lose

TMZ.com:

CNN Tries to Blunt Romney Criticism Over Candy Crowley — Tries to Blunt Romney — Criticism Over Candy — EXCLUSIVE — CNN's Managing Editor sent an email around the office today, praising Candy Crowley and trying to blunt criticism that she was unfair to Mitt Romney.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Mediaite, National Review, Wake up America and NewsBusters.org blogs

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Soledad O'Brien: Obama ‘up 15’ in Virginia — Some CNN viewers may be under the impression that President Barack Obama is leading Gov. Mitt Romney by 15 points in Virginia. — This morning, CNN's Soledad O'Brien told Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell “pre-debate polling shows that the president was up 15 points in the state of Virginia.”

Discussion: Mediaite

John Hinderaker / Power Line: CNN Explains — TMZ says it has obtained an email …

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Report: Welfare government's single largest budget item in FY 2011 at approx. $1.03 trillion — The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone — a price tag that makes welfare that year the government's largest expenditure …

Discussion: Washington Times, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Lonely Conservative and Fausta's Blog

Jeffrey H. Anderson / Weekly Standard:

The 7-Eleven Presidency — In the wake of the Treasury Department's newly released summary of federal spending for 2012, it's now possible to detail just how profligate the Obama years have been. Here's the upshot: Under Obama, for every $7 we've had, we've spent nearly $11 (or, to be more exact, $10.95).

Discussion: UrbanGrounds and The Lonely Conservative

Politico:

GOP's problems exposed in struggle for Senate — In 2010, when Republicans stumbled on what had been a clear path to winning control of the Senate, GOP operatives comforted themselves with a defiant vow: Just wait 'til next time. — Now, next time is here — and the GOP is in danger …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS and Ballot Box

Mike Allen / Politico: DEBATE BUOYS OBAMA — GOP's Senate hopes fade — Rory Kennedy documentary about her mother, Ethel Kennedy, on HBO

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Chris Matthews: Is challenging Obama unconstitutional? — Popular in Politics — On MSNBC's “Hardball” Wednesday evening, Chris Matthews discussed the theatrics of the presidential debate with James Lipton, longtime host of “Inside the Actor's Studio.” Lipton offered some unremarkable observations …

Discussion: Althouse, Jammie Wearing Fools, Pirate's Cove, New York Magazine and The PJ Tatler

Mike Elk / Working In These Times:

In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses To Tell Their Employees How to Vote — In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business's website, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Gawker, Scarabus, Conservative Hideout 2.0, theGrio, National Review, The Raw Story, Wonkette, msnbc.com, Sky Dancing, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, New York Magazine, Newsy, Mother Jones, Booman Tribune, Mediaite and Crooks and Liars

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Leaked Audio Captures Romney Asking Employers To Tell Their Employees How To Vote

Discussion: Shakesville, Wake up America, Connecting.the.Dots, The Political Carnival, Towleroad News #gay and Daily Kos

Russ Buettner / New York Times:

Should've Left That at Home, Teacher Is Told at Jury Duty — Damian Esteban was qualified to teach students at a specialized New York City high school, and had just been deemed reasonable enough to judge a man's fate in a murder trial. — But passing through the metal detectors …

Discussion: Gothamist and Runnin' Scared

CNBC:

Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Proves to Be Short-Lived — Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the highest in four months. The increase represents a rebound from the previous week's sharp drop. Both swings were largely due to technical factors.

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
JOBLESS CLAIMS HIT FOUR-MONTH HIGH: INCREASE 46K TO 388K

Discussion: Business Insider

Greg Palast / The Nation:

Mitt Romney's Bailout Bonanza — This article appeared in the November 5, 2012 edition of The Nation. — Recommended by 1 — — This investigation was supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute and by the Puffin Foundation. Elements of it appear in Palast's new book …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Truthdig, Hullabaloo and Dependable Renegade

Talking Points Memo:

Clinton: Romney's Message Is ‘We Messed It Up’ And ‘Put Us Back In’ — Campaigning in Parma, Ohio Thursday, former President Bill Clinton attacked Mitt Romney, saying his message is, “we messed it up, he didn't fix it, put us back in.” — Clinton also attacked Romney for his non-position on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Caller

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Romney edge expands post-debate in Rasmussen tracking poll — The Left seemed pretty pleased with Barack Obama's performance in Tuesday night's debate, cheering his renewed energy and aggressiveness. How did it play with voters overall? The spot polls produced mixed results …

Discussion: Riehl World News, Hillary Is 44 and The Ulsterman Report

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Many In Romney's “Binder Full Of Women” Were Campaign Donors — The former Massachusetts Governor touted hiring “binders full of women” for his cabinet, but many were donors to his gubernatorial campaign. — Mitt Romney sits with his former Chief of Staff Beth Myers. — Image by Brian Synder / Reuters

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Taylor Marsh

Bruce Springsteen / The Official Bruce …:

A Message From Bruce — Dear Friends: — The election is coming up on all of us and we all have strong feelings about it. I've been getting asked a lot about where I stand, so for those who are interested, here goes. — This presidential election is different than the last one because President Obama …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Fix, msnbc.com, New York Magazine, The Caucus, Election 2012 and Taylor Marsh

Carol Ross Joynt / Washingtonian:

BREAKING: Obama Daughters' School Evacuated Following Threat — Sidwell Friends, the school where President Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia attend, evacuated students and staff from its Wisconsin Avenue campus this morning following a phoned-in threat. — Sidwell Friends …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and New York Magazine

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Officials: Obama ready to veto a bill blocking ‘fiscal cliff’ without tax hike for rich — View Photo Gallery — Are our leaders behaving like “Thelma and Louise,” flirting with disaster, thumbing their noses at our nation's economic livelihood? Here's more on that reference …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, First Read and Politico

Stephania Jimenez / nbcconnecticut.com:

Hebron Woman Accused of Tearing Down Controversial Political Poster — In the midst of a heated political season and with the election just weeks away, you expect to see political signs everywhere; but a controversial sign in Hebron got a woman riled up, and arrested.

Discussion: Politico, NBC Bay Area, Gawker and theGrio

Gallup:

Special Report: 3.4% of U.S. Adults Identify as LGBT — Inaugural Gallup findings based on more than 120,000 interviews — PRINCETON, NJ — The inaugural results of a new Gallup question — posed to more than 120,000 U.S. adults thus far — shows that 3.4% say “yes” when asked if they identify as lesbian …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Investor's Business Daily, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers and Towleroad News #gay

Associated Press:

Turkish pianist Fazil Say goes on trial accused of insulting Islam on Twitter — ISTANBUL - A top Turkish pianist and composer appeared in court on Thursday to defend himself against charges of offending Muslims and insulting Islam in comments he made on Twitter.

Discussion: Jihad Watch and The Right Scoop

Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:

VIRGINIA TEACHER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT: GIRL'S HAND CUT IN FORCED ‘ISLAMIC HAND SIGN’ DRILL (UPDATED) — An elementary school teacher in Chesapeake, Va. has been charged with simple assault after a parent claimed her daughter's hand was cut open as a result of the teacher yanking her arm aggressively …

Discussion: Riehl World News, Examiner and Jihad Watch