memeorandum: Charity's Role in America, and Its Limits (Eduardo Porter/New York Times)

12:50 PM ET, November 15, 2012

Top Items:

Jindal rejects Romney's ‘gifts’ theory — LAS VEGAS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal forcefully rejected Mitt Romney's claim that he lost because of President Barack Obama's “gifts” to minorities and young voters. — Asked about the failed GOP nominee's reported comments on a conference call …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Firedoglake, NationalJournal.com, Salon, BBC, Daily Kos, The Agonist, National Review, The Moderate Voice, News/Talk 790 KFYO, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette and New York Magazine

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

Romney Blames Loss on Obama's ‘Gifts’ to Minorities and Young Voters — Saying that he and his team still felt “troubled” by his loss to President Obama, Mitt Romney on Wednesday attributed his defeat in part to what he called big policy “gifts” that the president had bestowed …

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
Romney attributes loss to ‘gifts’ Obama gave minorities

Discussion: The New Republic, Wonkette, Real-Time News from Mobile and The Agonist

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Republicans Return Romney's Parting Gift (The Note)

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Hill, New York Magazine and Truthdig

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
Romney reflects on his loss in call with campaign donors

Discussion: The Hill, Crooks and Liars, ABCNEWS, The New Republic, msnbc.com, CNN, Business Insider, Mediaite, Politico, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Guardian, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, The Hill and The Hinterland Gazette

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Jindal: ‘Absolutely reject’ Romney's explanation of loss

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

New York Times:

Frederick Humphries, F.B.I. Agent in Petraeus Case — By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, SCOTT SHANE and ALAIN DELAQUÉRIÈRE — DOVER, Fla. — The F.B.I. agent who helped start the investigation that led to the resignation of David H. Petraeus as C.I.A. director is a “hard-charging” …

CNN:

Petraeus: I did not pass classified info — (CNN) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus, in conversations with an HLN journalist, insisted that his resignation had nothing to do with his scheduled testimony about the September attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', HLNtv.com, Politico, Washington Wire, Outside the Beltway and Associated Press

James Nye / Daily Mail:

Revealed: FBI Agent Shirtless, the man who emailed topless pictures of himself to socialite Jill Kelley and brought down a general — Frederick W. Humphries, 47, has confirmed that he is the FBI agent who initiated the investigation that brought down ex-CIA boss David Petraeus

Discussion: New York Magazine

Wall Street Journal:
In Final Days, Petraeus Hurt by Libya Clash, Then Affair

Discussion: Hot Air and emptywheel

Andrew Napolitano / Reason:
Silencing General Petraeus

Discussion: Washington Times, Associated Press, ABCNEWS and Sense of Events

Politico:
Benghazi inquiry sparks Hill turf battle

Discussion: Business Insider and Corrente

Eric Russell / Portland Press-Herald:

Maine Republican chairman questions black voters — Charlie Webster causes a stir with claims that hundreds of unknown black people cast ballots in rural Maine towns. — Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster is once again alleging possible voting irregularities …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, New York Magazine and The Gateway Pundit

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

GOP chief: Mystery black voters — The head of Maine's Republican Party is claiming unknown groups of black people showed up in the state's towns and cast ballots on election day. — “In some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day …

Krister Rollins / WCSH-TV:

Maine GOP Chair Charlie Webster discusses GOP legislative losses — Webster won praise in 2010 for engineering the Republican takeover of the Maine Legislature - the first total GOP control in Maine in forty years. But last week, Democrats won back control of the House and Senate by decisive margins …

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', msnbc.com, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Maine GOP Head Suspects Voter Fraud Because ‘Dozens, Dozens Of Black People’ Voted

Discussion: Gawker and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Janean Chun / The Huffington Post:

John Metz, Denny's Franchisee And Hurricane Grill & Wings Owner, Imposes Surcharge For Obamacare … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Obama Health Care, Video, Hurricane Grill & Wings, John Metz, John Metz Dairy Queen, John Metz Dennys, John Metz Obamacare Surcharge, Obamacare, Obamacare Hiring Freezes …

Discussion: Mediaite, Right Wing News and NewsBusters.org blogs

James Nye / Daily Mail:

Denny's to charge 5% ‘Obamacare surcharge’ and cut employee hours to deal with cost of legislation — President Obama's election victory ensured his Affordable Care Act would remain the centerpiece of his first term in power - but that has left some business owners baulking at the extra cost Obamcare will bring.

Discussion: NewsMax.com, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette and The Huffington Post

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

McCain Skipped A Briefing On Benghazi To Hold A Press Conference — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is demanding a special select committee to investigate the events leading up to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya and has held around-the-clock television appearances pressing for a complete review of the incident.

Discussion: Wonkette, Daily Kos and The Hill

David Weigel / Slate:

John McCain's Long War Against Susan Rice — From left, Sens. Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and John McCain at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday — You probably don't need the lesson, but here's how the filibuster works. A nomination or bill is produced.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Daniel W. Drezner, The Democratic Daily, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, FP Passport, Daily Kos, Foreign Policy and Politico

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Once again, Obama vs. McCain

Discussion: The Caucus, Boston Globe, Bloomberg, USA Today and Capital New York

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Top Georgia GOP Lawmakers Host Briefing on Secret Obama Mind-Control Plot — President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as “Delphi” to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', TBogg, Gawker, The Raw Story, Addicting Info, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos and BobCesca.com

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE: Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS Never Filed Legally Required Registration — When Karl Rove's Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS) formed in 2010, it established its official address in Warrenton, VA, and registered with the Internal Revenue Service a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) “social welfare organization.”

Wall Street Journal:

The President's Tax Math — We're beginning to think he wants to go over the cliff this year. — 'You know, the math tends not to work," declared President Obama at his Wednesday press conference, as part of his explanation for why closing tax loopholes for the wealthy wouldn't provide enough revenue for a budget deal.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Betsy's Page and American Power

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Republicans say they will not back down

Discussion: Politico

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

What Has Movement Conservatism Accomplished in the Last 15 Years? — The list isn't nearly as long as its boosters would have us think. — Flickr/Secret Pilgrim — Try as I might, I still can't find any evidence of Jonah Goldberg's claim that conservatives are the best at rigorously examining their own dogma.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and National Review

Jerusalem Post:

Nearly 250 Gaza rockets batter South; 3 Israelis killed — Rocket on Eshkol wounds 3 IDF soldiers as barrage on South continues in aftermath of IDF's launching of operation to root out terror; IAF strikes nearly 200 terror targets in Strip; Palestinians say 13 killed.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Israel Matzav, Reuters, Weasel Zippers, Israpundit, Blazing Cat Fur, National Review, Gawker and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

BBC:
Gaza rocket fire kills three Israelis

Discussion: Truthdig and Biased BBC

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:

High-Ranking GOP Senator Advances UN Gun Conspiracy Theory — Speaking to 1290 KWFS-AM in Texas, the chief GOP vote counter claimed that the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, an attempt to regulate the international spread of weapons to deadly conflict zones, was a U.N. plot to take control of gun regulation:

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Darlene Hill / Chicago News and Weather:

Jackson Jr. won't resign until he gets disability pay: EXCLUSIVE — Sources tell FOX 32 News that Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is willing to give up his 2nd Congressional District seat if he's given disability when he steps down. — Jackson Jr. was re-elected to his tenth term but last month …

Discussion: Politico and The Lonely Conservative

Reuters:

Euro zone falls into second recession since 2009 — (Reuters) - The debt crisis dragged the euro zone into its second recession since 2009 in the third quarter despite modest growth in Germany and France, data showed on Thursday. — The two leading economies both managed 0.2 percent growth in the July-to-September period.

Discussion: TIME, Outside the Beltway, BBC, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:

Changing Times — When people talked during the presidential campaign about the potential impact of the election on the Supreme Court, most meant the impact on the court's membership: whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney would get to fill any vacancies during the next four years.

Discussion: Campaign Stops, Washington Monthly, SCOTUSblog, Washington Examiner, Hit & Run and thenation.com/blogs/167193

Jgalloway / Political Insider:

Your daily jolt: Allen West rejects move to Ga. — 'I'm not an NFL free agent' — U.S. Rep. Allen West continues to hold out hope that he can prevail with a recount in his coastal Florida race. But the Republican firebrand has ruled out a return to Georgia should he need to restart his political career.

Discussion: The Hill, Weasel Zippers and Ballot Box