Stories to Watch: 2/2/12

Way too warm around here. Way. Now here's the news...


Meet Karen Handel, a "former Mama Grizzly, failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate, and longtime anti-Planned Parenthood crusader," who also just happens to be the new head of the anti-breast cancer group Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Golly, I wonder if that has anything to do with their cutting ties to Planned Parenthood? And the anti-Komen fallout begins.


Obama tells wingnut prayer-breakfasters truths they probably didn't want to hear.


Indiana sets back labor rights several decades. I guess because attacking workers made Scott Walker such a popular guy in Wisconsin.


Can a transportation bill be ridiculously partisan? Why yes. Yes it can.


The Senate votes to make insider trading as illegal for elected officials as it is for you. Meanwhile in the House, Eric Cantor works to keep the cheating legal.


Mittens may be winning races, but he's having a real hard time getting people excited about it.


On the other hand, Romney's just beside himself with glee over Trump's endorsement. Damned if I know why.


Finally, Rick Santorum is awful.

Related articles

• Susan G. Komen Official Resigned in Protest Over Planned Parenthood Cut-Off (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Susan G. Komen Founder Tells Shocked And 'Anger'(ed) Andrea Mitchell, They Didn't De-Fund Planned Parenthood (mediaite.com)
• Anti-Abortion Komen Vice President Pushed For Split From Planned Parenthood (thinkprogress.org)
• Cancer charity confronts backlash over grant cuts (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

News Roundup for 2/2/12

Champions of central "local" control

-Headline of the Day-
"Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill."

It used to be that Republicans were always talking about "local control." What they meant was that states didn't need Big Government coming in and telling them what to do. State governments could make up their own minds, thank you very much, and no federal meddling was needed. You couldn't get them to shut up about it.

Now, things are different. Republicans don't talk as much about local control because they put together this thing called ALEC. ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council and it's made up of state legislators. What do they do? They write laws -- well, they get lobbyists to write them anyway. And they do it for everyone. Then they can pretend they aren't Big Government goons pushing the states around. They're small government goons doing the pushing. I guess there's some difference.

See, this way you've got local control. Of course, the idea is that all the locals are controlling things exactly the same way across all the states. Every ALEC law is, in practice, one big national law, since the idea is that every state has the same one. Local control! Except it's not so local as it is central.

Yeah, it's a confusing mish-mash of contradicting argument, but that's Republicans for ya.

Anyhoo, this all strikes a lot of people as wrong -- not to mention hypocritical. People in Florida shouldn't be writing Wisconsin's laws and vice versa, for example. So all the ALEC people like to pretend that they came up with these identical laws all on their lonesome. It's all so common sense, they argue, why wouldn't a bunch of people come up with the same thing?

This argument took a little ding when Florida state Rep. Rachel Burgin introduced a bill calling on the feds to reduce corporate tax rates -- and left an ALEC identifier in it. "WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, yada-yada-yada, wank-wank-wank...," Burgin's bill began, which was kind of letting the cat out of the bag. Someone else wrote this thing and Rachel just copied and pasted it -- apparently without even reading it.

According to the report, "Burgin quickly withdrew the bill hoping that no one had noticed and then re-introduced it 24-hours later, with a new bill number (HM 717), but now without the problematic paragraph."

As you can see, that strategy failed. Wait for this Florida bill to show up in your state, because local control is super-important. (ThinkProgress)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, ever wonder how to write an attack ad for a shadowy, secretive Super PAC? Yeah, me neither. But Uncle Mark's going to show us anyway! Yay!


Click for animation

Well that's just [adjective]. (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"Trump endorses Mitt Romney for president."

Meanwhile, there's this from Pew:



Looks like The Donald can expect a thank-you note from Newt. (CBS News)

Griper Blade: Blaming the Treatment for the Disease

Bass-ackward reasoning 101: Imagine a patient with kidney disease. This patient has be treated with dialysis regularly or the blood toxins normally filtered out by the kidneys will eventually kill him. It's not cheap, but it's necessary. Everyone knows that the solution to this problem is a kidney transplant. But a group of quacks -- without any real research at all -- insist that the problem isn't the failing kidneys, the problem is the dialysis. Stop giving the patient the treatment and they'll recover.

I bring this up to draw a parallel. After Mitt Romney said he wasn't "concerned about the very poor," head wingnut and US Senator Jim DeMint suggested a better way of putting it -- the dialysis is the problem, not the disease.

Roll Call:

DeMint said that portion of Romney’s comments also need to be reframed. While Democrats have been using Romney’s comments to argue he is callous toward the poor, conservatives have expressed concern that the former governor might be OK with having Americans who are dependent on government-subsidized social programs.

“He needs to address it,” DeMint told Roll Call. “Because I know he does care about the poor. But I think he was trying to make a case that they’re taken care of. But, in fact, I would say I’m worried about the poor because many are trapped in dependency, they need a good job; they don’t need to be on social welfare programs. I think he needs to turn that around because — the middle class is key, and we have to focus on that. And, really, the problem with the middle class is not successful people, it’s politicians — but the key to making our country successful it to get everyone on that economic ladder...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Stories to Watch: 2/1/12

Not much going on here. So we'll get right to it. Here's the news...


Mittens scrambles to repair his "not concerned about the very poor" comment. It's probably too late, though. It's the big story of the day. Newt dives on it.


It's looking like Bill Kristol has finally accepted reality; no new candidate will come riding to the rescue. His new hope is Rick Santorum. Kristol really seems to love lost causes.


Public Policy Polling backs up Kristol, to a degree. If either Santorum or Gingrich drops out -- but not both -- he could be in for some real rough weather.


Laziest Punditry of the Day goes the the Washington Examiner's Conn Carroll. Conn takes Gallup's state by state approvals for Obama and assigns states accordingly -- as if high disapprovals mean an automatic loss. If that were true, we be talking about entirely different candidates right now, because Bush wouldn't have won his second term.


Senate Democrats make the Buffet Rule public.


The filmmaker who made Gasland was arrested at a House GOP hearing aimed at whitewashing the effects of fracking and undoing what few EPA rules govern it.


Finally, Newt Gingrich really is completely insane.

Related articles

• Does Romney have a real vision for America? (cnn.com)
• 'Gasland' Filmmaker Josh Fox Arrested For Trying To Film Fracking Hearing (thinkprogress.org)
• House Republicans order arrest of 'Gasland' filmmaker Josh Fox (dailykos.com)
• In Op-Ed, Elizabeth Warren Hits Scott Brown and Mitt Romney For Opposing The Buffet Rule (thinkprogress.org)

News Roundup for 2/1/12

Helpless victims

-Headline of the Day-
"Obama's Enemies List."

David and Charles Koch have it so bad. Here they are, innocently trying to buy states like Wisconsin and using their vast fortunes to whip up 'bagger frenzies, and all they get for their trouble is misery.

OK, so not misery so much as well-earned criticism.

But never mind that. Dave and Chuck have taken to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to decry the White House's shameless prejudice against meddling gazillionaires.

OK, so not them personally, but their lawyer. Things like speaking to the public -- even through the filter of print -- are entirely beneath them. But this so-called "President" Obama has been talking smack about them and they're not going to stand for it. Enough is enough. They're just people like everyone else -- except when they get a bug up their collective ass, they can hire former Solicitor General Theodore Olson to write them an op-ed in the freakin' Wall Street Journal. I'm sure their butlers hold the page up for them to read it, so they don't get newsprint ink on their hands. Otherwise, they're just folks.

Of course, some people don't see them that way. Some people insist on being distracted by reality.

"On issues ranging from climate change to health reform to tax policy to corporate regulation, in venues far and wide from Congress to state legislatures to Tea Party rallies to every foot of nearly every campaign trail, the Kochs have become an omnipresent force in right-wing politics, and a big factor in the polarization of the country," writes Ed Kilgore. "With the collapse of campaign finance rules, their ability to wield influence with little or no accountability is becoming almost unlimited. Even if you agree with them on every conceivable issue, the idea that they are cowering victims of the big-bad-bullies in the White House has to make you just burst out in derisive laughter. If I, God forbid, were a Koch Brother I’d fire Olson instantly for making me look so weak and feckless."

Olson begins his piece with a question. And it's a question I'm more than willing to answer.

"How would you feel if aides to the president of the United States singled you out by name for attack, and if you were featured prominently in the president's re-election campaign as an enemy of the people?" he asks, in all apparent seriousness.

Is this for the bonus round? Because it's way too easy: I'd feel like George Soros or every goddam Hollywood liberal or celebrity who spoke out against the invasion of Iraq.

Victim card rejected. (Wall Street Journal)


-The trouble with Februaries in years divisible by four-



But there's also the Summer Olympics this year, so it's all good. (TruthDig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Gay Activists Glitter Bomb Romney, He Calls It 'Confetti' To Celebrate Florida Victory."

Hey, when life gives you lemons, you lie about it and say it's lemonade, right? (ThinkProgress)

News Roundup for 2/1/12

Helpless victims

-Headline of the Day-
"Obama's Enemies List."

David and Charles Koch have it so bad. Here they are, innocently trying to buy states like Wisconsin and using their vast fortunes to whip up 'bagger frenzies, and all they get for their trouble is misery.

OK, so not misery so much as well-earned criticism.

But never mind that. Dave and Chuck have taken to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to decry the White House's shameless prejudice against meddling gazillionaires.

OK, so not them personally, but their lawyer. Things like speaking to the public -- even through the filter of print -- are entirely beneath them. But this so-called "President" Obama has been talking smack about them and they're not going to stand for it. Enough is enough. They're just people like everyone else -- except when they get a bug up their collective ass, they can hire former Solicitor General Theodore Olson to write them an op-ed in the freakin' Wall Street Journal. I'm sure their butlers hold the page up for them to read it, so they don't get newsprint ink on their hands. Otherwise, they're just folks.

Of course, some people don't see them that way. Some people insist on being distracted by reality.

"On issues ranging from climate change to health reform to tax policy to corporate regulation, in venues far and wide from Congress to state legislatures to Tea Party rallies to every foot of nearly every campaign trail, the Kochs have become an omnipresent force in right-wing politics, and a big factor in the polarization of the country," writes Ed Kilgore. "With the collapse of campaign finance rules, their ability to wield influence with little or no accountability is becoming almost unlimited. Even if you agree with them on every conceivable issue, the idea that they are cowering victims of the big-bad-bullies in the White House has to make you just burst out in derisive laughter. If I, God forbid, were a Koch Brother I’d fire Olson instantly for making me look so weak and feckless."

Olson begins his piece with a question. And it's a question I'm more than willing to answer.

"How would you feel if aides to the president of the United States singled you out by name for attack, and if you were featured prominently in the president's re-election campaign as an enemy of the people?" he asks, in all apparent seriousness.

Is this for the bonus round? Because it's way too easy: I'd feel like George Soros or every goddam Hollywood liberal or celebrity who spoke out against the invasion of Iraq.

Victim card rejected. (Wall Street Journal)


-The trouble with Februaries in years divisible by four-



But there's also the Summer Olympics this year, so it's all good. (TruthDig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Gay Activists Glitter Bomb Romney, He Calls It 'Confetti' To Celebrate Florida Victory."

Hey, when life gives you lemons, you lie about it and say it's lemonade, right? (ThinkProgress)

Griper Blade: Super PACs and the Power of Negative Thinking

It's a glimpse into most of our futures. There's a big old crapstorm rolling through America and the front has only passed on for a handful of states. Stick the kids in the basement, stock up on food, and board up your TV, radio, and mailbox. It's going to be bad.

Washington Post:

Negative ads were so prevalent in the final week before the Florida primary that they accounted for 92 percent of all campaign commercials that ran.

And the most heavily broadcast commercial this past weekend was not one featuring Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich but Tom Brokaw, the former NBC News anchor whose image the Romney campaign co-opted for an ad that used a 25-second clip from an old newscast on Mr. Gingrich’s political troubles.

These figures, compiled by the Kantar Media Campaign Media Analysis Group, attest to the bitter turn the race took after the South Carolina primary when Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and the “super PACs” working to elect them unleashed a barrage of attacks.

Before we go any further, I want to say I'm not against negative ads. In fact, I'm for them. Pro-candidate ads are generally useless information about how the candidate will "fight to protect" things that offend no focus group. We learn, for example, that candidate X is for a good education for our children, a strong economy, and getting Washington back to work -- as if there's any candidate out there who's against all that. In short, positive ads tell us nothing. They're useless information. In them, candidates boldly stake a claim to those things guaranteed to appeal to everyone...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Stories to Watch: 1/31/12

Freakin' hell it was warm here today. It got up to near 50. In Wisconsin. In January. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. Now here's the news...


Tonight's the big night in Florida and things do not look good for Noodles.


Speaking of Newt, he has some seriously goonish security agents.


David Brooks wrote something stupid again.


Rep. Allen West, carpetbagger.


Related: Rep. Allen West, boob.


Sen. Chuck Grassley is an ass.


Polling shows that House Republicans' hostage-taking/obstructionist strategy to win the hearts and minds of the American voter hasn't worked out too awfully well.


Finally, Remember how Romney won the Iowa caucuses -- except later it turned out that Santorum did? Heads roll.

Related articles

• Allen West Denies He Said What He Said (alan.com)
• Allen West Says to President Obama, 'Get the Hell Out of the US,' Then Denies He Said It (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Florida Primary Preview (crooksandliars.com)
• Live blog of the Florida primary (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

News Roundup for 1/31/12

Unstoppable

-Headline of the Day-
"Stephen Colbert’s FEC report: Big money!"

Stephen Colbert's Super PAC is super-loaded. According to the report, "Between July 1 and Dec. 31, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow collected more than $825,400, ending the year with nearly $674,000 cash on hand, according to disclosures filed over night with the Federal Election Commission." To date, treasurer Shauna Polk says the super PAC has raised $1,023,121 total.

"Stephen Colbert, President of ABTT, has asked that I quote him as saying, 'Yeah! How you like me now, F.E.C? I’m rolling seven digits deep! I got 99 problems but a non-connected independent-expenditure only committee ain’t one!'" Polk wrote in a statement, adding, "I would like it noted for the record that I advised Mr. Colbert against including that quote."

So how's that measure up against other celebrity Super PACs? Let's look, shall we?

Sarah Palin’s political action committee raised $756,000 in the second half of last year – a steep drop off from the first half, when she as flirting with a presidential bid.

Palin’s relatively meager second half haul came despite heavy spending on fundraising and a bus tour that fanned speculation she might seek the GOP presidential nomination.

Colbert's PAC is (mostly) a joke and he's clobbering Sarah Palin in fundraising.

So, yeah... (Politico)


-Noodles v. Mittens-



It may be unending, but it's still fun to watch. (Washington Post)


-Bonus HotD-
"Robocall of the Year."

Mitt Romney forced holocaust survivors to eat pork chops!

This message brought to you by Newt's robot. (Political Animal)

Griper Blade: Republicans' Jobless 'Jobs Agenda'

If you want a great example of how the Republican Party's reduced itself to empty talking points, consider their argument that government doesn't create jobs. It's obviously untrue on so many levels, but they keep saying it because the chumps keep buying it. They almost always immediately contradict themselves by talking about all the ways they think government could create jobs. Pet projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, cutting taxes, reducing regulations, etc. will all create a great big jobs avalanche, we're told, if only government would get around to creating all those jobs that they also argue government couldn't possibly create. And lets not forget that all of these people are either drawing a government paycheck or competing for a government job.

But the idea that government can't create jobs becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy with Republicans. They get into government and block measures that would increase employment. And that's when they aren't calling the shots. When they are calling the shots, all that stuff they talked about on the campaign trail and Fox News goes out the window. When Republicans are in power, it becomes time to pay off narrow constituencies that helped get them elected. These payoffs have absolutely nothing to do with jobs, mind you, but good governance was never really the point. The point is a corporate anarchy they wrongly refer to as "free market capitalism" -- and a Republican majority to protect that anarchy.

Since you don't achieve anarchy by passing laws, Republicans become obsessed with trivial busy work. You repeal what you can, hamstring this or that agency when the opportunity arises, but mostly you dick around with inconsequential BS that throws a bone to those narrow constituencies.

Steve Benen:

With Congress' approval rating reaching depths unseen since the dawn of modern polling, self-interested lawmakers should probably focus at least some of their attention on addressing actual problems.

House Republicans apparently disagree. In 2010, the GOP majority invested considerable energy in tackling imaginary threats (killing farm-dust regulations, protecting the "In God We Trust" motto); picking unnecessary culture-war fights (restricting abortion rights, going after NPR); and pursing right-wing measures that couldn't become law (replacing Medicare with a voucher scheme)...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Stories to Watch: 1/30/12

It's pot roast tonight, because I like pot roast. Now here's the news...


Mitt Romney wishes he could say he was Hispanic. That is, until he gets up here to Wisconsin, where he'll wish he could say he was Norwegian.


GOP voters continue to be unhappy with their primary candidates.


Juan Williams talks GOP dog whistle racism. Ed Kilgore wonders how long it'll be before he's fired from his fake-liberal gig at Fox.


Gingrich says he won't debate Obama if reporters act as moderators. So, if he gets the nomination, this probably means that A) he'll back off that pledge or B) he'll never debate Obama.


The sad oppression facing the modern-day hater.


Just a reminder: if you're a Republican voter or a dim-wattage pundit who's hoping another candidate will jump in the race, you're SOL.


Dems take the lead in a generic congressional ballot. It's only one point, but it's the right-skewed Rasmussen. The GOP's "make everything a freakin' crisis" strategy sure worked out great.


Newt gets sued for using Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger."


Finally, Rep. Allen West is still a jackass.

Related articles

• Allen West Tells Obama and Democratic Leaders to 'Get the Hell Out of the United States' (crooksandliars.com)
• Newt Gingrich - Sued for Using 'Eye Of the Tiger' at Political Events (tmz.com)
• Flash: Romney's Florida Spokesman Sabotaging Allen West? (markamerica.com)
• Blogs fume over West's new district (politico.com)

News Roundup for 1/30/12

GOP primary race

-Headline of the Day-
"Gingrich memo downplays Florida; looks ahead to Super Tuesday."

Matt Lewis' piece begins, "An internal Gingrich campaign memo obtained by The Daily Caller shows the campaign is planning to continue long after Tuesday’s Florida primary, stating simply: 'this race is just getting started.'"

Now mind you, by "obtained," Lewis probably meant "sent from the Gingrich campaign, delivered as a singing telegram by a stripper, while a skywriter flew overhead writing, 'READ AND PUBLISH ASAP -- AND DON'T SAY IT'S A PRESS RELEASE!'"

Basically, the memo says that the person who wins in Florida will have "less than 10% of the delegates they need to claim the nomination." So who cares about Florida? Chumps, that's who. Newt can totally lose Florida and become the nominee -- in fact, the memo comes just short of saying that was the plan all along.

What follows is a whole bunch of delegate math, which is boring. Suffice it to say, as Team Noodles does, that the remaining primaries "essentially guarantee... that no candidate will secure the nomination anytime soon and the map quickly becomes more favorable for Gingrich."

Super Tuesday is the ticket. And then a couple races after Super T. So, like, March 31. Two months of brutal, mudslinging, bruising, money-burning, debilitating electoral combat and then we'll have a nominee.

I'm sure this calendar just terrifies the White House. (Daily Caller)


-Dark side of the Newt-



Click for full comic

Newt's got a really big melon, is what we're trying to say here. (Bad Report)


-Bonus HotD-
"Mitt Romney Is NOT the 1% … Mitt Romney Is the Top 0.0025%."

Mittens is that guy the rest of the 1% are jealous of. (Wonkette)

Griper Blade: How Many Rounds Can the GOP Primary Fight Last?

The big day in Florida is tomorrow and polling is all over the place. While pretty much all of it shows Mitt Romney winning, the question is by how much -- and in that, polls are in wild disagreement. Of three of the most recent polls, two show the race tightening drastically, while one shows Mittens maintaining a big lead. Already, Gingrich is lowering expectations, talking about a strong showing, rather than a win.

There's a reason why polling results are all over the place in Florida -- it's a blood-soaked battlefield. "Estimates vary on exactly how much more Romney has spent in Florida, but the enormous gap is hard to miss," writes Steve Benen. "TPM's figures say pro-Romney spending outpaced pro-Gingrich spending, $15.3 million to $3.4 million. NBC News totals put it closer to $16.9 million to $4 million. As of Friday, the New York Times pointed to a $15 million to $2.5 million gap."

So Mitt has the financial advantage and that's pretty much the only thing that turned it back around for him. But deep pockets can only take you so far. "In a general election against a well-financed incumbent president," Benen says, "this financial edge will largely disappear."...[CLICK TO READ FULL POST]

Stories to Watch: 1/29/12

Shorty today. It looks like a fairly quiet weekend -- at least, outside Florida. I finally got Zemanta back. Turns out they've vastly improved their bookmarklet. When there's a choice between an add-on and a bookmarlet, always take the bookmarklet. Trust me on this one; you'll have a faster browser. Now here's the news...


Mitt Romney collects more money from the five biggest banks than the entire presidential field -- combined.


And all that money's finally bought him a big lead in Florida. Herman Cain's endorsement won't be enough to turn the state around for Newt. Nor will the work of Sarah Palin. In fact, at this point Mittens would have to actually die or something for the lead to switch back. Gingrich is the de facto candidate of the Tea Party and the religious right and, once again, I marvel at how little influence those two constituencies actually have over Republican voters.


Mittens is really, really rich.


This is screwed up: NBC asks Romney to pull an anti-Gingrich ad, because it features Tom Brokaw delivering the news about Gingrich being fined and booted from the speakership. It's an entirely accurate ad, nothing' taken out of context, it's just a freakin' quote. If Romney doesn't say to NBC, "Sue me," he's a fool. Campaign ads cost money and NBC doesn't have a legal leg to stand on. Not only is this fair use, it's practically the definition of the term.


Finally, the use of social media to organize opposition to repressive regimes may be a thing of the past -- at least, if Twitter has their way.

Related articles

• Herman Cain Endorses Gingrich (newser.com)
• NBC Demands Mitt Romney Remove Ad Using Tom Brokaw (huffingtonpost.com)
• Romney, Gingrich Make Final Appeals to Republicans in Florida - BusinessWeek (businessweek.com)
• Tom Brokaw 'Extremely Uncomfortable' With Starring In Romney Ad, NBC Lawyers Want It Removed (mediaite.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/28/12

The Washington Post has changed the address to Greg Sargent's RSS feed. Why do sites do that? It's a total pain. I'm going to have to edit it into the Superfeed, but I'm not going to be able to do it right away. For the time being, items marked "[Greg Sargent]" are actually general WaPo news stories. That'll be fixed later today.

I wish I would've noticed it sooner, because I added the Maddow Blog to get Steve Benen's new home into the feed this morning. I was already under the hood once -- I could've done it then. Now here's the news...


John Nichols notes that if you take all the votes in the GOP primary so far, break them down as a percentage of the electorate, and compare them to the number of signatures turned in to recall Wisconsin Republicans, you find that the Wisconsin recall is about twice as popular as all the GOP candidates combined. That may seem a little off in the weeds at first, but his point is that the numbers show a much more important movement than the media is giving us credit for.


For his part, Stephen Moore mostly agrees. In a Wall Street Journal piece in which he calls the recall the "most important non-presidential election of the decade." Of course, being the WSJ, that means sheer terror at the thought that unions could be making a comeback.


Mitten's opens up a big lead in Florida. However, that'd be the third time this month that the frontrunner has switched from Romney to Gingrich or vice versa (the last being just eight days ago) -- and new polling is expected tonight.


Sarah Palin attempts to remain relevant.


Grover Norquist wants to impeach Obama if he wins reelection and doesn't extend the Bush tax cuts. "High crimes?" "Misdemeanors?" "Democracy?" What are these things of which you speak?


Obama takes on an obstructionist congress.


Mittens has lost the independent voter.


Finally, Obama and Democrats are working to bring the Buffet Rule -- which would have the wealthy paying more in taxes than their help -- up for a vote. This is probably going to be a big one, so keep an eye out.

Related articles

• Late Night FDL: Crime and Punishment, by Grover Norquist (firedoglake.com)
• How Out There Is Grover Norquist? (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
• Mitt Romney turning off independents (dailykos.com)
• What Romney Would Pay Under His Tax Plan (alan.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/27/12

Great, now Zemanta's not working for me. Can we get just one day where some service we rely on doesn't crap out on us? Please? Now here's the news...


A reportedly 'brutal' Gingrich ad is on the way accusing Mitt Romney of being a serial liar. He may need it in Florida.


North Carolina state Rep. Larry Pittman is either a psychopath or a sociopath -- I get the two confused sometimes.


Gingrich accuses Romney of rigging the last debate. Guess that explains why Newt sucked.


The Justice Dept. is planning an in-depth investigation into subprime mortgage fraud.


A former aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will testify against other Walkerites.


Newt's latest crazy, pie-in-the-sky scheme -- liberate Cuba with cellphones.


Mittens has no respect for other people's religious views.


Finally, Romney used to have an entirely different opinion of blind trusts.

News Roundup for 1/27/12

Scene from the GOP primaries



-Headline of the Day-
"NBC/WSJ poll: Gingrich leads Romney, but badly trails Obama."

Barack Obama's wisest strategy may involve butt-sitting. Just grab a chair and watch Mittens and Noodles go after each other with ax handles. Then, when the primaries wrap up, the winner will be perfectly tenderized.

Right now, that approach seems to be a winner. Newt's moving out in front nationally, leaving Mitt in the dust. According to the report, "Gingrich leads Romney 37 percent to 28 percent nationally among registered Republicans likely to vote in the primaries; Rick Santorum is in third with 18 percent, and Ron Paul is fourth with 12 percent."

The problem: in this poll at least, Gingrich is the very least likely to beat Obama -- and that includes the entirely unelectable Rick Santorum. Where Romney is within 6 points of Obama, Newt's down three times that number -- 18 points. Newt's problem is that only Republicans like him, while everyone else hates his guts.

But Gingrich had to do a lot of pounding to get where he is. And he's driven Romney's approvals through the floor. Romney's approved of by 31%, while 36% disapprove. The last party nominee whose disapprovals were higher than his approvals was John Kerry. And you know how that worked out.

Keep whacking away at each other, guys. Knock yourselves out. (MSNBC)


-And while we're on the subject-



He might even have time for an encore. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Palin Defends ‘Angry Little Muffin’ Newt Against Right-Wing Conspiracy."

Yeah, let's get Sarah Palin in there too. Everyone just loves her! (Wonkette)