memeorandum: Obama battles health care ‘chatter’ (USA Today)

1:30 PM ET, August 12, 2009

Top Items:

Little girl at Obama town hall has not-so-random political connections — As we always like to point out: There are no coincidences in Obama world. — Via the Boston Globe: Surprise! … Tons of readers point to this AR15.com post tracking Hall's political footprint, including this Facebook page and photo:

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Leaning Straight Up, QandO, Riehl World View, The Other McCain, Hyscience, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Instapundit, The Jawa Report, JammieWearingFool, GayPatriot, HotAirPundit and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Michelle Malkin:

The illustrated guide to Obamacare human props — Little Julia Hall is just the latest in-the-tank questioner with Obama campaign/Democrat ties to turn up “randomly” at presidential health care forums. — Here's your illustrated guide to Obamacare human props.

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Political Punch, American Power, AmSpecBlog, Moe Lane and Pundit & Pundette

USA Today:

Obama battles health care ‘chatter’ — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — This is not the August that President Obama had planned. — Obama, who initially demanded that the House and Senate pass health care overhauls by now, was playing defense at a town-hall-style meeting here Tuesday, his signature initiative under increasingly fierce fire.

Discussion: Hot Air, Immigration Chronicles, QandO, Alarming News, Blue Crab Boulevard and Associated Press

Travis Andersen / Boston Globe:

Malden girl to Obama: what about those “mean things” people say about your health plan?? — A girl from Malden asked President Obama a question at Tuesday's town hall meeting in New Hampshire about the signs outside “saying mean things” about his health care proposal.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, Below The Beltway, Moonbattery and JammieWearingFool

Gateway Pundit:
Bus—ted... Obama Bussed In Supporters For New Hampshire Town Hall (Video)

Discussion: Wizbang

The Politico:
The Democrats' senior problem

Discussion: The Treatment, The Hill, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Washington Examiner, Pundit & Pundette and Washington Post

Conn Carroll / The Foundry:
Morning Bell: Obamacare Pep Rally Fact Check

Discussion: Fausta's Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

HotAirPundit:
Obama Town Hall: Supporters In New Hampshire Bussed In

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Weasel Zippers

Gateway Pundit: Shocker! Little Girl Who Asked Obama Question at New Hampshire …

Political Punch:
President Obama's “Senior” Moment?

Discussion: Examiner, Below The Beltway, Hot Air, Fox News, Atlas Shrugs, Kausfiles, Gateway Pundit, Right Pundits, RedState, Wake up America, Dennis the Peasant, JustOneMinute and Patterico's Pontifications

Camille Paglia / Salon:

Obama's healthcare horror — Buyer's remorse? Not me. At the North American summit in Guadalajara this week, President Obama resumed the role he is best at — representing the U.S. with dignity and authority abroad. This is why I, for one, voted for Obama and continue to support him.

Discussion: GayPatriot, The Strata-Sphere, Commentary, Pundit & Pundette, Moe_Lane's blog, Liberal Values, Blogs of War, Weekly Standard, Alarming News, CNSNews, The Moderate Voice and Sadly, No!

Edward John Craig / The Corner:
Camille Paglia, Dissident

Discussion: Hyscience and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

John Mackey / Wall Street Journal:

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare — Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit. — Printer — Friendly — “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out — of other people's money. —Margaret Thatcher

Discussion: Young Philly Politics, The Foundry, Reason, Sweetness & Light, Cato @ Liberty, The Glittering Eye, Teh Resistance Blog, Hullabaloo, Cafe Hayek, John Stossel's Take and Wonkette

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Matthews to Obama protester: Why'd you bring a loaded gun to a town hall with the president? — Good question, especially given the sign this guy was carrying. Considering the lengths to which the Secret Service normally goes to investigate threats against the president …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Political Byline, Achenblog, msnbc.com, Below The Beltway, The Confluence, BLACKFIVE, Raw Story, The Reaction, Blue Crab Boulevard, Newshoggers.com, Salon, Jack & Jill Politics, Jules Crittenden, The Huffington Post and Freedom's Lighthouse

Portsmouth Herald:

Police: Man arrested before Obama event had loaded gun … By Staff reports — news@seacoastonline.com — PORTSMOUTH — Police said a man arrested at the scene of President Barack Obama's visit to the city Tuesday was found to be in possession of an unlicensed loaded gun.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Shakesville, Blue Hampshire, TPMDC and Wonkette

Phil Izzo / Wall Street Journal:

Economists Call for Bernanke to Stay, Say Recession Is Over — Economists are nearly unanimous that Ben Bernanke should be reappointed to another term as Federal Reserve chairman, and they said there is a 71% chance that President Barack Obama will ask him to stay on, according to a survey.

Discussion: Free exchange, Clusterstock, Real Time Economics and Chronicle of the Conspiracy

Annys Shin / Washington Post:
‘A Recovery Only a Statistician Can Love’

Discussion: Politics Daily and Blue Crab Boulevard

Scott Shane / New York Times:

2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11's Wake — WASHINGTON — Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen were military retirees and psychologists, on the lookout for business opportunities. They found an excellent customer in the Central Intelligence Agency, where in 2002 they became the architects …

Discussion: Reason, Truthdig, Defense Tech, Boing Boing, Raw Story, Prairie Weather, The BLT and Gateway Pundit

theblogprof:

BUSTED!: “Obama As Hitler” Poster Was A Democrat/Union Plant At John Dingell Townhall! UPDATED with video interview! — ***scroll to bottom for an important update (after reading the post of course!) Watering the plants, as Glenn Reynolds would say. Nancy Pelosi, the dimmest bulb …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Jawa Report, Black & Right, The Washington Independent, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Cold Fury and Weasel Zippers

Seton Motley / NewsBusters.org:
NBC, CNN and MSNBC All Assign Communist LaRouche's Obama-Hitler Poster …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Black & Right

The Huffington Post:

Rove Advised N.J. Governor Candidate While He Was U.S. Attorney — Read More: Chris Christie Karl Rove, Christie Election, Governor's Election, Karl Rove, New Jersey, New Jersey Gop, Rove Advise, Rove Chris Christie, Rove u.s. Attorney, Politics News — New documents about Karl Rove's involvement …

Discussion: New Jersey Online and msnbc.com

New York Times:
E-Mail Reveals Rove's Key Role in '06 Dismissals

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Matthew Yglesias, TPMMuckraker, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, Law Blog, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, Truthdig, Wonkette, marbury and Liberal Values

Sarah Abruzzese / Washington Times:

Deeds in hurry on campaign trail, gets ticket — Clocked going 76 mph in a 65 mph zone — Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is putting the pedal to the metal these days to secure victory in November - and after receiving his second driving citation in three months, it appears that isn't just a metaphor.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Virginia Politics:
McDonnell: Not Our Flag — With Update from Show Manager

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Erick's blog, Blue Virginia and GOP 12

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Santorum dips toes in 2012 Iowa waters — Add former Sen. Rick Santorum to the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates. — POLITICO has learned Santorum will visit first-in-the-nation Iowa this fall for a series of appearances before the sort of conservative activists …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Note, Indecision Forever, Des Moines Register, MyDD, Wonkette, GOP 12, New York Magazine, Salon, Freedom's Lighthouse, Below The Beltway, Shakesville, The Page and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

CNN:

CNN Poll: Favorable view of Palin dipping — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Americans appear to be souring on Sarah Palin, according to a new national poll. — Thirty-nine percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday have a favorable opinion …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and GOP 12

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Amid Debate, Obama Approval Rating on Healthcare Steady — Americans disapprove of his handling of the issue, by 49% to 43% — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans rate President Barack Obama's handling of healthcare policy essentially the same as they did roughly three weeks ago, remaining slightly more likely to disapprove than approve.

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Swamp and Los Angeles Times

Wall Street Journal:

The Truth About Health Insurance — Only nine states have the costly rules that Obama wants to impose nationwide. — Printer — Friendly — The White House is priming the defibrillator paddles to revive ObamaCare, and its new strategy is to talk about “health-insurance reform,” rather than “health-care reform.”

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Glittering Eye

Hugh Muir / Guardian:

Who cares if Stephen Hawking lives or dies? Actually, we all do — So Barack Obama is facing the fight of his life (another one) as he attempts to reform the US healthcare system. The “special interests” - doctors, healthcare companies - don't like it. The “birthers” - crazy types …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Indecision Forever, Blue Virginia, Dispatches from the …, Donklephant, The Sideshow and First Draft

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Morning Fix: Nelson Strikes Back — Criticized by two liberal groups about his approach to President Obama's health care reform proposal, Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson is hitting back, evidence of the issue's potential political peril for the 13 Senate Democrats who represent states carried by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in 2008.

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune, Hot Air and RealClearPolitics Video Log

IBDeditorials.com:

How End-Users Suffer Under Socialism — Economic Systems: If you ever wonder why we so resist socialism, consider the latest news out of that collectivist island paradise known as Cuba. — Central planners announced this week that they were fresh out of money to buy toilet paper — yes …

Discussion: Hyscience and BizzyBlog

Michael O'Brien / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:

Giuliani: Health overhaul ‘single most damaging thing’ Obama can do — Enacting healthcare reform with a public option is the “single most damaging thing” President Obama could do as president, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) charged Wednesday.

Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:

FIRST THOUGHTS: TOWN HALLS GONE WILD — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Towns halls gone wild: After going on for several days now, who looks worse in this town-halls-gone-wild story? An Obama administration that promised a new era of American politics, but that isn't delivering on it?

Discussion: Associated Press and JoeTrippi.com

John Fund / Wall Street Journal:

Air Congress Hits Turbulence — The Gulfstream jet scandal is over. Next: unreturned per-diems. — Printer — Friendly — Congressional scandals form a pattern. First, there is the revelation that some members have acted in a high-handed, spendthrift or unethical manner.

Discussion: Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, Betsy's Page and Founding Bloggers

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:

“Read My Lipitor!” —What Obama Doesn't Say — On Obama's Portsmouth Town Hall: — a) I don't think the now-famous end-of-life consultations are what Palin was referring to by “death panels,” contrary to what Obama claims at the beginning of the meeting.

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and Don Surber