memeorandum: Jobless are straining Social Security's disability benefits program (Washington Post)

2:20 PM ET, September 14, 2010

Top Items:

The 1099 Insurrection — The White House fights an effort to ease a burden on small business. — You might not have seen it reported, but the Senate will vote this morning on whether to repeal part of ObamaCare that it passed only months ago. The White House is opposed …

Discussion: Wake up America, BizzyBlog, Don Surber and The Volokh Conspiracy

The Note:

Senate Democrats Overcome GOP Filibuster of Small Business Bill — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: — Senate Democrats today overcame a summer-long Republican filibuster of a bill to jumpstart job growth by providing small businesses with a $30 billion lending fund and around $12 billion in tax relief.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Think Progress and Shakesville

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Rush Limbaugh backs John Boehner — Rush Limbaugh used his hit radio show Monday to defend House Republican Leader John Boehner against hits from the press and the White House. — Limbaugh's backing came as a comfort to Boehner allies, since some Republicans are pushing a harder line in the coming Capitol Hill tax-cut fight.

Discussion: iowahawk, Little Green Footballs and Hot Air

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate defeats plan to strip filing requirement from health law

Discussion: The Politico and Washington Monthly

Reuters:
Bill to aid small-business advances in Senate

Discussion: Ezra Klein and The Page

Noam Levey / Los Angeles Times:
White House pushes bill to scale back tax-reporting law for small businesses

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Hot Air

CNN:

Bill Kristol on Christine O'Donnell: No Sarah Palin — (CNN) - Guess who's getting slimed now in the increasingly nasty Senate race in Delaware: Republican stalwarts Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes. — The charge: both men, editors of the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and TBogg

Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:

Charles Krauthammer Slams Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint Over Delaware Endorsement — On Monday's edition of Fox News' “Special Report with Bret Beir,” columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) for endorsing Delaware Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Hotline On Call, Outside the Beltway, GayPatriot, GOP 12 and Ballot Box

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

G.O.P. Braces for More Discontent in Primaries — As the long and turbulent primary season of the midterm election campaign drew to a close on Monday, the Republican establishment was placing its confidence on hold and bracing for the prospect that voters in yet another state would send …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Wonkette, The Caucus, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots, Hot Air, Daily Kos and The Page

Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Conservatives Divided Over Delaware Tea Party Candidate Christine O'Donnell

Discussion: Salon, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Liberty Pundits Blog and The Daily Caller

Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
What to watch in Tuesday's primaries

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, The Nation, CNN, ABCNEWS and The Note

Ezra Klein:

Democrats turn to meaningless word games — Greg Sargent reports that House Democrats want to rebrand the extension of Bush's middle-class tax cuts as “the Obama tax cuts for the middle class.” — Sigh. Whether you think this is a good idea, a bad idea or a totally meaningless waste of time …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Talking Points Memo and The Plum Line

New York Times:
Republicans and the Middle Class

Discussion: White House.gov Blog Feed, The New Republic, Prairie Weather, republicanwhip.house.gov and Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT)

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Van Hollen: One-Year Tax Cut For The Rich Might Fly With Democrats

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Seeing the Forest and The Plum Line

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Nelson: ‘It Would Be Very Hard For Me To Support’ …

Discussion: Wonkette, Hullabaloo, The Hill, TalkLeft, Hotline On Call, Commentary and The Plum Line

Mark Tapscott / Washington Examiner:
McConnell intros Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2010

Discussion: Wonk Room

Quinnipiac University:

Blumenthal Up Just 6 Points In Connecticut Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Much McMahon Support Is Anti-Blumenthal — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Democrat, leads Republican former wrestling executive Linda McMahon 51 - 45 percent among likely voters …

Discussion: New York Times, Politics Daily, Hot Air, The Fix, USA Today, Mouth of the Potomac, Capitol Watch, The Eye, National Review, Ben Smith's Blog, Pollster.com All Content, Weigel, Taegan Goddard's … and TPMDC

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Lieberman ‘hopes’ Democrats will hold Senate majority, but won't campaign

Discussion: ctmirror.org and CNN

Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:

Fox News Polls Track Midterm Election Races in 5 Key States — Florida GOP Senate nominee Marco Rubio has jumped to a 16-point lead over independent Charlie Crist, according to the latest Fox News poll, as Republicans make gains across the country on dissatisfaction with President Obama's agenda.

Discussion: Reuters, The Buzz, Wake up America, TPMDC, HotAirPundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and National Review

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

New Polls Show Mostly Republican Leads — Fox News is set to release a series of new polls of likely voters in several key states. They were released early to users of their new iPhone app. — Florida: Marco Rubio (R) leads Gov. Charlie Crist (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 43% to 27%, with Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) at 21%.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

False Alarm — Reports coming in that President Obama will name Elizabeth Warren as interim director of the consumer protection bureau created by the new financial regulatory law. — Late Update: Maybe not so fast. Fox was one of the outlets originally reporting this and has now retracted that report …

Discussion: Rumproast, Emptywheel, Corrente, Reuters, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Ezra Klein:
Wonkbook: GOP doubles down on Bush tax cuts; possible recess …

Discussion: Political Economy, TPMDC, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

David Catanese / The Politico:

Ex-aide: O'Donnell's ‘no conservative’ — WILMINGTON, Del. — Christine O'Donnell's former campaign manager has recorded an Election Day robocall for the Delaware Republican Party meant to shred the tea party-backed candidate's conservative credentials as voters head to the polls.

Discussion: Weekly Standard and The Eye

Aharding / CNN:
GOP Robocall: O'Donnell ‘Out to Make a Buck’

Discussion: The Politico, FoxNews.com, TalkLeft and Gateway Pundit

Keith Koffler / The Politico:

President Obama's peril in assailing Rep. John Boehner — The White House is acting like it has found an easy, fun and productive target in House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Democrats in the West Wing and on Capitol Hill seem to have decided that Boehner is their ticket to holding the House.

Discussion: CNN, Moonbattery and DCCC

Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Greens wants their McCain back

Discussion: The New Republic and The Washington Independent

John Feehery / Pundits Blog:
Mixing the message on purpose

Discussion: CNN

John Schwartz / New York Times:

Confessing to Crime, but Innocent — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eddie Lowery lost 10 years of his life for a crime he did not commit. There was no physical evidence at his trial for rape, but one overwhelming factor put him away: he confessed. — At trial, the jury heard details that prosecutors insisted …

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice and Law Blog

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Mitch Daniels makes White House moves — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been holding a series of private dinners with top Republican business leaders, policy hands and donors from around the country since this spring, an indication that he's thinking more seriously about a presidential bid than he publicly lets on.

Discussion: The Page, FrumForum and Shakesville

The Hill:

Democratic aides may get cold shoulder from K Street after midterms — Democratic congressional aides aiming for a big payday from K Street have seen their value plummet with their party's declining fortunes, according to corporate headhunters and lobbyists.

Erika Lovley / Reuters:
Dem aides could face massive layoffs

Discussion: The Note, Politics Daily, New York Times and RedState

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Day After Tomorrow — Every political movement has a story. The surging Republican Party has a story, too. It is a story of virtue betrayed and innocence threatened. — Through most of its history, the narrative begins, the United States was a limited government nation …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Big Tent Revue, Hit & Run, Commentary, NewsBusters.org, Wall Street Journal and driftglass

Aharding / CNN:

Former GOP leader apologizes to Obama, calls Republicans ‘racist’ — Miami, Florida (CNN) - The ex-chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Jim Greer, is now apologizing for stoking fears about President Obama's address to school children last year. — Greer, now under indictment …

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Jim Tankersley / Congressional Connection Poll:

Despite Electoral Landscape, GOP Proposals Not Popular — Americans offer tepid support for much of the Republican Party's domestic agenda, including repealing the new healthcare law and extending tax cuts for the wealthy, according to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Plum Line, Pam's House Blend, The Atlantic Online, Taegan Goddard's … and Hotline On Call

Daniel de Vise / Washington Post:

Report: More women than men in U.S. earned doctorates last year for first time — For the first time, more women than men in the United States received doctoral degrees last year, the culmination of decades of change in the status of women at colleges nationwide.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Shakesville

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

ACORN may not exist anymore but 20% of Americans still think (or at least say they think) it will steal the election to keep Democrats in control of Congress this fall. — That does represent a decrease from last fall in ACORN's perceived ability to steal an election.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Weigel

Washington Post:

Jobless are straining Social Security's disability benefits program — The number of former workers seeking Social Security disability benefits has spiked with the nation's economic problems, heightening concern that the jobless are expanding the program beyond its intended purpose of aiding the disabled.