memeorandum: Mitt in the Afterlife (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

8:10 PM ET, December 10, 2012

Top Items:

This Is Not Wisconsin. It's Worse. — Sheldon Dick/Farm Security Administration — Strikers guarding window entrance to Fisher body plant number three in Flint, Michigan (1937) — Let's clear one thing up. “Right to work” laws, which permit employees working at a unionized workplace …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Wonkblog and thenation.com/blogs/168901

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
“Right to work” push guarantees all out war in Michigan

Discussion: The Fix, emptywheel, Business Insider, aflcio.org and Daily Kos

Detroit Free Press:
READ THE BILLS: — The Michigan Nurses Association announced …

Discussion: The Hill, MLive.com, National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Althouse

Washington Free Beacon:
Obama Slams Right-to-Work at Fiscal Cliff Event

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Right Scoop, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Obama Expected To Weigh In On Michigan Right-To-Work Battle In Detroit Speech

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, Guardian, Detroit's Fox 2, The Daily Caller, Firedoglake, Red Alert Politics, Questions and Observations, Politico, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Mitt in the Afterlife — Certainly you've seen them, or at least one — that steady drumbeat of oddly normal and yet somehow surreal pictures of post-defeat Mitt Romney that keep showing up everywhere. Here, gassing up the minivan with hair and posture right out of a screen test for The Hangover 5.

Discussion: ABCNEWS and New York Magazine

Bill Maher / HBO:

Authentic Is the New Slimy — Days before the election, a video surfaced of Mitt Romney from August of 2007, in which he's arguing with a radio interviewer at Iowa's WHO 1040. Why is he so pissed? Because the guy asked Romney to comment on how he reconciles his Mormon faith with his position on abortion and women's rights.

Discussion: Politico and The Raw Story

Jim Williams / Public Policy Polling:
Holiday Poll Results: Voters See Gifts from Santa for Obama, Romney

Discussion: Hot Air

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Colbert tops SC voters' Senate wish list — Nikki Haley is one of the most unpopular Governors in the country. Only 42% of voters approve of the job she's doing to 49% who disapprove. Out of 43 sitting Governors PPP has polled on, that ranks her 35th in popularity.

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post, Post Politics, Mediaite, Guardian, Truthdig, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Red Alert Politics, Politicker, About.com Conservative … and The Raw Story

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Colbert is top pick to replace DeMint

Discussion: Reuters, CNN and National Review

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Marco Rubio and the Coming Conservative Revolt — In the immediate wake of the election, Republicans felt so stunned — in no small part because they had deluded themselves into expecting victory — that it seemed momentarily possible that the party's long march to the right may halt or even reverse.

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, The Reaction, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, National Review and New York Times

Robert Costa / National Review:
Boehner's Biggest Threat

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, The Hill and msnbc.com

James Hohmann / Politico:

Battleground Poll: Hike taxes on rich — An American appetite for tax hikes gives President Barack Obama leverage in fiscal cliff negotiations. — A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll finds that 60 percent of respondents support raising taxes on households that earn …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Moderate Voice, CNN, CanadianBusiness.com, Hot Air, The National Memo, MarketWatch, Right Turn, msnbc.com, Villainous Company, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, Washington Post, The Democratic Daily, The Other McCain, Talking Points Memo and The Hill

Politico:
Democratic poll analysis: Reflecting on 2012 and looking ahead

Discussion: Mediaite, The Fix and Outside the Beltway

Talking Points Memo:

Obama: Right-To-Work Laws Mean ‘Right To Work For Less Money’ — President Obama railed against right-to-work laws Republicans are currently trying to pass in Michigan, arguing that they constitute a “race to the bottom,” during a speech in Redford, Michigan Monday.

Discussion: Eclectablog, Daily Kos and The Raw Story

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama jumps headfirst into fight over Michigan ‘right-to-work’ law

Discussion: Politico

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

Where things really stand in the fiscal cliff negotiations — For the White House, the key to any deal is tax revenues — delivered at least partly through higher rates — and a long-term solution to the debt ceiling. Additionally, any big deal will have to include some stimulus …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Examiner, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Brad DeLong, American Prospect and The Daily Dish

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

McCain to join Foreign Relations Committee just before Sec State hearing — MANAMA - The committee that will soon vet the next secretary of state will have a new Republican heavyweight next year: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the man leading the charge against potential nominee U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, First Read and Post Politics

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Sore Loser Allen West: My Opponent Only Won Because He Cheated — In an exit befitting his outspoken, controversial two years in Congress, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) said that he only lost his re-election because his opponent cheated. — West lost narrowly to Democratic up-and-comer Patrick Murphy last month …

Discussion: Mediaite, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

Goldman's Top Economist Explains The World's Most Important Chart, And His Big Call For The US Economy — In a recent report, Goldman's top economist Jan Hatzius predicted that finally, the US would see a real growth acceleration in the second half of 2013. — There are three great reasons to listen to Hatzius:

Discussion: Economist's View

David Sirota / Salon:

Karl Rove won't surrender race card — The disgusting racial codes in his super PAC's new ad suggest the GOP will never stop pitting us against each other — Lee Atwater's claim to fame was his pioneering use of racially divisive imagery in political messages that, superficially, didn't seem to be about race at all.

Discussion: National Review, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Lindsey Graham's ‘bankruptcy’ trifecta — “I think we're going over the cliff. It's pretty clear to me they made a political calculation. This offer doesn't remotely deal with entitlement reform in a way to save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security from imminent bankruptcy.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Crooks and Liars and Post Politics

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Lindsey Graham: Debt Ceiling Will Force Obama To Man Up On Medicare Cuts

Discussion: Wonkette, Hullabaloo and The Raw Story

Carolyn Y. Johnson / Boston Globe:

Yale scientists name Obamadon, a slender-jawed lizard, after the President — In the foreground, the carnivorous lizard Palaeosaniwa pursues a pair of hatchling Edmontosaurus, as the snake Cerberophis and the lizard Obamadon look on. In the background, T. rex faces off against Triceratops.

Discussion: The Hill and Twitchy

Jesse Drucker / Bloomberg:

Google Revenues Sheltered in No-Tax Bermuda Soar to $10 Billion — Front Street in Hamilton, Bermuda. The increase in Google's revenues routed to Bermuda, disclosed in a Nov. 21 filing by a subsidiary, could fuel the outrage over corporate tax dodging. — Google Inc. (GOOG) …

Discussion: Mashable!, AllThingsD, New York Times and TechCrunch

Politico:

RNC launches official review on 2012 election (Updated) — The Republican National Committee is rolling out a plan to review what worked and what didn't for the party in the 2012 cycle, appointing five people at the top of a committee that will make recommendations on things like demographics, messaging and fundraising.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Mediaite, CNN and First Read

Byron Tau / Politico:

Intelligence community: U.S. out as sole superpower by 2030 — A new report by the intelligence community projects that the United States will no longer be the world's only superpower by 2030. — “In terms of the indices of overall power - GDP, population size, military spending …

Discussion: Vodkapundit, protein wisdom, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:

Jamie Foxx Jokes About Killing ‘All The White People’ In His New Movie — Two weeks ago, Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx made national headlines when he called President Obama “Our lord and savior.” — While hosting NBC's Saturday Night Live this weekend, Foxx joked about how in his new film …

Discussion: Mediaite, Rush Limbaugh, The Right Scoop and Wonkette

Kevin Carey / New York Times:

Who Will Hold Colleges Accountable? — LAST month The Chronicle of Higher Education published a damning investigation of college athletes across the nation who were maintaining their eligibility by taking cheap, easy online courses from an obscure junior college.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Via Meadia

The Boston Globe:

As a watchdog, she spoke out. But in the Senate, the establishment critic is showing restraint. — Elizabeth Warren is resigning the tenured post at Harvard Law School that took her 30 years to achieve. She has met privately with her former opponent, Scott Brown, who addressed her as professor instead of senator-elect.

Discussion: Ballot Box, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com, Post Politics and TBogg

WDIV-TV:

Taylor schools to close Tuesday for lack of teachers — Superintendent says teachers are likely going to be at protests in Lansing over right-to-work — The Taylor School District will be closed down Tuesday because of the high number of staff that have either called in sick or are taking personal days to attend rallies in Lansing.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers and Washington Examiner

City Room:

Man Fatally Shot on Midtown Street — A man was shot in the head and killed on a busy Midtown street a block south of Central Park on Monday afternoon, the police said. — The shooting occurred shortly before 2 p.m. near 58th Street and Seventh Avenue, an intersection in a tony area near …

Discussion: BBC, The Hinterland Gazette and New York Magazine

David Rogers / Politico:

Inouye hospitalized, for most part ‘OK’ — Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye remained hospitalized Monday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where the 88-year-old Hawaii Democrat is being held for observation related to his oxygen intake.

Discussion: CNN