memeorandum: Scott Walker visits D.C., slams D.C. (Katie Glueck/Politico)

6:30 PM ET, January 30, 2015

Top Items:

The Romney Statement: Not Running. “I've decided it is best to give other leaders in the Party the opportunity to become our next nominee.” — I've been emailed this text of remarks Mitt Romney will be making to his supporters shortly: — Let me begin by letting you know who else is on this call, besides Ann and me.

Mark Halperin / Bloomberg Politics:

How Mitt Romney Made His Decision Not To Run — Late Thursday evening, Romney's political operation sent scores of supporters an email under his name inviting them to join a Friday morning conference call to be led by Romney himself for “an update.” The email was signed “All the best, Mitt.”

New York Times:

Mitt Romney Said to Decide Against Running in 2016 Presidential Election — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2016, according to people familiar with his decision. — Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was expected to share …

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

New Iowa Poll: Romney Would Have Faced Many Campaign Hurdles — Mitt Romney would have faced numerous challenges in the presidential nomination lead-off state of Iowa if he had decided to enter the 2016 presidential contest, a new Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Des Moines Register, Political Wire and Washington Post

The Daily Beast:

Mitt Romney Is Running for President — Mitt Romney will call senior donors at 11am EST Friday to give them “an update” on his campaign plans. Sources have told the Daily Beast that the former Massachusetts governor will announce his intention to explore another run for the White House.

Discussion: NBC News, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal and Shakesville

Jeb Bush / Facebook:

Mitt Romney has been a leader in our party for many years. There are few people who have worked harder to elect Republicans across the country than he has. Though I'm sure today's decision was not easy, I know that Mitt Romney will never stop advocating for renewing America's promise through …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, ABC News, CBS DC, The Stranger …, Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
FORMER GOP NOMINEE ROMNEY WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN '16

Discussion: Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Times of San Diego, American Spectator, Joe. My. God., Ed Driscoll and Shakesville

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:
White House: Romney ‘Worthy of Our Respect’

Discussion: Political Wire

The Huffington Post:
Obama Mocks Mitt Romney For Being ‘Suddenly Deeply Concerned About Poverty’

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Hot Air, CBS DC, Washington Post and CNN

Politico:
Mitt Romney not running

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Joe. My. God. and Fox News

Jon Ward / Yahoo! News:
Mitt Romney says he will not make 2016 White House bid

Discussion: Washington Post, US News, Power Line, Mediaite and National Review

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Israeli Ambassador: Netanyahu Never Meant to Disrespect Obama — Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. (Reuters) — Earlier this week, shortly after I published a lengthy post critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Times of Israel and JP Updates

Jerusalem Post:
Obama has agreed to 80 percent of Iran's demands in nuclear talks, Israeli officials tell Ch. 10

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Do we really mean ‘never again’?

Discussion: Ed Driscoll and Betsy's Page

Jeff Dunetz / “The Lid”:
Report: Obama Has Already Given Iran 80% Of What They Want.

Discussion: Hot Air

Andrew Porter / SportsRadio 94WIP's Wing Bowl 23:

Wing Bowl Exclusive: Cataldi Releases Never Before Seen Footage Of Christie Falling In-Studio — PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Never before publicly-seen footage of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie falling off his chair during an in-studio appearance at SportsRadio 94WIP was released Friday morning during 94WIP's Wing Bowl 23.

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Politico, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, Mediaite, New York Magazine, BuzzFeed, Philly.com, Political Wire, US News and The Daily Caller

Louise Radnofky / Wall Street Journal:

Republicans to Block Legislative Fix to Health-Care Law — Supreme Court Considers Striking Down Subsidies to Millions Nationwide — Congressional Republicans say they won't move to preserve consumers' health insurance tax credits if the Supreme Court strikes them down …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Politico:

GOP chairmen to lead task force to develop Obamacare alternative — Three powerful committee chairmen — including Rep. Paul Ryan — will lead a working group to develop an alternative to Obamacare, the House Republicans' most serious attempt thus far to develop their health care reform package, according to GOP sources.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Scott Walker visits D.C., slams D.C. — Likely presidential contender Scott Walker came to Washington on Friday, then proceeded to dismiss the nation's capital as “68 square miles surrounded by reality.” — The Republican governor of Wisconsin appeared before the center-right American Action Forum shortly …

Joshua Green / Bloomberg Business:
Scott Walker is Out of Mitt's Shadow—But Staying In the Spotlight Is A Challenge

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Republican Congress Meets Reality — Republicans promised to do a couple of things right away if given control of Congress. One was to pass a bill to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Another was to open up the Senate processes that they charged the Democrats had bottlenecked during their time in the majority.

Discussion: CNN, Politico and Truth Revolt

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:
GOP is back at the edge

Discussion: Politico

Daily Mail:

'Kill our pilot and we'll execute ALL your prisoners': Jordan ‘says it will hang its ISIS captives’ if airman hostage is dead — Jordan has threatened to fast-track the execution of a would-be suicide bomber the Islamic State is trying to free if the terror group kills its captured pilot, it was reported today.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Gateway Pundit

Vindicator:

Former Gov. Ted Strickland will run for the U.S. Senate next year, sources close to him confirmed today. — Attempts to reach Strickland, a Democrat, by The Vindicator today have been unsuccessful. — However, those sources say he told political allies Thursday that he would run …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Political Wire and FOX News Radio

Michael Moore / Facebook:

The Day Clint Eastwood Said He Would “Kill” Me, 10 Years Ago This Week — A lot of people are asking me if this is true as this “rumor” about Clint Eastwood confronting me in 2005 has now re-surfaced and floated around the internet in the past few days. So I thought I should say a few words...

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

Jeannine Aversa: (202) 606-2649 (News Media) — National Income and Product Accounts — Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2014 (Advance Estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes …

Discussion: US News, Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Daily Kos

New York Times:

Most Americans Support Government Action on Climate Change, Poll Finds — WASHINGTON — An overwhelming majority of the American public, including nearly half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times …